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WHY WE SELL USED PIANOS PRIVATE SELLERS LEMON BUSTING BUYING FROM US PITFALLS REASONS TO OPTIMIZE WHEN NOT TO OPTIMIZE OUR PIANOS WHAT PIANOS TO AVOID OTHER USED PIANO SOURCES PRICE COMPARISON INSPECTIONS OF OUR PIANOS WARRANTY TERMS WHO WE ARE Brian Henselman is a Registered Piano Technician who owns and operates MusicMasters Piano Service: Austin's Online Piano Store™. He and his wife, Jeannie Henselman, sell new Hallet, Davis, Kingsburg and premium used Kawai, Yamaha, and Steinway pianos in Austin, Texas. Brian and Jeannie, are also veteran piano teacher members of ADMTA, TMTA, MTNA, and/or National College of Musicians. They are frequently asked to help clients find the right piano for their needs and budget. WHY WE SELL USED PIANOS It is the most efficient way to help our clients find a quality used piano. Most first-time piano buyers require professional assistance in their search for a good used piano. After locating what they hope is a good piano, they hire a piano technician like Brian to "lemon bust" it. Unfortunately, this approach has several limitations is often problematic. (see below) BUYING A USED PIANO FROM A PRIVATE SELLER Most first-time buyers don't know how to evaluate or pre-inspect a piano. Even when a good candidate is located, private sellers don't have a group of pianos assembled for side-by-side comparison. Buyers then have to sample pianos from multiple sources and compare them from memory. Our clients really benefit from sampling a group of pre-inspected pianos and comparing them at the same time. HIRING A PIANO TECHNICIAN TO LEMON BUST A PRIVATE SELLER'S PIANO Although it is very wise to hire an independent technician to inspect a private seller's piano before purchase, this technician rarely gets to see the piano for more than 30 minutes before rendering his or her verdict. Even if it passes, the buyer gets no warranty when purchasing from a private seller. There are also additional expenses for the buyer such as having the piano moved, tuned, repaired, and/or optimized after it is delivered. On the other hand, we include tuning, repairs/optimization, delivery and warranty with all of our pianos at no additional cost. WHY YOU SHOULD BUY YOUR PIANO FROM MUSICMASTERS It's easier, and we guarantee our pianos. We purchase only quality pre-owned pianos and carefully optimize them for our clients. The final cost of a fully optimized MusicMasters pre-owned piano is comparable to a traditionally purchased privately-owned piano, except our customers are not obligated to pay anything for the piano until it passes their final approval. USED PIANO PITFALLS Don't buy on looks alone. Some of the prettiest pianos on the market have really bad reputations or perform poorly. Also, don't be enamoured by brand name alone. Every manufacturer offers different tiers of quality. Some very respected brands have miserable 2nd and 3rd tier siblings. Terms like "licensed by" or "manufactured for" often indicate one of these lesser tiers. We have found that these sister brands usually don't perform well compared to their parent company. On the other hand, some of the best bargains out there are "off-brand" stencils of a major manufacturer's piano (i.e. a Howard grand piano built by Kawai is a high quality 100% Kawai designed and built piano that is a Howard in name only). Unfortunately, many once respected piano manufacturers have subsequently been bought and sold numerous times, and now no longer resemble the original praiseworthy brand. Therefore, our clients rely on us to locate and sell only high quality alternative brands and models. WHY WE OPTIMIZE USED PIANOS Most used pianos for sale that are not in optimal condition. However, if the quality and condition is good enough, we can improve many of these pianos via optimization. (Optimization is the combination of repairing, regulating, tuning, voicing, cleaning and polishing a piano up to showroom condition). Upon completion, a fully optimized used piano typically plays and looks as good as new, but for less than half the cost of new. Also, many of the finest piano brands and models ever built are no longer manufactured and cannot be purchase new. Therefore, if you want a quality vintage piano that is no longer produced, you can rely on us to locate and optimize it for you. WHEN NOT TO OPTIMIZE Unfortunately optimizing isn't viable for every used piano. To insure that they can be optimized, Brian personally selects each piano prior to purchase. He evaluates cosmetic condition, wear, design, brand-name, touch response, and tone. We optimizes only pianos that were well built by a reputable company, isn't excessively worn, or damaged. WHAT KIND OF USED PIANOS DO WE SELL? To maintain a stock of high quality yet affordable used pianos, we regularly search for local pianos in good condition that were made by reputable companies. Condition is important to us. We prefer to buy original-owner (non-smoker) instruments that have very little wear. We purchase only domestic consoles or better that are less than 40 years old, that still look new, and (after optimization) play like new. Because they have a proven record, we pay a premium to purchase local pianos that we have already serviced before, as we know these instruments and their history. We also import high-end late-model Japanese pianos. However, because these are such premium imported pianos, their high wholesale prices command a substantially higher resale price. WHAT KIND OF USED PIANOS SHOULD BE AVOIDED? Because of their inferior design and poor construction, We do not buy nor resell spinet-type pianos, even if they are nearly new. We also do not buy nor resell older antique upright/vertical pianos or antique grand pianos. Also, we rarely accept trade-ins. Instead, we prefer to take trade-ups of pianos that we have sold. There is no better source of good used pianos than ones that we have sold and serviced regularly. Therefore, for up to 5 years from the date of purchase, we offer full trade-up value of any piano that we sell and regularly service. This gives us a reliable source of premium used pianos that we know well. WHAT ARE SOME OTHER LOCAL USED PIANO SOURCES? It's good to have a reasonable budget when looking at a piano. However, don't fixate on price alone. You'll find that you get what you pay for, even if it's from a dealership. Trade-ins are often purchased sight-unseen and clean it up for quick resale. If some one else didn't want that piano, do you? Also, claims like, "The lowest prices in Texas," etc. typically indicate a low-end piano broker business. These sellers routinely fool buyers by luring them with an artificially low price, and then add hidden charges for delivery, a matching bench, tuning, and/or warranty. We, on the other hand, always include tuning, normal local delivery, a bench and warranty at no additional charge. HOW DO OUR PRICES COMPARE? Our prices are generally between that of a wholesale piano "broker" and a retail dealership. We sell our pianos for less than full retail because, unlike typical piano dealers, we do not have a commissioned sales staff, nor pay referral commissions for piano teachers, and/or finders fees to piano technicians who recommend our pianos. Other dealerships routinely pay teachers and technicians for their referals. We do not. DO WE ALLOW INSPECTIONS OF OUR PIANOS? YES. We gladly welcome piano inspections and personally recommend having any used piano thoroughly inspected by a qualified independent piano technician (RPT), prior to sale. WHAT ARE THE TERMS OF OUR WARRANTY? Unless negiotated by the buyer as a price concession, all of our used pianos are warranteed to function properly and be trouble-free for a minimum of one year after their purchase. We will repair or replace any parts as needed which fail due to defect during this period. If a piano should develop an uncorrectable defect during this one-year period that we are unable to satisfactorily remedy, then we will buy this instrument back for the original purchase price. As of September 1, 2009, all MusicMasters "Professional" level pianos include an upgraded 5-year parts and labor warranty at additional no charge so long as you have us tune and maintain it at least once a year for every year (up to 5 years total). Exceptions: Normal wear and maintenance, (i.e. tuning) is not warranteed. Because we personally perform all warranty work, this is a local, Austin-Area only extended warranty. Abuse, improper use, or improper maintenance invalidates any warranties implied or expressed. |
If you have any questions, please call us at (512) 301-3503 or email us:
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Copyright © 2011 Brian Henselman, Austin, Texas