Are there any reasonably priced certified appraisers in the Western North Carolina (Asheville) USA area with experience in appraising assorted raw and cut gems?
Hi am finding in the Carolinas no appraisers that can or will do rough stones individually or bulk sets of rough gems. Is there anyone who knows of or can point to places or people capable of appraising rough stone or slabs for estimates of valuation?
Before one can derive a Value on an item, one must know what one has. IF you already know WHAT you have, then you have a method available to you to derive Fair Market Value. FMV has been defined by our now politicized Supreme Court. Under their definition, eBay is a FMV forum. If you find items that match WHAT you have on the eBay, then you can derive its FMV on your own. Basically in Appraisal Science you are locating “Comps” or compare-ables to derive a FMV. ;))
actually Ebay is only an ask market, the price you see is the asked price not the actual value.
Hello Douglas … Although eBay does have “Buy It Now” offerings, that is not what I was referring to. [E]Bay does have thousands of Auction Sales which can be researched and DO represent Fair Market Values. I only wonder why you didn’t make that distinction since eBay has been functioning as an Auction platform for over 20 years now.
You might check with McCoy Minerals in Blowing Rock, NC. Randy McCoy aka. Doc, is a certified gemologist, and certified appraiser. I do not know if he appraises rough stones or not, but it is worth a try contacting him. His number is (828) 414-9889. Website is www.mccoyminerals,com. He is the one who has appraised my faceted gemstones.
I have known him for a number of years and wholeheartedly trust his judgement and abilities.
I can be contacted at, oldtroll57@gmail.com for more info.
while you can look through ebay research it is still an ask market, prices paid online through ebay are prices paid to someone via an image only auction, most often with no inspection or guarantee of authenticity other than a “possible” refund. Ebay in NO WAY reflects fair market value for appraised and inspected authenticated stones. Some sellers are genuine in what the stone is, many are not.
That is why I did not bother to say it, but since you asked.
Hello Douglas … I don’t know what your definition for Fair Market Value is, but it has been defined by the Supreme Court of the United States to wit: In the United States v. Cartwright, 411 US 546 , fair market value (FMV) is defined as “the price at which the property would change hands between a willing buyer and a willing seller, neither being under any compulsion to buy or to sell and both having reasonable knowledge of relevant facts." Now contrary to what you might feel, eBay is clearly a Fair Market Value Forum under that lawful definition. :))
If you would like to operate under the assumption that FMV can include false and misleading claims about actual identification, then bully for you I hope those that you transact with don’t have legal recompense for that assumption. Cheers.
So what is YOUR definition of Fair Market Value?
a fair market is where a buyer and seller are both informed about a stone’s legitimacy. THIS has not been even above normal on Ebay. IE while it is a marketplace, and values paid could be judged there is no oversight for the confirmation of a stone and therefore not a fair market value judgement.
If you can sell 600 cts of glass as something else and no one complains or creates an issue because they don’t have the knowledge to know it is glass then it is not a fair market value, it is a fraud that could influence FMV.