Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum What is the Typical Piano Consignment Split?

Why do you need to know the typical Split?
Is it because of the Boston? Do you want to decide for either the dealer or the current owner what he deserves?

Let's make it simple:

• If you like the piano and can afford it buy it
• If you think the piano is not worth what they are asking, don't buy it.
• If you don't have the money, don't buy it.
• If you have the money and like it, by all means buy it. (And I know I am repeating myself)

The only reason to ask such a question is if you are suspecting you are being ripped. In that case, run, and don't look back. This certainly does not seem to be the case with the Boston. As people have said, it seems like a fair deal for a good piano. I am not asking you to make a decision (but by all means, make a decision).

Certainly anything used costs more when you buy it from a dealer (cars included) than if you bought it privately. Each individual has to decide how much they are willing to pay to eliminate the risks of a private sale (or not).

I think this is a big oversimplification(although I do not know the details of some prior post about a Boston). One part of knowing whether "the piano is worth it" is knowing what the dealer's % is.

Many people, perhaps the majority, are afraid of getting ripped off or at least getting a bad deal. This applies for new pianos and used piano sold privately or on consignment. That's the whole reason Fine's SMP pricing is so useful and important. It gives an estimate of whether the dealer's mark up is reasonable/fair.

"If you like the piano and can afford it buy it" is not IMO such good advice. "Can afford it" may not be a simple black and white issue. What if the buyer likes it but has to make significant financial concessions in other areas to buy it and the piano is also overpriced(the dealer's markup is more than average)?

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Another human being who is using their brain!

Agreed 110%!!

I think this is a big oversimplification(although I do not know the details of some prior post about a Boston). One part of knowing whether "the piano is worth it" is knowing what the dealer's % is.

Many people, perhaps the majority, are afraid of getting ripped off or at least getting a bad deal. This applies for new pianos and used piano sold privately or on consignment. That's the whole reason Fine's SMP pricing is so useful and important. It gives an estimate of whether the dealer's mark up is reasonable/fair.

"If you like the piano and can afford it buy it" is not IMO such good advice. "Can afford it" may not be a simple black and white issue. What if the buyer likes it but has to make significant financial concessions in other areas to buy it and the piano is also overpriced(the dealer's markup is more than average)?

Well, perhaps Paul falls into the category of shoppers known as “tire-kickers and well-wishers”, as we say here in the south. In other words, perpetually shopping but never buying. Of course, I’ve been in that particular category a few times myself.

Rick

So if two identical pianos are on consignment, but one was a estate sale and the buyer was asking $5, and the other was someone upgrading their piano was asking $10k, but the dealer for both of them is listing them at $17k? Is one a ripoff, and the other a good deal?

Based on what you are saying and pianoloverus, then I would assume that is your feeling.

However, in my opinion, the pianos are the same and the price is the same. In one case, the dealer makes the most money, in the other case, the seller makes the most money, but if one is fair, then the other is fair. if you had a choice, do you pick the one where the dealer makes less money. It is inane.

Most dealers hold to approximately the same margin on consignment sales as on used pianos they have in stock.

The rarity is buyers. Why should a dealer "use up" one of their buyers on a consignment sale if it makes less that they could make on a similar in-stock instrument?

Other issues are:

Who pays to pick up the piano and take it to the store?
Who pays for prepping the piano for sale? (Often a significant expense.)
Who pays for any warranty?


Answers consisting of a percentage of selling price are misleading.

Usually, in an estate sale, it isn't the seller (executor) setting the price. The item is appraised as to market value, but that will not be the amount paid to the estate.

Let's say that the market value is appraised $20,000 and the piano is placed on consignment with agreed terms of 50-50%. The item may actually sell for $18,000 and the split would still be 50-50%. Even if the item sells for $500, the split is still 50-50.

It is the executor's responsibility to maximize the estate, however, the ultimate return on any given item in the estate may be considerably less than market value.

In the above reference of the seller/executor (I think "buyer" is a typo) "asking" $5.00 would not happen, unless the value of the piano is only $5.00. The appraiser, in this case the dealer, sets the market value and the sales terms are negotiated between the executor and the dealer.

This is a very different from an estate auction. For a buyer, that is where the bargains can be found, rather than on consignment items. The method(s) of liquidation is the decision of the executor(s) unless specified in the will.

Eugene,

The person who only wants $5,000, would probably just sell the piano to a dealer for resale. It would no longer be a consignment and the dealer could sell it for whatever the market will bear.

It is neither the consigner, nor the dealer, who determine the final price. It is the market. The percentage split is part of the negotiations between both parties before the item is offered for sale. Those become a binding contract. In my 50-50% example, the seller would get his $5,000 and the dealer would get $5,000 if the piano sold for $10,000. If the piano sold for $20,000, the seller, who would have been happy with $5,000, would actually receive $10,000.

The only thing that the buyer needs to consider is the actual purchase price of the piano. The contract between the present owner and the dealer are irrelevant. The contract may certainly have a clause in which the present owner can specify a "bottom line" of the sales price. It would make not sense to specify a "maximum."

I am not trying to understand the market, contracts, percentages, how people sell things, etc. I am trying to understand these buyers who seem to care how the money is split and not the final price, and they don't seem to answer my question in this situation. does it makes a difference to them how much of the money goes to the dealer and how much goes to the seller if the selling price is the same?