any auction that has a significant number of participants will approximate "fair market value". from http://www.investorwords.com/1878/fair_market_value.html "fair market value The price that an interested but not desperate buyer would be willing to pay and an interested but not desperate seller would be willing to accept on the open market assuming a reasonable period of time for an agreement to arise." this works for me and would certainly apply here. why do you feel it is specious?