The following Q and A will soon be posted on our web site at "www.chicagopianos.com" ( <A HREF="http://www.chicagopianos.com/">Cordogan's Web Site </A> ) under the link called "FAQ's About Buying and Selling". Once it is posted -- if you like what you see -- consider bookmarking it and refer people to it. It may help save time responding to such common inquiries, however innocent yet time-consuming they may be. Our web site is very new so there really isn't much on it now, but a lot of useful (read unbiased) info to consumers will soon follow. Hope this helps: "How Much Is My Piano Worth?" Get it appraised. It is an impossibility to begin to discuss even a "ballpark" range for most used pianos without it being dismantled and in front of the person being asked to evaluate it. Pianos can contain upwards of 12,000 parts, 10,000 of which need to move within their neighboring parts — often with tolerances of <1/1000th of an inch... for decades! You can describe how beautiful the case is... its magnificent history in your family and how well it was cared for... how much of an antique it is (almost always a detriment)... but neither you, nor I, can tell in an e-mail or a telephone exchange if the piano has developed a cracked pin block, tuning instability, bridge cracks or other countless internal atrocities — capable of inflicting thousands of dollars in repair bills. It is also for these reasons that buying a piano privately can be so dangerous. It is more often the case that the seller simply doesn't really know the condition of their piano and what problems it has developed over the years Find a reputable technician in your area who is qualified in appraising pianos and employ his/her services. Appraisals can range between $60-100 U.S. dollars and will help determine value from any one of the following perspectives: selling it to a friend or relative selling it on the open market replacing it with a current, identical make/model replacing it with a current, similar make/model trading it in donating it to a non-for-profit institution restoring it / assessing damage insuring it So while I enjoy chatting with folks about piano-related topics, please refrain from e-mailing us asking how much your piano is worth. Copyright 1999 Cordogan's Piano Gallery John Cordogan Cordogan's Pianoland and Cordogan's Piano Gallery Illinois' Largest Piano Store "More pianos than you can shake a leveling stick at" Chicagoland's Kawai, Sauter, Estonia and Kemble dealer
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