Should we get the current instead of last year new piano?

[pop]

I noticed a brand new piano in a dealer’s show room was manufactured in October 2010. Should I get the 2011 piano? If so, I may get the boxed one. Should the price be different between the current and last year new piano?

[Barrie Heaton]

They are all new New pianos can sit on retailers shop floors for 5 years or more that use to be very common

The older one will have had more tunings or should have had

Barrie,

[rgreig]

When I was auditioning pianos I found there were considerable differences between the same model at different dealers. I suppose this reflects the variability of the materials used in piano construction plus the differences that result from the manual processes in the manufacture.

Therefore I would be very wary about buying any piano that I had not played - even if you like one example of the model there is no guarantee you'd like a different example.

Robert

[MarkGoodwinPianos]

A piano that has been in stock since October 2010 might be a particularly poor quality piano compared to others from that make/model. If it was a stunning piano it wouldn't hang around long. There may be other reasons why it is still stock that are nothing to do with its quality ie. perhaps the dealer keeps lots of spare pianos in store and only brings them into his showroom one at a time as space becomes available.

Either way, it's best to make a visit to test the piano in person. Take a technician with you and always ask the dealer where the piano was made and then verify this online before you visit.

Feel free to post the make/model/serial number here so that we might help you with that.

All the best
Mark

[mdw]

Most piano shops offer their customers a broad spread of pianos to choose from in finish size and make finish etc. Thats will mean that the odd piano might sit about for up to a number of years. If you offer a good selection especialy of colour finishes you sometimes will get one that people dont like much. Or we could all sell 120cm trad black uprights.................... be a bit boring though wouldnt it.

Years ago after stocking the Kemble winsdor in antique cherry for ages and selling loads Kemble dropped the cherry and switched to mocha oak. It took me 14 months to flog the first and only mocha oak and I lost loads of people who would have purchased it in cherry. It wasnt a bad piano in the oak just not a seller round here.

[sussexpianos]

Unless there has been a change in design ie The Weber D series, then there is no difference. I have a few pianos which have been on the shopfloor for a while because the customer wants a brand new one or a different colour. There are so many different makes, with different cases, finishes and sheen levels that dealers have difficulty in stocking the right pianos so there will be pianos which have been on the shop floor for a while. The best way for some dealers is to discount them after a year and bring new stock in. It does not mean there is something wrong with it, just that the right person has not come along yet. I had a Samick 615 for a long time, very decorative and shaped legs in a Cherry satin. Not everyones cup of tea but I sell one a year to someone who wants that sort of case, because no other maker has one, its nice to have something different next to the plain black cases.

[Model V]

Always better to buy a piano you have played and liked than a "brand new" "boxed" one. They're all different and purchasing a piano is not like buying a hifi imo.

MV.