Also, it has not been discussed as to the professional status of the appraisers. People can call themselves appraisers;however, one should always check their credentials and level of expertise and experience appraising items they are being hired to evaluate. Appraisers who have studied, passed tests and received accreditation through one of three major appraisal organizations are professionals. They have invested time and money to prepare themselves for the job.

If the estate sale manager did not hire professionals then the problem of liability becomes theirs.

Moral of the story, make sure you are dealing with professionals.

Worthologists know their reputations are at stake when they are valuing antiques and collectibles, so quite a bit of background research goes into each opinion. The valuations are not only based on years of experience but also on historical data – including prices realized from recent auctions, catalogs, antique stores and the like.

We enjoy doing evaluations and strive to provide comprehensive background material and very accurate estimates. It’s always fun to share information about vintage items. And I’m totally delighted when I can tell an owner that he owns a hidden treasure!

When you engage a Worthologist through WorthPoint’s “Ask a Worthologist” service, you are hiring a professional who is pledged to provide an unbiased, expert opinion of a collectible or antique, including an estimated range of its fair market value. We are working for you. Furthermore, the Worthologist, and any member of WorthPoint, for that matter, is contractually banned from making an offer to buy the item. This assures that there will be no low-balling on the value in an effort to make an easy score at the expense of the customer.

Normally, the estate tag sale operators have 1-2 maybe even 5 people appraising and tagging items in preparation for a sale. There are not 5 people in the world who know everything about all valuable antiques, there are however people with a good instinct and the knowledge to ask a specialist for an opinion. Besides, if every appraiser priced everthing up to it’s full value or even close …they would not have many people coming to their sales.

A note to Gary Smith and Betty Ruis who posted on this subject. Normally I would agree with you …if someone knows for certain an item they are purchasing was a steal, it would not be very ethical (greedy) to ask for a discount.

…better to pay cash anonymously and duck out real quick …or be sued for taking advantage. LOL

But this was certainly not the case here. If Gary and Betty had read the story thoughtfully instead of jumping to a quick vindictive conclusion, they would have noticed Will “thought” the items were 18th century and did not know the mark was Sevres. His first guess was Meissen and had that been the case, since they had no color or great detail as a good Meissen piece should, the value would be much less. For all he knew, they were Victorian or later fakes. One more point, if Will knew they were worth 20 times what he paid why would he have had to ask Mr. Pattie?

One more point, antiques prices as of late have been falling, many reserved antique auction items are going unsold and other are being sold at price half of what they would have just 2 years ago. This is true for the more common and collectible antiques. Some of the rarest items in excellent condition remain strong but the antiques market is certainly readjusting itself.

I’ve been to at least a thousand estate sales in my life (some humdingers in Atlanta) and know how it works. There are no returns and had they been fakes or otherwise worth less than he paid… he would eat it.

Most of these sales are run “certified” appraisers and a members of some association, federation or guild of some type. Each requires going to a few seminars, classes or some minimal schooling to learn how to fill out appraisal forms and the like. You pay your money, get your fancy certificate and then (if you state requires one) a license. Thats is not to say licensed appraisers do not know antiques because there are some extremely competent ones. Those usually are the ones “with a good instinct and the knowledge to ask a specialist for an opinion”.

Appraising antiques is not an easy business, yet it very easy to get a license or certification. Most appraisal schools teach the basic law and pencil work of the appraisal biz and comparitively little of item they appraise. I compare that to teaching a surgeon how to make out a bill for the patient and the hospital rules, but not showing how to repair or replace an organ! The best appraisers have established a large network of specialists who assist them in identification and valuation of articles. Even auction results cannot be trusted a some auctioneers report items as sold when in truth they have been bought in. It takes a knowledgeable specialist to see past the smoke screen and come up with realistic values.

Here’s a true story…

A long time ago in a place not to far away (New Jersey), an antiques dealer was called to the home of a sweet little old lady. In her basement was this very old grandfather clock in need of some minor repairs. She said to the gentleman “it was here when I bought the house years ago and I don’t want it anymore”. So the dealer asked “how much do you want for it” to which the lady replied “Five Hundred Dollars”. So the dealer took out his flashlight and inspected the clock very carefully, and finally said “well Mam, your clock is very nice, in fact much nicer than the $500 you are asking for it. I want to be fair with you, so I’ll pay you $2,500 for it”. The woman gasp and her head sunk low. After a moment she looked up and said “No, no I’m going to keep it, the clock is no longer for sale. She thanked the dealer and showed him to the door.

Others have commented on how it affects their view of a “worthologist” — again very mistaken.

As a buyer you have one responsibility – to purchase at the lowest or most reasonable cost you can find for resale.

As an appraiser your responsibility has shifted to representing the best interests of your client.

As an appraiser/buyer, your responsibility is to give your customer the best reasonable estimate of the real value of their item, and as buyer/appraiser you must clearly state that you will pay x% of that value to purchase immediately for resale.

That’s it, no greed involved in any of these proceudres. It is just business. Greed can only interject itself if you actually MISREPRESENT the item, or it’s value intentionally.

Doesn’t sound like that was done in this case.

I laughed, and he said, “I just had to try.” I understood -It’s not a “greed” issue – no true trader ever wants to lose his edge.

Mr. Watkins – well done!