Excellent piano bargain

[Alan Dale]

Check out this piano. It's in Loughborough Junction and it's a bargain.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200116493476

[*Bob*]

Is this a Pal of yours who's selling, Alan? Why the 'big up'?!

[Alan Dale]

I live in Allendale Close. That piano is in the corridor of a flat 30m from Lo J station.

It belongs to my creator?s cousin.

He bought it on e-bay for ?60, paid ?230 to get it delivered to his flat only to find that they couldn?t get it up the stairs.

Now, four months later, their washing machine has broken and the only way they can replace it is if they clear the piano out of the ground floor corridor.

The Creator?s cousin can?t bring himself to destroy the piano so he is giving it away for 99p on ebay.

It will be a bargain but only if it?s bought locally and hence the Creator has instructed me to put links to his auction on the local forums where I exist.

Thanks for the interest. I think that it will sell for a price comparable to a night in a travel lodge but as you and I both know that's anything from 99p to ?200 in my opinion.

[*Bob*]

Alas, I'm already piano'd-up - I was just curious as to the 'big-up'!

99p is indeed a bargain: assuming the buyer doesn't want to actually play it, of course. If they did want to play it, better putting the removal fee towards a real piano, I'd say.

[Alan Dale]

Not sure what you're getting at. The piano is real and sounds pretty good to my untrained ear.

I'd suspected that you were a pianist *Bob*. Thanks for confirming.

[Huguenot]

Now now boys.

[*Bob*]

ha ha!

The world is awash with 'bargain' pianos. Generally, if you want a piano to give your front room a nice cosy feel (this accounts for around 80% of piano owners), there's always a free one somewhere who's owner can't wait for someone to have removed.

But all of them will be useless musical instruments (unless you specifically want to impersonate saloon music from a western).

[Alan Dale]

Yes *Bob*, I suspect you are correct about the availability of bargain pianos.

The point about this one is that it's now local. The original transfer costs were to get it here from Hampstead.

Regarding the quality of the sound then I am not qualified to comment but I'd prefer to advocate a 'don't knock it until you've tried it' approach.

And if it's not great then let's hope that Calamity Jane is on the forum looking for some ticklable ivories to cosy up her room.

Have you got grade 8 *Bob*? Distinction?

[Keef]

Ahhh grades *shudders at the memories*

[*Bob*]

There's no reason at all why a decent-playing piano (the most complex acoustic instrument on the planet with thousands of moving parts) can't be had for ?60. No reason at all.

I can do chopsticks - really fast.

[Alan Dale]

My sister got up to grade 6 on a family air loom. It was only then that she felt she needed something better to progress to the latter grades. She never got passed grade 7 though so what did she know.

If you live locally to the piano and want to learn then have a look.

If you're a concert pianist then forget about it.

[Mark]

Perhaps Hoopers could buy it and at the next EDF drink (July 6th) you two could have a Chopsticks-off? Like the banjo duel in Deliverence but on a piano.

[edited once]

[*Bob*]

We'd need two pianos for that, Mark.

But I'm sure we can find another piece of firewood somewhere or other.

[Alan Dale]

If that gets it out of their corridor then I'll do it.

I'd prefer it if the tune was 'Oh When the Saints' though. Nevertheless I'm sure I can learn chopsticks in time.

Why don't you all put predictions for what the piano will sell for on here and then follow its progress in the My Ebay section of your ebay accounts.

I'll start off- I reckon it will sell for ?65.

Anyone else 'Come on down'....

[*Bob*]

The sale price will be entirely dependent upon how much the potential mug - sorry, buyer - wishes to part with.

With so many of them being born (every minute) the figure will be hard to predict.

[Alan Dale]

Get off the fence- what's your best estimate?

[Asset]

why are you being so scathing about this piano? Surely any piano is better than none if you want to learn to play and not everyone can afford to start with a Steinway, you gotta start somewhere.

With ebay you never can tell, some things go for under value and some things go for more than they are worth.

If I had room for it I would bid up to around ?80, mug I may be.

[Alan Dale]

Thanks Asset. Living up to your name.

*Bob* why the big downer on the second hand piano market. Previously bought a lemon or perhaps you've got a pair of prosthetic arms?

Intrigued to know...

[Huguenot]

lol :))

[*Bob*]

Asset,

The piano may sell for ?50. It may sell for ?200. Good luck to the vendor.

Pianos look nice in a room, but the instant you need the space they magically turn into 200Kg of cumbersome millstone. There are companies that make a nice living from charging people a hundred (or a few hundred if stairs are involved) quid simply for taking away such pianos (of which there are tens of thousands).

My advice if you want to learn to play? Of course you don't need a Steinway. But pay properly for a real instrument, or get one for free by doing someone the honest favour of taking it off their hands free of charge.

As I say, good luck to the vendor. If they can get cash for it, great, but in terms of its value as an instrument (ie not something to put a pot plant on top of), a piano which costs ?60 is worth exactly the same as one which costs ?160.. Nothing!

[*Bob*]

And actually I do have prosthetic arms so I find you comment in very poor taste, Alan.

[Alan Dale]

Sorry to hear that *Bob*. That said, I'm well up for this chopsticks comp now.

As long as you don't have any mechanical add ons that is...

[Mark]

The Admin and I have been deliberating about this one. As Alan started this thread and the main information is in the first post (and it's quite amusing) it's staying in the Wanted/offered section and won't be Lounged (at least until the piano's sold).

Admin reckons ?30 and I say ?120

[Alan Dale]

Much appreciated.

My mum once sold an automatic Mini Clubman to a one-armed man from Scunthorpe. Sadly it broke down on the way home.

Luckily he still had one arm left to thumb a lift.

We gave him a 50% refund and didn't even check that the car really broke down so he wasn't complaining. At least not about the Mini..

[*Bob*]

And I'm delighted to report that the Mini is still running as well as it always did.

Thanks for the refund - sucker!

(This was before I had my second accident, of course)