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Art valuation in Auckland and across New Zealand
Independent, research-backed valuations for insurance, estates and sale — delivered as a proper written report, for a fixed fee agreed before we start. No percentage of value, no obligation to sell.
A valuation is only useful if you can rely on it. Ours are built from real sales evidence, documented properly, and delivered with the basis of value stated in plain English — so your insurer, your solicitor or your buyer can all work from the same page.
Three different numbers, three different purposes
The single most common mistake we see is a valuation figure being used for the wrong purpose. The same painting can carry three legitimate and very different values at the same moment. Knowing which one you need is the first thing we establish.
Insurance value
Replacement cost — what it would take to source a comparable piece on the open market today, including dealer margin. Almost always the highest of the three. This is the figure your policy should be written against.
Estate & probate value
Fair market value at a fixed date, usually date of death. Used by executors and solicitors for estate administration and for dividing assets between beneficiaries. Must be defensible and evidence-based.
Market value
What the piece would realistically achieve if you sold it now, net of the costs of selling. This is the number that matters when you're deciding whether to sell, hold, or split a collection.
Insuring at market value leaves you underinsured. Settling an estate at insurance value can overstate the estate and cost beneficiaries. We tell you which basis you need before we quote.
What you actually receive
Every valuation is delivered as a structured written report — not a figure in an email. It is designed to be handed straight to an insurer, a solicitor, an accountant or a beneficiary without further explanation.
- High-resolution photography of every item, including signatures, labels, edition marks and any damage
- Full catalogue entry — artist or maker, title, date, medium, dimensions, edition number where applicable
- Condition report noting restoration, foxing, craquelure, frame condition and anything affecting value
- Provenance where it can be established, including exhibition and publication history
- Comparable sales evidence — the actual results the valuation is reasoned from, not an unsupported number
- Stated basis of value, valuation date, and the assumptions and limitations applied
- Digital archive you keep — searchable, backed up, and easy to update as the collection changes
From a single painting to an entire estate
We work across fine art and the decorative arts, and we're equally comfortable with a single inherited work as with a several-hundred-item collection that has never been recorded.
- New Zealand and international paintings — oils, acrylics, watercolours, works on paper
- Prints and editions — screenprints, lithographs, etchings, artist proofs and limited runs
- Sculpture and three-dimensional work, including outdoor and site-specific pieces
- Photography — vintage prints, editions and contemporary work
- Māori and Pacific art and taonga, handled with appropriate care and consultation
- Antiques and decorative arts — ceramics, glass, silver, furniture, Asian works of art
- Collectibles — including trading cards, coins, stamps and militaria
A straightforward five-step process
Free conversation
Tell us roughly what you have and what the valuation is for. No cost, no obligation, and often we can give you a useful steer in ten minutes.
Fixed quote
We scope the work and give you one fixed fee in writing. It doesn't move once the work begins.
On-site inspection
We come to you — Auckland or anywhere in New Zealand — photograph everything and record condition on the spot.
Research
Comparable sales, auction records, dealer evidence and provenance research, weighted to the New Zealand market.
Report delivered
A complete written valuation plus your digital archive, usually within two to three weeks depending on collection size.
We don't take a cut of what it's worth
Most valuations in New Zealand are provided free by auction houses. They are not really free — they are the front end of a sales pipeline, and the business offering the valuation earns a seller's premium of typically 15–25% if you go on to consign. That is a structural conflict, however honourable the individual valuer.
We charge a fixed fee for the valuation and nothing else. If you later decide to sell, we can help you do that directly — but the valuation stands on its own, and we have no financial reason to talk your collection up or push you toward a sale you don't want.
Questions we're asked most
How much does an art valuation cost in New Zealand?
Is a valuation the same thing as an appraisal?
Will my insurer accept your valuation?
How often should art be revalued?
Do you value the work of New Zealand artists specifically?
Can you value from photographs?
What if a piece turns out to be worth very little?
Do you value things other than paintings?
Other ways we can help
Find out what your art is actually worth
Whether it's one inherited painting or a collection that has never been recorded, the first conversation is free and there's no obligation to go further.
Or reach us directly at artservices.nz@gmail.com · 027 489 7801