Once in a while something special shows up that needs to be sold. In this case it is a Steinway Model "C", concert grand piano. The first question that I was asked by the family was "Have you ever sold a Steinway Piano before?". It seems as though that is a perfectly reasonable question to ask. My answer, "Nope, but I can." . This may seem a little cocky to a lot of people but it is an absolutely true statement. The reality of it is I have over the years sold many expensive items, its just that none of them has been a Steinway piano.
Should they be afraid to let me sell it? No. If you do your homework, remain patient and seek out more than one opinion of value, anyone can sell just about anything. The trick is ask a lot of questions, verify the answers and negotiate. The crooked people you can weed out almost immediately. You do this by having a clue about how it really works before contacting anyone.
In most cases the Internet is the answer. It is real simple, eBay and google. First, do an eBay search. See what people are asking for similar items (remember the key word similar). Then find similar items that have actually sold. The bottom line is unless it has actually sold the asking price is nothing more that someones fantasy. Next, check google. Although most dealers do not report their final selling prices for items, they do show (most) their asking prices. Figure that most dealers are willing to discount 10-20% and offer free delivery.
So now we know what it sells for, but what will they pay? I normally figure around 50% of what they can reasonably expect as a final selling price. So, if they are asking $70,000 and will discount it for 20% and they expect to pay $2,500 to deliver it and will pay 50% of the final selling price, you should expect between $25 to 30,000 as a buying price.
Then again maybe they already have ten of the damn things and won't be interested at all! I'll let you know how it proceeds.
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