Demand Dictates Value

Demand Dictates Value

by Chad Patillo

Value isn’t a fixed number stamped on a tag — it’s a living, breathing thing shaped by desire, timing, and the stories we attach to what we hold in our hands. In antiques, in metals, in friendships, and in love, the same truth rises to the top: demand dictates value.

I’ve seen this play out my entire life, from the moment I sold my first piece at thirteen to the present day, standing behind a table of silver rounds or a booth full of forgotten treasures. If you watch the metals market right now, you’ll see it in real time — silver tightening, gold climbing, collectors circling like they can smell momentum in the air. Nothing changed about the metal itself. It didn’t suddenly get shinier or purer. What changed was the demand. Eyes shifted toward it, hands reached for it, and value rose to meet the interest.

That principle is just as alive in recommerce. I’ve pulled pieces out of barns, attics, and estate closets — dusty, dismissed, overlooked — and watched them become prized again once someone with the right eye.

But here’s where it gets personal.

This isn’t just about stuff.

It’s about people.

Demand dictates value in relationships, too.

When someone wants to know you, value appears.

When someone sees you clearly, value increases.

When someone respects you, value increases.

When someone stops showing up, or stops investing, that value doesn’t disappear — but the demand changes, and you start to see things differently.

I learned this the hard way. It wasn’t my survival that created my value — it was the people who gathered around me, who demanded that I stay, grow, heal, and keep moving.

It takes a village… and demand from that village reminded me that I mattered.

Value rises when others choose you.

Value rises when you choose you.

Eventually you realize that relationships work just like markets:

Interest must be shown.

Investment must be real.

Supply and demand must stay balanced, or someone ends up bankrupt.

The same applies to friendships. Some people will always want a seat at your table; others only want to eat when you’re serving. Some relationships appreciate with time — others depreciate the moment you stop pouring into them. And that’s okay. Not everything is meant to be held forever. Some things, and some people, are temporary lessons masquerading as permanent fixtures.

The trick is knowing the difference.

In metals, we watch the charts.

In recommerce, we watch the buyers.

In life, we watch the behaviors.

And just like the rising metals market, sometimes value spikes when pressure increases. Sometimes your worth becomes more visible after you've walked through fire. Sometimes your stock rises simply because you stopped undervaluing yourself.

Demand dictates value — but the first demand must come from within.

As a picker, dealer, liquidator, consultant, and storyteller, I say this often:

Don’t make a list of what you love — make a list of why you love it.

Don't make a list of what you want, make a list of why you want it.

Apply that to your relationships, and you’ll quickly see which ones are gold…

and which ones are just plated.

In business, in metals, in love, in friendship — value grows where attention goes.

And when the right people show up, when the right story is told, when the right buyer appears at the right moment… even the most overlooked thing can become priceless.

That’s the beauty of life and the business of being human.

Demand dictates value — so make sure you’re investing where the return is real.