Why Insurance for Appraisers is a Necessity?

Appraisers are an important part of the music chain, along with recording studios, instrument sellers and even musicians. The appraisers are the ones you will contact when you are in desperate need to get your instrument replaced. They are the ones who will tell you the worth of your instrument, and what is the maximum amount you might get from selling it. They understand the instrument; have the right tools and techniques to measure the instrument’s value in the current market.

If you are an appraiser or, want to be an appraiser, the two terms that actually connect with you are validity and reliability. From the end user’s point of view, these are mere terms that you use to value the instrument. Here we will talk about how appraisers actually measure the value and why there is a need for insurance for appraisers.

What do validity and reliability of the instruments imply?

Validity is the degree to which an instrument aptly plays or sounds like it is supposed to be. Here we will see how to measure the validity of the tones, the sounds and even the bass of the instrument.

o   The content validity is the first measure, which represents how adequately & accurately the instrument plays the sound. You will obviously need to see if it can be toned and tuned to match the needs. You can always check with the subject matter expert in case you have your doubts

o   The criterion validity is somewhat related to the tuning and the scores that are related to the instrument.

Reliability is slightly different from measuring the validity of the instrument. Let’s dig deeper into what this really means.

o   There is a scale to which every music instrument is measured. There are standards that these instruments need to adhere to. This is where you will need to check for internal consistency reliability of your music instrument. You will need to check if every aspect of the instrument meets the standard scale determined by some institute. There is the difficulty level of the instrument, size etc. that comes into question at this point

o   You need to check for consistency within the different scores determined for the same instrument. This includes taking up several tests for the same instrument, and determining if the results are consistent. If there is too much of variation, the instrument probably requires a check and is not too reliable

o   Finally, the tuning and toning of the instrument needs to be reliable. It should not take too much of effort to tune, and when tuned, it should not affect the instrument’s capability in any way. The reliability in terms of tuning is very important from selling perspective.

When you interact with an appraiser, you will notice that they check the combination of the two before mentioning the actual value of the instrument. This entire process takes a considerable amount of time, which is why most people leave the instruments with the appraisers.

As the appraiser has to handle these instruments at the store, it is important that they invest in the insurance for appraisers. It will protect their store, the instruments people leave behind as well as their best interests.