quote:

Originally posted by Stonecat:
Welcome JC

Good point Jeremy - the reports should be objective and not deviate from a relatively standard set of criteria - what should vary is the price, based on the conditions, and I think this is what JC is getting at; different strokes for different folks and price ranges to match

I can see how someone would be willing to pay differently, depending on which type of buyer category they fall into. However I don't see how that changes the value or the condition of a piece. I've never seen an auction where buyers pay differently depending on whether they are a dealer or novice collector, etc. If a seasoned collector is willing to pay more for an item than a novice decorator (or vice versa), then the value of the piece is the highest amount/bid regardless of who ends up purchasing it. If it sells for less than that, then someone got a bargain, most likely because one type of customer was not paying attention or just not present. Yeah, we all have different ideas of what an item is worth to us, but an auctioneer should be able to set an estimate based on what their experience (based on dealing with all types of customers) tells them it will sell for when the hammer hits.

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecat:
..follow up..Regarding Jerry's point "where educated dealers and collectors often disagree" seems to say that maybe things are not as objective as one might hope. What are some of the points/questions of disagreement? I would think, questions like: Does colour (dye to wood) or finish (shellac/wax over lost finish) added to original, still count as original, or what is the proper way to describe this? Overcoat removed - is this a misleading statement, can it truly be done? If something is refinished, is original style shellac wax more valuable than lacquer/varnish etc. - many reports/notes just say 'refinished' without saying what the finish is? Reglued but not refinished - does this add or detract from original value/condition? How can you tell or not tell if something is reglued? etc. etc.

I guess it depends on what one would want out of a condition report. Personally, I would just want the facts, and then it would be up to me as the bidder to determine the answers to any questions. If I want to seek out the auctioneer or auction house staff to assist in forming my answers by solicting their advice or experience, then that is my responsibility along with every other potential bidder (and I would expect a good auctioneer/auction house to be as helpful as possible, after all, isn't that part of the service?). But I'd consider opinons and advice to be separate from a condition report itself.

'Overcoat removed' could just be stated as 'top layer of shellac and wax removed at such and such date/time'. I'll decide then if something like that is important to me or not (based on what advice I take into consideration) and whether it affects what I'll bid/pay. My personal opinion is that if I see the phrase 'original finish', then I expect it to have nothing ever done to it finish wise.

It would be interesting to get several experts to all look at a piece independently and then have each produce a conditions report, in say 200 words or less, and a valuation, and then compare the results.