Behind the Scenes at the ANTIQUES ROADSHOW - Chubb's Antiques Roadshow

Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, Feb, 1999 by Kimberly Lankford, Margaret Ringer

"You start to get groupies, for lack of a better word," says Frank Boos. "In Nashville, two elderly ladies said they drove all the way from Chicago to see me."

The appraisers aren't compensated for their time or travel expenses. They donate their services for the publicity; some large auction houses make it part of the appraiser's job. It's also a chance to uncover truly surprising finds that no appraiser has ever seen before, such as an original menu from the last luncheon served on the Titanic, which Rudy Franchi, a collectibles expert and owner of the Nostalgia Factory in Boston, found on the back of an oil painting of the ship at the Houston show.

ARE PRICES FOR REAL?

One of the biggest problems with Roadshow is that the appraisers don't always explain what the price represents, says International Society of Appraisers board member David Maloney, who otherwise likes the show. "I would like the public to see the difference between what they could buy it for versus what they could sell it for," he says.

Antiques dealers tend to give retail prices; employees of auction houses tend to give prices they've seen at auction; and full-time appraisers often give insurance values, says Franchi. The differences can be dramatic. For example, if you sell an item to a dealer, you might get only 30% to 40% of the retail price or insurance value, says Maloney. You may make more money if you sell it yourself, but you'll need to pay advertising costs and you could wait a while to find a buyer. If you sell it at auction, you'll usually pay at least 20% in sales commission, plus transportation, insurance and photography charges, he says.

Most appraisers provide prices based on values in the big cities where they work, which can lead to unrealistic expectations if you try to sell something to a local dealer or at an auction house in your area, says Terry Kovel, coauthor of Kovels' Antiques & Collectibles Price List. Franchi usually explains the context to owners, giving auction for large items and retail prices for smaller ones. "If it's worth less than $300, very few of the large auction houses will touch it," he says.

And with spur-of-the-moment decisions, the appraisers are bound to make some mistakes. One appraiser said a sperm whale's tooth engraved with a whaleship was of no consequence, reports the Maine Antique Digest. Since then, the tooth has been authenticated by scrimshaw experts as a sought-after Frederick Myrick work and added to a display at a Massachusetts whaling museum. In Richmond, Roadshow taped what was thought to be The Who's original, signed Woodstock contract, worth $10,000 to $15,000, which was found in the sleeve of an $8 flea-market record. Before the segment aired, the real original was found at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, in Cleveland.

But in most cases, outside experts support the appraisal prices. Terry Kovel plays "guess the value" when she watches the show on TV. "I agree with them a lot," she says. Harry Pinker, author of the Harry L. Rinker Official Price Guide to Collectibles, says the appraisers match his predictions about 80% of' the time.