Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum upcoming yamaha piano sale at costco!

For those in the Midwest: I just learned that the Costco in Bloomingdale, Illinois (just west of Chicago) is hosting a Yamaha piano "roadshow" Jan. 2-11, 2009. Weird. Does anyone know anything about the pianos sold under this kind of arrangement? We have been looking at new Yamaha U1 uprights, but they are too expensive.

These are a dealer who has an arrangement with Costco to come in and do a floor show for a cut of any sales. You ar enot necessarily buyimng from Costco, nor will you likely get any better deal than if you went to the dealership direct.

This has been discussed at length several times before on the forum. I suggest using the search function above first, then come back with any followup questions.

When I think of Costco I think of Suzuki pianos, not Yamaha.

Best regards,

Rick

COSTCO sales events are encouraged and even driven by some manufacturers. Often local dealers are given the option to do the event or the mfgr's. team comes in to do the event. A price at these events may or maynot be lower than what your local dealer may do for you. There may be other perks associated with buying locally as well.

I have seen new Porche cars sold at COSTCO. No low stooping about it. Just additional outside exposure.

When Cosco gets involved, someone else needs to be paid.

Add to this the moving charges and then deduct about 18-20% from price.

Take this price to a local dealer and he will jump to sell you same piano.

Unless his nuts,greedy or both.

In which case he's plain stupid.....

Norbert

Thanks for the insight, Marty. Many of my “piano opinions” were formed based on what I have read here on the PW forums.

Best regards,

Rick

Rick,
If Sally has a bag of red apples and all red apples have stems do all the apples in Sallys bag have stems?



Love your logic!

Mike

Some time in the last year I was in the Costco in Tigard Oregon. There was a 'piano event' going on, and I was stunned to see Boisendorfer and Estonia both displayed.
I told the rep I wasn't in any position to buy, unless he could throw the services of a divorce lawyer in as well as tuning for the first year. He laughed and said he was a piano salesman, not a home wrecker.
I think Costco has done a remarkable job making themselves a venue for a variety of different kinds of goods and services, for consumers, professionals and small businesses. The feel of the whole operation is as different from Walmart as can be.

Nice post, Seneca. Now I can associate Boisendorfer and Estonia pianos with Suzuki pianos at COSTCO. Suzuki pianos seem to be in good company at COSTCO these days. I wonder if some of the Boisendorfer, Estonia, and Yamaha quality will rub off on them.

Happy New Year!

Rick

I was at my local Piggly Wiggly and they were having a Tokai Road Show right next to the hot links and the ribs.

I agree - I like Cosco myself, they got the best German bread here in Canada....

However, in case of pianos the math would support the thesis that pianos can or at least *should be* available even cheaper directly from a dealer.

Especially concerning high end pianos where volume purchases is not an issue.

Dealer's price minus the 10% or so Cosco charges as commission.

Missed anything?

Norbert

I buy a lot from Costco, but I reckon I'll pass on Costco pianos. :rolleyes:

My local Costco had a piano sale several years ago. Mostly Yamahas and that sort of thing.

Yes. As a matter of fact you have.

1. COSTCO is running a high inventory turn, in/out business and their overhead-to-sales ratio is dramatically more favorable than that of a typical piano dealer -- even while paying their employees better wages and benefits than both Wal*Mart and the typical piano dealer; they do not need to make the same "killing" margin per unit sale to still book acceptable financial results.

2. The participating manufacturer and/or dealer can generate additional sales including impulse sales by tapping into:
- the higher floor traffic consisting of a different mix of (often high-disposable income) shoppers than may find their ways to a piano store,
- inherent trust in the COSTCO name,
- consumers' desire to "get their money's worth" from their membership fees,
- consumers' desire for superior terms and conditions such as 100% satisfaction guarantees and full return options and
- shopping experience which requires no distasteful haggling in a moldy-smelling mortuary-like showroom with some shifty guy called Larry, please, call me Larry, who has stains on his tie and something stuck between his teeth and can't seem to remember the same inflated list price of his pianos from visit to visit.

I would not hesitate to recommend someone buying a solid product such as a Yamaha U1 or U3 sight unseen from COSTCO. In fact, I can't think of a more time and energy efficient way to buy a decent piano for a young student at a decent price:

- no having to study the Byzantine workings of the US piano industry by buying a Fine book and spending evenings on self study;
- no need to visit multiple dealers who won't help you on the telephone in order to narrow your selection and try to get an honest price;
- no need for used-car-sales-lot negotiation;
- no need for the gut-wrenching decision process of first time buyers:
* should I trust this store without price tags?
* should I trust this piano without a history or a known brand name?
* how can I tell this is a good choice for Sally and that I am not making a big mistake on a big-ticket purchase?
* what if I don't like the tone of the one they actually deliver to me or we simply change our mind and want our money back?

You get a solid, workhouse piano with warranty from the largest, most successful piano manufacturer in the world with consumer-friendly terms and conditions, an easy, low-risk purchase process and professional service and post-purchase care from a local Yamaha dealer who wants to keep your family as a customer and source of referrals for the next 20 years. For 90% of first time, time-pressured buyers that is superior to buying in a piano store.

I think the concept is a good one and hopefully it will work. The folks who shop at Costco seem like the exact demographic of people who purchase pianos. Lots of business owners and others with expendable income.

And I would venture to say that the dealers are REALLY lookin to get some sales from these exposures so one could really bargain hard to get a really good deal if you felt up to the task, IMO.

Wow, nice posts, everyone! I never realized that shopping at COSTCO was such a good experience. I’m not a member of COSTCO, but after reading this thread I might just join. (Not that I have time to do a lot of in-house shopping .)

Take care,

Rick

Rick,

My comment was facetious. If you are inclined to receive it as an insult, think about how your own comments might be received by the many members here who shop Costco and by the few who own Suzuki pianos. Those comments are posted from ignorance if you have no first-hand experience with either.

Just because Suzuki is a forum whipping boy, doesn't mean that you have to put another log on the fire by pulling it into an unrelated discussion. If you do put a log on the fire, don't be surprised if you get singed by a flying spark.

Now, that is a lot better, turandot. You were lenient with me to start with. I thought you had lost your touch there for a minute.

Happy New Year!

Rick

P.S. To Chicagofamily1: I apologize for getting off on a tangent in your thread.

Making lots of friends on Piano World Turandot?

Are you this good at making them in real life? :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

I wonder ... Is Costco selling pianos? Or are they simply hosting the piano manufacturer (or a dealer) in their store?

If it's the latter, that might be okay.

But if Costco is the retailer, I'd be disinclined to buy there. What kind of piano service could you expect from Costco?