5 Ways Certified Appraisals are Different at Four Seasons
When someone wants to sell their precious antiques, getting certified appraisals for their items is usually the first step. The antique market and the needs of collectors are diverse and ever changing, and there is no way to know the true value of your goods without this vital step. Sometimes, collectors pay thousands more for specialized goods, like military collectibles, than the seller believes they are worth. For estate sales, the value of hundreds of items from generations of families’ lives is wide-ranging and oftentimes surprising. In order to get the full worth of an item at auction, it’s necessary for sellers to seek out certified appraisals. Appraisals can be done at thousands of auction houses, thrift stores, and locations across the country, but when looking to sell a precious and possibly invaluable item, finding the best appraiser is in the interest of the seller. It would be tragic to use the services of a subpar appraiser and end up missing out of the true worth of a piece of jewelry, art, an automobile, or any other auction item. At Four Seasons Auction Gallery, we do certified appraisals differently, so that any potential seller is informed about the true worth of their goods and has the best opportunity to make a profitable sale in the auction market.
CERTIFIED APPRAISALS: HOW WE’RE DIFFERENT
Four Seasons Auction Gallery is a long-established, reputable auction house. In fact, for nearly 20 years, Four Seasons Auction Gallery has been offering premier property, antiques, and collectibles in local, national, and international markets. We value our sellers just as much as our buyers, and for that reason, we do certified appraisals a little bit differently than your run-of-the-mill auction house. Here’s how:
1. PRESTIGIOUS CERTIFICATIONS (IT’S LONELY AT THE TOP!)
The International Society of Appraisers (ISA) is a professional, not-for-profit global organization of the most educated and experienced consultants, appraisers, scholars, and curators in the world. The mission of the ISA is to provide independent and accurate guidelines for the field of appraisal and to train and certify appraisers in the art of property assessment. The ISA is widely recognized as the authority on appraisal and setting appraisal guidelines. There are several certifications the ISA offers. However, less than 110 people in the world have achieved their highest designation and honor of being a Certified Appraiser of Personal Property (ISA CAPP.) Four Seasons Auction Gallery Owner Charles S. Farr Jr. is one of the 107 individuals deemed honest, educated, and expert enough to hold this title. This means that when you seek certified appraisals at Four Seasons, you are accessing one of the most knowledgeable and professionally advanced experts in the field. This means that your items are guaranteed to be appraised to the highest degree of accuracy.
2. DIVERSE BACKGROUND OF EXPERIENCE
Owner Charles S. Farr Jr. started his career by running a family-owned thrift store. For four years prior to moving on to other ventures, Mr. Farr appraised, bought, and sold items ranging from grandmother’s tea set to clothes and furniture. This range of experience means that no matter what you are looking to consign or market, Mr. Farr and the team at Four Seasons can find the best sale venue and accurately determine your item’s value. Many appraisers are specialized in their work and focus only on assessing one type of thing, like jewelry. Mr. Farr and Four Seasons specialize in the appraisal of everything. You can bring anything from an end table to a diamond necklace to a painting into Four Seasons for appraisal and be confident in the knowledge that it will be evaluated honestly and accurately, and sent to the best market for sale if you so choose.
3. WE VALUE IT ALL, FROM FAST CARS TO FINE ART
Very few appraisers venture beyond one area of interest in their work. Not here at Four Seasons. Our interests are wide-ranging, and our work reflects that. Charles S. Farr Jr. is the rare appraiser that owns an antique store, an art gallery, a premier auction house, and a classic car auction enterprise. Not only do we appraise for items matching all of these interests, we are passionate about the collection of a wide variety of items. There’s no need to run around searching for different appraisers to look at your whole body of inventory. If you have an estate sale or a wide range of items, we can accurately appraise and consign all of them in one place, with one stop. Time is money, so we help you save it.
4. ETHICS AND HONESTY ARE PARAMOUNT (NO PINOCCHIO HERE)
Above all other considerations, what potential sellers should look for in their search for certified appraisals is an ethical, honest professional. Unfortunately, many people never get the full value of their precious antiques or items for sale because unethical appraisers take advantage of their position. Many auction houses appraise and then buy items from sellers, often undercutting the true value of the good and reselling it at auction for a huge profit for themselves. We do it differently. We never appraise and buy, but rather, offer consignment services. What this means is that we can appraise your item, professionally photograph and market it, and match it with the most promising auction venue for it- whether live, absentee or online- where our 16,000 current customers can bid on it. This process offers the best chance of finding a buyer who is willing to pay top price for your valuable items. In this system, the seller sees what the item ultimately sells for and keeps more of the profit than in an appraise-and-buy system, which eliminates the chance of being taken advantage of by unscrupulous appraisers. We know you value your stock, and so do we.
5. WE LOOK OUT FOR YOUR BEST INTERESTS
Individuals looking to sell antiques, art, cars, or any other item at auction have a wide range of experience. Some are seasoned veterans of the auction world, while others may be selling for the first time. That’s why we offer certified appraisals that can be used to claim or set up insurance for any item. We offer auction estimates at no cost for items going to sell at auction, for the convenience of our sellers, but we also offer official, legal appraisals for insurance purposes to make sure that our customers are protected. No matter how beautiful or valuable your jewelry, art, car, or heirloom is, if it has not undergone certified appraisal for insurance, it will not be covered by insurance in the case of theft, loss, or damage. We can evaluate your item and certify ownership, value, and quality to make sure that your assets are protected. This is an absolutely vital step that we take pride in offering to our customers.
MAKING A START IN THE AUCTION WORLD
If you have valuable property that you’re looking to get appraised or consign, Four Seasons Auction Gallery can offer you the best guidance throughout the process. Contact us today at 470-589-1653.