JULY
7, 1923
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
7
'A Criterion for Used Piano Values
An Example of the Miseducation Which the Public Has Received From the Trade Regarding the Value of
the Used Instrument and How the Depreciation Schedule Now Being Compiled Can Be
Used to Meet This Attitude of Mind in the Competitive Sale and Overcome It
One of the grea t es t factors in tbe entire ques
tion of o\,er-;lllo\\"a11(es on traele-in pianos is the
consi>! cnt Illis cdu cat ion which the buying pub
lic has recci" ed fo r vcars from the pia110 d eal e r
himself. 'I' ll c use d pi a no has been in c r eased in
thcir es till lation far bc yo nd it s true valu es not
o nl y b y th e a ll owa nces w hi c h the dealer has
gene rall y m a d e, but beca use of the attitude
which th e salesma n so often takes in the h eat of
a compet iti ve sale when he concentrates hi s at
tention far 1110r e 11pon the old piano than be
cloes upon the m e rit " of thc instrument he is try
ing to sell.
An instance of thi s lllis cclllcation, which is
the fault of no individual dealer but of the trad e
~\t large, is shown in the facsimile of a le tt e r
received by a deal er not lon g ago and w hi ch i<
reproduced with thi s article. Bere is a woman
who owns an o ld s quar e piano w hich lost a ll
trad e-in val ue man y yea rs ago and yet who ex
pect s to obta in an upri g ht for it w ith out any
further in vest m e nt of mon ey . It is an extreme
case, of course, but, at the same time, it is typi
cal, for it shows how the people with whom the
piano dealer must do bu,iness tend to think.
Competition and Allowances
Competition in variab ly tends to throw the
elllp hasis in any sale upon the trade-i"n whcre
the latter is involved. Two competi ng sales
men, and few sales are made w ith o ut competi
tion, bidding one aga in st the othe r on the old
piano directl y in c r ease t he va lu e of that instru
m e nt in the prospec t' s eycs, until somet imes it
ll1ay be said that the fi g ht goe" so far as to
,·in' it a greater yaluc th an th e new one. That
this is true is shown by the fact that a hot
prospec t has often decid ed to hold 011 to the
old instrul]1ent and not buy a new one at all
under the salesmen' s persua sion. This is the
h e" t tiring that could happ e n in such a case, for,
'litcr all, wlral is the u se of making a sale w h en
the profit is all eaten up by the exorbita nt al
lowance offcred for th e old instrulllent?
N,o Criterion of Values
One of the thin gs w hi ch m a ke this ev il COll
dili o n po ~s ihle is th e fa c t th a t the prospect has
11 0 cr iterion by w hi c h to jud ge the fairness of
tir e oilers macle to him. It is a case of one
lnan's word against another's, and it is human
nature to believe the word which offers the best
bargain. The prospect cannot judge the relia
bility of the offers macl e, for there is nothing
that can guide him.
Tlrat is a factor which is go ing to make tire
'>c hecl ule of depreciation va lu cs, whic h is no w
b ein g compiled b y a co rnl11itt ee of the Music
Indu s tri es C ha mb er of Commcrce, of wh ic h C.
,\lfred \"·agner, of th e .\ m e ri ca n Pia no Co., is
c hairr;lan, so valuable. It wi ll g ive a criterion
of value s and serve not only as a guide to the
d ea le r and also to his salesmen, but to the pros
pect himself, representin g as it does the meas
ured opinion of the entire industry on the value
of the piano in question. Its use \·vill tend to
stab.i li z e trade-in valu('s, prev en ting them from
b eing at the mercy of competitive conditions,
which always raises th e m beyond th ei I' proper
re lation to the instrument w hi c h is b ein g so ld.
.\ d ealer may ask: "\Vh
sc h.e dule to prevent a de a ler fr 0 111 Jl1akin g al
lo wances which arc lar ger th a n thos e figured
in th e sc hedule? And, if th e r e i- nothing to
pre ve nt him from doing that, what is the value
o f th e entire plan?"
Utilizing the Schedule
Fin;t, let it be llllllcrsto o d th at there is noth
ing obl iga tory about the propo se d sc heclule. It
is ililpo ss ible to secure any a.c;rcemcnt among
the dealers to live up to it and, even if it were
poss ibl e, th ere wo uld be no way of enforcing
tlrat agreement. But th a t do es not les se n the
va lu e of the plan. In fact , it is, perhaps, just
as well that there is no way of securing an
ag reell1ent, for the schedule is likcly to have a
g reater influence just becau se of that.
