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DEFENSIBLE, USPAP-COMPLIANT FIREARMS APPRAISAL REPORTS — QUALIFIED FOR THE IRS, INSURANCE AGENCIES, LENDERS, 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 provides firearms appraisals for estate tax reporting, insurance coverage and claims, charitable donations, divorce proceedings, probate, and private sale or purchase, as a specialized subset of professional personal property valuations.
What drives value
Firearms present unique valuation challenges because manufacturer, model, caliber, condition, provenance, and legal transferability all interact, and assessing them accurately takes specialized appraiser knowledge.
Purposes we serve
We prepare firearms appraisals for legal, tax, and transactional purposes:
How we work
Most firearms appraisals are completed from detailed photographs and documentation you send. Onsite work is available and is often the right call for a large collection, NFA-regulated items, or high-value antique arms. We value rather than grade or authenticate, so where a grade or an authentication is what the assignment turns on, the value works from the certificate, factory letter, or specialist opinion you hold.
We appraise a wide range of firearms and related items, from modern production guns to historically significant antiques, for estate, insurance, donation, divorce, and sale purposes.
Antique and collectible
Flintlock and percussion cap arms, handguns from Colt, Smith and Wesson, Luger, and other sought-after manufacturers, and pieces with significant decorative value:
Rifles, shotguns, surplus
Rifles in every action type, shotguns in side-by-side and over-under configurations, and military surplus with documented provenance:
Regulated and estate
Registered items, entire collections held in estates or trusts, and the period accessories that affect what a collection is worth:
AppraiseItNow serves individual collectors, hunters, sport shooters, and families managing estates, along with the attorneys, CPAs, trust officers, and insurance professionals who need credentialed firearms valuations for legal, financial, or coverage purposes.
Owners and families
Individual collectors, hunters, and sport shooters documenting what they own, and families managing an estate that includes firearms.
Advisors and insurers
Attorneys, CPAs, trust officers, insurance agents, and financial advisors who need an independent, credentialed firearms valuation for a client's legal, tax, or transactional matter.
An estate return, an insurance schedule, and a divorce settlement each need a different standard of value, and the gap between them is not small. Before we value a single firearm we confirm which one your filing, carrier, or attorney needs.
What it would cost to replace the firearm, and the accessories that go with it, with one of similar quality in the appropriate retail market inside a limited time. It carries the dealer markup and premiums a real replacement would carry, which is why it sits above the figure a tax filing uses.
Written on this basis for:
The price a willing buyer and a willing seller would agree on in the open market, with neither under compulsion to act and both reasonably informed. This is the standard the IRS works from, and the one an estate or a donation is measured against.
Written on this basis for:
What a rapid sale would actually net once commissions and fees come out, commonly 25 to 30 percent below the sale price itself. It answers what the collection converts to now, not what it is worth to a patient seller.
Written on this basis for:
Bars are illustrative and imply no figure. The spread between the three standards on a given collection is a finding of the assignment.
The same gun, valued on the same day by the same appraiser, carries a different number under each standard. A report that mixes them is not usable for any of the three, so we confirm the intended use before anything is valued and the report names and defines the standard that governs on its first page.
Condition & originality
Two guns of the same make, model, and caliber can be worth large multiples of each other. A fully original, correctly marked example is one thing; a similar-looking piece with mismatched numbers, added parts, or a refinish is another, and the value has to say which one it was reached on.
These are the NRA Condition Standards the firearms market uses for modern guns; percentage of original finish is quoted alongside them, and antique and military arms carry their own conventions. They are here because a valuation is unreadable without them. Where a particular firearm falls comes from the condition documented for it, and assigning that grade is not a service we offer.
Manufacturer, the exact model designation, caliber, serial number, barrel length, action type, and finish, as documented in what you send. A misidentified model moves the value further than any other single error, which is why identification is settled first and everything downstream depends on it.
A serial number places a gun in a year and a factory configuration, and that is what narrows the comparable set from every gun of the model down to the ones that actually price it. Where the configuration is genuinely in question, a factory letter is the document that settles it.
Whether receiver, barrel, bolt, and the other numbered parts match is often the whole difference between two otherwise identical guns. The appraisal values the firearm in the configuration your documentation shows, and states which that was.
Proof marks, military acceptance stamps, factory letters, and ownership papers are what separate a documented war bring-back from the similar-looking rifle beside it. Where authenticity is the live question, the value works from the certificate or specialist opinion you hold, and the report says so.
Original bluing, case colour, or parkerizing against a later refinish is one of the sharpest distinctions in the collector market, and a refinish sharply reduces collector value even where it improves how the gun looks. The report names the finish the value was reached on.
Rifling, pitting, and whether the action functions are part of the condition a value is stated for rather than separate line items, so they belong in the description the appraisal works from.
Scope of the assignment
Condition grading and authentication are separate services with their own credentials, and neither is one we offer. What we do is value, and a value has to rest on a documented description: photographs, a grading certificate, a factory letter, a specialist opinion, or a prior appraisal. Send what you have, and the report states plainly what the conclusion rests on.
