FAIR Appraisal Guide
How Art Is Valued Online: Methodology and Controls
Online valuation methodology should combine item identification, market evidence, and documented assumptions into a consistent, auditable report process.
- Match the appraiser to the item category.
- Confirm the report purpose before pricing.
- Compare fee disclosure before outreach.
Reliable workflows follow a repeatable sequence from intake to final QA.
- Intake normalization and purpose validation.
- Comparable selection and context analysis.
- Conclusion drafting with assumptions and limitations.
Quality controls protect against internal inconsistency and weak support chains.
- Cross-check values, labels, and exhibit references.
- Validate intended-use language in all sections.
- Confirm final package readability for external reviewers.
- Why document assumptions explicitly? Explicit assumptions make external review faster and defensibility stronger.
- How many comparables are enough? Enough to justify conclusions clearly, with relevance prioritized over raw count.
- Should methodology differ by purpose? Core process is similar, but framing and output language should match intended use.