Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum buying pianos from Craigslist

OK, I know you get what you pay for and you have to be super aware of what you're doing, especially when you're looking to make big purchases through sites like Craigslist versus the usual piano retailer. But I just happen to be looking around for the past few days just for the heck of it on Craigslist. Why do people NOT show the actual name of the piano when the include pictures of the supposed piano they are selling? It's just super supicious. Sorry if you all have already talked about this but I'm just posting out of a little frustration.

Just wait until you visit someone's house to "shop". 2 weeks ago locally, a "Steinway" turned out to be a Brambach. Actually, there was no name on the fallboard anymore, and Steinway was the only OLD piano brand the poster knew of. Makes sense, right?

I learned the hard way when I was shopping. I drove 2 hours from downtown to a suburb up north only to find the "piano" in question was an electric toy organ despite all the questions I asked over the phone, starting from the very basics such as whether it was an acoustic piano or not. The time and gas money can never be recovered.

After that, I insisted to see multiple pictures of the sellers' piano before I take a single step towards the seller's general direction. Some ignored my requests. A few even fumed about my persistence. I got fed up looking through the Craigslist, so I ended up buying my "new" piano from the shop of a group of technicians instead. Craigslist is not for someone impatient like me who needed a replacement in a hurry, but I'm sure there are great bargains out there for those who are willing to hunt for them.

P.s. Stencil/no name/fake name pianos are also found at dealers or music schools! I saw a "STEINWAY" piano at one of them. It's rather sad that the market has room for such a dealer because shoppers are so uninformed.

I think Craigslist is a good advertizing venue for used pianos, whether buying or selling and it is free. You have to be really careful though, and have good intuition for reading the sellers ad and their responses to your inquires. You can usually figure out quickly if the seller is legit or not or if what they have for sale is what you might be looking for; or, if you even want to deal with them at all.

A lot of used piano dealers use CL a lot (especially in the Atlanta area) and word their ads to sound like private sellers. For example, phrases like “downsizing, must sell”, or “son or daughter no longer plays, must sell”, or need a medical operation and need the money, must sell”, or whatever…. Then, when you contact them, you find out that they have many pianos for sale and are certain to have exactly what you are looking for.

I have bought a couple of pianos that were advertized on CL and I have sold a piano that I advertized on CL. It is an excellent FREE resource for advertizing.

You have to be very careful no matter where you advertize your items.

Rick

This would be a great topic for an FAQ.

"Caveats on Buying From Craigslist".

Undoubtedly some great deals are to be had on Craigslist, but a shopper must be very careful.

I bought a very nice Kawai 500 upright on CL that was 30 years old and looked absolutely new inside and out. It was owned by the proverbial little old lady who was a church organist. Organists have a notoriously light touch on pianos and the piano's hammers had no grooving whatsoever. Literally, it looked, sounded, and played like new. My price for this prize? $500. I actually bought it for my brother as he was looking to ditch his 40's era Steinway that was a total hunk of junk. Not that the Steinway wasn't at one time a nice piano, but it was absolutely worn out. It had been a practice room piano before he got it. He bought it off of eBay and never liked it from the day he got it. He's thrilled with his new to him Kawai. I have purchased many things off of CL and have never had a bad experience. I have gone to see things that weren't in great condition and I had to pass on them, but that's normal. I have also had scammers contact me for one reason or another, but I just ignore them. In my opinion, CL is the bomb!!!!

http://columbus.craigslist.org/msg/2006091063.html

Most of you would agree that this is a great deal, if the piano is as described in the ad? I wish I had 8 grand to spare!

Yes, very beautiful. I've never particuarly loved Petrof pianos, but I was always comparing them against Steinways or Bosendorfers. If that piano really has nothing wrong with it, it's a STEAL!

My friend and I found an EXTREMELY nice Conover upright piano for free on Craigslist. We fixed it up, and I must say, it's one of the finest sounding upright pianos I have ever heard. Perhaps we were just lucky?

I advice extreme caution when dealing over craigslist.
The below is an example (copy and pasted) of a contorted process I experienced last year on craigslist while searching for a grand piano. I've removed my email and phone # from the below correspondence. This is an example of one of the crazy craigslist experiences I had while I was shopping for a grand piano. I could barely believe the very rude response I received, when I finally heard back.
I am putting up this example , because there was a very interesting follow up to this. I just happened to discover the same email address on a further craigslist inquiry I made several months later.
So I'll follow up with Part 2 , for those interested.




Hello, I would like to inquire about the C.Bechstein piano you are selling. I am interested to know how old your piano is and the model #. I live over on ------- Island but I am able to travel over to Vancouver. You can contact me at the above email or call me at 250 .......... I am currently looking for a grand piano.

