Be particularly wary of anyone offering to buy your piano without seeing and playing it.
![]() You will need to scroll down after clicking the Search button to see the results. To See ALL the Ads, simply click the Search button without filling in anything else. Or check with these Piano Dealers or Piano Restoration Houses. One last comment: you say the piano is in excellent condition how do you know Niles Duncan Piano rebuilder, Pasadena, CA. While the main points are still valid some of the prices will have changed. Piano prices vary greatly depending on the locale and the particular situation.The value of a piano also depends very much on how knowledgeable the seller and potential buyers are. For every piano, there is what I would call an informed value and an ignorant value. The informed value takes into account the technical quality and condition of the piano, whereas the ignorant value does not, being based primarily on how the piano case looks (if even that). Unfortunately, the ignorant value is more often than not what the piano actually sells for. If the piano needs considerable repair, encourage the technician to tell you this in front of the seller, as it will better your bargaining position. Even where the seller knows the informed value of the instrument, the asking price is usually set high in the expectation of bargaining, and you can generally expect to agree at a price of from 10 to 30 percent less. Twenty-five technicians returned a questionnaire in which they listed the average low and average high selling prices (not asking prices) in their area for the pianos described here. The pianos were said to be in salable condition, and, unless otherwise noted, were for sale by a private owner, were not rebuilt, and were not Steinways. This list was compiled in 1986 for the first edition and has not been updated, however it should still be a good general guide. Unlike say, a Chippendale writing desk or Tiffany lamp, an old piano is usually just that, an old piano. While restoring a fine piece of furniture usually involves a craftsman restoring the finish, this would only be the starting point with a piano. The piano is a complicated mechanical marvel involving thousands of moving parts, all of which are subject to wear and deterioration. Restoring these many parts to their original condition is a major undertaking for a skilled piano technician, requiring many, many hours of labor. ![]() I bought it at the Salvation Army for fifty dollars.Should I spend more and get it restored Thanks. As it stands the piano is probably worth between 0 and 500 and all components have considerable wear. ![]() If the other action parts such as hammer butts, shanks, and whippens are in fairly reasonable condition and not becoming brittle with age thats the minimum to get you a musical instrument that will probably sound very good and play decently.Because of the wear thats certain to exist in the other action parts it wont be a piano that can be perfectly regulated or will feel and play like a new piano. If you had to sell it with some effort you might be able to get 1500 for it. If you went the whole distance and had the action fully rebuilt with all new parts you would probably end up spending about twice the previous estimate. Then if you want add in about 1800 to get the case refinished. After doing all that if you had to sell the piano you would never get anywhere near what you put into it out of it. That might give you some idea why old uprights such as this almost never get rebuilt.
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