that new guy is at it again..!!

[Wimblees@aol.com]

In a message dated 97-04-06 11:00:09 EDT, you write:

>.listers:
>
>..first off..thank you very much for ALL the insight into my last question
>involving the steel-wound bass strings..
>
>..now..i have come across an Ivers and Pond..ser.#60940..looks like a 4'11"
>to me..they need to unload it...i'm still waiting for my Pierce Piano Atlas,
>so letting this customer know when it was made is not possible yet..it needs
>bass strings..hammers are ok(should be replaced)..dampers are ok(should be
>replaced)..looks like the plate was sprayed with the strings attached..real
>cob job, IMHO...BUT..this owner INSISTS that the big selling point with this
>piano is that the wood used to make it is NOT available anymore..or..the
>wood is in short supply and it is NOT used in the manufacturing of pianos
>anymore..it does have a rosewood appearance to it, and again, they insist,
>that the wood is RARE..my initial thought here is *so what*...the cabinet
>HAS been re-finished and it does look nice..it also has ivory keys with a
>1/2 of one missing..too bad,cause they're perfect otherwise..!
>
>...can anyone offer an insight as to the approx.value from my
>description..??..my initial guess is 12-15K..how far off am I..??..muchas
>gracias yet again.!.


This 4'11" Ivers & Pond, was made in 1917, The wood is probably mohogany,
maybe even a tiger grain, but I doubt it very much if it is rosewood. In its
current condition, the piano probably has a market value of $1500 -  $2000.
(fifteen hundred to two thousand).

Lots of customers think they have a "priceless antique", or a "very rare and
unusual instrument", that they think is worth a lot of money. They get these
ideas from antique shop owners, or "an uncle who used to be in the business".
Most of the time, these people had no idea what they were talking about. In
one case, the customer told me a friend offered them $XXXXX for an instrument
that was only worth $XXX. I told them to get the friend to come up with the
money.

If the customer is still not convinced that the piano is worth only a couple
of thousand dollars, have them put an ad in the paper, and see how much the
general public will offer them for it. That will give them an idea of its
"real" value.


Willem Blees RPT
St. Louis