"Your Antique & Appraisal Ultimate Resource"

"Life Happens.. How to Protect & Grow Your Personal Assets"

 

Knowledge applied is empowerment. You can empower yourself by joining this antique and appraisal value quest with us. Travel the Antique and Appraisal Quest adventures with nationally known, television, newspaper, and internet featured appraisers, writers and antique dealers Randy and Randeen Nelson . Enjoy, learn, contribute, share, and support this site, it is your antique and appraisal resource.
 

What if an antique dealer is also an appraiser?  It is perfectly ok to call up a dealer to come appraise the antiques or collectibles you want to possibly sell to him/her.   Right?...No, Not Neve !  Wrong!   Don't do it.  This is a major conflict of interest. If you get involved in that kind of situation, stop and think.

It's like asking the snake not to eat the mouse.  No matter how badly that snake wants to be nice, he is going to eat that mouse.  That snake definitely has a bias (personal interest) toward wanting to see what that mouse tastes like.

Antique and appraisal first tip and moral to the story:  Never, Never, Never, have an appraiser/dealer both appraise and then purchase anything from you. This applies to car dealers, used furniture dealers, any dealers, not just antiques and collectible dealers.  (More on this subject below.)

Our antique and appraisal quest on A Value Quest is to provide you with valuable common sense information, advice, features and valuable products.  You will be armed with knowledge enabling you to protect and grow your personal assets with confidence:

Appraisal Quest:

  • Personal property appraisal services, advice, and consultation
  • IRS and estate information, services and consultation
  • Values and evaluation of home and business contents
  • How to, Tips, Whys and Whens explained
  
Antiques Quest:
  • Antiques and collectibles identification, how to, and care article
  •   Fine antiques and collectibles for sale.
  •   Our how to save big bucks and your peace of mind articles
  • A do it yourself and how to estate sale kit packed with everything we learned the hard way over 25 years of successful estate sale services

For Both Quests, Antique and Appraisal:
  • A Bookstore with our personally selected research/reference books
  • Our personally selected for you care, research tool and products store
  • An interactive antique, appraisal, and assets Photo Gallery
  •   Interactive antique and appraisal forum Blog for questions, comments, and sharing good stories and horror stories.  We'll contribute some horror stories for your edification and forewarning.  You contribute additonal ones so together we can better serve and inform the public.

If you have need of an antique or appraisal value consultation or our personal property appraisal services:

Randy and I are happy to offer our services. Including appraisals, expert witness testimony, appraisal review, select marketing and value consultations are offered. Please refer to our contact page and our credentials pages which detail our education, experience, and specilaties. Together we have over 70 years of market and teaching experience to offer you.  Please review our credentials: Randeen  and Randy  (best sports appraiser you'll ever want to meet!)

To Continue the snake and mouse antique appraisal theme from above:

An antiques dealer has to know their local market to successfully sell the antiques and collectibles that they offer. They receive money for what they sell and have to make a large enough profit off of what they buy to stay in business. They, thus, often "have a bone in the fight" (have a bias toward what you have if it is something they would like to sell).

An Appraiser, however, if properly educated and experienced, is expected to know and to research what numerous antique dealers would sell similar items for. Notice the difference? The dealer has his own one market.  The appraiser is required to research multiple comparable markets.

The appraiser ethically has to have a 'arms length, hands off' approach concerning the value of the personal property or home contents he/she is appraising.  An appraiser is required to remain unbiased. If the appraiser is ethical, he/she can not even think about "eating that mouse".

For many years we were both antique dealers and professional personal property and home contents appraisers.  The only way we could handle the snake/mouse ethical requirement was to wear one hat at a time, never both.  If we appraised, we did not buy.  If we bought, we did not appraise. No matter how ethical a person is, it is nearly impossible to stay unbiased.  You naturally will have a personal interest in the property.  ("A bone in the fight").

Under the umbrella of A Value Quest, we offer two hats: Appraisal Quest and Antiques Quest.   We again have to make sure we wear each "hat" distinctly, separately.  Both Quest categories will bring you major useful, constantly updated information for your personal benefit:

  • Personal Property Appraisal information, consultation, and value services are addressed under Appraisal Quest.
  • Antiques and Collectible information and items to be sold are offered under Antiques Quest.
  • Interactive Blog, Stores, and Photo Gallery for both antiques and collectibles and appraisal information.

Be patient and come back often, we will be building this site over time into the working value tool you can rely on .  Welcome to Avaluequest, this is your value site dedicated to serving your appraisal and antique collectible needs.

© Avaluequest.com 2009 "Your Antique & Appraisal Ultimate Resource"