Antique Appraisals: What They Cost, When You Need One, and How to Choose

"Get it appraised" is the advice attached to every interesting object — often unnecessarily, sometimes crucially. Here's when a professional appraisal earns its fee, what fees look like, and how to hire well.

The kinds of appraisal (they're different documents)

• Verbal opinion of value: quick, informal, often $50–150 per item or free at appraisal events — fine for curiosity and sell/keep decisions, useless for paperwork.
• Fair Market Value (FMV) written appraisal: what a willing buyer/seller would agree — used for estates, equitable distribution, charitable donation (tax authorities require qualified appraisals above thresholds).
• Replacement Value appraisal: what insuring/replacing at retail would cost — used for insurance scheduling; runs higher than FMV by design (a routine confusion: your insurance appraisal is not your selling price).

What it costs

Professionals charge hourly ($100–400) or per-item/report — reputable ones never charge a percentage of value (a direct conflict of interest and an ethics-code violation in the major bodies). Typical single-item written reports: $150–500+; multi-item estates by the day. Credentials to look for: ISA, ASA, AAA membership (tested, ethics-bound, USPAP-compliant in the US) plus category expertise — a generalist certifies process; a Meissen question wants a ceramics specialist.

When you genuinely need one

Insurance scheduling of valuables; estate/probate and divorce division; donation deductions; suspected five-figure sleepers; authentication battlegrounds (signed bronzes, important paintings, Tiffany lamps); and before selling anything you can't confidently comp yourself.

When you can skip it

Ordinary-market items with deep comp histories — most costume jewelry, common depression glass, production pottery — where identification plus sold-price research answers the question for free. The efficient ladder: identify with the app → comp the market → escalate only what the first two steps flag as significant. Bringing an appraiser a pre-identified, photographed, comped candidate also cuts their hours — your photo set is billable time saved.

Red flags

Percentage fees; appraisers offering to buy what they appraise (textbook conflict); instant certainty on contested categories; "certificates of authenticity" from sellers (worth the paper); and pressure toward their own auction consignment without disclosure.

The bottom line

Appraisals are documents with jobs — FMV for estates, replacement for insurance, verbal for decisions — priced hourly, never by percentage. Identify and comp first; pay professionals for stakes, paperwork and authentication, and check the credentials before the fee.

Values mentioned in this guide are indicative ranges from public auction and marketplace results; condition, provenance and market timing move them substantially. For insurance or estate purposes, get a written appraisal from a certified appraiser.