<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <META content="MSHTML 5.50.4134.100" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hi Lanie!</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><EM>The following is an edited excerpt = of something I sent to a friend of mine privately.</EM></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I do have my suspicions about pianos = appearing on internet auction sites.  Go ahead and call me a pessimist if you must.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>My immediate thought was that this was = something the seller has found no room for in the resale market.  = By auctioning it, the seller is hoping to get whatever might be possible = for it, and it may not be much.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Internet auctions give the sellers yet = one more blind to hide behind.  They are free to talk about the quality components and perhaps show beautiful pictures, but = the potential buyers are at the mercy of the information made available by = the seller without the benefit of having an up-close look for = themselves.  One of my customers here in Michigan once located a "choice" = piano in California through the internet, then called me for an opinion.  I urged him to find a Registered Piano Technician there to take a = good look.  It turned out the seller insisted they would arrange for = that, and promised that the findings would be "impartial."  (I didn't know = about this arrangement until the report came in.)  A few days later the = customer sent me a long fax of the tech's report.  The more I studied the report, = the more suspicious it looked.  Double whammy -- there was enough = subtle little stuff in there that when added together, the technician was just as = interested in selling it away as the seller was in making any money from it = ... and my customer had to pay for his services.  My advice was to scrap the = whole deal and concentrate on finding something locally.  (A friend of = mine came through with something he had rebuilt.)</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Perhaps I was a little quick with the = Delete button, but didn't the Brambach in a very recent thread end up as an = internet auction item when the owner realized that very little could be done for = it on a sub-minimal budget?  How many other pianos on these auction sites = represent last-ditch efforts to get money for something that is otherwise = clinically dead or "budgetarily challenged" to make serviceable again?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Z! Reinhardt  RPT<BR>Ann = Arbor  MI</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>(origianlly from Eastern = Massachusetts)<BR><A href="mailto:diskladame@provide.net">diskladame@provide.net</A></FONT><= /DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; = BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: = black"><B>From:</B> <A title=MoodyPiano@AOL.COM href="mailto:MoodyPiano@AOL.COM">MoodyPiano@AOL.COM</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A = title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, September 24, = 2001 5:15 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Are online "ebay" type = pianos a good idea?</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT size=2>As time goes on I am = getting more and more calls for piano moving for pianos that people are bidding on = via ebay and similar auction style sites. </FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT = size=2><<>><BR>Does anyone have any feedback positive/negative on these types of transactions? =  My initial feeling for the everyday consumer is that there are too many = risks involved with purchasing a piano like this and the opportunity isn't = there too get it evaluated by a technician.  So my overall recommendation = to customers is "stay away from piano purchasing on ebay, etc." =  Does anyone have any other thoughts or recommendations that they give to their = customers? <BR><BR>Thanks,  Lanie <BR><B>_________________________________________________ <BR>Moody = Piano & Organ <BR></B>Metro West Plaza (rear) <BR>796 Boston Post Road East <BR>Marlborough, MA 01752 <BR><BR>Phone 508-877-2222 or 508-229-3601 = • Fax 508-303-8996 <BR><A = href="mailto:MoodyPiano@aol.com">MoodyPiano@aol.com</A> • <A = href="http://www.bushellcompanies.com">www.bushellcompanies.com</A> </FONT></FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>