When it comes to purchasing a piano for your family, knowing when and where to buy a piano can save you big dollars due to subtle dynamics in the piano business. In this article, I'm going to share some of the secrets about piano shopping that I learned during my years as a professional piano salesperson. I'm retired from the business now, so I have a license to blab industry secrets. If you're in the market for a piano, don't lose out by choosing the wrong place and time to buy!
Most people come into the possession of a piano in one of three ways:
1. Inherit a family heirloom (grandma's piano).
2. Purchase from a private party.
3. Purchase from piano dealer.
Acquisition 1: If you've been willed a piano owned by a family member, the main thing you'll need to consider is how to get it transported safely to your home. If the move is cross-country, the cost of getting it from one state to another can be prohibitive - often times far more than the piano is actually worth. In that situation, the sentimental value of the instrument must be taken into consideration and weighed against the costs involved.
If the instrument is a piano of little value (aside from sentiment), for example, an old spinet piano in poor condition, the decision becomes much harder because you could buy your family a really nice piano for just a little more than the cost of transportation. It's a hard decision, especially if the piano will also need lots of work to restore its playability. But, only you can determine the sentimental value in this situation.
Acquisition 2: Purchasing a piano from a private party can be a great deal or musical nightmare in disguise. The main problem with buying a piano privately is that many of these instruments have been neglected over the years and require an average of about $400 in repairs to restore them to playability. Others, especially those that are obviously way out of tune, might have more serious problems that could cost thousands of dollars to repair. Buying a used piano from any private party is risky unless you are willing to pay a reputable piano technician about $100 to inspect the potential instrument for you before you buy. I highly recommend an inspection on any piano purchased from a private party.
Acquisition 3: This brings us to pianos dealers, of which there are a variety of scenarios involved. One thing about piano dealers is that pre-owned instruments offered for sale have normally been inspected and repaired by a competent piano technician before you ever see it. And many times, preowned pianos for sale at a dealer will include a warranty of up to 10 years, bringing peace of mind to the transaction. You may invest a little more for an instrument purchased at a dealer, but it's great insurance against getting a lemon that has no musical value whatsoever - what we called PSO's in the industry - "piano-shaped-objects."
Those are the basic options involved in the acquisition of a piano, but now for the industry secrets I promised at the beginning of this article.
There are two: (1) Timing Secrets and (2) Philosophy Secrets.
(1) Timing Secrets are about when you can get the best deals from a typical piano dealer. The first thing you should know is that pianos are ALWAYS on sale. That is because there is a "Retail" price on every piano, new or used, which is NOT what the dealer actually is willing to take for the instrument. Piano prices work very much like automobile prices. They can and should be negotiated. If you walk into a piano store and pay the price listed on the piano - you're paying too much!
New instruments can normally be purchased at 20% to 25% BELOW the manufacturers suggested retail price shown on the piano. And if the dealer shows both the retail price and a "Sale" price on the piano, even the "Sale" price is still negotiable!
Used piano prices are normally closer to reality, but most of the time, even these prices have room built in for negotiation. So, by all means, do negotiate.
(2) Philosophy Secrets are something new that is happening in the piano business. Most piano stores, especially the big flashy stores in a fancy environment have a huge overhead that must be met every month. Consequently, there is a lot of pressure put on commission salespeople to sell, sell, sell. They will do everything they can to convince you to buy right now - even if you are not quite ready to make that decision.
However, a new breed of piano store is evolving where there is never any pressure to purchase. Instead, piano shoppers have the option to take a piano home with them and try it out for three, six, nine or twelve months before they make a purchase decision. Rather than writing a check for thousands of dollars, people who shop at these new breed piano stores typically walk out investing less than $150 total, including the delivery of the instrument to their home for the trial period, and then a small monthly "play-period" payment each month during the trial.
An arrangement like this provides a number of benefits. Foremost is the pressure-free environment which allows a family to try a piano before buying where 100% of their trial period payments are applicable to the purchase of the instrument (or any other instrument) if they do decide to buy at the end of the trial. Or, at the end of the trial, they can choose to convert the trial into a month-to-month piano rental at the same monthly rate. Or, they can simply return the piano and walk away.
This new philosophy in piano sales isn't available everywhere. The costs involved in running a traditional piano store make it hard for most dealers to adapt, so it takes a very special situation for a dealer to be able to offer these kind of terms. An example of this kind of store that I'm familiar with is a company called "My First Piano" in the Phoenix, Arizona area. In addition to their retail location in Mesa, AZ, they list all of their pianos online with prices and terms clearly shown to take much of the guesswork out of piano shopping,
Conclusions: If you shop carefully, there are good deals to be had any time of year on both new and used pianos. And if you aren't ready to purchase yet, look for a dealer who offers some kind of trial plan or piano rental program with liberal purchase credits and zero sales pressure. May the music be with you!
Author Resource:
Richard Bristol is a retired piano professional who enjoys helping people with their piano needs. For additional information about piano sources, piano teachers and an example of how a new breed of piano store operates, check out Phoenix Piano .
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.look4articles.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.look4articles.com/images/rss.jpg "XML Feed For RSS")