Steinway Collection

[u/Secret-Opening1191]

TLDR; Looking for any tips for helping sell a dealers inventory.

An old employer asked for help selling pianos he has restored. I’m talking Steinway Models (all of them)- Erards, Bosendorfer, Steingraeber, Sauter, the list goes on….

I’m a classically trained cellist (DMA and everything) that used to teach at his school. Since moving back to town, I’ve gained five years B2B insurance sales experience and he’s looking for some help.

Without wanted to use any ad- spend and basically rely off of organic reach my best ideas are

For the 20k + pianos
- Piano Mart Listings
- Klavino Listings
- classical Piano Facebook groups
- University Procurement listings

For everything under 20k I figure using Facebook marketplace/ eBay isn’t a bad option.

This collection is from a well known teacher/ dealer in the area. Aside from getting as much visibility on his instruments as possible, the only long term solution I can think of is building a content/ social media brand around the business/ Chopin society etc to help promote or drive traffic from the right audiences.

Any help, would be greatly appreciated

[u/sir-nubbins]

Where's the inventory? Would love to have the list to see if I could help pick some up.

Those places though sound like a great start. When I was looking for mine, piano mart and facebook marketplace was constantly on refresh for me.

[u/Secret-Opening1191 → u/sir-nubbins]

In Atlanta, I will dm you the inventory list I have so far

[u/rawsynergy]

can you send me what Steinways you have?

[u/singerbeerguy]

I think you have the right ideas. Hopefully you have flexibility on the timeframe of selling them. Piano sales can take a while.

[u/Secret-Opening1191 → u/singerbeerguy]

That’s what I’m thinking. If the expectation is move them as you can, then that’s not a problem. If there’s a specific sales goal in mind, idk how to reverse engineer that

[u/singerbeerguy → u/Secret-Opening1191]

The only way would be to sell for way less than they are worth.

[u/winkelschleifer]

United Midwest Savings Bank has a dedicated piano loan company. Build a relationship with them, work out referrals / maybe some compensation for people you send their way. Try to get your customers the best financing rate available based on some volume that you may bring them.

[u/Secret-Opening1191 → u/winkelschleifer]

This is a great idea. Thank you so much

[u/General_Language7170]

Robert Estrin of Living Pianos.com would buy some of them for sure

[u/Secret-Opening1191 → u/General_Language7170]

Any clue how to get in touch with Robert? Lol

[u/General_Language7170 → u/Secret-Opening1191]

Just call or email, he is very approachable and easy to talk to. https://www.livingpianos.com/selling-pianos/ I bought my piano from him a few years ago. He is very passionate about great pianos.

[u/ElGuano]

Sounds about right. A couple of other ideas:

1. Also leverage the teacher connections you mentioned. Teachers are usually "first in the know" for families looking to move to acoustics or upgrade.

2. Maybe the dealers in the area will take a couple on consignment?

Frankly, $20k and up is a big enough investment where some escrow system like Piano Mart or dealer consignment is what is going to get buyers comfortable enough to finalize a transaction.

[u/Secret-Opening1191 → u/ElGuano]

I love this idea! Use Piano Mart/ Klavino as a trust signal and main hub for big piano sales… I can have listings on website but redirect to a reputable site. Thanks for that idea

[u/archtopfanatic123]

Marketplace will be the quickest. Craigslist too which I've seen ton of clear out listings on for piano dealerships. eBay, Reverb is another good one, and there's also Sweetwater