Thank you, Dara


Hello, I sent you the below email 2 days ago but didn't hear back from you. Is your piano still available? I noticed that it is listed on Craigslist again today but for $ 7000 more than it was listed for earlier in the week. If you are able to respond I'd be grateful. Sincerely, Dara


Hello. This is my 3rd inquiry about your piano. Are you able to respond? I am looking for a very fine quality grand piano. Your response would be appreciated. Thank you, Dara


RE: piano
From:
Ron Ellis <nohaua@hotmail.com>
Add to Contacts
To: dara....

I decide to whom I respond.
You don't seem either serious nor able to pay for my piano.
Over and out.
Dr.Nohau

Part 2 - of the above

The below is a response to an inquiry I made about a Yamaha grand piano advertised on craigslist in Vancouver, after sending a couple of emails to them to try and determine what model and year the piano they were offering for sale was. The above posting (Part 1) was a craigslist response/inquiry in March 2009. The below is from December 2009.
I almost responded to this friendly seeming email response. And then I noticed the return email address. Hey, this sounds familiar... I went back and checked in my email account , and LOL it was the same email address as above.
I leave it to long time readers of PW to make your own guess on this one. I have my own idea.
I didn't respond to this craigslist/email.
Though someday the author of these responses may be revealed.
Feel free to write to Dr. Nohau (Jerry Hauer)




----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Jerry Hauer <nohaua@hotmail.com>
To: dara......@yahoo.ca
Sent: Sat, December 19, 2009 9:45:35 AM
Subject: RE: piano

Dara:
We shopped for a long time and almost went crazy.
A friend of ours had bought a new grand piano we never heard of called Estonia.
When we played this at one of his parties, it was heavenly so we rushed to the
store who is selling this brand. [in Surrey]
Unfortunately the piano was out of our reach but we tried another one called
Brodmann which was almost as nice - a lot cheaper though!
It's made in China by an Austrian company and sounds absolutely super.
We're very happy with the piano and don't miss a thing - in fact it's quite amazing.
We always loved the European sounds in pianos - this piano sings and is crystal clear
The other day we went back to one of the stores where we had shopped before and played a piano twice its price [Shigeru] Like ours actually better at home, believe it or not!!
Best of luck in your search!
Jerry

Dara,

Help me out here. I get the part about the duplicate email addresses and the sales spiel for Estonia and Brodmann. What I don't get is what seems like a disconnect between your inquiries and the responses.

In the first instance, did you supply any information that would give the respondent reason to think that you weren't much of a player or didn't have the money to pay the asking price? For example, did you lowball or ask to pay over time?

If you didn't provide any information like this, the response just seems like an insult....nothing to hook you, bait you, or sell you.

In the second instance, the ales spiel for Estonia and Brodmann seems like an odd response to an inquiry about a Yamaha grand for sale. Was there ever a response to your interest in that Yamaha....maybe a bait and switch? Was the price of the advertised Yamaha unusually low, suggesting that the Yamaha didn't really exist and was just used as bait?

I'm not questioning your story at all. Craigslist in California is a snakepit where every cheap trick in the book is in play, so I don't doubt there are shenanigans here. It's just the disconnect that doesn't make sense to me.

give Craigslist a chance. it has revolutionized the way things are sold locally. of course retailers take advantage of the market and minimal policing. you must just be aware.

There are things you can do to keep from getting spammed like spelling out your phone number... two four nine.. etc.

if i were to sell something the first place i'd advertize is Craigslist.

I have a habit of checking out the piano ads on the local Craigslist everyday (pick-up trucks too ). I currently have one of my pianos advertized on CL. It can be a mind field, but it is free and it can yield positive results.

A while back, when I was in the market for a semi-concert grand piano that I could afford, I came across an early 1990’s Kimball 6’7” grand advertized on CL. The asking price was like $6900, which was well within my budget. There was no contact info in the ad, so I emailed the seller via the CL email. The seller responded quickly to answer some of my questions but still didn’t provide a phone #; so, I emailed him back with my cell phone #. The guy calls and we begin a conversation about the piano. He tells me what a fantastic buy it is and that I couldn’t touch another piano like that anywhere on earth for what he was asking for it. Then, he wanted my home-phone # (land-line) to verify that I was who I said I was. I could understand his caution and didn’t have a problem with that.

Next, and this surprised me, he ask me if I had the money in my bank account to buy the Kimball and that I had to agree to buy it in advance before he would schedule an appointment to look at the piano (he didn’t ask for the money up front, but to make a commitment to buy it in advance). I assured him that I had the money to pay for the piano, but would not agree to buy it until I looked at it and played it first. The guy never called me back and I didn’t call him back.

Yep… there are some psychos out there advertizing on Craigslist…

Oh yea, another thing… you can tell it’s a scam if they send you an email responding to your ad and say “Sir/Madam, do you still have the item for sale? If so, I would be interested in buying it…

Take care, and be careful on Craigslist!

Rick

We must be brothers then. I check piano ads and car ads, for no particular reason.

In response to turandot-
This is very lengthy , so I realize most won't be interested.


