Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Tuner-Technicians Forum Are pianos decreasing in value? (piano burning)

It seems that piano prices in general are decreasing for used pianos. Recently some local folks had a "biggest burn party"
and the winner was someone who burned their piano. Also we have had several calls about abandoned pianos being given away.

I could venture a wild guess that they are decreased in value AFTER being burned!

The US economy has been hovering about the edge of disinflationary slope for several years now. Disinflation is when most people expect prices to go down in the future so the incentive to defer purchases increases which fuels more downward price pressures.

The supply of passable pianos from Asia and the fact that for many keyboard students a digital piano is the entry level reduces demand for used pianos. New pianos have shown very little disinflationary pricing because demand is growing in developing economies.

Burning a piano will make some nasty smoke from the finishing materials. I don't recommend it-too much pollution.

I agree with Ed. The economy is not helping. If you factor in the addition of all the newly manufactured instruments popping up at dealers each year and the fact that most digital pianos can run circles around the average spinet (and the best ones can match the average good-quality upright) then it's not surprising at all. Our market is over saturated.

Yesterday, I condemned another piano to the dump. It was a Wurlitzer spinet, 1/2 step flat in some places, heavily grooved hammers, loose and broken action parts on a good half of the keys, etc. A4 didn't even work. I have no qualms about tuning spinets because the checks cash the same, but only if they're in reasonable condition; if it costs several hundred dollars to get a piano like this back in working condition before I even tune it, that's where I draw the line. I wish more technicians would take this stand more often, because I think that with all the other options available today, fixing these basket cases up is not in the client's best interest, or the piano tuner's, or the piano industry in general.

The more deadwood that is cleared out, the better it will be for the industry. Way back in the 1890s, I believe, some major piano retailers held a "square piano burning". The idea was 1) to demonstrate that they really weren't worth much as musical instruments and 2) to remove them from circulation so that they wouldn't be a drag on the market.

Back in the '60s, my father had a small retail operation in addition to his tuning business. He had the same idea: He would allow $25 for any old upright as a trade. After delivering the new piano, we would load the old beater upright and take it straight to the city dump (what they had before landfill days).

It was great fun for me as a teenager . . . if we got it off the trailer just right at the end of the hill where the dump was, it would go down end over end with parts coming off left and right and making a wonderful noise as it travelled to the bottom of the ravine.

But Daddy's idea was not to provide entertainment for me but simply to take the old out of the market so there would be room for the new.

Well the economy has taught some people to be a little more thrifty and not just go drop 6K on a new piano. I don't know many people around here that can get financed on new. Self employed Musicians don't really exist in the loan making world as does any self employed person these days.

What is really funny is you can watch lets say 10 piano tuners. They wont recommend taking that worn out 8 foot Steinway Grand to the Dump or recommend torching it. Doesn't matter how old it is. What you will get are the 1-888 gotta have it now brokers calling you endlessly or climbing over your security fencing to try to get better glimses.

It's okay to have buildings full of those but if you have lets say 200 Baldwin Hamilton Studios then you are seeding the market and causing havock. The state of TN is just one state trying to eliminate used piano sales and sales of other used items as well. Should be a great court battle.

It has become more of a class war than who can really afford what. Plus there are plenty of other uses for old uprights other than fire. We delaminate them in De-Lam tanks for the wood and hardware. Pretty difficult today to go out and buy a Non Chinese 100 year old 5/4 thickness furniture grade Oak board or extinct wood for that matter.

J C
Nashville Piano Rescue
www.NashvillePianoRescue.com
Since 1918
Lascassas TN

Greetings,
Equipment has a service life, pianos are no exception. The Steinways are still marketable because of their name, but others are not. There are numerous sad events I have seen where a family has spent the budget on a piano that can't be tuned and whose action is totally worn. This is usually involving an old upright made prior to 1940. Many of these fine old examples of woodworking should be burned before they are used to swindle other naive customers.
They were not made with a 100 year lifespan in mind.
Regards,

It always amazes me how frequently I receive a call from someone that says "I was recently given a piano for FREE!!!!!" They are ecstatic about it! FREE. They do not say that it is a GOOD piano! They don't say it is a BAD piano. The don't say that it is NOT in tune. They don't say that it sat in a barn for 650 years. They don't say that strings are broken. But, they always say, that I got it for FREEEEE!

