Buying a new piano -- negotiation

ttk2004 · Post by **ttk2004** » 13 Jan 2004, 12:52

I've been told that most dealer prices are highly inflated and there is always room for negotiation. Is it fair to expect a discount of between 15% to 25% when buying a new piano? That is on top of the dealer's price not on the RRP price.

Many thanks,

TTK.

Post by **Barrie Heaton** » 13 Jan 2004, 19:16

That all depends where you live – in today’s market most dealers have cut the price down to the bone (because of the internet and heavy discounting by the bulk buyers) and if you think about it 25% mark-up is not a lot when you have to stock 20 30 pianos and some of the expensive ones can stand there for 2 years or more and they are not on sale or return, some of the high street shop are only making as little as 5% these days 5 - 7 years ago yes they were making 35%
on new piano

Barrie,

ttk2004 · Post by **ttk2004** » 13 Jan 2004, 21:36

Thanks, Barrie.

I only ask because a friend of mine has just bought a new piano and advised me to push for a discount -- she actually got a &500.00 discount on a Yamaha V114NT and assured me that most dealers when pushed will offer some kind of discount.

I also read "The Piano Book" by Larry Fine which describes something similar happening in the American market. According to Mr. Fine the MRRP is usually double the wholesale price of the piano therefore leaving a lot of room for dealers to adjust their profit margins.

Post by **Barrie Heaton** » 14 Jan 2004, 00:45

The UK market has never worked on 50% and I don’t think the US ever did, the most discount you will see in the UK on Yamahas is 30% at a push 31% from the RRP but you see that 30% discount is cheaper that some of the high street shop buy them for – in fact I know one shop who buys his pianos from a shop up the road as he can get them cheaper than buying form Yamaha

Barrie,