<font color='black' size='2' face='Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif'> <div><font style="background-color: transparent;" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I have put an ad on Craigs list once in a while in the musical instrument sales section, advertising "piano appraising". But then "they" said I couldn't do that. So now I run an ad for "used piano for sale", which says </font>I do appraising, and that I will give them some free advice over the phone. I do get a few calls and I don't mind spending a few minutes with the people who call. As a result I've gotten some tuning and repair business out of it. But very few want to pay me to do an on sight appraisal for a fee.</div> <div> </div> <div>Wim </div> <div style="clear: both;"> <div> </div> </div> <div></div> <div></div> <div style="color: black; font-family: arial,helvetica; font-size: 10pt;">-----Original Message-----<br> From: Euphonious Thumpe <lclgcnp@yahoo.com><br> To: pianotech <pianotech@ptg.org><br> Sent: Sun, Nov 18, 2012 8:36 pm<br> Subject: [pianotech] Gems in the junkpile<br> <br> <div id="AOLMsgPart_1_de41a405-f523-41c2-9eae-10788a5f2202"> <table border="0" cellSpacing="0" cellPadding="0"><tbody><tr><td style="font: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-stretch: inherit;" vAlign="top"> <div>Once a piano-centric society, ours has become so piano-illiterate that, perusing Craigslist, one may find real junkers advertised for $$$$$$$, and the occasional gem for only $, or even for free. (Or, at least, free to a tax-deductible organization: such as a church, school, or retirement home.) So, I'm wondering how one might avail oneself of this situation to make a few $, while being of service to others by helping them avoid buying disasters. Perhaps one could advertise "Great pianos, cheap!", and then serve as a "scanner" and "consultant"? Then go along with the customer, for a fee, to examine the chosen prospect, make sure it has no serious problems, get the price down if warranted ( splitting the difference) and then help with the move, and other typical aspects of used piano acquisition, such as cleaning, regulation and tuning?<br> <br> Thumpe</div> </td></tr></tbody></table> </div>  </div> </font>