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Appraisal Cost - This seems high?

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fiyaz

Rough_Rock
Joined
Aug 2, 2007
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I would like to view my stone from James Allen prior to purchasing it. I would like an appraiser to:

1. Verify that the diamond from JA matches the cert
2. Allow me to view it prior to the purchase
3. Provide documentation

I am working with a local appraiser in Boston (on the Pricescope list of appraisers). He claims that the above will ltake him 2 hours of work. At $175 and hour I will need to pay him $350.

I did a search on "appraisal cost" in PS and found that most people are paying a max of $200 for the above. Am I missing something?

Thanks!
 
Date: 8/7/2007 10:02:08 AM
Author:fiyaz
I would like to view my stone from James Allen prior to purchasing it. I would like an appraiser to:

1. Verify that the diamond from JA matches the cert
2. Allow me to view it prior to the purchase
3. Provide documentation

I am working with a local appraiser in Boston (on the Pricescope list of appraisers). He claims that the above will ltake him 2 hours of work. At $175 and hour I will need to pay him $350.

I did a search on ''appraisal cost'' in PS and found that most people are paying a max of $200 for the above. Am I missing something?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
I guess some professionals think their service is worth more than "most"...
You can always go with the flow...
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Here in Seattle I''m paying $100 for a complete appraisal and this includes returning once the diamond is set for a re-appraisal for the insurance company. My appraiser estimates 30-40 minutes. This includes holding the diamond in escrow until it''s paid for and released to me by the seller. Now I''m worried that my appraiser is not charging enough!
 
I generally charge quite a bit less than that and the task described usually takes me a bit less time as well but each appraiser sets their own rates for what they feel their services are worth. I live in a cheaper city than Boston which is certainly a contributor. It’s a pretty competitive business and feel free to shop around for alternatives but you should bear in mind that the cheapest workman usually isn’t the best. ‘Provide documentation’ is a terribly broad description and it can include a large number of services, some of which are pretty time consuming.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver
 
$350 is a lot for the required services in any US city. You cannot tell the quality of the appraiser or the appraiser by the fee estimate or the time it is estimated to require. I have appraiser/gemologists who work for me who are slower than I am and I also have Chris who is probably faster than I am. All of them do about the same job since I taught them all to do it the same way I do, but each has his own, inherent speed and ability. We work around this by setting flat fees for most Internet related services. Exceptionally low fees are not necessarity the bargain they appear to be, either. You have already been warned about the issue of importance, "quality of services".

Look at credentials, experience and take recommendations from those who have already been through the process. You''ll be fine with this approach.
 
Two possible extenuating circumstances come to mind:

Large / important stone?

Office visit which may take an hour in addition to an hour that the standard workup might take?
 
Date: 8/7/2007 10:02:08 AM
Author:fiyaz
I would like to view my stone from James Allen prior to purchasing it. I would like an appraiser to:

1. Verify that the diamond from JA matches the cert
2. Allow me to view it prior to the purchase
3. Provide documentation

I am working with a local appraiser in Boston (on the Pricescope list of appraisers). He claims that the above will ltake him 2 hours of work. At $175 and hour I will need to pay him $350.

I did a search on ''appraisal cost'' in PS and found that most people are paying a max of $200 for the above. Am I missing something?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
I think 2 hours is a reasonable amount of time for that.
If you just wanted the opinion and paper then an hour is more reasonable.
I agree with elmo, hour for the workup hour client meeting.
Is 175 an hour reasonable? Yes in many markets.
In a large market professionals of all kinds charge that, for example in Chicago $150-$175 an hour is average for a network tech and $100 too $125 for a general computer tech.
Where in my area it is $90-$100 and $125
 
It''s too high, keep looking. Even in los angeles an appraisal of the type you want ranges between 100-200.
 
To add another data point: David Wolf at Just Appraisers in Manhattan charged me $250 for an apprraisal of my Royal Asscher. He''s been at it for the past 2 and half weeks. Apparently, Royal Asscher has stopped producing Royal Asscher cut diamonds and has not announced when it will resume production. Thus, the market is difficult to analyze. The only stones left in the Royal Asscher inventory are smaller ones and of lower quality.

In short, $350 sounds high.
 
I am in the Washington, DC metro area and I just paid $150 for an independent appraiser to do exactly what you are asking, including appraising my new custom setting as well as reappraising the center stone. It took a little over an hour and I received a professional four page report with pictures as well as a report for my insurance company. I think your estimate seems high.
 
This estimate sounds high to me, too. I''m in Chicago and I just paid two different appraisers to appraise a diamond. One charged $125, the other $150, and those prices seemed to be typical of the area.
 
I also think it''s pretty high.
Like fanboy, i used Just Appraisers (Tobi) about a year ago and had two pieces appraised. One piece, took over a week because only one store in Manhattan carried the designer that made my ring. Even so, it was under 300 for both.
 
Thanks for all of your responses. I wish I would have received this feedback earlier in the day prior to me confirming my appt.

Yes, it seemed high to me as well. The appraiser that I am using is on State street in Boston proper and yes, it was not Jeff =)

I should have shopped around a bit more, but time was not on my side. I was not able to find a James Allen approved gemologist that could look at my stone in the short amount of time that I had. Granted, I did not call Jeff, but I did speak to others.

All I really care about is 1) Looking at the diamond in person 2) Making sure the cert matches the diamond. I hope that my appraiser can do all of this i less than two hours.
 
I had my loose stone appraised, picture and 10 pg report for $75. I am in the Charlotte, NC area. To take it back for another appraisal now that it is in a ring will be another $75. I think you are being charged too much. Good luck!
 
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