Appraisals

Auction Solutions performs appraisals for individuals and companies that need a professional opinion of value on the personal property. Appraisals can be a great value for insurance settlements, business liquidations, estates, and other situations where you need to know the value of your assets.

Our appraisal services are very cost effective. Customers are billed by the hour or the piece, depending on the amount of assets you need evaluated. Appraisals are different than simple opinions of value. An appraisal is a valuation based on research by a certified and licensed professional. Each appraisal is done within a specific market, for an individualized and specific purpose.

Our appraisers have a variety of experience in many markets, including commercial and industrial equipment, motor vehicles and commercial trucks, construction and farm equipment, as well as antiques and household items.

Our appraisers are certified. They have attended specialized appraisal schools and achieved accreditation from the Certified Appraiser's Guild and the National Auctioneer's Association as well as passing the Federal Government's requirements for U.S.P.A.P. (Universal Standards of Professional Appraisal Practices). These standards require our appraisers to attend classes, pass required tests, and attend continuing education.

What is it worth? Appraisals and how they work.

You may wonder, what is this thing, this car, this antique, this piece of real estate, this business or this idea is worth. After spending the last 11 years in the auction and appraisal business I have come to a realization. The answer to this question is. It depends.

What does it depend on? It depends on why you want to know. An appraiser will ask several questions before beginning the assignment to establish a basis for the valuation. There are many definitions of value, in fact the U.S. Bankruptcy court has defined over 30 methods of valuation. These definitions include retail price, replacement value, market value, fair market value and dozens more.

These valuations Can be developed using several approaches including comparable analysis, replacement cost and the income approach.

One of the most widely misused terms in valuation is fair market value. Fair Market Value is defined by the IRS and used as a basis for taxation of estates, capital gains and bankruptcies. You often hear Fair Market Value misapplied in the auction industry in reference to what the liquidation value would be. Fair Market Value must include considerations that affect value based on location and normal market that could be considered far differently than they would be if the value to be determined was actually what the item would be worth in an auction market where geography or local customs did not influence the sale price.

Other methods of valuation take many things into account including actual cost to replace, including delivery costs, or liquidation at an auction, even liquidation at a forced sale. Knowing this ahead of time can save a person some time in getting to the correct method of valuation for the appraisal you need.

You have heard examples of this before, they talk about some of these methods on the antiques roadshow. They will say, at auction this piece will bring…, or in a gallery at retail this item would be priced at…. or for insurance purposes I would value this treasure at… Each one of these values has a different definition and potentially a widely different price so it is important to understand how these values are going to be determined and who is going to determine them for you when you need that appraisal. Do your homework when you need a personal property appraisal and only hire someone who has been properly trained and certified by an accredited organization and uses USPAP standards.