In a message dated 97-05-30 02:49:29 EDT, you write: << Music Trades Magazine printed a 100th Anniversary edition in 1990, from 1890 to 1990. It reports the biggest year ever in piano sales was 1923. At that time the nation had only 100 million people. Now we have over 270 million and piano sales are somewhere around 98,000 units. The organ business is about dead. Enough said. Piano factory reps don't like us to talk negative like this. >> S'alright, Sy. I too have noticed a marked decrease in sales. So much so, I have stopped advertising and go word of mouth. Once a month, i get a call from someone who asks me if I have a free one. I have restored and sold pianos since I was 16, about 25 years now, and I finally sold about 8 of them to an out of town dealer on the west coast. This in 1995. The price was about what one was worth. I was glad to get rid of them. The reason simply put IMHO is that the market is flooded with shiny black ones for no money down and 0% interest. I found a silver lining. Since I stopped advertising and spending my time and money on them I netted a small profit in that department last year. People have found that sooner or later they can get a free one or next to free from an estate sale or friend. They don't know or don't care that I have taken the time to put them in shape. Instead, now i get the call to look at them after they have been acquired and am making more money restoring them than I ever did doing the work on spec and then trying to sell them. I got two such jobs this month. I am discovering more money in service than I had before. For years and years I would just hang out in the shop, content to play music and sell them, but the overhead coupled with the trend you've mentioned has conspired to make that lifestyle obsolete. The piano business is a very mature one, and not exactly a growth field. The key, I have found, is keeping the overhead in check-so slow times don't kill us. Incidentally, I have heard of new piano stores popping up in certain areas. Stores that are hiring technicians, tho I don't think we would want to work for someone else this far along in our careers. So they do continue to sell. I still keep a few around for the occassional buyer that finds their way to me. That way I more or less get my price and don't sweat the sale. I have found that I lose money when I have to rebuild and refinish them in order to sell. So I restrict my acquisitions to those that only need some sprucing up. It is starting to pay off. People have asked me I feel threatened about electronic pianos. Not at all, I tell them. Just more choices. hopefully a stepping stone to the real thing. When was the last time you heard a piano bragging it sounded like a synthesizer? The piano will never go out of style. Selling them tho, has definitely taken a back seat for me. Hope this has been good feedback for you. Incidentally, I would be interested to know what part of the country you are in. Best Regards, Sam Grossner. Chicago.
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