ABOUT US
Hi, my name's Dan - owner and director of Value My Piano & Nottingham Pianos Ltd.
With over 10+ years experience in the acoustic piano market from all aspects of sales, tuning, restoration, removals, servicing and refurbishment.
The one question I get asked on a daily basis from customers looking to sell their prized piano - "I just have no idea how much it's worth!?"
This also applies to when people want to buy a piano privately or inherit a piano from a friend or relative but want to check what they're buying/inheriting is fit for purpose. It is a legitimate problem as the piano market doesn't have a 'book price'. Every piano is valued on its own merit based on how well it has been looked after, how regularly it has been tuned, condition of the case work, condition of keys, condition of the action along with other technical aspects such as the pin block, strings, tuning pins, hammers, dampers, soundboard, regulation...I could go on.
For this reason, you could have 2 identical make and model pianos produced in the same year at the same factory with 2 completely different market values. One could be in fantastic condition, tuned ever year, case work is immaculate and internally pristine. The other could not have been tuned for 10 years (only sporadically before that) cup/vase stains on the lid, scratches from dogs/cats on the legs, chipped/damaged keys, significant wear on the hammer felts, signs of damp and mold inside...you get the idea. This is why 2 identical pianos can be hundreds or thousands of pounds apart in value when you look online and why it can be so confusing or just impossible to come up with a fair valuation for your piano. So for less than the price of tuning you can now get a full appraisal, professional advice and valuation of the piano before you make a commitment.
What other options do you have? Get a local tuner come and do an appraisal for you? Ask a local piano teacher to give you an idea of the price? See if a local piano shop will buy it off you? These are the current traditional methods that are riddled with problems. From experience, although piano tuners have a vast knowledge in terms of the technical side of pianos and will be able to give you advice on the condition of the piano, they have have no/very little experience in buying and selling pianos so don't know the true, current market values. Not to mention this is going to cost in the region of £100. Similarly with piano teachers, they are of course very accomplished pianists but have little knowledge of the internal/technical side of acoustic pianos or the market values either. This brings me to the piano shop option - yes I also own a piano shop and yes, of course I buy pianos for my business. This is what gave me the idea for Value My Piano. Although slightly counter intuitive to my piano business, I started this business as a way where people can now get the information to make an informed decision when it comes to selling their piano. Selling your piano to a piano shop (obviously you have the convenience factor to account for) MOST piano shops are going to want to offer bare minimum so they can turn it around for a maximum profit. This is where we come in...
OUR VISION
Our aim is simple. To give you the seller (or buyer) more information. With prices starting from only £49.99 for the basic valuation, we have the perfect solution for your needs to get the fair market value of your piano without any hassle. Why risk losing out on potentially hundreds or even thousands of pounds for the sake of a one off investment of £49.99? We don't just give you one valuation either...we give you the trade selling price, private selling price and also the price we think would result in a fair but faster sale. The decision then of course is entirely up to you as to where you would like to aim on price to coincide with your circumstances (whether you need a quick sale etc).
By giving owners of pianos more information (or even prospective purchasers), it brings some kind of structure to the acoustic piano market. Of course you are free to do with your piano as you please and our price point guidelines and suggestions are for your assistance only to help you get the most for your money. But we would like to think, this business will take away all of the uncertainty for people who feel a bit stuck or overwhelmed with all the technical jargon of a piano and reduce it down into a nice simple solution.
Please see below the 3 packages we offer and what is included in each, then head to the Book Your Valuation page to proceed.
Disclaimer: Value My Piano offers a very thorough visual valuation based on the images and information received. It is designed to assist with the current market value of acoustic pianos. We DO NOT give any guarantee as to the technical side of the piano of which can only be inspected in person such as tuning stability, pitch of the piano, potential woodworm, potential soundboard, bridge, pin block or water damage along with anything else that isn't clearly visible. Value My Piano is a tool to be used as a guide for appraising your piano. If you require a full in depth inspection along with our valuation we recommend getting a local piano tuner/technician to do an in person internal inspection alongside our report for full peace of mind.
WHAT YOU GET
Bronze Package - a full report of your piano including the make, model, serial number, year of manufacture, dealer selling price, private selling price and fast sale price along with all the positive and negative points of that specific piano AND brand (if applicable) detailed in a full report in email form. Even though this is our most basic service, we will be very in depth with this report. Not only do we base the valuation on the pictures provided, we can use our industry knowledge from the information provided about the tuning history, amount of owners, who has moved the piano in the past and the conditions of the room where the piano has been previously kept to paint a very detailed picture from the years of expertise we have acquired.
Silver Package - everything included in the Bronze Package along with a personalised certificate of valuation with your pianos information on, signed off and approved by us at Value My Piano. This includes the make, model (if applicable), serial number, year of manufacture, a brief description of the history of the manufacturer along with dealer selling price, private selling price and fast sale price at the time of valuation. We find this adds significant value to your piano sale or clarity to your piano purchase as this can be documented along side selling or validation for buying/making an offer. Also acts as a good option for those going through probate or if an insurance company require a headed document for an unfortunate ongoing claim.
Gold Package - everything included in the Bronze & Silver Packages, but the information in the Bronze Package is presented on a headed document of authenticity and signed off by us at Value My Piano. This acts as peace of mind for prospective purchaser of your piano (likened to that of a service history on a car). In relation to the Bronze Package where the information is just sent across in email form, all the information provided in this package is provided in a full PDF file Value My Piano headed, certified multi page document which is a lot more professional adding further value and clarity to your piano sale. These can of course be uploaded to your listing when selling the piano or printed off and given to the new owner, put in a professional A4 wallet or even framed and put on top of the piano if you wish.
Please note: whichever package you choose, we will of course require any relevant history of the piano along with some accurate dimensions. Precise pictures of certain areas and from specific angles will also be crucial in order to give an accurate valuation. After purchasing your desired package please see the Your Piano tab and fill in the form there. We will require the make, model and serial number which we will advise the location of these. From there we will research, put together our report and return your valuation within 5 working days. Most reports can be done much sooner than this, however some of the more obscure pianos may take a little longer as we have to do more extensive research into similar pianos sold and also speak to our vast, nationwide network of piano technicians for advice on specifics of that brand to give you as much information as we can. We can also help with recommendations on the best piano removal companies nationwide to assist with moving your instrument when the time comes.
For all other queries please use the contact form below and we will get back to you as soon as we can!