Your Massachusetts Piano Companion
Buying a Used Piano
If you have decided that buying a used piano is right for you, congratulations! There are literally hundreds of used pianos for sale in Massachusetts right now. People buy used pianos for any number different reasons. Often, buying a used piano can be several times less expensive than the equivalent new model. Also, there are many unique models and styles of pianos no longer manufactured today. Of course, there are many who believe that most new pianos are not built to the same standard as those of years ago. There are many choices and things to consider when buying a used piano.
Buying a used piano doesn’t have to be difficult. Let Blackstone Piano help find a piano that is right for you. Through our network of resources, we scan through many used pianos for sale every week. With our experience, we can quickly sort out all the bad deals (many advertised pianos for sale are bad deals). We hear of many pianos for sale that are not publicly advertised.
The #1 rule in buying a used piano is to know the piano being sold better than the seller! There is nobody more qualified to quickly evaluate a piano's value and condition than an experienced piano technician. Knowing the manufacturer's history, model history, and perhaps most importantly, what questions to ask give us a great advantage when helping customers buy pianos every month.
There are several ways in which we can help find a piano for you:
1. Give us some specifics about what kid of piano you’re interested in. Do you want an upright or grand piano? If you’re looking for an upright, would you prefer a shorter (42”) or taller (45”-52”) model? What length grand piano would you prefer: baby, parlor, or concert grand?
Here are some additional specifics which will help us find the piano you want: Is there a specific brand name you prefer? Is there a specific age or vintage you are looking for? What finish would you like (ex. black, mahogany, walnut, etc.)? What is your preferred price range?
Once we have a good idea what you are looking for, we will set to work finding a piano that matches most if not all of your criteria. We will contact you as we find possible candidates, arranging for you to see them whenever possible. There are many pianos available priced well below market value, but it usually requires a professional eye to find them. Through our network of resources, we are in a prime position to spot these pianos and make them available to you.
Using Blackstone Piano to locate a piano is a valuable service that saves you time and money. Forget combing the classifieds and making all the phone calls. No need to go see a handful of pianos that turn out to have sounded better in the paper than in reality. We will make the phone calls and inspect the pianos before we contact you about a possible candidate. Leave the work to us and we’ll save you time and money!
Important note about piano selection: For many pianos we locate, we are not the only interested party. Pianos priced below market value often sell in a matter of days or even hours! Sellers often need the piano sold and moved for a number of different reasons. There are times when the decision to purchase the piano must be made right after we inspect it, which unfortunately doesn’t allow time for our customers to play it first. In these circumstances, our customers need to have faith in our commitment and ability to find the best piano available. Of course, our customers are free to pass on any piano candidate, but often finding the best price comes down to quick decisions and trust in our opinion. One thing to keep in mind is that most newer pianos that sell for under $10,000 are mass-produced. Two pianos of the same make and model are not likely to sound much different from one to the other. Also, much can be done to the tone of a piano through the voicing process to tailor the sound to your taste.
2. We often have a small inventory of pianos available to purchase at or below market value. Many pianos we find are priced to sell quickly, so we occasionally buy the most popular models to make available to our customers. We have no retail showroom and our space available is limited, so we keep our inventory small. We have a helpful email notification set up to instantly alert our customers to any new arrivals. If you would like to be added to the email list, please let us know at blackstonepiano@att.net.
3. If you’ve found a specific piano that you’re interested in buying, having it inspected and appraised by a piano tuner-technician is a good investment. We have years of experience evaluating pianos for buying and selling, to determine the age, condition, and market value. The cost of the evaluation is the same as a tuning, $85.00. We have helped dozens of customers avoid buying pianos that would have been the wrong choice. Understand that many issues that make the piano unworthy of buying are found only by removing the case panels and possibly the action. It’s a safe bet that no seller would allow anyone but a piano technician to remove all these necessary parts for inspection. We are trained to evaluate dozens of specific points that could affect the performance and value of the piano.