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so... i'm selling my piano, but i'm in-and-out of town so i can't always be there for potential buyers if i go the craig's list route.

one of my piano teachers has many students, acquaintances, and connections, so she might be able to facilitate the sale. also, less chance of fraud.

how much of a commission should i give her in that case? percentage or fixed?

other strategies how to sell the piano are also welcome.

EDIT: deleted piano info.

Isn't this more of a business question? Ha

1. You could ask your teacher what she is comfortable with as a commission, or if she is even willing to be involved. She may prefer to stay out of it. But selling a piano is a major task, especially a good grand. I would offer her at least $1000 if she makes a connection for you. Or maybe you want to give her much more, depending on how involved she wants to get.

2. I can't imagine how the installation of a Dampchaser system would lower the value of your piano. It just makes you look like a responsible owner. It's simple to remove if someone doesn't like it.

3. You'll have to figure out your bottom line on the piano. There is a market for Steinways, but if you are hoping to get around the assessed value you may have to be very patient, and do some significant advertising.

4. Also ask your technician for sales advice. He or she may be another person to offer a commission or fixed fee to.

I think this part of your post should be deleted. By mentioning the details about the piano you've, in effect, placed a free ad.

My impression is that Lingyis is just giving us context, since the main question seems to be about whether or not, and if so how much, commission should be paid. (Don't have an answer for that, but keep the context para., L., imho.)

If that was the case, why is it necessary to mention the make, model, year, appraised value, damp chaser installation, etc.?

sorry if it sounded like advertising. I just thought that, if I'm selling an 10k piano, 10% is 1k, but a 40k piano, 10% is 4k, which seems like a lot. the make and year is unnecessary i agree though i was more thinking in terms of fuller disclosure.

anyway, thanks for the responses. 1k i suppose is a fair number then... gives me a baseline. i had this 10% figure in my head because--

my cousin was considering getting his 3 year old a grand and saw this really cheap 5k grand and asked me whether it's worth it. so i visited the store--and i used to take lessons at this store. the store owner, recognizing me, instantly said, if you make the sale, i'll cut you a 10% commission. i was stunned. and only then did i understand why piano teachers like to sell pianos so much. coincidentally, the grand i'm selling WAS recommended by my piano teacher (in yet another city), i imagine he gets a cut of at least a couple thousand. 5%? 10%? i have no idea. if someone knows how much commissions piano teachers make for referrals, that could be another baseline that i could take into consideration. presumably the percentage flattens out like real estate, but i have no idea how it flattens out.

as far as the damp chaser goes, i thought it was installed crappily... since i unwisely decided to penny-pinch and went with someone who was probably installing only his 2nd system or something which couldn't even tell if it was a faulty system. i was somewhat uneasy with his hole-drillings in the piano to say the least... anyway, that was what was going through my mind.

edit: edited out piano info in original post.

I don't have advice about the commission, but I am glad that I was able to see what piano he was selling and what condition it was in and even an appraised value. If he had been trying to sell a 125-year-old upright (as I did about a year ago) I probably would have told him he would be lucky to get someone to haul it away for free!

you are very gracious Lingyis. I didn't interpret your original post as an ad. but I am not a piano police. I guess someone has to do it.

I really don't think this is an issue. Who'd a thunk I'd be such a trouble maker in my final days?

Generally high-end piano dealers don't play this sleazy commission game. Or not openly.

But my advice is to offer $1000-$1500 to anybody you know who finds you a buyer. Selling an expensive piano on your own is very difficult, unless you are well connected. And don't expect to get the appraised value, either.

What cracks me up is that PL quoted, so now it will be on PW forever, whereas, the OP deleted naming the piano and particulars!

PL, maybe you should have deleted your quote before it again got quoted!

BTW, I do think that it matters what the piano is that you are asking about a commission for references and an actually sale.

And piano teacher would not actually be selling. No warranty, no prep, service, reputation, etc. Just putting two people of interest together. It would be a reference gift.

Easy to sell right priced Steinway? Hard to sell cheap knockoff overpriced?

I didn't either....but more importantly:


I'm almost afraid to ask.....actually I am afraid to ask.
I hope you don't mean that too literally, and I'm sure the rest of us do too.

It may not have intentionally been an ad, but using that kind of logic any person could pose a question about selling a piano and include complete details about the piano(as much as appears in a normal ad at PW or Pianomart)for free. The same question(s) in the OP could have been posted without mentioning anything about the particular piano.

I also appreciated reading details of OP's piano sale as it helped to provide context. While OP provided reasonable rationale for disclosure -- and then graciously deleted the information you took issue with -- as lilylady points out above your quote of OP's sale only serves to keep details alive in perpetuity on PW!

so i found out something useful and interesting at a piano store (that sells hoffman, bechstein and fazioli; i'm including the list as an indication what kind of store it is) today--it's actually in a mall, so i just walked in and tried out a few of the pianos. the salesperson asked me if i'm a piano teacher and after a few exchanges back and forth, she gave me her card and gave me this information:

"if you refer people to buy pianos here, we'll give you 4%, that's industry standard."

so 4%. flat--no plateauing. whether it's a 150k fazioli, or a 20k bechstein upright, 4%.

you ask what kind of city would sell this many pianos to have a piano store in a busy mall? well, this is a store in vancouver, canada. lots of very rich immigrants from mainland china... the lady told me they sold 7 faziolis in the last month ALONE.

Most dealers have teacher deals. Steinway New York definitely pays a commission for teachers who refer " a sale", in addition to listing them in their directory and offering them a discount for the use of their Hall.

I thought you were in New York, so immediately a red flag went up when you said the store was in a mall, but now I see Vancouver, which means you must be talking about Showcase Pianos, yes?

I would hardly call Showcase Piano's location in a mall. It's in a store on a main street (1224 West Broadway) in Vancouver.

Regards,

The piano retail world is quite divided on the issue of commissions/referral fees/etc. Just as the piano teacher world is divided.

To say 4% is an "industry standard" is idiotic, because many piano dealers will simply not play this game to begin with.
They consider it sleazy. So do many piano teachers.

But it does show you that there is room to negotiate on the price of a piano.