APPRAISE FLORIDA HIGHWAYMEN ART

Appraise Florida highwaymen art.

In my endless rehashing in this blog regarding appraisal and certificate policy, here's a fresh communication from this morning, posted as an example.

Hello,
My in-laws are preparing to move to a smaller place and need to sell some items before doing so. Here is part of a email which they have sent me:

“We have a Harold Newton original which I purchased in the early 1990's from a shop in Indialantic. I bought the painting just moments after it had been put on display. Some of the colors were still damp! They had to delay framing until it had dried for a few days. Harold happened to be at the shop the afternoon that I picked it up.”

If they choose to sell the painting, is this something you would be interested in discussing with them? If so I could pass on your information to them.

Thank you for your time, XYZ

I need to see an image and find out the size.

Hello,
I was able to travel to my in-laws home this weekend and take the following photos of the painting as listed below. Please let me know if you have any trouble receiving these attachments. I know the painting file is large, but I did not want to sacrifice quality by decreasing its size. I am cc’ing ABC and DEF on this email so that you can discuss the painting with them. Thank you very much for taking a look and offering any information you may have.
XYZ


Hi, XYZ. Your images came thru perfectly.

You have many options. They all involve a measure of trust.

You can advertise it in the classifieds and draw vultures, collectors who are really dealers, who'll bring you low-ball offers.

You can find someone local to sell it on eBay for you.
There will be some kind of fee involved from both the seller and eBay.

You can find a Florida auction house that appeals to you. Generally they charge a buyer's fee as well as a seller's fee so you'll end up with a return of essentially 60-70 percent of its liquid market value. There also may be cataloguing or handling fees as well.

You can pick a specialist dealer or gallery that appeals to you via private meeting or internet and sell it outright for a check. This will return you 100% of its liquid market value immediately.

You can consign it to a specialist dealer of your choice to sell for you at retail and allow a 10 or 20% commission fee that service. This should return you 110-120% of its liquid value.

To make an intelligent decision on these options, you need an idea of its market value in more detail than Harold Newton's current liquid value range of $400.00 to $15,000.00.

I offer an appraisal service which has been useful to novices, collectors, dealers, eBay sellers and museums for the last 10 years. I have explained and re-explained how it works in my appraisal blog, and have had an article published by a leading Florida art and antiques periodical specifically detailing how I look at the Harold Newton market and place values on the paintings.

My interest has always been focused on the commerce that occurs due to his many paintings changing hands on a regular basis. Thus I am qualified to appraise these things with honest, real time information.

Since I believe this information has value, I charge a flat fee of $100.00 per painting. Some people think that's fair, others don't, and the sun will come up tomorrow either way.

If your painting had little or no value, I would not charge a fee, I'd just inform you, expecting only a simple word of thanks.

Your painting has value, and has a bonus of being very beautiful, thus more desirable than many.

I do not make offers, as that would constitute a free appraisal.

My appraisal includes a certificate of authenticity and I inform you of all of the different values as defined in your options.

Regardless of your decision, I appreciate the opportunity to appraise and possibly handle this piece.

regards, BOB