Hi John! I might be able to give you a little help. This past spring I sold my personal piano, a 1992 Boston GP-178 (5' 10") grand. I think the Baldwin L is 6' 4"? My Boston was in absolute showroom condition - well, better than showroom because it was finely regulated, etc. and I sold it for $9K. I was happy with the sale price because of the poor sales market then. I know they were happy with the price because they got a good deal on a fabulous piano. When I went to tune it a few weeks after the sale, the pastor walked up to me and said (he didn't know I was the one who sold it to them) "why did they sell it - it's like new?" With that in mind, your piano is a bit larger, but a few years older, and clearly from your description of condition, it's way down the road from what mine was. I'd say your estimate of a realistic market value is something pretty close to the mark - or maybe even a little less. Hope this helps. Terry Farrell On Feb 1, 2010, at 11:02 PM, John Formsma wrote: > List, > > I'm writing up a market value appraisal for a 1985 satin ebony > Baldwin L grand. Would appreciate any input on the following. > > It's in reasonably good mechanical condition. No obvious problems, > other than what we've come to expect as features on Baldwin grands. > > There are some finish issues, which I think might cost up to $800 to > repair to look fairly nice. Small chips and some cracking developing > on the top of the stretcher. > > 1 mm of crown at the longest rib; none elsewhere. Positive bearing. > > Bridges OK, some minor checking in places. Sound is typical Baldwin, > with sustain of 7 seconds at C6, 3-4 seconds at C7, > > Tuning pins tight, as expected. Most steel strings are coated > lightly with rust, more at the bass end, less at the treble. All > string coils are lightly rusted, except in the very treble section. > This is the kind of rust that looks bad, but wouldn't necessarily > affect tone or cause string breakage. It looks like it was in a damp > environment for a while (comes from Florida originally). > > The action is in good condition -- not excessive wear. Would benefit > from minor reconditioning (cleaning, polishing key pins, hammer > reshaping) and regulation. > > According to Larry Fine's depreciation schedule and a 2008-2009 > price of a new L at $40K, an "Average" Baldwin L would be valued > roughly at $13,600. However, with the rust and finish issues, my > "gut" tells me a more realistic market value would be somewhere > between $7-8.5K. > > Input? > > -- > JF
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