Recognition & risk
Why is a huge discount a red flag?
A huge discount signals missing information. The market is too efficient for free money—if a piece trades far below comparable results, something structural explains it: provenance gap, hidden damage, export block, or saturation. The discount isn't opportunity until you know why it exists.
The Method's take
Anomalous discount = information asymmetry. The Method's first gate: identify the reason before paying. Common causes: attribution downgrade (authentic but unsigned vs cataloged), restoration that destroys identity (a resized chandelier, a refinished surface that kills patina), legal encumbrance (no export license, contested ownership), or the seller knows the market just turned (a fashion peak passed, saturation arriving). A 70% discount without a verified cause is a trap priced at full retail.
The math
Buying a €15,000 object discounted to €4,000 without knowing why: if the reason is a hidden structural defect or an attribution error, resale falls to €800–1,500 (dealer buy-back pricing), losing €2,500–3,200. If it's an export block and you're foreign, the piece never leaves and the loss is total. A single 24-hour pass at €100 puts the context questions and comparable-checks protocol in your hand before the wire goes out—the cost of guessing wrong is 25–30× the cost of checking.
One question answered here saved you a mistake. The engine answers yours — the exact object, the exact number.
Ask the engine — 24h pass €100