Dust off your heirlooms and collectables: antique appraisers are in town.
The Gainesville Woman’s Club is hosting its first ever antique appraisal event today to benefit schools in Alachua County.
For $5 each, notable dealers will appraise items like antique jewelry, furniture, porcelain and Florida memorabilia from 4 to 8 p.m.
“There are very few places you can go where you can get a $5 appraisal from an expert in this field,” said Robby Packer, the owner of Renaissance Jewelers and a certified diamond appraiser. “Anything could walk in the door, and that’s part of the fun — to see what people are going to bring out of the woodwork.”
The club agreed to host the appraisal event at 2809 W. University Ave. after Packer proposed the idea.
“We wanted to partner with somebody who was going to be donating or giving money to the community and they were already doing it, so we said, ‘Hey, this is perfect,’” Packer said.
While most appraisals require owners to leave their pieces at the store for some time, the verbal appraisals conducted at the club’s “It’s Worth What??!!” event will allow patrons to have their items evaluated quickly by experts, without the cost or time a general appraisal would usually take.
“People have these wonderful treasures, and I think it’s very important that they know what they have so either they can pass that information down to their children or grandchildren or sell it for a good price,” said Monica Beth Fowler, owner of Delectable Collectables and an antique jewelry appraiser.
“When people don’t know if they should sell their items,” she said, “I tell them that it may be worth this in cash, but in sentimental value, there is no price because it is invaluable.”
Items appraised at the event can later be brought to some of the appraisers’ antique stores for further discussion about selling their items, Fowler said.
“If someone has interest in selling, then we can give them a business card, and they can come to our stores,” Fowler said. “This is a fundraiser more than anything, so we’re not buying from them right then.”
[A version of this story ran on page 4 on 11/6/2014]
