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What Makes a Good Replacement Cost Comparable for a Contents Claim?

A defensible comparable matches the item's identity and functional characteristics closely enough to represent what replacing it actually costs — and arrives with the listing attached.

Kevin Godfrey, KevinLast updated 3 October 2026

What makes a replacement cost comparable defensible?

That it is the same product — or the nearest current equivalent, labelled as such — priced at what one listing actually charges, with that listing kept as the evidence.

Two failures sink comparables in review. The first is a listing that is not the item: right name, wrong capacity. The second is a price with no provenance: a number in a column that nobody can trace. Both are avoidable, and neither is a matter of judgment.

The matching hierarchy

Work down it, and stop at the first rung that holds.

From strongest to weakest, with the basis each implies
RungWhat it isBasis
1. Exact modelThe same product, still sold newRetail comp
2. Current successorThe model that replaced it in the line-upRetail comp
3. Same-brand equivalentDifferent model, matching specificationLike-kind substitute
4. Functional equivalentDifferent brand, same function and quality tierLike-kind substitute
5. Appraisal or manualWhere no listing represents the itemManual / appraisal

Those are the only three bases Kevin records: retail comp, like-kind substitute, and manual or appraisal. A line always says which one it is on.

What never to price from

  • A bundle. A four-pack priced as one unit inflates the line by the multiple.
  • A materially different variant. Capacity, size and finish often carry most of the price.
  • The wrong form factor. A mount is not the television; a case is not the camera.
  • An unrelated listing that shares a name. Product names repeat across categories.
  • A price built from several listings. If no single listing charges it, nobody can verify it.

A price is a current fact

It is also why the wording matters: Kevin prices from a listing, not from "a live listing". Links go stale over months. The claim is about what the replacement cost is, evidenced by what a seller was charging on a stated date.

Retail and resale, and the line between them

Which market answers
SituationMarketHow it is recorded
Still sold newRetailRetail comp, priced from one listing
Discontinued, equivalent existsRetailLike-kind substitute, priced as the nearest new equivalent
Vintage or collectible, thin retailResaleUsed raw, no gross-up, labelled as resale
Nothing represents itNeitherBlank editable cell; manual or appraisal

The link is half the comparable

A comparable is a claim about the market, and a claim about the market needs a referent. Kevin stores the listing behind each priced line and prints it into both the Excel worksheet and the PDF, so the answer to "where did this come from" is a URL rather than a recollection. On a line you priced yourself, that field is yours to fill with the evidence you relied on.

Common questions

What makes a comparable defensible?
It is the same product, or close enough on the characteristics that drive its price that a reasonable reviewer would accept it as the replacement. Identity first, then variant, then quantity and form — and the listing price as shown, not a figure assembled from several listings.
What if the exact model is discontinued?
Then the basis changes and says so: a like-kind substitute, priced as the nearest current equivalent sold new. That is a different claim from "this is the same item", and labelling it honestly is what makes it survive review.
Can you work backwards from a depreciated value?
No. Replacement cost is researched directly and depreciation is applied to it. Dividing a used price by one minus a depreciation percentage manufactures a replacement cost that no listing supports.
Is a screenshot from last year still good evidence?
It evidences what the price was then, which is worth something and is not the same as the current replacement cost. Kevin keeps a dated proof link for exactly that reason: the date is part of the evidence, not a detail.
When is a resale listing the right comparable?
When the retail market cannot price the item at all — discontinued, vintage or collectible property. The figure is used raw, with no gross-up, and labelled as resale so nobody reads a used-market price as a new-replacement one.
Who decides in the hard cases?
You do. Jewelry, fine arts, firearms and furs are never auto-priced; ambiguous items come back with a blank, editable cell; and any price can be replaced by hand, which tags the line as manual and gives you a field for your own proof URL.

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