Risks of buying used pianos from private owners

Source: Singapore Piano Shop & Music Book Online Shop   Published: 6/13/2019 10:04:23 PM   Clicked: 1357

Risks of buying used pianos from private owners

Piano is the King of musical instruments. The sound of a piano can be much better if it's well maintained and used for a long time. And the price of used piano is very cheap, only half or even lower than the price of brand new piano.

That's why many pianists and piano teachers prefer to buy used pianos. But normally they only go to Singapore Used Piano Shop http://www.usedpiano.sg to buy used pianos, but not from private piano owners, why?

Purchasing used pianos from private owners, there're many potential risks even piano technicians help to check the piano. When we go to choose a used piano, we will ask the reason that the owner sell the piano. But that's regardless of the condition of the piano even the owner said he or she loved the piano so much and arranged servicing twice a year or more. We have to see and test the piano buy ourselves. Now let me give you some details about how to check a used piano, hope these tips can help you to find a good used piano and avoid potential risks.

When we check a piano, we will dismantle the piano first, and then check the sound boards(no cracks), actions(no overuse), strings(no rust and broken strings), keyboards(no sticky keys), wood frames(no insect or white ants)...
However, can the piano technician find all the problems or potential risks at one time? The answer is no.

1. Some cracks on the soundboard are behind the piano strings, they become worse as time goes by, so we can not see them when the crack just start.


2. After the overuse of the actions, we can see the deep groves on the hammer or corner missing. But the other problem is the joints under the hammer loose, which can not be seen. The hammers will shake to left or right after we use the piano for several months, and it will make the piano sound very strange.


3. If the piano has worms or white ants inside, that's very hard to be found. When our piano shop trade in pianos from private owners, after piano technicians checking, we still need to arrange piano movers to check piano, they will make the piano stand up and shake the piano to see whether sawdust or wood dust drop down from the piano.

By this method, we can find most problem pianos. But if the worms or white ants just eat in the piano, we can not find the problem in time. The wood dust will drop down after 2-3 months after that. So piano shop will buy back few problem pianos even after carefully checking. If the piano has been sold to new customer, piano shop need to collect back the problem piano and throw it away, and change another piano for the customer. But to the customer, purchasing used pianos from used piano shop can avoid this risk.

Now let's take a look at the cost of purchasing a used piano from private owner, say we buy a YAMAHA beginner model
The private owner sell it at S$1500, piano evaluation costs S$60, piano moving costs S$110, piano tuning costs S$80, the lucky new buyer need to pay S$1750 at least if he or she find a piano without any problem or potential risk. But because of the humidity problem in Singapore, most pianos need to be serviced after we buy back, which will cost S$100-200. If the piano dehumidifier got piano, it will cost S$80 to replace it. Totally, the cost will be around S$2030. And the buyer bear the loss if the piano has the potential risks above.

And, if the buyers purchase used pianos from Singapore Piano Shop, the selling price will be S$1500-2000++, including delivery, first tuning, 1-year warranty. And if the piano has the potential problem above, piano shop can help to repair or change to a good piano. Piano shop will bear the loss.

So, there's no big difference of the prices whether the buyer buys used pianos from private owner or piano shop, but the buyer can avoid potential risks if liaising with piano shop. That's the main reason why piano lovers buy used pianos from Singapore Used Piano Shop http://www.usedpiano.sg Having a good piano can make one love piano more and play piano well.