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Gun appraisals in Virginia for donations, estate tax, divorce, and probate, prepared in accordance with USPAP and IRS requirements. AppraiseItNow appraises handguns, rifles, shotguns, antique firearms, and collectible guns across Virginia, including Richmond, Virginia Beach, and Norfolk.
DEFENSIBLE, USPAP-COMPLIANT FIREARMS APPRAISAL REPORTS — QUALIFIED FOR THE IRS, VIRGINIA 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, pre 1899 arms, military surplus and whole collections in Virginia for charitable contributions, estate administration, divorce settlements and coverage schedules. One inherited revolver and a safe that took two generations to fill are the same kind of assignment at different scales.
What we value
Modern handguns and long guns, muzzle loaders and other arms made before the turn of the last century, military surplus, presentation grade and engraved work, plus the glass, holsters and period correct parts that travel with a collection.
The use picks the standard
A deduction and a coverage schedule ask two different questions about one rifle, and the gap between the answers is usually wide. We write the standard the assignment calls for, say on the page which one it is, and never carry a figure from one use across into another.
Volume
Where a safe holds dozens of working field guns of no individual distinction, they are grouped and valued as categories, and only the pieces that carry their own market are pulled out and researched on their own. The report is explicit about which pieces got which treatment, because that is the first thing a reviewer looks for.
Executors, attorneys and owners come to us with a deadline already attached, so a Virginia firearm file opens with the questions that take longest to answer rather than the ones that are quick. Personal property work is delivered online by default, which leaves a collection exactly where it already sits while the research runs.
What opens a file
Clear photographs of each piece, the markings on the receiver and the barrel, any transfer or import paperwork, earlier appraisals and insurance schedules. What is missing shapes the research plan every bit as much as what is there, so we would rather hear about a gap early than find it late.
How it runs
The owner photographs and lists; we research, adjust and write. An in person visit is arranged for the assignments where the sheer count, or a disputed condition call, makes eyes in the room the cheaper answer.
Two Virginia provisions reach a collection before anybody argues about price: the definition that puts a gun in the collector class, and the register that a single item can drag an estate into.
Curios and relics
50 years
is only the first of three routes into Virginia's collector class
Virginia treats curios and relics as their own class inside the firearm transfer rules, and it recognizes three routes in. The first is age with scarcity: a firearm manufactured at least fifty years before the current date that uses rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed ammunition no longer made in the United States and not readily available in ordinary commercial channels, replicas excluded. The second is certification as a curio or relic of museum interest by the curator of a municipal, state or federal museum that exhibits firearms. The third is the collector's route, for a firearm that draws a substantial part of its monetary value from being novel, rare or bizarre, or from its association with a historical figure, period or event. The statute says outright that qualification under that third route may be established by evidence of present value together with evidence that like firearms are available only as collectors' items, or that comparable examples in ordinary commercial channels cost substantially less.
Registered items
24 hours
is all Virginia allows between acquiring a machine gun and registering it
Every machine gun in the Commonwealth must be registered with the Department of State Police within twenty four hours of its acquisition, and within twenty four hours of the alteration where a semi automatic weapon is converted into one. The application is notarized and shows the model and serial number, the name, address and occupation of the person in possession, and from whom and for what purpose the gun was acquired or altered. The certificate issued in return holds good for as long as the registrant stays the same person, and on transferring a registered gun the transferor must notify the Superintendent in writing of the date and of the name and address of the transferee. An executor who opens a safe and finds one of these is therefore working to a deadline before any question of worth is raised.
What Virginia clients say we are known for
Across 23 published Virginia 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
It is with great pleasure that I give the highest score for their work. I needed antique book appraisals for my beloved but sadly departed wife's antique book collection she wanted to donate to the Remnant Trust. It was a true pleasure to work with this group.
Memorabilia & Collectibles 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
AppraiseItNow's service was expeditious and professional. The report was thorough with plenty of examples and rationale for the valuations. Good service comes at a cost, but for me it was well worth it. Highly recommended!
Personal Property 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
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:
Completed sales of comparable guns from auction archives, closed online listings, and dealer records, matched on make, model, caliber, and documented condition. Appraisers set the comp set from transactions rather than asking prices, then adjust for originality, finish, and accessories, citing the specific sources in the report.
Within four months of qualification, when the estate inventory listing personal property at fair market value is filed for review, with a supplemental inventory required if more assets surface later. Fair market value means what the guns would bring on the open market, not their original purchase price, and Virginia has no estate or inheritance tax.
Well-intentioned alterations and lost documentation. Refinishing, swapped parts, and discarded provenance separate a gun from the originality premiums collectors pay, and heirs who value pieces from asking prices or family lore routinely misprice them. An appraisal documenting serials, finish, and completed comparable sales preserves the defensible number.
Yes, but only up to $3,000. Virginia Code § 34-26 exempts firearms not exceeding $3,000 in total value from creditor process, separate from the homestead and household exemptions. Because the protection is a dollar band rather than a gun count, an appraisal taken piece by piece determines which guns fit inside the exemption and which are exposed.
Not for the charge. Virginia's larceny statutes make theft of any firearm grand larceny regardless of the gun's dollar value, even though other goods must reach $1,000. The state treats even budget-grade firearms as high-consequence property, which is why insurers and courts expect item-level documentation of a collection rather than a lump-sum estimate.
