Selling

How to sell a piano

A piano is a slow sale only if you let it be. Buyers are out there — students, families, teachers, dealers and rebuilders — but a piano is heavy, expensive to move and hard to judge from a distance, so a listing has to remove doubt before anyone will drive over. Here is the whole process, in order: know what you have, present it well, price it honestly, and put it where piano buyers are actually looking.

By Joey Bouza · Updated September 3, 2026

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1. 1

   Figure out what your piano is worth — from the live market, not from memory

   What you paid, what a new one costs, and what a neighbor got years ago are all irrelevant. Start with the facts: brand, model, serial number (stamped on the metal plate near the tuning pins — it dates the piano exactly), and honest condition. Then place your piano in the live range for its brand and type below. A tuned, regularly played Yamaha U1 is a very different asset than one that sat in a garage. On anything worth more than a couple thousand dollars, a technician's appraisal ($100–$200) pays for itself.

   Live asking prices by piano type on US Piano Connection right now

   Type	Median	Lowest	Highest	Listings
   Grand	$31,875	$1,500	$500,000	952
   Upright	$4,500	$100	$76,005	628
   Baby grand	$9,900	$10	$152,600	298
   Digital	$3,189	$400	$18,650	256
   Player	$19,800	$3,495	$286,999	115
   other	$64,000	$12,499	$149,000	6

   Dealer asking prices include prep, warranty and delivery; a private sale realistically brings 60–70% of the median for an ordinary example in good condition. For your brand and model, see how much is my piano worth? or run the free instant appraisal.

2. 2

   Get it ready to show

   You don't need to restore anything — but get it tuned if it's been years (an out-of-tune piano sounds broken to buyers even when it isn't), dust the cabinet, clean the keys, and clear the room around it. Buyers hear with their eyes first.

3. 3

   Take the seven photos buyers actually need

   Shoot in daylight. Five good photos outperform twenty dark ones, and honesty in photos builds the trust that closes sales — buyers forgive scratches they can see and walk away from ones they discover.

   1. Full front, lid closed, in good daylight, with the room visible so scale is obvious.
   2. Full front with the lid and fallboard open, keys showing.
   3. The plate with the serial number legible — it proves brand, year and honesty in one shot.
   4. The hammers, from above (uprights: remove the front panel; grands: shoot from the keys).
   5. The soundboard — from the back on an upright, from underneath on a grand.
   6. Any damage, close up.
   7. The access route: the doorway and any stairs. It's the first thing the mover asks about.
4. 4

   Price it to sell

   The used market is a buyer's market for common pianos and a seller's market for sought-after models. Price just under the median for your brand and type if you want it gone in weeks; price at the top only if you can wait. A piano priced at the top of its range sits; one priced 10–15% under the median gets calls the first week. Most piano sales close 5–15% under asking, so leave modest negotiating room.

5. 5

   Write the listing that pre-answers every question

   Brand, model, serial number and year in the first line. Height (uprights) or length (grands), measured. When it was last tuned, and by whom. Everything that doesn't work, plainly — "two keys stick in humid weather" costs you nothing; a buyer finding it on the visit costs you the sale. Whether the bench is included, and your floor (ground floor, no stairs) if it's easy. A short, plain reason for selling — "kids grown, nobody plays" reassures more than any adjective.

6. 6

   Plan the move before you need it

   Pianos are 400–1,000+ pounds and genuinely dangerous to move without equipment. Professional piano movers charge $150–$400 locally and $700–$2,500 cross-country depending on size and stairs. Decide upfront whether your price includes delivery, mention stairs in the listing (the mover's quote doubles and the buyer walks if they find out later), and never let an unprepared buyer wrestle a piano down your stairs.

7. 7

   Screen buyers and close safely

   Serious buyers ask about tuning history and want to play it; casual scammers ask to overpay by cashier's check. Let the buyer play it and bring a technician if they want to. Agree the price, pickup date and who's hiring the mover in writing (a text is fine). Take payment before the piano leaves — cash, a cleared bank transfer, or a cashier's check verified with the issuing bank — and never accept an overpayment with a refund request. Mark the listing sold the day it goes.