What makes some photos worth more than others?

What makes pictures of the same vintage, print style, etc, worth more than others?

It's easy enough to find boxes of photos at 10 cents a pop, but then you can also find similar ones for several dollars a piece - que pasa?

 

Subject and composition would be 2 elements I would include in the calculation.

Full disclosure - I neither sell nor collect photographs as a general rule. But I always enjoy flipping through them at estate sales and will occasionally buy a few that appeal to me.

 

As Baker said subject matter.
Famous people, military, sports, cars, trains, ships, dead people, famous setting taken at an earlier time.
Some people collect pictures because of the clothing, or jewelry worn.

Your everyday family pictures generally not worth much.

 

I just saw an episode of the AR...where they valued original Beatles photographs, distributed for the 1966 2nd USA Tour, at $50 to $80 a pop.

Sometimes it's the subject matter and for others the photographer & subject matter.

 

Also, the condition is important, although I think the image is the most important for some people. And there are lots of different interests among collectors, so there is no rule of thumb on that.

 

There's no real rule on it, but most "instant ancestor" photos aren't worth much. Another one that can be worth something are the "racy" photos. They aren't necessarily even soft-core, but back when women didn't even expose their ankles. Find an attractive girl in her scanties and you have one worth a few bucks.