rancher24
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posted on March 9, 2001 09:08:41 AM
I have a unique item that I cannot do anything with until I get an idea of it's value...Shopping on eBay this mornin', I noticed the Eppraisals banner & checked it out..and although I realize the handicaps of online appraisals, it seemed like a good place to start (especially since there is a $10 off deal running).....
My question to you good folks....Anyone have any experience with this company?...Were you pleased with the results you got? And do you feel your appraisal was accurate???
Thanx....
~ Rancher
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reddeer
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posted on March 9, 2001 09:28:01 AM
G'day Rancher
I think the appraisers working here on the AW boards [for free] have always done a pretty fine job.
Why not give us a shot first? 
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Wefindantiques
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posted on March 9, 2001 10:00:39 AM
I've used eppraisals for 12 items. They've been right on.
They have much more experience than any other appraisers on the web. Most of them are from well known auction houses.
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bhearsch
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posted on March 9, 2001 11:05:12 AM
Hello rancher24 I used Eppraisals when it was a fairly new service and was still offering a FREE appraisal promotion. I decided to test it out by sending in something that I already knew about to see how good they were. The item I sent wasn't an easy test because it was unsigned and required some expertise in 20TH Century design.
They were RIGHT ON with their appraisal. They correctly identified the maker of the vase and their price range was correct. I found out later that they contacted two of the most knowledgeable Murano glass experts for their opinions, one works for Sotheby's and the other is independent. I believe it's advantageous to use an appraisal company who employs appraisers from the major auction houses as well as independents and Eappraisals fits the bill. Of course, that was before they teamed up with eBay. 
Here is the link they sent me to view online. As far as I know, it'll remain there until I remove it. The photos aren't very good because they made them much smaller than the originals and used a lot of compression but I think the entire presentation is very professional. http://www.eppraisals.com/view.jsp?eppraisalID=260317208448
BTW, I'm NOT planning on selling this on eBay. LOL
Blanche
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dixiebee
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posted on March 9, 2001 11:58:30 AM
rancher24: Funny you should bring this up. I was watching an auction that ended last night that had an Eppraisal link in their auction.
The item was a vase with a $99.99 opening bid with no reserve. The final bid amount was $610. The seller had a link in the auction to the Eppraisal which told about the vase and said at auction (fair market value) it should bring approximately $300. The retail replacement value they listed was $425.
Please e-mail me at [email protected] if you would like the seller's information so you can see it for yourself.
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fishfry
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posted on March 9, 2001 12:03:33 PM
We, too, used eppraisals when they offered a free appraisal. The item was already up on ebay and we had several people email to tell us how valuable it was. Eppraisals appraised it at the price it was at, at that moment, on ebay! We could have done that ourselves!!
It went for over $2,000 more than the "eppraisal" said it was worth!
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xenainfla
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posted on March 9, 2001 01:26:46 PM
I have found Eppraisals to be a great service. I have only used them once, but will use them again with no hesitation whatsoever. In fact, I am planning to link to Eppraisals off of my website, so people looking for appraisals can go there instead.
A friend of mine has used Eppraisals several times too and she has had nothing but good luck with them.
I think Eppraisals is a positive thing for high valued items.
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rancher24
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posted on March 9, 2001 06:49:58 PM
Oh, I know there is alot of dissension goin' on here right now, but this is THE place for sharing info!!!....Thanx for all your eppraisals reviews, sounds/looks like a good deal for the hard to indentify pieces (although obviously they aren't perfect, must have made you very happy fishfry, when you exceeded their "eppraisal" by 2k!)....bhearsch, what a beautiful vase!, are you sure you don't wanna sell it?...Might be a good item to run one of those opening bid $1.00 /no reserve auctions! (NOT!)
At reddeer's suggestion I'm opening another thread titled "Whatta ya think this is?", to give the AWers a shot at identifying it, pls come take a look....
Appreciate all the help!!!
~ Rancher
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reddeer
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posted on March 16, 2001 09:59:03 PM
Blanche
I just figured out why I wasn't seeing the pics in your eppraisal. The eppraisal form doesn't work worth a %*&% with Netscape.
I used eppraisal this week for an obscure piece of early 20th century Asian clothing, and was quite happy with what I received for the cost.
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bhearsch
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posted on March 16, 2001 11:08:04 PM
reddeer, CYE. That explains it. I couldn't understand why you weren't seeing any photos in your appraisal when I was looking at SIX of them. LOL
Blanche
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reddeer
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posted on March 17, 2001 07:27:05 AM
FYI - I sent an email off to eppraisal late last night, and this was in my inbox this morning. Hope they get that little SNAFU fixed.
Hello Neil,
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I will forward your email to our technical team so that they may troubleshoot this problem and quickly
correct it.
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bhearsch
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posted on March 17, 2001 10:46:18 AM
Well, I guess that tells you what they think of Netscape's browser.
Seriously, I'm totally shocked that they didn't check to see if their photos worked on one of the two MAJOR browsers. One of the advantages of their service is the ability to link their appraisal directly to your auction page which would be completely useless for those viewing it with Netscape.
At least you received a quick response to your email. Please let us know if they fix the problem.
Blanche
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Antiquaar
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posted on March 17, 2001 01:43:38 PM
Hi All,
I used Eppraisals and was happy with their service but their fair market value is more representative of brick and mortar auction houses, e.g., a piece of 20th Century glass in a 20th Century Decorative Arts auction. I think often that ebay's prices/bids are under that for many collectibles and antiques.
What a great idea to link them...then buyers can see what kind of great deal they're getting and bid it up to its true value.
It's a great time to be a collector/buyer
Most of the time I'm a seller though 
Have a good one!
Monifa
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