If a dealer in competition is confronted by an
over-a llowance made by a compet ing salesman
at the present time h e can do nothing but meet
or top the allowance or e lse let the sale go by
thc board. On the other hand, with the schedule
he can ge t the prosp ec t and lay his cards on
th e table. Be can show the latter hi s piano is
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PREMIER (jETS CUBAN DISTRIBUTOR
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them. Be loses on the cut price and h e loses
again on the long-term paper, for his collection
expense on this is usually large and it is not
availab le to him in financing his bu siness. Fur
thermore, as these instruments move slow ly, he
continually suffe rs a loss in interest on the
money he h as tied up in them.
At the present time his only remedy is to
refuse suc h sales. But there· are not so many
dealer s who are willing to los e a sale, even
thou g h they will make money by doin g it. This
condition is goi ng to continue until some way
is found of stabilizing trade-in values. Thus
far the only feasible plan that has been offered
is the schedule of depreciation values now being
compiled. Its use throws the burden of proof
on the man who makes the over-allowance and
gives the selling advantage to the dealer who
makes a fair and just offer for the old pi a no that
the prospect owns.
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What the Public Thinks
worth so much, not in the dealer's individual
opinion, but in the opinion 'o(the entire indus
tr y, which is surely competent to know true
value s. He ca n show, beyond all doubt, that
hi s own offer of an allowance is a fair and
ju s t one and that he is g ivin g the prospect the
o ld piano 's full worth.
The deal e r may ask: "'''' hat good is that
goin g to do me, if the other fellow is willing
to g ive more?" It is a natural question, but
on e th a t does not take into consid eration the
full value of the facts. A person that is offered
more than SOlnething is worth h as but one inva
riable r eact ion and that is "Th ere is a nigge r
in the wood-pile." If a dealer is able to offer
so much above a fair value for a ce rtain piece
of m e r c handise the prospect is go in g to be very
careful r egardin g its accept a nce, for he is sure
to fi g ur e that such a dealer is making up 'w hat
he is losing on the allowance somewhere else in
th e tran sac tion. If he knows the facts, given this
feclin p;, h c is f!'oing to be a hard man to close,
no m at ter how attractive the offer may seem
to be at first glance . The _dealer who has made
a fair and ju s t allowance at once has the ad
vanta ge; th e deale!" who has offered thp over
allow ance has to prove his case. And, with
this fa ctor in his favor, with any sort of sales
manship at a ll the former should be able to
close the sale.
Importance of Trade-in Problem
The trade-in problem to-day is one of the
g reat es t evi ls co nfronting the piano trade. In
nine r e tail warcrooms out of ten it is a s ource
of continuous losses. In a majority of retail pi
ano sto r es old pianos move slowly, since their
first cost, r ep res e nted in the allowance plus the
cost of puttin g them in salable shape, is so high
that the pri ce it is necessary to get for them
is a figur e wh ich makes a new piano, even of a
low e r grade, a 1110re attractive buy to the aver
age pro spec t. As a result, in order to move
them, the dea ler In many cases is compelled to
cut his pri ce s and accept long-term paper for
Havana Dealer Takes Line for Entire Island
Company Reports Increase of 100 Per Cent
in Shipments
The Premier Grand Piano Corp., New York,
announces Cen. de. Effecto Musicales Giralt
will act as its distributor in Bavana and all
of Cuba . Walter C. Hepperla, president of th e
Premier establishment, reports an increase in
shipments of 100 per cent for the last quarter
of the fiscal yea r over last year's figures for the
corresponding period.
The Premier's radio
broadcastin g station WDT has secured the noon
hour of 12 to 1 p. m . for the official period of
transmittin g the concert programs and special
hours will also be assigned during certain eve
nings for additional programs. Executives of
the Premier concern are well pleased with the
results obtained for the initial three weeks un
der the management of Miss Vaughn de Leath.
NEW STORE IN BETHLEHEM. PAt
Bensinger & Williams Handling Lehr Pianos,
Columbia Grafonolas and Other Lines
BETHLEHEM , PA ., July 2.-Benry Bensinger and
Da vid Williams, both of this city, have opened
a fine new music store at 90 West Broad street,
where they have installed a full line of Lehr and
Lafayette pianos and players, as well as Colum
bias and phono graph records, music rolls and a
general line of musical merchandise. The new
concern is known as Hensinger & Williams.
Mr. Bensinger was for a number of years sales ·
manager for the Goodenough Piano Co. here
and both he and Mr. Williams have had long
experience in th e local piano field.
OSCAR KINDLER ON VACATION
Oscar Kindler, president of Kindler & Col
lins, New York, is taking his annual vacation
with his family in Brewster, N. Y. He leaves
the factory on West Forty-eighth street running
at a high capacity, with bright prospects for
heavy deliveries in the early Fall.
VICTORY PIANO CO. CHARTERED
Corporation papers have just been filed for
the Victory Piano Co., located in the Bronx,
New York City. F. Barber, P. Berlowitz and
M. Greene are the incorporators. The capital
ization is $10,000. 1. Levine, 38 Park Row, will
act as attorney for the new company.
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