What Should I Expect From An Appraisal?

[DerbyDad03]

Greetings from a new member of this forum.

I would like to know what to expect from an appraisal of some china sets. Here are the details of my question:

We inherited some china sets from a family member. I am a complete rookie when it comes to antiques and this is was my first attempt to find out what they were worth.  I called a local appraiser to ask about the value of some Rosenthal and Krautheim dinner sets. He offered 2 options: He could come to the the house for an hourly charge or I could send him pictures and a list of the items. I chose the "pictures and list" option. At this point I am less interested in the dollar value he provided than I am in the "quality/quantity" of the information he provided. Before I respond to his appraisal, I'd like to know if what he provided is all that I should have expected.

I sent him pictures showing all the pieces in each set, a closeup of the pattern and a closeup of the marks on the bottom of a piece from each set.

As an example, this is the type of information I sent for each of the 4 sets of china I have:




Krautheim Dinner Set   
Quantity   Description
    6           10" Plates
    6            8" Plates
    9            6" Plates
  10           10" Soup Bowls
    8           Cups
    8           Saucers
    1           Coffee Pot
    1           Tea Pot
    1           Sugar Bowl
    1           Creamer
    2           Gravy Boats
    1           9" Oval Serving Bowl with Lid
    1           Lid for 9" Oval Serving Bowl
    1           Lid For 10" Oval Tureen
    1           13" Round Bowl, 1.5" Deep
    1           9.5" x 5" Oval Serving Bowl
    2           12" x 7.5" Rectangular Platter
    1           16" x 10" Rectangular Platter
    1           18" x 11.5" Rectangular Platter


What I got back was:

Krautheim Dinner Set  62 items   $450

A similiar "single line appraisal" was given for each of the 4 sets that I inquired about.

I obviously have to ask him what that number means. Is that what I could expect to get on the open market for the whole set? Would that be the total I might expect if I sold each piece individually? Is that what he would give me if I sold them to him?

I guess my main question is this: Based on the detailed information I provided, should I have received just a single line appraisal or should I have received some more detail?

Any guidance you could provide would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Ipcress]

Yeah, that's a poor reply. I know you haven't paid for his " effort " but you'd think he'd want to impress you. Just good business sense.

Personally think that price is too high for auction but too low for insurance

This mark for Krautheim & Adelberg was in use from the 1920's til 1945. However, many of these European factories did use earlier marks at a later date when reintroducing patterns or slight variations of them.

There should be a number of some sort on the major pieces or possibly others, maybe with a single letter prefix. This will be the pattern number

[mart]

Also depends on what you need the appraisal for,,insurance or resale value !!  Don`t know what company you used but you could have figured that much yourself !! Chances are he used the same resources that you could have used !!  I don`t recommend an appraisal for anything except very high end items !!  If selling is what you have in mind and you list it as a set rather than piece it out,, I would expect around $250. !!  Patterns such as this are just not as popular as others !!  The name is not a factor so much as its appeal on the table !!

[mart]

But to answer your original question,,If I paid for an appraisal I would expect at least a few lines about the company,,years of operation and the quality of their tableware !! You gave them an itemized list,, you should have gotten back an itemized list with a per piece price X number you have !!  With total at bottom !! This would be minimum !!  Wouldn`t hurt to have personal recommendations added at the end !!

[KC]

Sorry that your "contact" didn't give you any more information that they did.

Agree with what the others stated.

Unless it is a very "appealing" pattern (and patterns go up and down in appeal) the value your were give for the whole set would be equivalent to insured value.

Unfortunately, sell it yourself you most likely wouldn't see that much.  Hopefully the personaly family value for you is priceless!!!