Now, in some countries, websites like Zillow (in America) and Zoopla (in Britain) offer instant online valuations, using algorithms to combine data from sales of nearby properties with current market trends.
Print out your online valuations.
In all, it can now give a spot value for about 25,000 ships, almost half of the world's entire cargo fleet.The idea is not wholly new: in the early 2000s, when global trade was booming and the shipping industry was buoyant, the world's largest shipbroker, Clarksons, set up its own online-valuation service.
www.homegain.com This online home valuation site provides free appraisals -- just type in the street number and the town and state.
Also, EmCasa is the only brokerage in Brazil that built a proprietary algorithm that offers online property valuations, better managing customer price expectations and providing more accurate listing recommendations.
Gold farmers, largely players in developing nations, amass large quantities of the currency and sell it online (typically at valuations of around $10 for 10,000 gold pieces).
But when ships are actually sold, subscribers can look back at how the website valued them just before the sale, and see that its estimates were pretty accurate.If the gap between online and offline valuations narrows, it may be a sign that VesselsValue's algorithms have picked up a turn in the market before the brokers have noticed it.
Danny Cox, the head of financial planning at Hargreaves, believes the substantial interest can be attributed to a desire among the public to feel that they have control over their assets, with the ability to view valuations online, 24 hours a day.
A16z bought into Zulily, an online marketer, at a valuation of a billion dollars; it soared to a market capitalization of five billion dollars, and has since slumped to $1.3 billion.
