Hello, new to this forum. I appreciate all the good info here.I'm moving & may be forced to sell my Baldwin 243, SN 404850. It's 45"high, has "Baldwin" on center of fall board & "Hamilton" on far right. The cabinet has some superficial water spots, but is solid. It has been tuned & played regularly and sounds great. A dealer lead me to believe it was something he really wanted until he offered $500 with a "Sorry, the economy is bad." I said "Sorry" too. I'm thinking I could get $1100 from a private source. Am I way out of line? I've seen this model's suggested price of $1770 on this forum. Thank you so much for your feedback. I'd rather make other sacrifices (higher rent for more room) to keep this piano rather than just give it away, especially to someone who is pricing it so that he can sell later at a nice profit. I'd post images but can't find link to do so on this forum.

No, you are not at all out of line...

The Baldwin 243 is a well buit piano and durable. I've seen them advertized on eBay and Craitslist for as high as $3K, but that is out of line to me.

If it is in good condition, $1100 is a good price to list it as a private sale.

Keep in mind that dealers only buy wholesale as a general rule; they are in business to make money.

Good luck, and Welcome to the Piano World Forums!

Rick

Thank you for your prompt response, Rick, and for validating my instincts on this. I really hope to keep the piano. Trying to simplify and have more time for worthwhile hobbies such as this.I understand that the SN can help ID the year of manufacture. It's 404850. Is there a forum for this info? I tried a link on this site and was redirected to a fee-based website.

If you go to www.Blue Book of Pianos, it will direct you to the Hamilton Serial numbers for the Baldwin uprights. Unfortunately, the serial numbers only go up about 1982 on their site and yours is evidently newer than that.

HAMILTON

1900-16000 1922-102200 1935-127500 1960-188249
1905-36000 1923-107500 1940-132000 1966-226950
1910-56000 1924-111000 1947-135000 1973-279076
1915-76000 1925-115500 1952-149000 1980-343950
1920-93000 1930-126000 1955-160686 1982-366819
(Source, Blue Book of Pianos)


Maybe someone with a Pierce Piano Atlas will chime in with an accurate year.

Good luck!

Rick

Pierce Piano Atlas puts it at 1986. Hope this helps.