What Appraisal Do You Need?

The first question that you will be asked during a jewelry appraisal appointment is what you will use the report for. Think about this question and ask yourself, "Why am I ordering an appraisal?" Is it because you want to insure your jewelry? Is the jewelry involved in a probate or trust, to determine tax liability or distribution of the estate?

Let's use a common example of why this question is important.

You want to sell the item. You may want to sell a diamond. You may want to sell jewelry or you may want to sell gold.

The usual approach, by owners and jewelry appraisers, is to render an insurance appraisal. However, one size does not fit all. A jewelry appraisal for obtaining insurance reports a value from a marketplace that is unrelated to selling an item.

Depending on the item, the best place to sell it may be to someone from the public sector - called a "private" by those in the trade. A private buys from a retailer in most cases and will pay, in theory, the most for an item. But a private may not be easy to locate and convince to purchase your piece of jewelry. Where else can you sell it?

You might consign it to a jeweler or a secondhand dealer who handles jewelry. You might consign it to an auction; major or high profile auctions deal with the better items and numerous standard auctions sell ordinary items. You might sell it on eBay or through Craigslist. You might sell it to a secondhand dealer, a jewelry store or even a scrap buyer. Gold is being bought in malls, at gold parties, by jewelers, coin stores, in hotel events, et cetera.

What needs to be learned here is the simple fact that in each of the above mentioned markets - a different price will be realized. A pawn shop pays instantly and they also tend to pay the least. A private pays the most but takes the longest to find. The longer you can wait for your money, the more you can get. The more desperate you are to sell, or should I say, the quicker you want to sell it - you will make less.

The value of an item will vary depending on what market's transactions are analyzed. In our example, none of the markets that you can sell in are what a retail store fetches, unless you are a retailer.

A jewelry appraiser, understanding what markets are most favorable for the item you want to sell, can research that market and report a value but, again, that value will not be retail replacement value or what a store sells it for.

An insurance appraisal is the wrong appraisal for your needs if you want to sell the item. By the way, if you are buying an item from someone, keep in mind that the insurance appraisal they may show you is also wrong for purchasing from privates.

In conclusion: Decide why you need an appraisal so you can have the jewelry appraiser research the right market to fit your needs