Piano Fiasco-Ancott Directory

[Billbrpt@AOL.COM]

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In a message dated 10/13/01 3:41:54 PM Central Daylight Time, 
randyrush@earthlink.net (Randy Rush) writes:


> I personally think that we should never shoot from the hip by giving a value 
> without doing some research, and that is going to cost the customer a few 
> bucks for the trouble.
>  
> The value of a piano is a slippery thing.  It can depend on the local cost 
> of living, the economic climate, what the dealer paid for it, who else 
> might be waiting around the corner to pay the asking price.  What you 
> decide is a value, even with some research, may vary quite a bit from what 
> the next technician (as honest as you are) may come up with.
>  
> I would advise several things about valuing pianos.  One, always use an 
> Ancott for reference, and ask around to any dealers or salespeople you 
> personally know to get as much info as you can.  Two, always offer the 
> customer a range of values, high and low, not a fixed price.  Sometimes, if 
> it is determined that a customer has paid in the higher end of my price 
> range, I tell them that.  What this means is they did not get "taken", they 
> paid in the high end of  what I feel is an acceptable range.
>  
> You say there was no other reasonable thing to do but tell her, but I 
> disagree.  You simply can say  "Since I am not a dealer, or don't know the 
> precise value without looking into it, and I would be glad to do that for 
> you for my regular fee".  The fact that you were off in your perception of 
> current MSRP, based on what you remembered from last year, bears this 
> approach out.
>  
> If you are commenting on piano values without an Ancott, you are not using 
> all the tools available to you.  They are not that expensive for what they 
> give you back.  I have an arrangement here with another tech:  we split the 
> cost of an annual subscription.  He takes the fall/winter book and I take 
> the spring/summer one.  

What a fine example of good, professional advice!  I have never once sold a 
piano except (in the distant past) a few rebuilt ones to dealers for resale.  
Although I do contract work for a dealer as part of my business, I don't go 
snooping around, looking at all the price tags.  I don't even read the 
classifieds any more.  Therefore, I'm not at all ashamed to tell a customer, 
"I don't know".  But I will do a professional appraisal which involves 
research and consultation when asked to do so.

I do exempt the 3 figure (less than $1,000 in US $'s) items.  These belong to 
folks of very modest means.  If it belongs to a person of more substantial 
means, it is a way of telling them to get rid of it, it has very little value 
but would make a good piano for someone who couldn't afford any better.  For 
low 4 figure items, I charge modest fees but my appraisal is also brief and 
informal.  5 an 6 figure items should be able to be vetted by an attorney (a 
document admissible in superior court, not a statement *usable* as evidence 
in a civil suit).

I am interested in the Ancott directory that has been mentioned.  I haven't 
heard of it before.  From whom or where can it be ordered (or subscribed to) 
and how much does it cost?  What array of information does it have?  Does it 
have photos and/or illustrations?  Who sponsors it?  Is it financed for by 
ads or by subscription alone?  From which sources is the information obtained?

Bill Bremmer RPT
Madison, Wisconsin

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