CHAPTER 10
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How To Sell Your Piano
Saying Goodbye
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As you prepare to sell your piano, put yourself in the shoes of prospective buyers. They will have the same thoughts and concerns you had when you were buying. Make sure your piano is in the best possible condition and that you are ready to answer questions and provide information. This will significantly improve your chance of closing a deal.
Keep in mind, the market is huge and therefore, so is the competition. Your sentimental value for the piano creates a natural tendency for you to consider it worth more than what a buyer will. You may have to let some of those feelings go in order to make the sale.
Making Preperations
If you’ve ever sold a car direct to consumers, you know there are common questions asked and certain practices that make things go smoother. First is the condition of the vehicle. Obviously, you’re going to clean it inside and out. And you’ll make sure it’s in the best mechanical shape as possible. Perhaps a tune-up, new brakes and new tires. This usually means taking it to professional auto technicians for needed repairs and to give it a clean bill of health.
Do the same with your piano. Let a piano technician tune it and make other repairs and adjustments before you put it on the market. And present his/her written evaluation to potential buyers. This establishes an important sense of trust along with objective criteria to help in negotiations.
Be ready to provide the following information:
The serial number will actually provide the year it was built, but save everyone the trouble of investigating. And if you have records on what’s been done to the instrument, keep them available.
How to Price it
Establishing the selling price for a used piano is a challenge and more art than science. Probably the closest thing to the automotive blue book is Larry Fine’s Piano Book and his Annual Supplement to the Piano Book. These helpful resources go into great detail and provide an exhaustive list of piano brands, models and sizes along with price ranges. They’ll give you an idea of where your instrument fits in the market.
Also, when the piano technician tunes and repairs your instrument, ask him for his thoughts on pricing. Then call area dealers and check online for prices of instruments similar to yours. The one thing to keep in mind: If you sell through the Internet, you will probably get less for your piano simply because you’re competing in a broader market. You can expect more when selling locally, but there are fewer potential buyers. Ultimately, a fair price comes down to what you and the buyer both feel is a fair deal.
Feel free to send us the above information with pictures and we can help to assess your piano’s value.
Where to Sell
Online
The Internet is full of opportunities to buy and sell pianos. But again, expect to sell for less than what you might get locally because the competition gives buyers the advantage. There are several good sites for online selling. You may find others, but the ones we most commonly recommend include:
http://www.ebay.com
http://www.craigslist.org
http://www.pianoworld.com/exchange.htm
http://www.pianomart.com
Take pictures of the inside and the outside of the piano to post online. And have all of the information discussed above ready for when people contact you. Several online dealers also offer brokering services and will sell your piano on commission. This may be an option for you to consider.
Locally
Selling over the Internet has several advantages, but there are disadvantages too. One is trust. What can you really tell by looking at a picture on the computer and can you really believe what someone tells you on the phone or in an e-mail? And if the product that arrives at your door is not what you expected, what then?
For these reasons, there will always be a local market. Some people won’t buy a piano unless they can see, hear and play it for themselves. They want to look you in the eye during the negotiation and live within a reasonable distance in case there’s a problem.
The classified section of your daily newspaper or and other local publications are good places to start for advertising. If you live near a major city, you can also try selling it their major newspaper. ou can also post on bulletin boards at many stores and other public locations. Local piano dealers may also broker the instrument for you. You give up profit in the way of commission, but you save yourself the extra work and expense of doing it yourself.
Who's in Charge of Moving?
Be sure there’s a clear understanding on who is responsible for moving the instrument after the sale. It might present a problem if you both assume the other is handling it. We recommend hiring professional movers. They carry insurance and have the right equipment and experience to ensure a safe delivery.
Feel free to contact us with any other questions. We’ll do our best to give you advice from our experience.
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