In the first instance,
The response I received was totally 'out of the blue'. As in , I made 3 inquiries about a craigslist ad for a C. Bechstein that was advertised for sale - all of which I documented in the above posting. There was no information given to the seller about who I was , other than the information given in these 3 email responses I have provided. And nothing previous to that, which would have given any idea of my financial status or otherwise. I found it to be a very rude and disconcerting response, after making 3 sincere inquiries.

In the second instance (9 months later), I saw a vague craigslist ad for a used Yamaha grand piano. I made an inquiry to which model, year, and so forth it was. Below is the entire transcription of the account.
The only thing I have altered here is leaving part of my email address out.
It wasn't until the last response, that I recognized the email address from the previous C.Bechstein craigslist posting.
I don't remember the original asking price in the Yamaha craigslist ad.
What struck me was that now I was receiving a very friendly response, from a previous craigslist email address that was a mystery and very rude.
And because I was considering purchasing a Brodmann piano, it made it even more disturbing. I realized it was a total scam, and I have a very good idea where it originated from.


Date: Sat, 12 Dec 2009 17:36:55 -0800
> From: dara.....@yahoo.ca
> Subject: piano
> To: sale-pxbuw-1507506631@craigslist.org
>
> Hello,
> I am looking to purchase a grand piano. Could you tell me the model of your Yamaha (eg. C2) , the serial # and the year it was made.
> I am looking to buy a new piano but will consider one which doesn't have much wear on it.
>
> Thank you, Dara
>

From: Jerry Hauer <nohaua@hotmail.com>
To: dara....@yahoo.ca
Sent: Sun, December 13, 2009 6:47:29 PM
Subject: RE: piano

We actually bought a new piano ourselves.
The Yamaha is nice but VERY bright. [too bright for my wife's liking...]
If you like this, you're welcome to come see.
Jerry

Date: Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:57:16 -0800
From: dara....@yahoo.ca
Subject: Re: piano
To: nohaua@hotmail.com

Hello,
Thank you for your response. I think I'll keep looking. You didn't mention the model, size or age of your piano. Makes it easier for people to consider if they're interested.
Good luck !

From: Jerry Hauer <nohaua@hotmail.com>
To: dara....@yahoo.ca
Sent: Wed, December 16, 2009 9:54:37 PM
Subject: RE: piano

Sold.
Good luck in your search.



Date: Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:12:27 -0800
From: dara.....@yahoo.ca
Subject: Re: piano
To: nohaua@hotmail.com


Thanks Jerry, I am thinking of getting a new piano. Good to hear you sold yours. What type of new piano did you get? Just curious because i've been doing a lot or research over the past year. Almost there myself i think. I've been looking in the 6 ft. size range.

Cheers, Dara


RE: piano
From:
Jerry Hauer <nohaua@hotmail.com>
Add to Contacts
To: dara....@yahoo.ca
Dara:
We shopped for a long time and almost went crazy.
A friend of ours had bought a new grand piano we never heard of called Estonia.
When we played this at one of his parties, it was heavenly so we rushed to the
store who is selling this brand. [in Surrey]
Unfortunately the piano was out of our reach but we tried another one called
Brodmann which was almost as nice - a lot cheaper though!
It's made in China by an Austrian company and sounds absolutely super.
We're very happy with the piano and don't miss a thing - in fact it's quite amazing.
We always loved the European sounds in pianos - this piano sings and is crystal clear
The other day we went back to one of the stores where we had shopped before and played a piano twice its price [Shigeru] Like ours actually better at home, believe it or not!!
Best of luck in your search!
Jerry

p.s.
That was the least of the dishonesty I encountered in my piano search over a 15 month period.
I refrained from writing for a long time here on PW, because of the dishonesty I encountered in my search. I've never spoken about the piano I eventually purchased. Didn't get to write the happy piano search story, with pictures and all...

I didn't wish to enter these forums on a negative note, but I was very , very upset about some experiences I encountered.
Also I didn't wish to have a defamation action taken against me, by speaking out here , the truth of what happened.

Dara

Verrrry interesting!

"We always loved the European sound in pianos...."
So they had a Yamaha?
the whole thing has an odor of scam about it.

Dara, this is a most interesting drama you have unfolded. I really have been fascinated by it. You can always go over to the Adult Beginners Forum and post a picture of your piano room in the thread Mr. Super Hunky started. We'd love to see your piano room.

Dan

Thanks Dan.

I shall post a picture at some point. In retrospect, it may be interesting to share about my purchase of a new grand piano, after I've had it for awhile. Usually, we hear about and see new piano purchases beforehand and photos when they arrive. It will give me an opportunity to share about the initial 'breaking' in period.I purchased a piano at the end of last year, but it didn't arrive in my home until early February of this year.

I shall also put up links to some recordings of my compositions.
And perhaps I'll even receive the 'official' welcome from Monica