First decide on your budget, and then decide where to buy:

When purchasing your own piano, first you will want to decide on how much you are willing to spend, and then you should decide on where you would like to buy from, as each price range and marketplace has different things to consider.

How much should I pay for a piano?

When buying your own piano, you should purchase the best one that you can afford as this will most likely be in the best condition, last the longest, be made of the best quality components, and most importantly bring you the most enjoyment playing it.

If you are thinking about purchasing a cheap or even free piano, please take into consideration that often what you are getting may not in fact be a bargain. I advise everyone against this seemingly good deal as there is usually a reason these pianos are cheap or free. Most people think 'all it needs is a tune'.

But usually they could not be more wrong. When purchasing a piano you will need to factor in the cost of a professional piano mover, tuning, and any repairs that the piano may need. Hidden problems such as a cracked soundboard are often fatal to a piano, and it will never again hold it's tune. This is why it is important to discover why the current owner is selling or giving away the piano in the first place. Maybe they called in a tuner and discovered these problems, and decided it was easier and cheaper to sell the piano and let you pay to take it away than to take it to the tip themselves!

I advise against buying a piano under $1000 and would personally only look at something over $2000.

If you are looking for a good piano under this price range, consider hiring a quality piano instead of purchasing, as you will get a better piano for less outlay of cash.

Should I buy a second hand or new piano?

Quality pianos will often hold their value as long as they are maintained, and as such a good second hand piano can be often be indistinguishable from a new one to an untrained eye! 

But apart from being shiny, the rest of a piano's quality is hidden within it's complicated action mechanism. This means it can be hard for you to pick out the good second hand pianos from the not-so-good ones without having a years of experience in the piano industry. So if you are looking yourself in stores or in private marketplaces like Gumtree or eBay what do you do?

I recommend asking your piano teacher to accompany you to look over a piano you are considering buying, or alternatively I can be called out to give a basic piano assessment before you purchase it for $55.

This will include checking how out of tune it is (and I can give you an estimate on how long since it has been tuned and therefore how much care and maintenance the piano has received) as well as checking for other hidden repairs or flaws the piano may have, and my 'thumbs up or thumbs down honest verdict'.

While this is another small cost, it could potentially save you several hundreds in hidden repairs or worse frustration and time to resell it and find another one. Simply use my contact form and send me a link to the advertisement to arrange this service.

Never purchase a piano without playing it first!

By playing the piano, you can get an idea for it's touch, sound, and response, and for you or your child to enjoy playing it for a long time, you must pick one that you like.

This is often what you are used to, learnt on, or something similar to what you are used to on your piano teacher's piano, but each person has their own tastes.

Picking a piano that you like is more important than the brand and colour, although you should take these into consideration also.

If you don't play yet, you can ask the store attendant to play some notes, or bring your teacher or someone you trust that does play to play on the pianos and tell you what they think, but remember it is you that must listen to it each day- so at the end of the day pick something you will enjoy every day!