Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Fair price for a 1989 Yamaha C3?

Hi,

I've been searching for a used grand for my son. Recently we saw 3 similar sized pianos: a 6'4 Petrof 2004 (asking $17K), a 6' Kawai RX-3 2003 (asking $15K), and a 6' Yamaha C3 1989 (asking 14K).

Even though the Yamaha is the oldest, and the keytops are totally stained with sweat and oil, we like its touch the most (Petrof the 2nd). We also preferred its tone more. The Petrof is a close 2nd, but a little harsh, probably in the overtone.

Thus comes the questions: (1) I can tell $14K is too steep, considering a 2003 RX-3 only asks for $15K. What would be a fair street price? This is from a private party, no warranties and other goodies. (2) Is 1989 too old to own for a Yamaha C3? Do we need to spend thousands of dollars to rebuild in the next 5-10 years?

I owned (in fact, still existent in my parents' place) a Yamaha C5 which was bought new in 1992. If my memory served me right regarding the exchange rate (it was bought in Taiwan), we paid about US$14K for it.

So my immediate reaction reading your quote of a 1989 C3 (3 years older and a smaller and arguably more inferior-at least to my ears back then-instrument to my C5) asking for $14K was that it was too much.

You probably already knew about the Piano Buyer website. There was a depreciation schedule. Assuming in "better condition", and giving it a leniency of 25 years instead of 30 years of the schedule to apply, one will be looking at 35% of the price of a new piano.

The current C3X, as many in this forum may argue, is not directly comparable to the C3 in the late 1980. But just by allowing it (another leniency), either based on SMP or MSRP the depreciated price reached can indeed be in the $14k-18k range.

Over the years with my admittedly very limited purchase experience of Yamaha pianos (only two grands), I never paid SMP or MRSP, typically more like 30% off.

Whether or not the instrument is still in a "better condition" will depend on how an experience tech sees. If really the keytop is stained with sweat and oil, it's likely seen lots of use to say the very least. A tech visit will be necessary too to evaluate whether expensive repairs will be necessary.

1989 is not too old for a piano (with moderate user expectations), provided it was kept in a good environment, regularly serviced, and not abused by its players. Leverage the cosmetically damaged keytops issue against a high asking price from a private seller who can't provide a warranty.

Greymarket and used C3/G3 pianos from the 1980s are likely selling between $12-18k at dealers, who will provide warranties and delivery options.

Davdoc, I believe the depreciation schedule uses the new selling price as the baseline, which after negotiation is typically lower than SMP (depending on your market, sometimes significantly so). Unfortunately the OP doesn't give any location, so we don't know if we're even using the right currency!

Thank you for the feedback. I talked to the seller and offered $10K, using various data points I gathered here and there. As it turns out, he had previously received two earlier offers at $10K as well. He also got a recent technician appraisal of $13K. I told him my observation is that technician appraisals tend to be higher than the actual selling price. He agrees (at least verbally) but cannot accept the lower price as he really values his piano.

My own feeling is that the piano has been at least decently maintained. He's got a humidifier, he takes regular lessons, and the piano feels and sounds nice. If we agreed on a price, I would still definitely hire a technician to verify, just like inspecting a home as a contingency after a price agreement. But from everything I hear here and elsewhere, even at a better than average condition, $14K is just too much.

This is in the US East coast area.

I may have to pass this opportunity it seems. I am somewhat disappointed as I really like this piano, but not so much as to pay an unfair price. Everything has a price, even hobbies and education.

Maybe leave an offer of $11k on the table, along with your contact info, and keep shopping. You never know when the phone's going to ring...

Good idea. I'm going to try that.

Not trying to re-activate a thread I started a couple of months ago, but I think the "list price" (being it MSRP by Yamaha USA, SMP, or whatever price the dealers would like to show on those tags on the pianos) of Yamaha pianos is higher than some other countries. Maybe that's also a reason that the seller would list it this way, in addition to emotional factors.

Yamaha MSRP compared to other countries