Appraisals, Honestly · Orange County
Want your antiques appraised? Read this first.
Free visit · cash offers · no obligation
Most people searching for an antique appraisal do not actually need one. They need to know what something would really bring if they sold it, and those are different questions. A formal appraisal is a written document from a licensed appraiser, priced by the hour, stating replacement or fair-market value for insurance, probate, or an estate filing. If that is what you need, hire a certified appraiser, and we can tell you what to look for in one.
If what you actually want to know is what your antiques are worth in cash, we do that for free. We are working dealers, we evaluate your pieces in front of you, explain what we are seeing and how the market prices it, and make a real offer you can accept or decline. No fee, no obligation, and no pretending an insurance number is a sale price.
Appraisal or evaluation: which do you need
You need a formal appraisal when
Insurance scheduling, probate filings, estate tax, divorce, or donations require a signed document from a licensed appraiser. Expect to pay by the hour for it.
You need our free evaluation when
You are deciding whether to sell, dividing an estate informally, or simply curious what the real market would pay. We tell you in person and put cash behind the number.
The difference in the numbers
Insurance appraisals state retail replacement value. Sale prices run well below them, for everyone, everywhere. Knowing both numbers protects you from disappointment in either direction.
What we evaluate
Antiques, vintage clothing and denim, jewelry, watches, silver, art, advertising, furniture, and full estates. If we do not know a category deeply, we say so.
Free in-person evaluations across Orange County
We make house calls from our Laguna Hills base across all of Orange County and the rest of Southern California. Bring one piece to us, or have us walk a full home. Every offer comes with the reasoning explained, piece by piece, and sellers who want a second opinion before an auction or appraisal use us for exactly that.
Why It Matters
The difference between ordinary and valuable is in the details: a stitch, a hallmark, a date code. Knowing them is our entire job.
How it works
Call or text photos.
A real conversation about what you have, no pressure to sell.
We come to you.
We look at everything, at your pace. We know what we're seeing.
Cash offer, same visit.
A fair price on the spot, or a full estate sale run for you.
Common questions
Are you licensed appraisers?
No, and we will not pretend to be. We are dealers who buy for the resale markets we know. When a situation legally requires a certified appraisal, we say so and step aside.
Is the evaluation really free?
Yes. The visit and the evaluation cost nothing and carry no obligation. We make our living buying well, not charging fees.
What if I just want to know the value and not sell?
That is fine. We would rather you know what you have. Plenty of people sell to us a year later because the first visit was honest.
We have a written appraisal from years ago in the folder with the piece. Is that number still good?
The number is the least useful part of it. An appraisal states a value on the day it was written, under one specific standard, and markets have moved in both directions since, with some categories falling a long way while others climbed. The description is the part worth having: maker, date, materials, measurements, and any provenance the appraiser recorded, which is often knowledge nobody in the family still holds. Bring the document along with the piece and we will read it through with you.
Can we use your visit as a second opinion before an auction or a formal appraisal?
Yes, and plenty of people do exactly that. We are dealers rather than certified appraisers, and we say so plainly: our numbers reflect the real resale markets we sell into, explained piece by piece. If you need paperwork for insurance or probate, that is a licensed appraiser's job and we will tell you rather than pretend otherwise. Nothing is owed for the visit either way.
One call. We’ll take it
from there.
(949) 449-12555.0 on Google · Free visit, no obligation · Cash the same visit
Mon-Sat 6 am-8 pm · Sun 8 am-5 pm
A real person answers seven days a week, weekends included. Photos sent today are usually answered the same day.
Prefer photos? Text them straight to the same number · or send them here
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