Have a piano to
sell?
Looking to
donate a piano?
Want to buy a piano?
Donating a Piano
-
Helpful Thoughts
If you have an old piano that you just
want to get off your hands, here are some thoughts for
consideration.
1. If your piano has many broken keys, piano wires, the
pedals don't work, etc., you may be better off to have
the junk collector come and take it away. If your
piano does not have these types of problems, it may
still be usable by someone. Read on...
2. Clean it up. Wipe the finish with a soft, damp
cloth and then dry the finish. Don't use oils or
polishes and never spray anything on or around the
piano. Clean the keys with a cloth and a warm,
mild soapy solution. Pull the cloth toward you as
you clean the keys.
3. Advertise it. CraigsList is a great
place to advertise your piano for sale. Be sure to
include photos of front view, side view, keyboard, and
if you can, raise the lid and get a photo looking
inside. Include all the helpful information you
can, such as a) do all keys play, b) when it was last
tuned, is there anything that does not work or is
missing, broken, etc. Honesty is the best policy!
You may also use this Golden Piano website to
tell others about your piano. You want to get the
word out to as many places as possible. E-mail your
information to
bill@goldenpiano.biz.
4. Places to call. If you are having trouble
finding someone to take your piano off your hands, here
are some places you can contact: senior centers,
schools, colleges, churches, nursing homes, community
centers, dance studios, fraternal organizations,
veterans organizations, clubs, and the "we buy used
pianos" people - check your local newspaper. You
can even give places like Volunteers of America or the
Salvation Army a try.
5. Consider the moving cost. Even if you give the
piano away, your recipient may still incur a cost to
move the piano. If you can assist with the move,
you may be able to better "close the deal."
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Selling a Piano
-
Helpful Thoughts
If you have a piano to sell, consider these pointers.
1. Clean it up. Wipe the finish with a soft, damp
cloth and then dry the finish. Don't use oils or
polishes and never spray anything on or around the
piano. Clean the keys with a cloth and a warm,
mild soapy solution. Pull the cloth toward you as
you clean the keys.
2. Determine a fair value. Search the internet for
similar pianos for sale. Go to local piano stores
to get a feel for piano pricing. There isn't a
very large price range for most basic, used pianos, but
you still want a point of reference.
3. If your piano has severely dropped in pitch, you may
help your sale by having the pitch raised (if it hasn't
dropped too much). There is a fine line between
spending too much on the piano prior to selling it and
selling it when it sounds horrible, but it depends on
your asking price.
4. Advertise it!
CraigsList is a great place to advertise your piano for
sale. Be sure to include photos of front view,
side view, keyboard, and if you can, raise the lid and
get a photo looking inside. Include all the
helpful information you can, such as a) do all keys
play, b) when it was last tuned, is there anything that
does not work or is missing, broken, etc. Honesty
is the best policy!
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Buying a Piano - What You Need to Know
If you are looking to buy a piano in the Columbus Ohio
area, here are some helpful tips to consider.
1. Find pianos to check out. In
addition to checking with family,
friends, churches, etc., take a look at
CraigsList (Columbus, Ohio) as well (http://columbus.craigslist.org).
CraigsList is a great place to look for
a piano. Also, here is a service
that will automatically email you when
someone lists a piano for sale:
ListAlert (http://www.list-alert.com/)
This is an easy way to track pianos and
you click right to CraigsList from your
email to check what's there.
1. Take a notebook, pencil, and flashlight. You
will want to make notes for comparison and review.
You will need the flashlight to help you see inside the
piano and even outside if it is a dimly-lit area.
2. Take your "smartphone" with a guitar
tuner app installed (GSstrings for
Android or ChordTuner for iPhone), tuned instrument, tuning fork, electronic tone
device, etc. so you can compare tones with the piano to determine how close the piano is
to the correct pitch.
You can buy an electronic
metronome for $16-$18 from a local music store or
online, such as Amazon.com (see below). Check the
middle "A" on the piano for correct pitch - the standard for
an "A" is 440 cycles
per second, also known as A440.
If the piano has dropped
in pitch, you will need to have the pitch raised as part
of your initial tuning. If the piano has dropped
significantly, you may need more than one pitch raising
session before the piano can be stabilized.
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3. Take a friend with you so you can another set of eyes
and ears. Depending on the piano, you may even
want to move it away from a wall so you can see behind
it.
4. Ask when the piano was last tuned. This will
give you a feel for how well the piano has been
maintained. Industry standard for tunings is every
6 months. If they tell you something greater than
3 years or say, "I have no idea," you may have a reason
for concern, especially if the sale price is more than
$3-$500.
5. Find out the history of the piano. When and
where was it purchased? You can lift the lid of
some of the upright pianos and find a manufacturer and
serial number. Go to our
Piano Services page and
read all about determining the piano's age.
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6. Test the piano. Even if you don't play, press
every single key to make sure it makes a sound. It
may sound terrible, but at least you will know that each
key works (or doesn't). Make note of whether the
key plays with full motion, but no sound is heard, or if
the key is difficult to depress, whether you can hear
the note or not.
7. Listen for vibrating wood sounds as you play each
note. If you hear this, the piano may have a
cracked soundboard. Unless you want to tolerate
the vibrating sound, you may want to steer clear of the
piano.
8. Lift the lid. For most upright pianos, you can
lift the lid and see inside. Look for broken
wires, especially up where the wire attaches to the
pins. This will make sense, once you look inside.
Also look for rust on the pins or wires, missing parts
(you can tell because there will be a hole or gap where
it looks like something should be). Look for
deep grooves in the hammers (the part that strikes the
wires). Deep groves mean you may need to have some
work done to the hammers, but a lot of it has to do with
how the piano sounds to you and how much you want to
invest in it (aka, what your tolerance level is).
9. Test the pedals and make sure they work.
Typically, the right pedal sustains the sound while the
left pedal softens the sound.
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