is it worth keeping?

[madhatter]

I have been given a boyd piano, it is really small. I might either keep it myself but if it is worth anything I may sell it and give the money to charity.

It has the word schwander writen inside.

Any advice welcome.

[Colin Nicholson]

What advice would you like? ....
Standard "drop action" piano.... 1970's style - casework in poor condition.
Would suit a beginner/school/ first time buyer.

[madhatter]

I am wondering if it is worth spending money to make it better and thus more saleable or just put it on the web as it is and accept the 20 or 30 quid that upright pianos are getting at the mo on ebay.
I want to make as much money as possible as it was donated to my brownie group. I cant keep it for the group as we have problems with storgae.

[Gill the Piano]

Is it working all right? Is it (roughly) in tune? A tuning alone will cost around fifty/sixty quid so unless it's howling, sell it as is. The houses they're throwing up these days are tiny, so small pianos are at a premium and often go for more than they're actually worth. A customer of mine paid 150 quid for hers (she didn't have to pay delivery as it was three doors down!) and she's really pleased with it, as she was pushed for space.
So basically it's worth what someone will pay for it...sorry if that's not much help!

[madhatter]

It is a lot of help, I dont know anything about pianos and on ebay pianos go for less than £20 sometimes and it seems a shame for it to go for so little money.
All the keys work and I know it is out of tune but not madly. Inside seems really clean although as someone pointed out the outside is a bit bumped about.

[Gill the Piano]

You can get a fluid called Scratch Cover - it used to be made by Topps, but now I think is by Mr Sheen!
A wipe over with that disguises a multitude of sins! -

[athomik]

I'm always worried that if you use mild abrasives (like Meguiar's Plastic Cleaner - wich is good at getting slight swirl marks out of polyester/lacquer) and/ or some sort of covering substance, you can build up deposits which will make future refurb/restoration more difficult.

[Gill the Piano]

Absolutely - but I can't see anyone paying to repolish that particular piano in the nearish future, can you?

[madhatter]

I could rub it down and go for the the shabby chic look maybe? But I think I will just put it on ebay with a reserve maybe of £50 what do you think?

[athomik]

Fill it, smooth it down, get it chrome plated and sell it to some rich bloke in Kensington with a fetish for modern/minimalist design and make a fortune.