Appraising is worthless.

[Jeremiah]

I have use for it in SMC-> UD dives where every piece of improvement is useful, it's not huge but better than woodcraft, bridgebuilding, haggle (yes this can be useful but I never use it), Survival, Metallurgy and Law (yes this can supposedly have some value for non wiki users).
On a similar level to fletchery which can be useful in early game when ammo can be scarce, well maybe goblin camp sort of made the skill a bit redundant with all the rock piles.

I use haggle, but only when it is at a high skill level, as failing raises cost. I also use bridge-building, when I encounter early game water without the swimming skill. Early game I am still keeping my potions of carrot juice to improve Pe.