Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Where did you buy your DP - dealer (=offline) or online

Hi everyone,
I was wondering where to buy a digital piano…
Once I have decided on a model - do I need to buy it at dealer / shop or can I order it online?
Where did you get your digital piano?
Thanks for your answers!
Andrew

My P250, CP300, CP5, and N3 were all bought in a brick and mortar store.

I think the last time I bought a keyboard mail order was my Roland A80 from probably close to 30 years ago.

There are advantages buying from a store especially a store close by where you've developed a relationship.

Kraft music, I believe. And I bought my previous piano there too, back in 2001. It's cheaper and more convenient, and often there isn't a good brick-and-mortar store close by.

Of course, a large number of models can't be had online; it only works if you want a stage piano, basically.

I bought my Kawai EP3 from Kraft music mainly because Kawai dealers and many Kawai models are hard to come by. I just bought a Kawai CA65 brink and mortar because the CA65 and most competitors in it's class are relatively easy to come by and are only sold thru dealers.

Bought my CA63 from a private party. Sold that and bought my CA93 from a great out of town Dealer ...

I bought from a piano dealer. (Clavinovas are not available at music stores, nor online.)

I bought my Kawai ES6 at a local dealer because they offer free adult lessons, plus they discounted the price and included a nice double-X stand. Resulting price difference to the EP3 online was now only about $300. ES6 not offered online, and EP3 not offered at the local dealer.

The last in-stock DP I bought from a "local" dealer was an RD-300SX, about 5 years ago (and 120 miles away). I recently ordered a NUMA Piano from our nearby Guitar Center, but they had to have it shipped from their main warehouse, so that was just like buying online; (their in-store stock of keyboards is tragically out-of-date or ultra low-end). The rest have come direct from online stores (Kraft, Sweetwater, Musician's Friend, Nova Musik, The MIDI Store, etc.) due to the particular model's unavailability in local stores.

Interesting Thanks for your answers Do you think most DP are sold by a dealer/brick-and-mortar store or online?

I love to weigh in on this question. I bought from myself. I have had a used upright, new upright, and now slightly used Roland. I was familiar with the model of used upright but not the individual piano. I selected my new upright, and I thought a very long time about digital consoles before getting my own FP-7F.

If Mac or dewster ever make stats from this thread, maybe I'll constitute the "other" category.

Almost exclusively Sweetwater.com due to interest free finance deals and free shipping. Also due to the fact for me to find a music store with anything other than sub $1k guitars and / or low end yamaha and privia px-130's, I would have to drive quite far to Washington DC. About 3 1/2 - 6 hours depending on traffic!
Richmond an hour away has a Guitar Center and Sam Ash but they never carry anything I want.

I have bought 7 keyboards in the last 25 years. I always buy at the brick and mortar store because when I find a keyboard I really like, I get so excited that I can't wait to get it mail order. I find that the actual stores will often give great deals such that I wouldn't think of buying online.

I have had my best luck at Sam Ash (we have several where I live) and so I have bought 6 from there starting in 1987. I have purchased one keyboard from Guitar Center (they also gave me a good deal). As long as the local stores keep the keyboards on display and have them in stock, I will continue to buy from them.

It really depends at what price point you look at. Sweetwater, kraft music, musician friend etc go to a certain level. The cutoff is different for stage DP's and home models. DP's with a more tradition piano-like cabinets are more likely to be sold thru Brick and Mortar piano dealers. My experience with Kawai is that models such as the EP3 & MP6 which are essentially keyboards and the lower end piano-like CE220 are readily available at great prices thru online dealers. Above that it's B&M dealers only. Then manufacturer selection, side by side comparison, models in stock & premium price becomes more of an issue.

On the other hand whats better than a room full of great pianos to play with for a little while?

And what do you guys think about buying stagepianos at retail stores like Best Buy or Costco? Do you think that there are a lot of beginners who just buy a low-end DP at those retail stores? I mean the retail stores are able to offer quite better deals than just a typical B&M dealers...?

... a local dealer with a large online shop

As the dealer's prices are the same in the shop and online, and shipping is included online, you always can get a deal there by pointing this out (if I buy local he saves the shipping costs)...

I don't necessarily think that the price is any better at the retailers that you mentioned than say guitar center or the buying online as Mauras has stated. I certainly would not rule out any way to get the model you want and the price you want to pay. The big box stores you mentioned are reputable and most likely would stand behind the product. The major advantage to buying at music related establishments is expertise. They are better equipped to assist the purchase and they generally "get" people who are into music because most of them are musicians to some degree.

But the bottom line is to get the instrument you want in the price ballpark you had in mind.

So do you know anything about the retail stores like Best Buy and Costco?
Are many beginner buying their stagepiano there?
Are those retail stores just offering low-end quality products?

Best Buy and costco would be only for really low end stuff- and more like arrangers than stage pianos.

EDIT: sometimes Costco has cabinet style keyboards- its hit or miss.

i bought my VP and my Yamaha P250 from guitar center. I printed out an online price from an internet retailer, and we negotiated something in between the store price and the online price. The store manager had no complaints, in fact he told me it was easy for them to do it that way. on my vpiano they threw in a couple of Rockit 8's to sweeten the deal. I like the arbitrage function of online retailers- they allow you to figure out where the market really is for a product and even out the discrepancies between competitive and less competitive locations, but i also respect the investment of an actual store where you can sit down and touch and play an instrument. To me it merits a "premium" to an online price, but at least with knowledge of the online price you can keep the bricks/mortar guys honest and get a decent deal. You also have to be empathetic with the physical store having to deal with sales tax (in the US). its a pretty big deal on a several thousand dollar purchase- in certain spots here its over 8%. Its nice to be able to buy stuff online with no sales tax, but i'm not sure its really very fair.

Always print out the online deal.

I buy cars the same way. I arbitrage the outlyers against the most convenient location, sit down with the convenient location and work out a deal. I don't try to hold them to the lowest price, but i want them to know i've done some homework.

I order cables, headphones, accessories etc from an online retailer. i don't want them to go away either.

all that being said, i'm finding there are a bunch of high dollar DP's that can't be found in the stores in my market. I have a tough time ordering something for several grand without having a clue whether or not i'll like it. I hate returning things although that seems to be a way of life for folks on this blog.

I looked at best buy this morning and they list a Yamaha P95 at the same price as just about all online and music retailers. The P95 is no slouch as far as a entry level serious student would be concerned. My guess is that an instrument of that level would not be on display and would not be in store inventory. This is where music stores are dramatically better. There simply is no substitute for getting yours hands on the instruments and getting to know them and comparing them to one another.
Much of this depends on where you are in the process and what kind of numbers you have in mind. Once you kind of narrow that down to a handful of models run it by the forum and you will get a wealth of feedback. Feedback that helped me when I was buying.

Did you have anything in particular in mind?

Andrew, I bought my Yamaha DP from Guitar Center.