Stop!! "Private" Sale Ahead!!

[John Lillico, RPT]

Before you get all worked up about this title, read through to the end. Private sales are just fine as long as the piano is fairly represented. I've done many myself. It's a good source of "pocket money" and my pianos_were properly represented, if not a little expensive.

But what has come to a head recently on the home front is an out-of-town classified advertisement in the local paper for a grand piano at $2,450. Such was the Knabe grand which I previously posted on this Forum. The new owners were extremely fortunate that I found it tuneable and the vendor was really ignorant of what was being offered for sale.

But the advert continues. This time it's a Schomacker grand "in excellent conditon". The same price, the same address, the same story. "My daughter's at university and has room only for an upright so she wants to sell this one". Next week it will be another and I am gathering evidence of many in the past.

In that the Knabe was delivered by "the son" for a slightly additional charge (he brought the legs in from another piano on the truck), I suspect this "private" operation is not by a piano technician, but a terrible furniture dealer/refinisher or mover (no pros). The older couple residing in the home and who receive the calls appear to be all too innocent and above suspicion. But they are emphatic in wanting "cash" and a quick decision.

When I was asked by a caller today about the Schomacker in the local paper, I asked in turn; "If you were selling something from your home, would you place an ad in the Niagara Falls Review or the Oakville Beaver?" Of course, she said she would place an ad in The Beaver (that's really the name of our thrice-weekly paper) rather than the Review of which she had never heard.

The appeal for advertising in Oakville is that the community is amongst the highest income per capita in Canada. (It was #1 until we moved here in 1978!) For the vendor, I'm sure it gets problem pianos and potential callbacks out of their local calling area. People are unlikely to complain about having been taken on a private sale, and even less likely if long distance is involved.

Now, straight to the point. What can I do to stop this practice? Write a letter to the editor? Take out an advertisement in The Beaver? Go back into retail? Call the authorities (whoever they may be)?

Finally, does this practice abound in your area?

Just don't tell me I have to go back into rebuilding. Gettin' a little too old (and too smart) for that!!

Respectfully,

John Lillico, RPT
Oakville, Ontario