An asset (e.g., a commodity/ an item) that has, or should ultimately have, the same value to all bidders (given their “equal” access to the same information). All bidders attempt to figure out the actual value of an asset, subject-matter of a bidding, by estimating, though differently, the net revenue or gain that will be produced by the asset in the future. Despite the initial differences in valuation- where the actual value of the asset is uncertain at the very beginning of the bidding, all the bidders will roughly reach the same valuation eventually, given the same information at hand.

Examples of common-value assets include an oil lease where all bidders would establish the net revenue the lease is expected to generate, and based on such an estimation, the bidders will submit their final bids.