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Pianos in Australia seem to be a lot more expensive than in the US. For example, I've heard people here talking about how a Steinway B costs US$80,000. In Australia it's more like AU$160,000. I don't suppose it's possible to buy a piano from a US dealer and have them ship it? Or are they disallowed from doing that by the manufacturers?

Now, considering used pianos, in Australia it is hard to find decent used high-end pianos. The small number of steinways and bosendorfers available for sale tend to be ancient (early 1900s for example). By comparison, websites like the US ebay are a wonderland of steinways and bosendorfers. Would it be a good idea import a used piano from the US? I understand Australia has something like a 10% import tax. And shipping would be 2k or 4k or something. But it might still be competitive given the high prices in Australia. And, I could be waiting around forever for a Steinway B or Bosendorfer 225 to be advertised for sale here. Although, there is someone selling a 12yo Steingraeber 205 on ebay at the moment, but 205cm is too short for me.

I always like out-of-the-box thinkers who consider shopping abroad, but...

I think it's been a long time since you could buy a new Steinway B for 80k.
It looks like the lowest price now (per PianoBuyer.com) is USD 114k, which is about AUD 147k.

This may be unnecessarily rigid. Is it nearby? Worth a look if it is.

Hi Sonepica! This is interesting. I remember two different people mentioning that prices were too high and selection was too small in New Zealand and were thinking of buying in Australia and shipping the piano to NZ. Some of the obstacles to purchasing in one country and importing to another is dealers in one country may not be allowed to sell to a person residing in another country and another dealers territory. Depending on how far away the piano is, testing and trying the piano can be cumbersome. Any warranty or prep issues can be a real pain with the dealer in a different country. Some people here on PW have done this successfully. If it were me, I think I would try out the Steingraeber. You might just be very impressed and could save yourself time, money, and hassle. Best Wishes in your search!

As has already been pointed out, the figure of $80,000.00US for a Steinway B is not even close to today's listed price, and as has often been stated, there is little chance for discount on Steinway's American prices.[...]


"... or something..." Have you researched how much it would actually cost for crating and shipping?


If my calculations are accurate: Steinway B = is 211 cm. The Steingraeber at 205 cm. is only 6 cms (or 2.3 in.) shorter; why is that too short if a Steinway B is a good length for you? Given the reputation of the Steingraeber piano, would it not be worth trying out?

Regards,

Those 6cm would make a noticeable difference I believe. Actually I'm not super keen on the length of the B either. I'd really prefer something more like steinway C / Yamaha C7 size (226cm/227cm). The difference in the bass between a C6 and C7 is very noticeable. I don't want to buy something I know isn't quite what I want.

I've been comparing grand piano prices a lot recently... and the only pianos that seem to represent decent value in Australia are Yamahas. Street pricing compared to pricing in Larry Fine's latest updates are well discounted for Yamaha but not for any other producer that I can see in the premium piano market (much to my shame I have not looked at Kawai pricing).

You could check pricing on a Yamaha SX7 or CF7.

Unfortunately there are not many Yamaha Concert level dealers so competition for pricing at SX or CF level is much worse than for CX. I asked for pricing for SX and it's not nearly as well discounted.

What about Shigeru Kawai? Kawai in australia much cheaper than US

I'm thinking it's better to buy a used piano, so that if I want to upgrade later to some kind of high-end piano, I don't lose any money on it. I can sell it for the same or maybe a little bit less than I paid (due to the slightly increased age). If I buy a new piano, I have to be certain that is the only piano I want for the next 30 years. Or I lose a lot of money on the new piano depreciation.

Makes sense... Theme and Variations have two interesting used pianos at the moment, a C Bechstein B210 and a Steinway C-227, which might be worth checking out.

The Steinway C is a restored 1901 model for AU$89,000. I don't want an antique... looking for something 5-20 years old and ideally it hasn't been played so much that it needed to be rebuilt... original parts and not much use is my preference.

C Bechstein is a 2007...