What we value from
Fair market value comes from what comparable firearms actually sold for: completed auction results, dealer transaction archives, and closed marketplace listings for the same make, model, caliber, barrel length, finish, and condition, then adjusted for condition and accessories. An asking price records what a seller hoped to get, and a collection valued off asking prices is over-insured or under-sold.
How we use the price guide
The Blue Book of Gun Values covers tens of thousands of models with condition-based pricing tables and is a reasonable place to start. Its figures can lag an active market, so we corroborate them against recent actual sales before a value is finalized rather than quoting the table as the answer.
What firearms appraisal clients say we are known for
Across 23 published firearms 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
AppraiseItNow Inc. is the best company I was lucky to find by accident. I was looking for someone to appraise cabinets for a donation to charity. I asked for multiple referrals, called multiple appraisal services, etc., and no one could help me. I found AppraiseItNow and from the moment I started working with them, they were wonderful! Joe guided me on what I needed to send him, what needed to be done and stayed in touch with me the entire time. Their customer service is OUTSTANDING and a welcome surprise in today’s world where good customer service is an anomaly! They returned an appraisal in a timely manner, it was clear, concise, cost-effective and exactly what I needed. They followed up with me multiple times to ensure that I received it and everything was OK. My CPA is also thrilled to have them as an accredited appraisal service he can use for other clients. I rarely leave reviews, but I could not pass giving them 5 stars and I’d give 10 if possible! THANK YOU JOE AND ALL AT APPRAISEITNOW!!👊🏼
Personal Property Appraisal for Charitable Donation
I've dealt with several appraisers, and this was my first time using AppraiseItNow. They were by far the best. They did a great job. Their process was honest, efficient, and very detailed. Their staff was highly credentialed, and they provided IRS-compliant guidelines in their evaluation process, which was exactly what we were looking for. Their customer service also had prompt response times and was a pleasure to work with. If I need this service again, I won't go anywhere else.
Personal Property Appraisal for Charitable Donation
We had an excellent experience working with AppraiseItNow. From start to finish, their team was professional, responsive, and incredibly thorough. They took the time to understand our specific needs and delivered a detailed and accurate appraisal that was well organized and easy to understand. Communication was clear and timely throughout the entire process. They were always available to answer our questions and provided thoughtful explanations whenever we needed more clarity. Their attention to detail and strong market knowledge gave us complete confidence in the final report. It’s clear that they take pride in their work and genuinely care about providing high-quality service. We would absolutely recommend AppraiseItNow to any business or property owner looking for a reliable and professional appraisal company. Five stars all the way.
Personal Property Appraisal for Charitable Donation
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
Real assignments, with what the collection held, the standard of value each one called for, and how the conclusion was supported.
Submit estimate or list of items for our review.
We'll share a flat fee quote for your approval.
Submit details on all of your items for our review.
We'll conduct detailed research and prepare a written USPAP-compliant report.
Delivery of your report and supporting documents (e.g., signed IRS Form 8283) by email.
Standard Fee Range
$195 – $995
Standard range for our firearms appraisals based on past projects
Two report tiers. Your intended use sets which one you need.
from $195
USPAP-compliant report for standard purposes
from $295
USPAP-compliant and IRS-qualified report for advanced purposes
Please note that the fees listed below are for informational purposes and are subject to change. Our team will review your materials and issue your quote before we get started.
1 item
$195 – $395
Single-item appraisal
10 items
$695 – $1200
Small collection pricing
50-100+ items
$1,600 – $3,500+
Discounted pricing for larger collections
Our Firearms appraisal fees are transparent, scope-based, and designed to be fully USPAP-compliant for your intended use. We don't bill by the hour and will propose a fixed fee before we start our work, so you'll know exactly what you are paying before engaging our team. Please note that the pricing outlined here is strictly for informational purposes; before issuing your quote, we will need to get a better understanding of your assets so we can properly scope the assignment.
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:
Yes, and on collectible arms the effect can be large. A period holster, the original case, a matching bayonet, or factory papers are part of what a buyer is paying for, so comparable sales are matched on accessories as well as on the gun and the value is adjusted where they are present or missing. The report says where accessories were included rather than folding them in silently.
The same way as anything else: identified precisely, then valued against completed transfers of the same registered configuration. The report records the registration category alongside the item’s identifying details. An appraisal states value only, so whether a particular transfer is lawful where you live stays a question for your dealer and the ATF rather than for the appraiser.
We agree the structure before work begins, because it depends on what the report has to support. A firearm that has to stand on its own, a scheduled piece on an insurance rider, a specific bequest, or anything of significant value, gets its own entry and its own figure. Larger collections are more often grouped by category or lot, which is what the volume pricing reflects. Tell us what the report is for and the structure follows from that.
When it is prepared to the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice by an appraiser with demonstrable firearms competence, states fair market value as its standard with the definition written out, describes the methodology used, and carries the market evidence behind each conclusion. Estate tax reporting and charitable donations both run on that basis, which is why a tax appraisal and an insurance appraisal on the same collection are not interchangeable.
A letter quoting one price guide records an opinion with nothing behind it. An appraisal names the standard of value it uses, records the condition and configuration each figure was reached on, and cites the market evidence the conclusion rests on. Informal valuations are widely treated as unreliable for insurance, legal, and tax use for exactly that reason.
