Bonsai - Appraisal Help

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Hi. My grandma recently passed away and she had (4) bonsai trees I'm looking to sell from her collection. Would know a fair value of these bonsai? I attached a couple videos. I have a couple buyers interested but this was my grandma's passion so I'm not sure what fair value would be? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for the time. - Grant
 

AaronThomas

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Hmmmmm.... First impressions..... 🤔
Now I really wana see um!
 

Mayank

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Hi. My grandma recently passed away and she had (4) bonsai trees I'm looking to sell from her collection. Would know a fair value of these bonsai? I attached a couple videos. I have a couple buyers interested but this was my grandma's passion so I'm not sure what fair value would be? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for the time. - Grant
Can't see anything. Where are you located?
 

vp999

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I think you should donate first 2 trees to a local Bonsai Museum since they're world class, the last 2 trees I would put the price starting at about a mil each.
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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Value of bonsai is conditional on current health of the trees. Dry them out once, and many bonsai trees will simply die. They are only worth something if in good health. So while you are trying to "optimize price", every day you are risking the health of the trees, and their total value could drop to zero.

The pots might be worth something. Try posting simple jpeg photos. Also take photos of the underside of the pots to reveal any "chop marks" or signatures of the makers of the pots. Your videos simply did not post.
 
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Good luck with the sell - pricing out bonsai is nebulous at best. Also can't see the videos.
 

sdavis

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They are not worthless. Contacting a local bonsai club where you live is a first step. They probably have not had much recent care and pruning. I'm thinking anywhere from $50 to $200.
 

Bonsai Nut

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First one is a Japanese white pine. Second two are Japanese black pines. Last one is a juniper of some type (San Jose?).

The first three are in landscape pots. Last one is in a bonsai pot, but it appears to be an inexpensive Chinese pot (worth perhaps $30-$40). A close-up of the pot would help ID it.

All four trees are in desperate need of care. In the case of the first three trees (the pines) even missing one season may cause problems. From the looks of the trees, it appears they have not been maintained for over a year.

If I had to rank order them in terms of value, I would say tree #3, tree #2, tree #1, tree #4 (from highest to lowest) but that is very subjective, given the video and the inability to view them in person. You might consider placing them next to each other and taking a photo with a couple of soda cans to help show relative scale.

You will get the highest value for them at a bonsai auction at a convention or show, or alternatively, at a bonsai club event. That will give you the best estimate of their "true" value. You will never know if you priced them right if you sell to a single buyer... maybe yes, maybe no. Auctions let the market determine the value. They are relatively big trees so I doubt you can ship them. If you DO decide to ship them, take them out of the pots first so you don't have to pay to ship the pots. It will be tough to get top dollar for them given their current condition. However, we're talking $ hundreds, and not $ thousands :)

Alternatively, you can find a GOOD bonsai nursery, and pay to have the trees worked. Repotted, pruned and wired by someone who knows what they are doing, and the trees would easily fetch 2x what they would in their current condition. These appear to be southern California trees. If so, there are some good clubs and nurseries in the area.
 
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Maloghurst

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Better pictures would help a lot. But I’m leaning toward the last tree, the juniper being the most valuable because of the size of the tree. The trunk is big and size is in proportion and looks good in the pot. Seems like a styling would greatly improve this one. Again, can’t see much without good pics.
 

sorce

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Welcome to Crazy!

I guess in today's World if you can't open and watch a video instantly it becomes ok to be a jagoff!?

Sorry bout that!

Sorce
 

Bonsai Nut

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Better pictures would help a lot. But I’m leaning toward the last tree, the juniper being the most valuable because of the size of the tree. The trunk is big and size is in proportion and looks good in the pot. Seems like a styling would greatly improve this one. Again, can’t see much without good pics.

I am basing my value on the fact that given the number of San Jose junipers in landscape in SoCal, and their ability to bud back even on old wood, we see a lot of chunky juniper pre-bonsai down here. The better nurseries graft shimpaku branches on them, because there isn't as much love for needle junipers here. However the pines have been trained for a lot of years as bonsai. Tough to tell from the video, but the white pine appears to be a graft on black pine root stock, which is the only way you will see white pine down in SoCal.
 
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