And I thought the Roland fp7f sounded great. I still haven't tracked down an HP505, so it might just be the CA65 I get.

The action seemed a little "heavier" than the Roland. I had a hard time playing softly, but I'm sure I'll adjust.
The sound was a little crisper or brighter, but very similar.
I liked the way it looked. (see thought below)
But at $3400 out the door, it's a little high. The price tag said MSRP 4095, Sale price 3195. (see question below)

Thought: I'm used to seeing digital pianos with the buttons/controls along the keys. The Kawai has a keypad off to the left. I liked this look. I asked the salesman about this and he said there are so many things that can be done with this model, that to have the buttons stretched out along the keys would have made it look like an airplane cockpit. I played with it a little and figured a few things out quickly. He said it's very intuitive and easy to work.

Question: I know the MSRP/list price is always higher than the actual selling price. When the piano seller has a "sale" price set, is there still room for negotiation? I guess the worst thing he could say is "no", but I don't want to offend or [censored] him off either. I looked on the "prices paid" list, and the CA65 has sold for less, but I don't know if those were negotiated prices.

Oh, I like the Rosewood, but the salesman said there weren't any left, that it's on back order for an extended period. Could this be true or is he trying to sell the Mahogany color?

I just need to track down the HP505 now. I need to get this done and delivered by Christmas...

Rosewood is arguably the most popular finish, so I expect the salesman is indeed telling the truth. Personally, I'm a fan of the Mahogany.





Best of luck with your ongoing search.

Kind regards,
James
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Rosewood is about $200 more than other color if you haven't noticed. The dealer always wants you to choose other colors because they are rather cheaper. I went to the dealer and told them I wanted rosewood right away before bargaining the price. If I were you, I wouldn't pay more than $3000 out the door for CA65. But, then again, it depends on how badly you need this piano. As for me, I can wait and deal for the price that I'm totally satisfied.

Your dealer tells you nonsense about the control buttons streched in front of you instead of on the left side would result in more buttons and does not try hard to get you the color which you want but tries to sell for a too high price what he has in stock.
Time to think about puchasing at a different dealer to not support such babbler, interested only in money but not in the customer.

The beauty of the internet is that everyone is entitled to express their own opinion.

James
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Well...price isn't everything. If the lowest price is your main concern, then ordering through a web(-only) shop is probably the cheapest way. But what if there is a problem, or if you have questions, or if you want to test-play the instrument before buying. A dealer has to have stock and demo units and a nice showroom , probably some personnel and other additional costs . But they enable the customer to try different products and provide them with valuable information (if they are a good dealership). Expecting the bottom price isn't totally fair in that respect. And many dealers indeed want to sell what they have in stock first. I really can't blame them - but you're not obligated to buy only what they want you to buy. Try to get what you want for a reasonable price (for both dealer and customer) and check the after sales service and policy and perhaps some reviews about the dealer. Dealers are not ONLY interested in money, but it DOES pay their bills if they have something of a margin left on the products they sell, so it is part of the sales process. That doesn't automatically mean they don't care about the customers interests.

Well said JFP.

So far, I have visisted 3 dealers. I can tell you that some of them do care about their customers. At leaset 2 out of 3 dealers care about me when I was there talking to them. We practically spent an hour chatting about music and not only the product itself. But, these two people that I have talked to are owners. We know the best way to buy a piano is to go through the owner if you know who it is. They can give you the best price because there's no commission involved. The best of all is, they spend more time with you and make sure their customer service meets your needs.