How do you set your fees?
In short: Every fee is flat or hourly and quoted in writing before work begins. Flat fees are per report, per item, per box or per collection; hourly work has a stated minimum. Fees are never a percentage of value.
There are two ways I charge, and the quote always says which one applies.
Flat fees
Most work is a flat fee for a defined unit:
- Per report: a written appraisal of a single item or a collection (collections are tiered by item count), or a donation appraisal.
- Per item or per card: the remote clinic, authentication opinions, pre-grade assessments and hub submissions.
- Per box or per case: documented breaks and reseal verification.
- Per collection: insurance documentation, with an optional yearly update.
Hourly fees
Work whose size cannot be known in advance is hourly: verbal consults (30-minute minimum), damage and loss claims (a stated minimum per claim), and expert witness or litigation support.
What never changes
The fee is never tied to what your cards are worth or to what I conclude. A card I value at twenty dollars and a card I value at twenty thousand cost the same to appraise under the same scope. Why I never charge a percentage explains why that matters.
The pricing page lists every service with its basis. Amounts are quoted per engagement for now. See why prices are not published.