I feel like I have let some instruments go really cheaply compared to what I could have got for them, because having owned them for awhile I was more conscious of the flaws than how rare and desirable they were. Most recently my 1970 Tele Thinline. (Don't ask the price, I'm still mad at myself. But I needed the four hundred bucks...and I got it damn quickly. Could have had five just as quickly. To get the thousand to fifteen hundred that it might have fetched eventually, I'd have had to wait and spend at least a couple hundred on repairs. So I don't blame anyone but me.)

If an antique store or other commercial establishment lets something go real cheap, that's too bad for them not knowing their business--them's the breaks. I have found most antique stores overprice unplayable instruments they don't know anything about. But if you want to sell something you own, it's worth whatever you can get for it when you need to sell it--and anyone with half a brain knows to get more than one opinion (and at least one from a knowledgeable disinterested party) of something's worth. "Assessed value" is not very closely related to what you'll actually get for something unless its a seller's market. Plus, something you get from someone that doesn't know much about it usually needs some repairs which they don't care to pay for, and comes with no warranty to the buyer.

What's the Latin words for "seller beware"?

...but I am not advocating taking advantage of widows and orphans who need the money.

Willie-O