David writes: << There are different types of fees for different situations. Finding a buyer when you don't actually take a piano in will be different than taking the piano in, cleaning it up, making repairs, etc.. On the other side is simply making a referral to a seller who then closes the deal. >> I agree. I charge my 10% as a broker. That means that if a customer wants to sell a piano, and asks for my help, the first sentence out of my mouth is that I do act as a broker for a 10% commission. It is important that that figure get out there on the table before ANYTHING else is considered. After that, we can talk about what I think is a reasonable price, how long I think it will take to sell, and what should be the lowest that I would recommend that they go. This is valuable information for the seller, so I get a commitment from them to use my services before I give it up. I don't confuse piano repair and brokering. If the piano needs work before I can recommend it for sale, then the owner needs to pay me for that repair. It keeps things much more easily understood all around. This is not free money. My reputation is on the line when I recommend that a buyer purchase a piano I am representing, so I cannot risk that for nothing. Some pianos I refuse to broker, since the public's trust in me is far more valuable than anything I can make on a given sale. I once helped a recording studio replace their really nice Steinway B with one of my customer's Yamaha C7,(which I thought was a step down, but they preferred the dry, brittle sound of the C). The customer sold it to them for $17,000, and I also brokered the B to one of my other customers in another city for $25,000. That makes $4,200 for the afternoon's work. Everybody knew what my commission was beforehand and everybody was happy to pay for the assurance I was able to give them. Once again, the customer's trust is the biggest asset we can have in this business. There is no reason not to get paid for being trusted. Regards, Ed Foote RPT http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html <BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR>Check out AOL's list of 2007's hottest products.<BR>(http://money.aol.com/special/hot-products-2007?NCID=aoltop00030000000001)</HTML>
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