Welcome!  We have six FREE videos for you to watch! 

Take a step-by-step video tour of the piano buying process.
From "what to avoid" to "how to negotiate" - great examples, animation and information to help you avoid EXPENSIVE mistakes.

 

Video 4:  Buy a Piano - Ratings are What it's All About

 (find out the real prices, ratings and what you should never say to a salesman)

You know, cars and pianos have a lot in common. Just like cars, you have consumer models and performance models. Just like cars you have entry-level, mid-range, and high-end pianos. And just like car companies, different piano companies focus on different segments of the market. 

 

With so many new pianos out there to choose from, it's important to get objective and concise information, as well as up-to-date pricing. The only place to get that is at pianobuyer.com - the authority for information on new pianos. "Piano Buyer" has easy-to-understand rating guides. It breaks down manufacturers by quality and price range. Also, "Piano Buyer" provides in-depth research on every manufacturer currently making pianos, from the largest and most popular companies to the tiniest. With this kind of resource, you really can make an informed decision. 

 

You're looking at a page from the pricing guide of "Piano Buyer". For this example, we're going to use Kawai, a very popular Japanese piano company. The page has an MSRP and SMP description, almost everyone knows that MSRP stands for manufacturer's suggested retail price. Just like when you buy a car, hardly anyone ever pays MSRP. SMP stands for the suggested maximum price, and it's the most you should realistically expect to pay for a piano. And even then, it's common to negotiate a price lower than SMP. Piano manufacturers set a price first by size and then by finish and cabinet style, with the least expensive finish for each size, being satin or polished ebony. 

 

After you've decided what makes and models you're interested in, it's time to find out if they're available in your area. It used to be that you could find multiple piano dealers selling the same brands within the same area, and that was good because you could play one dealer off against another. But nowadays, it's not unusual for a dealer to have exclusive rights to a piano brand over a very large territory. Because of this, you should never let the salesman know what your favorite brand is until you've settled on a price. Your greatest leverage in price negotiation is letting the salesman think you're looking at different brands. 

 

Besides stores, you'll find new pianos for sale at college and warehouse sales events. But I highly recommend you - don't go. Because that's what they are - marketing and sales events. They're designed to convert customers into buyers using group and high-pressure sales tactics, rarely are the deals actually deals. With the knowledge you're acquiring here, you'll almost certainly do better at the dealership. 

 

Check out the next page where I talk about the prices of used pianos. Hope it was useful!


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