This is by far the quickest way to sell a piano. If it’s anything else, it’s probably only worth it’s scrap value. To sum up if it’s a valuable brand, or has been built within the last 40 years, it’s probably worth selling. Don’t even bother your grandma’s old upright may have a lot of sentimental value, but in reality, it’s worth almost zero cash value and you’re better off using it as firewood rather than trying to sell it to a dealer or on eBay. Pianos are not valuable as furniture, and the vast majority of pianos that have made it to 100+ are well beyond their intended service lives, have numerous technical and mechanical problems and will cost more to repair than the piano is worth. A piano is only worth the musical experience it can give to the player. Unfortunately, I see a lot of people trying to flog 100 year old pianos for significantly more than they are worth because they believe that old = vintage, and vintage = valuable. One thing that’s very important to point out here, because a lot of people get this wrong just because your piano is old, does not mean it is valuable. This is similar to how it works with almost everything else if I buy a piece of solid oak furniture, I am going to be able to sell it on for much closer than what I paid for it than if I had bought something from IKEA made out of particleboard. However, if you buy a cheap brand such as Pearl River or Young Chang, you’re likely to receive a much lower sum in return for selling your piano. If you buy a new Yamaha U1 today, chances are you will be able to sell it on for a large percentage of its’ purchase price in ten years. If you've got something like Wurlitzer or Baldwin, it's probably not going to be worth much, if anything.Īnother example of this is among upright pianos.
The exceptions, as I mentioned, are highly sought after, extremely valuable brands such as Steinway, and they appreciate in value for reasons of brand prestige and heritage. And the older a piano is, it stands to reason that the less use you will get out of it before it’s beyond its’ useful life and needs to be replaced. The reason for this is that pianos contain a lot of moving parts, which wear out over time. Other pianos may hold their value, but they are unlikely to increase in value as they get older. It’s extremely unlikely that anything else will appreciate in value. And to be honest, this only really applies if you are buying a new piano from a prestigious brand, such as Steinway, Fazioli or Bosendorfer. I’d say that if you buy a new piano today, there’s probably a 10% chance it will increase in value. However, if your piano was built within the last forty years, or if it’s a well known brand such as Yamaha, Kawai or Bechstein, it will almost certainly be worth something. Of course, if your piano is absolutely beyond repair, then there’s very little chance you’ll be able to pass it on to someone else and it might be better off heading to the dump. Pianos are not designed to just be thrown away you can get decades of use out of a digital or acoustic piano if you treat it right. But what are the advantages and disadvantages of selling a piano in this way? Selling to a dealer is easier and quicker, however. What you decide is up to you, however you’re likely to get more money for it if you sell it privately. Ultimately, you have two options you either sell privately, or sell to a dealer, who will then do any work the piano requires and sell it on themselves. Fortunately, sites like mine are here to help. Whatever the reason, selling a piano is a lot like selling a car it can be a lot of trouble. Perhaps you’re downsizing and you need to get rid of your beloved old grand piano in favour of a brand new digital piano.
Perhaps you’ve slaved away at your trusty old digital piano for several years, and now it’s time to upgrade to a shiny new upright or grand piano. Chances are, even if you don’t want to quit the piano, you’re going to end up needing to sell a piano at some point or another.
While this blog is mainly about learning how to play, maintain and learn the piano, this topic is worth talking about.