The cost of a book appraisal
The book appraisal fee is $170.00 /hour, including on site, travel time, and in office. This fee does not include other travel related expenses such as airfare or lodging, if applicable. My fee has not changed in the past five years. (In most cases I am able to appraise books or collections without incurring travel expenses, as long as I have a list of the books and recent images of the books).
To give you a rough idea of what it may cost to appraise your collection, consider the following example: A library of 1000 books, one half of which are valued at above $100. Books worth less than $100 are valued on a "shelf" or "small lot" basis. Assuming that all or most books are printed in the English language, the time involved would be approximately 25-40 hours. The fee would be approximately $2,500.00 - $4,000.00. . If most of the books in a collection of 1000 are worth $10 to $50 the fee would, in most cases, be significantly less. If a significant percentage of the book collection is in a language other than English the fee will be higher. If the majority of books have a fair market value of between $10 and $35 the fee will probably be somewhat less, but every appraisal is different and the information above is provided only to give clients a very rough idea of the cost. In the case of collections where all of the books are of modest value the fee to appraise 2000 books could be as low as $1500.00, including the necessary tax forms.
NO CHARGE FOR ESTIMATES
If you have a list of books you can send it as an email attachment and I will provide you with a rough estimate of value and also tell you what my fee would be to do the work. I do not charge to provide a ballpark estimate and there is no obligation to have me perform the appraisal. Send your list to: [email protected]
All appraisals must be paid for in advance, at least in part. You can pay in several installments if this is more convenient, but the appraisal must be paid in full before any work is mailed out. During certain times of the year (usually September -May) I'm often very busy with appraisals and scheduled 4-6 weeks out. I accept work in the order in which it comes to me, along with a retainer. I will advise you of the progress as I work on the appraisal. Before any signed hard copies or tax forms are mailed out I require payment in full.
Discounted Fees
At certain times of the year when the demand for appraisal work is slow, I sometimes offer a discounted fee which is 25% less than the fee for the busy periods. The discounted fee is usually offered during the summer months. The discount is offered only if I'm not busy regardless of the time of year. If you have your appraisal done over the summer you may be able to save money. For instance, an appraisal which would normally cost $3,000.00 can be done for about $2,300.00. If I'm busy during the summer months no discount can be offered. As of mid June, 2015 I am able to offer a discounted fee.
Send email to: [email protected]