The Vancouver Sun is reporting on a gift to the Richmond Public Library, Vancouver, BC of over 45,000 books with an appraised value of $1.2 million. The appraiser did not state how he arrived at his value conclusions, which is now causing many to question the validity of the report.
Thanks to Xilliary Twill of Art Asset Management Group for sending the link to the article. It is a very interesting read.
The Vancouver Sun reports
Source: The Vancouver Sun
(Exactly how much Lee paid for these books, we don't know. I was unable to interview him for this story. He splits his time between Hong Kong and Richmond, and the library declined to provide any contact information or forward my request for an interview.) For tax purposes, the latest donation was split into two parts, so that Lee donated 28,730 books and his wife 18,000. Tokerud provided an appraisal for each part.
His appraisal of Lee's books is contained in a single-page letter. It describes the subject matter of the books (mainly liberal arts), their format (60 per cent hardcover, 40 per cent paperback), their age (most published within the last 35 years) and their condition (very good or new).
He then estimates the fair market value - defined as the highest price a buyer would pay in an open and competitive market - at $689,000.
He does the same thing for Grace's portion - once again in a single-page letter - and arrives at a value of $505,000. In each case, Tokerud provides no indication how he arrived at his valuations.
In a single-page "appendix," he says the two collections "compare favourably with some of the largest and best contemporary book collections I have ever encountered," but he does not identify any of those other collections.
He also says he has "never encountered such a large and comprehensive 'contemporary' library, let alone in the Chinese language," but he does not discuss the value implications of placing such a large quantity of books on the market.
He further states "it would be nearly impossible to replace these book collections as many of the books are now out of print and completely unavailable on the market," but he doesn't attempt to assess the potential impact of their unavailability on market demand. (Lots of books are both out of print and out of demand.)
Neither appraisal provides any information on his methodology. There are no comparative sales figures and no indication of what assumptions he made in arriving at his valuations.
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