All About Choosing and Buying Pianos

[jce]

Phankao, that’s a great deal, taking into consideration you bought it at only $2300, $800 is close to 40%, and that’s after 16 yrs. Furthermore it is "3rd hand".

[phankao]

jce:

Phankao, that's a great deal, taking into consideration you bought it at only $2300, $800 is close to 40%, and that's after 16 yrs. Furthermore it is \"3rd hand\".

Yah, I was quite happy bc I had hoped to sell it directly myself at that price but somehow it didn't work out and I got a little desperate bc I needed to remove my piano. So I contacted the dealer. What more, I got the money in cash.

[titank]

That is provided that the dealer still around where can still accept at 60%. Notice that the Jalan Sultan Textile Centre every Saturday they do advertise at the CATS section.

[TAccs]

How about considering the re-conditioned piano ? I visited a Cristofori sale recently and took a look at some of time. The re-conditioned piano will be given 5 yrs warranty despite the age maybe around 30yo.


Anyway, we ended up with a BN exam-grade china brand piano. the discount is good as it was a display set and was on further discount due to some event Still quite happy with it, so i suppose the new one should last us for a while with good maintenance and tuning

We also consider HL125 too but bottomline is we feel that we will keep the piano beyond 5 years thus the buy-back value is not relevant.

p/s: piano teacher also supported our choice

[TAccs]

So i suggest newbie(parents) may want to draw up a table to compare the cost of purchase + potential upgrading cost - trade in / buy back value of the various model along with other factors such as warranty, servicing etc and decide what meets your objective best. The picture is clearer once you compare the choices side by side.


Eg. I know Cristofori launched Pearl River 115 model @ $2599 (offer price) n stated $1500 trade-in price w/i 5 years. The catch here is \"trade-in\". If you decide to upgrade the piano with them just before the 5 years, this is really a good deal as the \"cost\" for that 5 years is only $1099 wor.

What we parents are constantly worried is what if my child lost interests (trust me, i also have many sleepless night debating with DH), then at least my damage is low It is likely that one can find a buyer easier at reasonable offer if child lost interests after 2 years say wild guess @ $2k in consideration of the trade-in price? then my damage is $599. At this \"damage\", its still cheaper than renting a piano and my child is playing on a BN set during that 2 years

I am NOT promoting another piano brand or model but just sharing my thoughts as we have been through the process. Btw, we did not settle for PR115 or HL123

[vfong1]

What’re the differences between digital piano and traditional piano?

[titank]

Just discuss with a tuner & he said get Yamaha won’t go wrong. China piano cannot compare with Yamaha!

[sleepy]

titank:

Just discuss with a tuner & he said get Yamaha won't go wrong. China piano cannot compare with Yamaha!

Earlier post mentioned about a 40 years old U3 still able to fetch a couple of $k? There's definitely resale value

[titank]

If I can afford, would go for a brand new U3. Wonder how much it cost & is it only have to get from Yamaha School?

[MummyThreeStreams]

A brand new U3 costs about $10/11k+? I got a second hand u3 as well. I prefer second hand Japan imports from a reliable reseller. These higher end yamahas last so long (the one in my parents’ place is over 20 years old) that I don’t find that getting a new one is worth the extra cash. In fact, I like that the tone in a used piano has had an opportunity to mature and develop. So I can test various pianos and choose the one with the sound I like best. of course, with a used piano you need to do some homework and testing to make sure you’re not getting a lemon. Not like brand new, which you can just buy off the shelf.