InstAppraisal combines cutting-edge AI technology with 25+ years of real appraisal history to deliver valuations grounded in actual expertise — not internet guesswork. Our AI doesn't just analyze your item; it references real appraisals of similar pieces from our archive.
⚠️ Why Generic AI Appraisals Fall Short
Most AI appraisal tools rely on general training data scraped from the internet — auction listings, Wikipedia articles, and generic descriptions. They've never seen a real appraisal. They don't know what experts actually say about specific items. The result? Valuations that sound plausible but lack the nuance that comes from decades of hands-on expertise.
✨ The InstAppraisal Difference: Archive-Informed AI
Since 1999, InstAppraisal has collected over 85,000 real appraisals from collectors, experts, and enthusiasts. When you submit an item, our AI doesn't guess — it searches this archive, finds similar items, and uses those actual appraisals as reference material. This technology is called Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), and it's what makes our valuations uniquely grounded in real expertise.
🔄 How RAG Works for Your Appraisal
When you submit an item, here's what happens behind the scenes:
What Powers Our AI:
Expert Valuations
Price ranges and reasoning from professional appraisers in our archive
Semantic Matching
AI finds similar items based on meaning, not just keywords
Authentication Notes
Historical guidance on reproductions, fakes, and genuine pieces
Real Price Data
Actual valuations from 25+ years of appraisals
Category Expertise
Specialized knowledge across antiques, art & collectibles
Contextual Learning
Each appraisal benefits from thousands of similar items
Upload Photos
Submit clear photos and describe your item
Archive Search
AI semantically searches 85,000+ appraisals for similar items
Context Retrieval
Real appraisals of similar pieces are provided to the AI as reference
Informed Analysis
AI generates your valuation grounded in actual expert opinions
🔬 Behind the Technology
Our RAG-powered system ensures every appraisal is informed by real historical data:
✓ What You Get in Every Appraisal
- ✓Archive-Informed AI Badge — Confirming historical data was used in your appraisal
- ✓Similar Items Referenced — See how many archive matches informed your valuation
- ✓Estimated Value Range — Low to high price estimates based on real data
- ✓Item Identification — Type, era, maker, and origin
- ✓Condition Assessment — Evaluation informed by expert standards
- ✓Historical Context — Background and provenance notes
- ✓Confidence Indicator — How well your item matched archive records
🎯 Ready to Get Your Free Appraisal?
Experience AI appraisals powered by 25+ years of real expertise.
Get Your Free Appraisal →Frequently Asked Questions
RAG is an AI technique where the system retrieves relevant information from a knowledge base before generating a response. Instead of relying only on its training data, our AI searches our archive of 85,000+ real appraisals and uses matching items as context. This grounds every valuation in actual expert opinions rather than general knowledge.
When you submit an item, our system converts your photos and description into a "semantic embedding" — a mathematical representation of meaning. It then searches our entire archive for items with similar embeddings, finding the most relevant matches even if they use different words. This is more powerful than simple keyword search.
No. AI-generated appraisals are for informational purposes only and should not be used for insurance, legal, tax, or estate purposes. For official documentation, we recommend our Expert Review service or consultation with a certified appraiser.
Our RAG-powered AI provides estimated value ranges based on real historical appraisals and market analysis. Accuracy improves when similar items exist in our archive. We indicate confidence levels so you know how well your item matched our records.
For unusual items, our archive may have fewer direct matches. In these cases, the AI will use the closest related items for context and indicate lower confidence. We recommend human expert review for rare or unique pieces.
Most AI tools use only their general training data — they've never seen real appraisals. InstAppraisal's RAG system actively retrieves relevant appraisals from our proprietary archive of 85,000+ items and provides them directly to the AI as reference material. This makes our valuations uniquely grounded in actual expert knowledge.
Our AI can appraise antiques, fine art, jewelry, coins, collectibles, vintage furniture, pottery, glassware, books, memorabilia, toys, dolls, clocks, and much more. The more similar items in our 25+ year archive, the better the results.