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Selling or valuing musical instruments

SLoB

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Bishop's Stortford
Not sure if this is the right place for this query.

My father in law passed away this week and I am presently helping my wife and family sort things out.

Amongst his belongings are a Yamaha Tyros Workstation (Mk 1 I think) and a violin. The former I have found on ebay and have a rough idea of its value. However, I have no idea where to start in getting a violin valued. I have not yet seen it and do not know its make, etc, etc (it may be worthless), but do any of you have any suggestions or links to other web sites where I may be able to get some guidance?

Further, with the Yamaha Tyros (and/or violin) is ebay the easiest/best place to sell? Any sugegstions welcomed.

Thanks

SLoB
 
Can't help at all Stephen, but sorry to hear your news.
YC
 
Does the violin have a makers name on it? If so you could do a search for violins of the same name on auctions that have ended and see what they went for.

mamos
 
I had something similar when my Dad passed away, leaving me a battered and unidentified double-bass. I found a bass-players forum and it was a mine of information - full of helpful people. Not unlike this place I guess. Eventually it was identified as being of German origin, about 150 years old, and potentially a very good instrument. Despite its condition, it sold for about £600 to a double-bass nut who was going to restore it.

So my recommendation would be to check out the violin-players equivalent of this place for a start.
 
Maybe I'm stating the obvious, but if you could find a reputable violin dealer then they should be able to give you an appraisal of the instrument and some idea of its worth.
 
I cant help with the initial post, but please accept and pass on to your wife and family, my sincerest condolences for your loss.
 
Deep condolences from me as well.

If you go to a dealer and ask for an appraisal, be prepared to pay for it, unless it's just a cursory glance. Value will depend a lot on condition, as well as maker/model/year. And beware of teh Stradivarius copies - these very from junk, to well made replicas.
 
Definately do not sell the violin on ebay. Find a reputable violin dealer and ask them to value it. If it is worthless then they will tell you straight off - so you don't need to worry about paying a £50 fee to be told your violin is worth £50! If the value is sizable and you have the time, take the violin to two more dealers to be sure of the maxiumum value. The best dealer may then offer to sell the violin on your behalf whilst taking a cut of the final sale price themselves.
Are you able to post a couple of photos onto this site?
 
Thanks for the comments and advice.

Someone in the family may have the Yamaha keyboard.

I am now researching violin specialists. Have taken some shots but not got time to post here just now.

Will let you know how it goes.

Thanks

SLoB
 
Sorry about you family loss mate ...

Have good luck with your research ...
 
My condolences too! Many auction houses, some specialising in musical instruments, hold evaluation days when one can walk in and have a free appraisal and perhaps decide whether to sell through the auction house.
Often times, selling at auction, provided you agree on a reserve price, with or without " discretion" , gets you better prices than selling it on the " free" market. Violins (and bows do not forget those!) are very difficult to sell if you lack the proper expertise and the auction house will help reaching a wider public and congregate all dealers and interested public hoping that they would try to outbid themselves. Ebay is most definitely NOT a place to sell a good instrument.
http://www.bromptonsauctioneers.com/Selling/Selling-Overview/Selling-Fine-Musical-Instruments.html
http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/pubweb/publicSite.r?screen=Music
http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/dept/DepartmentGlobal.jsp?dept_id=143
 
Last edited by a moderator:
If you send it to an auction house be wary of any 'small print'.
I enquired about selling a military medal at one and they said it would go in with the reserve agreed but if it did not sell it would go in the next auction at half that reserve and if it did not sell again it would go in with no reserve. There was no suggestion they would return it if unsold at any point, maybe they would but probably with a hefty handling charge.
 

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