Old quilt: is it valuable
#11
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Central NY
Posts: 859
"However, even with an appraisal, it's basically worth what someone will give you for it."
Very true....of everything. I constantly see, on CL, that an item (usually a common old sewing machine) was appraised or "valued" at hundreds more than it would ever be sold for. I don't know about quilts, but I wonder if an appraiser ever offers to buy any item for, say 3/4th of what they claim it is worth. It seems to me that an appraiser who gets paid should stand by her/his opinion.
Very true....of everything. I constantly see, on CL, that an item (usually a common old sewing machine) was appraised or "valued" at hundreds more than it would ever be sold for. I don't know about quilts, but I wonder if an appraiser ever offers to buy any item for, say 3/4th of what they claim it is worth. It seems to me that an appraiser who gets paid should stand by her/his opinion.
#12
Power Poster
Join Date: May 2009
Location: NY
Posts: 10,590
"However, even with an appraisal, it's basically worth what someone will give you for it."
Very true....of everything. I constantly see, on CL, that an item (usually a common old sewing machine) was appraised or "valued" at hundreds more than it would ever be sold for. I don't know about quilts, but I wonder if an appraiser ever offers to buy any item for, say 3/4th of what they claim it is worth. It seems to me that an appraiser who gets paid should stand by her/his opinion.
Very true....of everything. I constantly see, on CL, that an item (usually a common old sewing machine) was appraised or "valued" at hundreds more than it would ever be sold for. I don't know about quilts, but I wonder if an appraiser ever offers to buy any item for, say 3/4th of what they claim it is worth. It seems to me that an appraiser who gets paid should stand by her/his opinion.
Even on Antiques Roadshow you will often hear the appraiser say for "insurance purposes" or "replacement value". Traditionally there are 3 appraisal values when it comes to antiques and artwork (antique or contemporary).
1. The highest appraisal which is the one for replacement value for insurance purposes and the value the owner should insure it for.
2. The retail resale value. This is traditionally the the 2nd highest value which is what you could expect to pay for a similar item in a retail environment
3. The auction value. This would be the lowest appraised value and also the most volatile and what the appraiser would expect the item to fetch in an auction setting. This value is usually given as a range (high/low number).
I honestly think if you see a lot of CL antiques where the seller is saying it was appraised at is either blowing smoke or using the insurance Appraisal value or they went on to e-bay and looked at asking price rather than selling price of similar items.
The truth is any item, no matter what it appraises at, is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it when it comes to selling, no matter how much you paid for it or think it is worth. But if you have no intention of ever parting with the item it could be priceless in your eyes.
#13
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 9,733
[QUOTE=Dodie;7799918]
Have you ever sold one of the ones you had appraised? I'd be interested to see if the sale value agreed with the appraised value of the quilt.
I think you're right, mamagrande. The value would be in the provenance of the quilt. If it was made by or for or used by someone of historic significance, it might be valuable. Some of it will depend on the condition of the quilt also. But you do need to get an appraisal to get any idea of value. However, even with an appraisal, it's basically worth what someone will give you for it.[/QUOTE I have had 2 quilts appraised and they were done by the AQS which is American Quilters Society they were not old quilts but judged on workmanship and the shows they had been in one was appraised for 900.00 dollars in my avatar the other for 1200.00 but it had been published in a magazine and in a quilt calendar and I do not remember what the cost was but it was done through our quilt guild
#14
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 4,783
With quilts, much of the value is determined by it's condition. (In real estate the three most important considerations are location, location, location. With quilts, the three most important considerations are condition, condition, condition.)
Other factors are the execution (skill of the quilter), pattern difficulty, rarity of fabrics used, etc.
Other factors are the execution (skill of the quilter), pattern difficulty, rarity of fabrics used, etc.
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