I've always said that the price that any antique or collectable realizes is not a simple matter. It can vary due to condition, age, rarity, desirability, provenance and style. If any one of these things is slightly 'off' it can fundamentally affect the value when they are sold.
This is exactly what happened with two Victorian desks that had been used at Grimsby fish market, probably since they were new. The two desks smelled so bad that if they were placed in a warm room the smell was overpowering. They sold for £10o, for the two, which was around a tenth of what they might have been expected to reach.
