Where To Buy A Used Piano - The Retail Store

The first thing you have to know is that every bricks and mortar piano retailer in the UK and Europe has to charge VAT – currently 20% in the UK – which makes a retail purchase more expensive than a private purchase – unfortunately for us retailers!  The US equivalent is Sales Tax, which varies from state to state, but still increases the price.

However, you often get something extra for that government tax we are all forced to pay – in our showroom we clean, recondition and repair all our pianos (as needed), regulate the action (i.e. make it play nicely and evenly), tune every piano and all have warranties of between one and five years depending on the age/quality/price.

Not all retailers do all or any of this so it’s worth asking if these things have been done if you are considering buying a pre-owned piano from a piano or general music shop.  (If you’re buying from a charity shop / goodwill store or a general second-hand furniture shop then you can be sure none of this will have been done.)

Does the piano actually work?

My technician tells the story of a chap who, having bought a piano from a second-hand shop, asked him and a tuner to come round and get it working.  When they opened up the piano the action – hammers, dampers and all the other workings between the keys and the strings – was completely missing.  How the shop owner had convinced the buyer that the piano was repairable is beyond me!

What else are you buying with the piano?

If the piano is anything more than a few years old it will need some looking at – if only to clean out the cat hairs, coins, pencils and other detritus from under the keyboard!  We have seen all sorts of stuff – guitar plectrums seem to be common for some reason – inside a piano.
Not to mention the years of dust and dirt under the keys of an old piano, sometimes so thick it looks like flooring underfelt and completely obscures the felts of the piano itself.  Would you really want someone else’s pet’s hair, dirt, rubbish and skin flakes in your house, especially if you are prone to allergies?

I have known of dealers who simply give the cabinet a quick wipe over with a cloth to get rid of the dust, polish the brass and then present the piano for sale.  One easy way to check if the piano has been properly cleaned is to look inside and see if the cobwebs are still there!

Check the price

Some dealers (including us) include a stool, local ground floor delivery and a complimentary tuning as part of the price.  Some don’t.  I have seen online retailers advertising pianos at the full manufacturer recommended price plus extra for a stool and then adding anything up to £200/$300 for delivery if you want to specify a day and time.  So what seemed to be a good buy suddenly costs nearly 10-20% more.

A major advantage of buying from a reputable retailer is the warranty.  In the unlikely event of a problem with the piano the shop will fix it.

In my next post I'll be looking at buying a piano privately: from friends & relatives, local auction houses or ads in newspapers.