Appraisal

[PianoBook@aol.com]

Dear Bob:

Ultimately a piano is worth what someone will pay for it, so in the absence
of an ability to actually put it on the market and see what it fetches, or to
see what many other 1940 Baldwin M's are fetching, we must use a system that
will approximate as close as possible that condition.  Steve Brady's
depreciation schedule in The Piano Book was designed to do just that and
works well (in our experience) for pianos in average condition for their age,
especially for those models still in production.  Since you said the piano
was okay as is, I am assuming it could be said to be in average condition for
its age, despite the fact that it would cost thousands to satisfy the client.
 (If not, you will have to adjust the value downward.)  The schedule says
that a 55-year-old grand is worth 30 percent of the value of a new one.
 Note:  This depreciation schedule is based on the *current* cost of a new
piano, not the *original* cost of the piano when it was new, so it takes
inflation into account.  Since you said the current cost of a new one is
$19,722, the value of your piano would be just under $6,000.  The $19,722
figure is a list price for a new mahogany M, however, and in actuality, you
could probably get one for closer to $15,000 if you bargained a little.  So a
more realistic market value for the used one would be 30 percent of that, or
$4,500, which accords better with my experience than the higher price.  But,
assuming that your client wants as high an appraised value as possible for
use as a tax deduction, you could justify the higher figure by the method
described, using the list price as the current new value.

This is not a foolproof way of appraising a piano, and you have to look to
your gut instincts and experience to make sure the figure you come up with is
credible (as you did), but it's a reasonable approach that, in my experience,
seems to come pretty close to what the piano would actually sell for.

Larry Fine