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DEFENSIBLE, USPAP-COMPLIANT FIREARMS APPRAISAL REPORTS — QUALIFIED FOR THE IRS, TEXAS COURTS, LENDERS, INSURERS, AND MORE.
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Owner & CEO
Joe founded AppraiseItNow to make a certified, USPAP-compliant appraisal as simple to order as anything else online. A former Bain & Company strategy consultant, Joe leads the entire team and specializes in strategy, growth, and the firm's tech capabilities.
Personal Property Appraiser
ISA Accredited Member with 30 years in the trade, from running estate sales and an auction gallery to appraising luxury apparel, furniture, artwork, antiques, and business assets, primarily for IRS tax filings.
Machinery & Equipment Appraiser
Third-generation auctioneer and CAGA Certified Appraiser with more than 20 years valuing machinery, equipment, vehicles, business assets, and estates for banks, attorneys, and trustees across the Carolinas.
Personal Property Appraiser
ISA Accredited Member specializing in Asian art, with a Master's from SOAS and a Postgraduate Diploma in Asian Art. Ashley chairs the ISA's Antiques, Furnishings, and Decorative Arts committee and appraises for charitable donation, insurance, and equitable distribution.
Client Success Manager
Manages each engagement from the first enquiry to the delivered report, and keeps you posted at every step along the way.
International Society of AppraisersAccredited Member
Certified Appraisers Guild of AmericaCertified Appraiser
The Appraisal FoundationAuthorized by Congress as the source of appraisal standardsAppraiseItNow appraises handguns, rifles, shotguns, antique and curio arms, and whole collections in Texas for probate and estate reporting, divorce, charitable gifts, insurance scheduling, and exemption work in bankruptcy. The assignment picks the value definition, and the first page of the report names which one it carries.
Single arms
Make, model, caliber, barrel configuration and condition set the comparable sales. Original finish, matching parts and a sound bore move a figure far more than age alone does, and every conclusion shows the sales it came from. Boxes, papers and factory letters are worth hunting for before the research starts, because they move the comparable set.
Collections
A safe holding dozens of guns is valued in groups, with the pieces carrying real money priced on their own. Groups are described closely enough that an executor or an attorney can tie each line back to what is on the shelf. Coins often sit beside the guns, and Texas coin appraisals have their own page.
A collection built over forty years eventually lands in front of a court, an insurer or the IRS, and none of the three wants the same answer. We write to whichever one applies and say so plainly.
Probate and estates
An inventory needs each firearm priced on the date of death rather than at today's market. Where a collection has already been moved or partly sold, we work from the photographs, records and receipts the family still holds.
Divorce
A collection split in a divorce needs figures both sides can test. We value the pieces as they stand, say nothing about who owns what, and leave the characterization question to counsel.
Donations and coverage
A firearm given to a qualifying organization needs a fair market figure with its support for Form 8283. A piece added to a policy needs what replacing it would cost, which is usually the higher number and always the different exercise. Both are written so the figure can be defended a year later by somebody who was not in the room.
None of the three sets a price. Each settles a question that comes before price: whether the law counts the piece as a firearm at all, whether it can lawfully change hands, and whether it belongs to one spouse or to both.
Antiques and curios
Before 1899
the manufacture date that puts a piece outside the Penal Code definition
The Penal Code definition of a firearm does not reach an antique or curio firearm manufactured before 1899, nor a replica of one, though a replica only where it does not use rim fire or center fire ammunition. The line matters to a collection's paperwork rather than to its market: the same cased percussion revolver that sits outside the definition still competes with every other example in the collector market, and that market is where its value is researched.
Prohibited weapons
Sept 1, 2025
the day short barrel firearms left the Texas prohibited weapons list
Senate Bill 1596 struck short barrel firearms from the state list of prohibited weapons and repealed the definition supporting it, effective September 1, 2025. Explosive weapons and machine guns stay on that list unless the item is registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record maintained by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, is otherwise outside that registration requirement, or is classified as a curio or relic by the United States Department of Justice. Federal status, not the state list, decides who may lawfully take delivery of such a piece, and that pool of buyers is what sets its value.
Community property
Clear and convincing
the proof it takes to establish that a gun is separate property
Property possessed by either spouse during or on dissolution of a marriage is presumed to be community property, and the degree of proof needed to establish that an item is separate property is clear and convincing evidence. Separate property is what a spouse owned before the marriage or took during it by gift, devise or descent. For a collection assembled over decades that makes the purchase record almost as important as the guns, and it is why we price everything in the safe rather than only the pieces one side wants listed.
