Thread: Appraisals

Interestingly appraisal is a sticky subject. The only value that counts is in the eye of the buyer. I recently had this conversation with an antique vendor about the price of a razor. They were asking $80 for a nice Boker, in decent condition, nothing special. I told him it depends on the buyer, for me it was too much, I looked at it and saw 2-3 hours in buffing, a rescaling, repining, some edge repair and honing, 4-5 hours of work.

Now if you were looking for a good solid shaver, where you would just clean it up and hone, investing 50 to 75 dollars for a total cost of $165 and compared to a new purchase, Dovo or TI at around 200 +, it is a good value, and maybe a better shaver.

Appraisal is completely subjective to the buyer. Add to that what it is worth today, to what the unknown value will be tomorrow are two completely different things. So appraising today has no real bearing on the value of tomorrow. It is just someone else’s opinion.

The other reality is, chances are your kids could really care less about your collection and will sell it off or part it out for a few bucks, we hope… or just toss it out. I have bought complete collections for pennies on the dollar and cherry picked pristine NOS razor for 10-20 dollars. I once bought a 1929 model A Roadster Pick up, a ten year, frame off restoration project for the previous owner, 10 miles on the rebuilt engine… for Three thousand dollars.

The real value is in the enjoyment your collection brings you. If your children appreciate them, great, don’t obsess about what they are worth… to anyone else.