Across North America, most single-work written appraisals land between $250 and $800, and hourly rates for qualified appraisers run roughly $150 to $350, with published ranges mostly quoted in US dollars. In my own practice a single-work report starts at CAD $400, an Hermès piece at $300, and a collection is quoted per project after a scoping call that costs nothing. Those are the numbers. The rest of this guide explains what moves them, because the honest answer to what yours will cost is always a quote, and a quote follows the research the object demands.
How appraisal fees are structured in Canada
Two structures are standard. A flat fee prices the whole engagement in advance, which suits single works and small groups where the scope is clear from the first conversation. An hourly rate suits engagements whose scope is genuinely unknowable at the start: the forty-work estate with no paperwork, the attribution that needs correspondence with an artist’s foundation, the collection spread across three properties.
Either structure is fine. What should end the conversation is a fee calculated as a percentage of the appraised value. An appraiser paid more when the number is higher has been handed a reason to raise it, and the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice treat that arrangement as a plain independence problem. Insurers and the Canada Revenue Agency read appraisals with this in mind. My own fees are flat or hourly, quoted in writing before any work begins, and never tied to value.
What makes the fee rise or fall
The fee is mostly a research bill.
A painting by an artist with decades of auction records is quick to support. The comparable sales exist, they are indexed, and the report is confirming a pattern. A work by a living artist who has never been to auction is a different job. The evidence lives in the primary market, in gallery sales and art fair pricing, and assembling it takes correspondence and time. Much of the contemporary art I appraise, particularly by artists of the Asian diaspora, sits in this second category, which is one reason I follow that market directly as a working gallerist.
Provenance is the other variable. A work with a clean paper trail, an invoice, an exhibition history, perhaps a prior appraisal, moves quickly. A work that arrived by inheritance with no documents needs its history rebuilt before it can be valued, and rebuilding is billable time.
Purpose matters less than people expect. An insurance report states retail replacement value where an estate report states fair market value, but the research underneath is similar. What changes the work is the object, not the form.
What the fee actually buys
A written appraisal is a document, not a number. A USPAP-compliant report identifies the work, photographs it, states the value type and its definition, fixes an effective date, sets out the methodology and the comparable evidence, discloses limiting conditions, and carries the appraiser’s signature and credentials. That is the thing an underwriter or the CRA relies on.
A verbal opinion costs less and has its uses. A quick sanity check before a purchase. A first pass across an inherited group to find what deserves a full report. It is not a substitute anywhere a third party needs to rely on the number.
Do you need a full appraisal at all
Not always, and it is worth asking before you pay for one. Insurers generally want proof of value and ownership for scheduled items, and some only require formal appraisals above set thresholds; your broker can tell you where those sit. CRA guidance anticipates a professional appraisal for charitable gifts of art at $1,000 or more. Estates need fair market values at the date of death for the final return and for Ontario probate. If none of these apply to you yet, a conversation may be all you need, and the first one with me carries no charge either way.
How collections are priced
Per item, on a sliding scale. The first work in a collection carries the setup of the whole engagement and the fortieth does not, so per-item pricing falls as the count rises.