What Texas clients say we are known for
Across 23 published Texas appraisal reviews, every one from a client who paid AppraiseItNow for an appraisal, the three things they raise most often are that they would hire us again, how much research is visible in the report, and how quickly we answer.
It is a pleasure to work with Joe and his team. They communicate every step along the way and made the process simple for us to have more than 35 firearms appraised. It was all done in a timely manner and the final report is easy to understand. I highly recommend their services.
Gun Appraisal for Probate
I was skeptical at first, but the company exceeded all of my expectations. The team responded quickly to every question, and the service was excellent. They’re now my go to source for my collection. I’ve used them twice already, and I plan to use them several more times.
Firearms Appraisal for Personal Use
Exceptional customer service and fast turnaround on my request for an insurance appraisal. Their professionalism, responsiveness, and attention to detail strengthened my position in an ongoing insurance claim. Incredibly easy to work with—courteous, efficient, and clear in their communication throughout the process. Highly recommend them to anyone needing accurate, independent appraisals for insurance or personal purposes.
Personal Property Appraisal for Insurance Claim
Joe made the process to have my piece of furniture appraised extremely easy, efficient and quick. My experience was great and I'd recommend AppraiseItNow to anyone looking for an appraisal.
Furniture Appraisal for Insurance Coverage
I asked AppraiseItNow to value a piece of sports memorabilia for purposes of a charitable donation. The item is rarely sold. Their research unearthed an important recent sale of a similar item, which I had not found previously, and which the first appraiser I used had not found either. AppraiseItNow was a good deal more expensive than the first service, but they crafted a detailed report in which I have much more confidence. They also helped me make sure the correct tax forms are used. Thank you!
Sports Memorabilia Appraisal for Charitable Donation
I used AppraiseItNow for the first time last month and I was extremely pleased with the results. I needed an appraisal done for insurance purposes and the level of detail about each of my antique furniture pieces was thorough and very helpful in my being able to get the highest amount possible from my insurance company for the antique items that were damaged. I could see that they spent time making sure that the information she included was correct and current for my antique furniture items in the current market. The team responded to my emails timely to answer any questions I had. I would highly recommend Appraise It Now to get a thorough and professional appraisal done on antique items. I do intend to use them again for other antique furniture and jewelry that I have. Job well done! 😃🤗
Antique Furniture Appraisal for Insurance Claim
Given the USPAP-compliant nature of AppraiseItNow’s appraisal reports, we prepare our deliverables for major legal, tax, and financial reporting purposes for individual and commercial clients.
Popular uses of our appraisal reports include:
It depends on the assignment: fair market value for estates, IRS matters, and donations; replacement value for insurance scheduling, which is typically the highest number; and liquidation value for bankruptcy or forced-sale contexts, often 25 to 30 percent below normal sale proceeds. The same firearm carries a different defensible number under each standard.
In the verified inventory due within 91 days after the personal representative qualifies, at fair market value as of the date of death, under Estates Code Chapter 309. Texas also requires the inventory to classify property as separate or community, which matters for gun collections accumulated during a marriage, and Texas has no state estate tax.
Identification first: make, exact model, caliber, serial number, barrel length, and action type. Then condition and originality: grading against NRA standards, percent of original finish, matching components, bore condition, and mechanical function. Each element is recorded because misidentification or an undisclosed refinish can shift value dramatically.
The statute exempts two firearms, and the aggregate caps sit beside that, not inside it. Texas Property Code § 42.002(a)(7) lists two firearms among the personal property exempt from seizure, while § 42.001(a) caps the aggregate fair market value of all of that exempt property at $100,000 for a family or $50,000 for a single adult, exclusive of liens and other charges. The cap limits value rather than adding categories, so whether any further firearms reach a different listed item, such as tools or equipment used in a trade, is a question for the filer's counsel. Both limits are written in fair market value, which is why the collection gets valued before anyone can say where it falls.
No. Texas has no firearm registration or purchase-permit system, and private sellers are not required to keep written records of sales, so there is no state database to verify chain of ownership. Value therefore rests on physical inspection plus the documents an owner controls: invoices, auction records, dealer receipts, and a written appraisal that records serial numbers and condition.