Then, they almost always inevitably add "there are a few keys that don't play - but I think it's only a minor problem - and there are a few others that stick, and it doesn't look very good. It has lots of scratches on it. It looks like something was spilled on the keys" and the list goes on. It's the word free, that catches their eye as if it is a bargain.

Next, their question is always, "what do you think it will cost to tune and fix it?" Like I have ESP or something?

I often wonder if they aren't the same people picking up the fridge that I just sat out to the curb because it ISN'T working any longer? And, it's always picked up AT NIGHT so nobody can see them grabbing another free item! It doesn't work folks.... I've had it fixed until I was sick of fixing it, then I tossed it out.... Go and get a nice one for yourselves, you really do deserve it.

I received a call recently from a fellow who picked up and transported not one but two of those gems Jerry.

The first one had a two inch separation under the top board and the second one had tuning pins pointing at the key tops.

Neither one was brand name but I have also come across brand names such as Steinway, Heintzman, and Blüthner etc that are basket cases too. Each piano is an individual case as has to be measured on its own merits or lack thereof.

The used piano market, like any other used goods market, has a lot of frogs to kiss, but there are princes out there to find. It is the natural culling process of the marketplace. Still thousands are being caught because of that four letter word you mentioned.

There's no reason to get rid of old unplayable pianos.
They make great furniture such as tables.

It seems pretty common around here that the free pianos end up being the most expensive to get to playing condition. I actually think the question is whether pianos can have negative value, considering the cost to move and then repair.

Dan - that picture's really scary.

It's someone woman's apartment. I think she's a person who accumulates things and hides them away for future use.

I was unable to get close enough to see how well it plays.

I would think that all the clothes might have a dampening effect on the room acoustics.

A philosophy that I absolutely agree with!

My experience exactly. What I have been trying to comprehend is how people would never do this with a car:

<Customer to auto mechanic> I got a free car. It started and all the tires are still on. But it runs rough and the steering wheel doesn't turn all the way to the right but I think it's basically OK. Can you tell me how much its worth and how much it would cost to fix it?

<Mechanic> Um, what make, model and year is it?

<Customer> Well, it's blue.


What is it that causes people to completely lose their common sense with pianos in a way that they wouldn't with so many other things?

Most of these things are close to a century old. Some older. And, while some of them were designed and built reasonably well many, if not most, of them were of indifferent quality.

Given this it is always a mystery to me why we are so puzzled the some of them have actually "decreased in value."

ddf

My local landfill has 15 or more that I've deposited. They call it furniture and don't charge. Customers generally respect an honest evaluation. I have been called to "tune" a piano that I had clearly condemned weeks earlier. "They said all it needed was a good tuning. It's for my grand daughter. We saved the money and got it for only $250." I hauled it to the dump and gave them a very good deal on a used one I had.
They walk among us.

My Dad who was a high school band director back in the 60s was frequently asked about the value of an old cornet, etc., somebody found in the closet.

His advice was usually the same: do NOT throw it away, do not take it to the dump. Take it to the driveway and run over it with your car. Then discard it.

Bitter experience had taught him the junk instrument would inevitably be retrieved from the dump and would appear in his beginning band class, and he would be teaching somebody on an unplayable instrument.

Yeah Keith and even though we post this sort of thing frequently, that these pianos are JUNK and should be discarded, 100 years is old....... how frequently are we still reading, several times a day STILL about people wanting advice about some old piece of junk yet, again.... and again, and again.... Either they aren't listening, aren't reading or they won't believe US. I guess?

I like that Tim R. Run it over then bring it to the dump! haha. I used to smash the crap out of them, return the cast iron for $30 or so 30 years ago and trash the rest of it. That was fun too!