An untrue from Steinway was Re: Do Steinways appreciate?

[Steinway & Sons]

List,

I wanted to stay out of this one, but to imply that we are guilty of lies,
hyperbole, or even an "untrue",  is going a little too far.

Please refer to the following URL:
http://www.steinway.com/html/showroom/invest.html for an accurate summary of
Steinway's appreciation claims.  All of the statements on that page have
appropriate citations.  We can not possibly control everything said on a
sales floor, but we push appreciation value as a selling point because it is
true and it can be documented.

Naturally the condition of the instrument will have a large impact on its
re-sale value and no one around here ever claimed Steinways are a better
investment than the stock market.  The point is simply this: you will do
better with a Steinway than with other big-ticket consumer items.

By the way, a rebuilt model L in ebony finish sells for $34,600 at Steinway
Hall.  Someone could make a killing shipping $20,000 L's into New York. :-)

Yours,
STEINWAY & SONS

Stephen K. Dove
Supervisor, Retail Services

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-pianotech@ptg.org [mailto:owner-pianotech@ptg.org]On Behalf
Of Wimblees@AOL.COM
Sent: Thursday, May 27, 1999 8:00 PM
To: pianotech@ptg.org
Subject: An untrue from Steinway was Re: Do Steinways appreciate?


In a message dated 5/25/99 4:54:43 AM !!!First Boot!!!,
pianotoo@imap2.asu.edu writes:

<< Hi Wim:

 Yes Steinways do appreciate, but not on a straight line method. I bought
 my L for $3700 in 1952. I could not have sold it for $4000 the next
 year. It is now worth $12000 on the open market in its
 present condition. If I were to rebuild it completely, it would bring
 around $20000 in our area. If you do the math, you'll see that it's not
 10% per year. However, it is still more than any other piano would
 appreciate. This is mostly inflation and is not worthy of investment
 purposes. Some salesmen will say anything it appears.

 Jim Coleman, Sr. >>


Jim:

Yes, salesmen do say anything to make a sale. But when the former president
of the company makes that statement, it becomes more than just sales hype.

You say your Steinway L will sell for $20,000 once it has been rebuilt.
That's nice.  But how much will cost you to get that job done? (presuming
you
don't do the work yourself). My speculation is around $15,000 to $18,000. So
is it worth getting rebuilt? If it is worth $12,000 as is, why spend $15,000
to have it be worth $20,000?

I think Steinway is promoting an untrue. I don't want to say they are lying,
because that is too harsh. Steinways are great instruments, but to promote
that they will increase in value, even to the tune of 1% per year, is
misleading the consumers.

Willem Blees
RPT