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Hi All!

As you can see I am brand new here. I have scoured the internet all morning trying to find some answers about a piano my wife and I currently own. We are moving to a small apartment and unfortunately can't take it with us. (my wife wants a new piano anyways when we get a new house)

However, we are trying to sell our current Kawai Upright 502-M. I called a local dealer who buys used pianos and he told me he would not give me any kind of price until I told him what I was looking to get out of it. We are not trying to get rich by any means, we just need to get ride of this piano ASAP. It has been tuned in the last 18 months and has had regular maintenance. Anytime it has been moved it has been done so by professional piano movers.

Here are some pics. What would you guys suggest I throw out to this guy for a price?

Hi J,

I hope you're not in that apartment for long!

It's very hard to give you a price without having seen the instrument. Have you called the piano tuner and asked them yet? Do that first. It's probably the most objective and useful answer you're going to get. Heck, they might even know a buyer if you price it correctly. You will get more for it selling it yourself to a private party than selling to a dealer.

2nd, for myself, I'd call a dealer you haven't spoken to yet and ask them they are charging for the same model as yours only new. MSRP is a place to start. If the case is in great shape, and nothing's wrong with it internally, do a regular annual depreciation schedule on the MSRP. Somebody did a long thread here with this calculation on new pianos about a week or two ago, very interesting discussion. I myself don't know what that figure should be, but you can look it up or ask Rickster the moderator to show where that thread is.

3rd, is the dealer taking it on consignment, or just buying it outright? If they're buying it then you won't get your initial asking price.

4th, how badly do you need the money? No need to answer. Only you can answer that, and it's none of our business.

5th, but if money is not too much of a concern, would you consider donating it? Would the tax deduction be worth more to you than the cash? Your local school district, for one, would just love to have it.

6th, please keep in mind that it's a down market for used pianos thanks to the economy. Prices have not yet come back up, and inventory is not moving hardly at all. Most dealers have been sitting still for 5 years biting their nails.

This shop was asking $2500 for it
http://www.londonderrypiano.com/kawai-502/

Here's one on eBay with a starting price of $750
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kawai-502-M..._DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4173f648fe

You can get a brand new Yamaha T118 for < $4000, and that's a 47" upright, yours is a 44"

I don't know how old it is or the condition but if it's something like 10-15 yrs old and in good condition, and I was a buyer I wouldn't pay more than $1500 for it, so a dealer would probably only pay about $750-$1000. So maybe tell the dealer you want $1500 and he'll haggle you down.

And of course this is without seeing the piano, etc...like laguna_greg said above. But the most important thing is, you need to find someone who actually wants it first. Pianos aren't the most liquid assets.

One more important thing, I'm completely unqualified to answer this question. I'm not a tech, appraiser, heck I'm not even that good of a player

But only from the view of someone who was recently looking to buy a piano and based on the prices I've seen thrown around.

The oak finish is less popular today than in the past. We recently sold a Boston in oak but it was here a year before the right customer arrived and was delighted.

For the convenience of a dealer sale, you are probably better off going low to get their attention rather than entering heavy negotiations. When a customer asks me for too much, I often politely turn them away rather than break the bad news and risk ill will.

With the caveat that there's critical information we can't determine over a forum, I think these are reasonable numbers.

Everyone is guessing at prices but the age hasn't been stated!

That's step one. That makes all the difference.

You guys have been extremely helpful!

Thank you so far! My wife believes it is from the mid 90's according to her mother.

Thanks

If I read the Kawai website correctly, it was manufactured in 1990 in the US.

Wow! That is a cracker! Beautiful cabinet . . . . I wouldn`t let it go. . . Reeducate your good lady and save yourself some cash!

It is gone. For an absolute steal of a price. $500, I think the dealer was shocked. I had a guy call while he was here offering $650....

Just one of those things where someone is in the right place at the right time. You guys are an awesome community of enthusiasts and I can't thank you enough for your input!

Sounds like somebody got a good piano at a nice price.