Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Will January bring price cuts???

Hello there

We are at the very early stages of picking a digital ‘family’ piano…..We want to give our kids the opportunity to grow up with a piano (ok, piano-like instrument). My husband and I both had lessons as kids and remember a fair bit so we are looking forward to enjoying playing again too. We want a console type piano and would like a ‘nice’ looking piece of furniture as well of course as a realistic sounding instrument that is motivating to play. We are fast realizing that the choice is a very subjective/personal one. We have read a large number of reviews and have seen a couple of options ‘in person’. Ironically of course the one we liked best to our own ears and eyes was the Yamaha CLP440 which doesn’t get the greatest of reviews. It seems from the reviews I can gather that the CLP440 isn’t bad, it just is very over priced. Would that be fair to say? If that is the case, is there a traditional time of year where the prices of these pianos goes down? (ie is it like the car market when ‘next year’s models come in?!). The Yamaha is at the very upper end of our budget right now. If every review said it was terrific we’d probably have already gone for it but the combination of less than stellar reviews and the over pricing issue have us questioning our sanity. If a price cut brought it down by $500 or so it'd feel much more appealing!

Thank you for your help, and with very open ears for any other suggestions!

New pianos are often announced at NAMM in January and prices on the older models go down when new pianos go out (similar thing happens in many consumer electronics).

Of course, December often has lots of sales as well in preparation for Christmas, so it's not always clear which effect will dominate.

Thank you! We are pretty much the opposite of impulse buyers so I reckon we'll stick around to see what January brings in terms of either upgraded pianos or downgraded prices in existing ones! And in the mean time try out some Kawais as I see they are super popular.

You don't say which models from other brands you auditioned to come to the choice of the Yamaha. Also since budget is tight perhaps something like the quite well regarded Kawai CN34 would meet your requirements?

There are probably other models from Kawai too, and a range in between from the new Casio PX850 and new Roland HP505. These are just suggestions so you know there are more choices that meet the basic requirement and possibly budget without having to wait.

You are not likely to find cheaper prices in January. Some stores are having Christmas sales. I suppose you could negotiate with a piano dealer depending on what you are looking at buying. You haven't mentioned any specific models other than the Yahama CLP line. There are other good pianos out and prices vary with models.

Not specific to pianos, but sometimes stores are overstocked after Xmas and will give you some nice discounts in the week between Xmas and New Year's on anything they have too much of.

somebody's mom: What prices were you quoted?

Yes apologies for being a little vague....I was trying to keep it simple as I realize just how knee deep in possibilities we are. We looked at the Samick SDP 45 which I hear is a real departure from the not so good Samicks of the past. It sounded ok but something about it felt too like my mother's old Hammond Organ from many years ago.

As I said we are very, very much at the beginning of all this, so our search has been less than scientific, we stopped in two piano shops and one was selling Samicks, the other Yamaha. The Casio PX850 is a contender, obviously much more budget friendly and to be honest it would appeal but for the fact we'd really like the furniture part to be more pleasing too. (The way our house is laid out we'll be looking at this thing from all angles lol).

As I type this I am presently falling in love with a lot of the Kawai range and I think that may well be the way for us to go.

Many thanks for your reply.

MacMacMac, we were quoted $3900.

I too am waiting for namm, have been for about 4 months,....hoping the wait was worth it

In the prices-paid thread, board members posted these purchases of the CLP440

Aug-2011 . . $2800 (incl tax)
Nov-2011 . . $2740
Apr-2012 . . $2620

So the dealer was quoting you the list price.
You have to make a lower offer to get the lower price.

BTW, was this a simulated wood finish? Or the polished ebony?

This is great information, thank you - I can tell this forum is going to be invaluable! That price I believe was for the polished ebony finish...the lesser quality finish was $3300.

You do pay more for the polished ebony look. If you like that appearance, it could be worth checking out the Kawai CS series

$3900 for CLP-440 - I would say wow we paid less for much higher-end Roland HP-507 (but it was not in Polished Ebony). It is about negotiating with the dealer and finding one who has a piano in stock (sometimes they order from the manufacturer, and in this case they are less likely to negotiate).

Here in local stores in Canada CLP-440 is listed around 2500 for not-PE finish and approximately $400-500 more for PE.