Buying a secondhand piano isn't mysterious, but it does require some careful planning if you want to save money. In this article, a retired professional piano salesperson shows you how to purchase a better quality modern piano for less money with the piano shopping tips included in this article.
Piano Sales, Schmiano Sales - When are pianos NOT on sale?
If you've been in the market for a brand-new piano for any length of time, you probably have seen the big splashy advertisements promising huge discounts on pianos from your local piano dealer. "Hurry down to the big sale and save 50% to 80% on blah, blah, blah." Piano sales ballyhoo can appear very fascinating. These flashy advertisements attempt to get people through the front door and into the showroom, but apart from that, I can tell you as a retired professional piano salesperson, ANYONE at ANY TIME can get better deals than advertised at one of these so-called "Piano Sales" if they just follow a few simple suggestions shown below.
So, let's start with the biggest offender of them all: "College Piano Sales." The premise of these events seems promising. The College or University appears to be selling their pianos to make room for new pianos. The sale is normally sponsored by a local piano dealer who has an arrangement with a major piano manufacturer. Together, they provide pianos to the school through an annual "loan program" where the school receives the use of a FEW "free" pianos for one school season. In order to qualify for this "loan" they must make their campus available for a "College Piano Sale" sometime during the school year.
Once this alliance is in place, the dealer has an "official" location to promote a very hyped-up piano sale. To "supplement" the dozen or two pianos that are actually loaned to the school, they will often truck in 100 to 150 additional pianos right off their showroom floor. Then they can spend upwards of $100,000 in advertising (more than the value of the loaned pianos) to bring people into the sale, where a gang of hot-shot piano salesmen create a "buying-frenzy" atmosphere to entice people to purchase on the spot without time to properly consider researching whether or not they are getting a good deal. The sad truth is, many times people who attend these events end up paying MORE for the piano than they would have paid if they had carefully shopped through normal channels.
Having delt with that point, here is my general advice on how to get the best piano for the lowest price:
1. Avoid hyped up sales of any kind unless you do your homework. I personally wouldn't go near one of these sales unless I had shopped ALL the piano stores in town ahead of time, found exactly the piano I wanted, and negotiated the lowest possible price using the upcoming sale as blunt instrument! Remember, it costs the piano store a ton of money to ship all these pianos to the sale, and back to the store again if they don't sell. Someone who comes into the store a week before the sale can normally negotiate a better deal than he'll get after the pianos are transported to the College. If you feel you must attend the "College Piano Sale" anyways, at least you'll go in armed with firm knowledge of what other piano deals there are in town. That way, you'll know if you are truly getting a good value.
2. Whenever shopping at a "piano sale" of any kind, keep in mind that the competition knows about these sales too. So, don't hesitate to play one dealer against another in order to negotiate the lowest price for the best possible piano.
3. If there are no piano sales going on when you are in the market for a new instrument, create your own sale. Be sure to shop at ALL the piano stores in town and select a potential piano from each location. Then return to each store and negotiate based on what you've found at the other stores. Caution: Deal with the same sales person each time. Don't try to play games like having the wife shop one day and the husband the next. What will happen is that you may end up getting two different sales people who will eventually have to split a commission. In these situations, the sales people become LESS motivated to work out a lower price for you.
4. If you can wait, shop for your piano during the off-season. That normally means the summer months when business is very slow for most dealers. A hungry salesperson is much more flexible than one who is having a great month already.
5. Always negotiate price. You wouldn't buy a new car without negotiating. Pianos are no different. With normal piano dealers, don't ever pay the asking price shown on the piano. There is always room for negotiation built into the sales price. (For an exception to this rule, see tip #6.)
6. Look for a small piano dealer with unusual flexibility built into their terms. An example of this type of dealer is "My First Piano" in the Phoenix Piano marketplace, with a store Online and physical location in Mesa, AZ. This new kind of piano store has realistic piano pricing on their instruments that is not inflated as you would expect to find at most new piano dealerships. They also offer ZERO pressure to buy because most of their pianos are available for an in-home trial period lasting for up to one year depending on the piano. There is a small monthly "Play Period" fee during the home trial, but 100% of that amount applies to the already low pricing. This type of operation is the only place I would trust for fair pricing that is fully disclosed ahead of time.
These are the best tips I know for getting a great deal on the perfect original piano. But in conclusion, there is one more piece of advice that is becoming increasingly popular where it is available.
Don't rush into buying a piano until it's the right thing for your family!
With modern piano purchase options such as those found with "My First Piano" in the Phoenix area, a family can try-out a new or high quality pre-owned piano risk free in their home and walk away from it if they decide they don't like it, or if the piano lessons don't work out. That's a much smarter option than being rushed into a hurried decision at one of those so-called "College Piano Sales."
Take your time and shop wisely. You'll be glad you did.
Author Resource:
Richard Bristol is a retired piano professional who enjoys helping people with their piano needs. For additional information about pianos, piano teachers and an example of how a new breed of piano store operates, please visit Phoenix Piano and Phoenix Piano Buyers .
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