At the recent Piano Congress we met Tim, who is a piano tuner*. He has been running his business for 15 years now and visits people’s homes for piano tuning or some minor repairs. He generally looks after the pianos. He told us his story from earlier this year when, completely by chance, he came up with the idea of how to increase his earnings as a tuner additionally and without much work. He agreed to let us share his story, so to start from the beginning, it went something like this…
Commissioning a piano tuner – piano valuation with a bonus
Sometimes Tim’s clients relocate and cannot take their piano with them. Or their children leave the family home and the study piano only collects dust. Most often then they ask Tim to help them sell it. Tim, as their piano’s tuner, repairman and caretaker, knows best what condition the piano is in and what value it might have. Furthermore, for the owners, this is usually their first piano sale and they don’t quite know how to go about it or simply don’t have the time. So far, Tim has referred such clients to popular advertising portals to advertise their piano for sale there. In the last month, Tim has received 13 such orders/requests – valuing and helping to sell a piano. For such a favour, the clients are willing to reward Tim with an appropriate commission for helping them sell the piano. 🙂
Tim, of course, is not always willing to help, not every piano will sell quickly and for a good price. From these 13 pianos that he was asked to price and help sell, nine were in super condition. Plus, they were well-known brands and sought-after models on the market. Selling them should not be a big problem. With a bit of luck and a little effort, a few hundred or even a few thousand euros could fall into your pocket. And that’s always a nice addition to the tuner’s earnings.
Where can I sell a piano quickly and easily?
There are plenty of opportunities especially on the internet. After the pandemic everyone has appreciated this medium, and they are no longer afraid to buy pianos online. Then all Tim would have to do would be to devote some of his time to creating the advertisements. He already has photos of the instruments, he took them at the time of the last tuning. He has known the instruments for years so he will write a short description on the spot and he will answer any question about the pianos advertised without any problem. He does not need to rent any premises to store the instruments. They will wait for their new owner at the sellers’ homes. Tim, however, decided to look for a more effective solution than single adverts on ebay or a local portal. In order to speed up the sale and stand out from the other listings, he decides to invest additionally in inexpensive advertising.
An online portal that does not charge commission on successful transactions?!
Tim has found several portals on the internet where pianos can also be offered for sale. However, most expect a % on a successful transaction, so how do you make money from it? There is also one portal where only upright and grand pianos are for sale. No cars, furniture or clothes. Something like a virtual marketplace for pianos – klaviano.com. A great option! After checking the terms and conditions of klaviano.com, Tim notices that they have created preferential conditions for companies and tuners to advertise pianos wholesale. As he has managed to establish for only $39 per month. He can announce up to 10 instruments and create his virtual piano showroom on klaviano.com in one go. In this virtual showroom, customers can click on his phone number or send an enquiry via the form…. and you know what, they don’t take any commission on sales! 🙂 In addition, he can also advertise his services as a piano tuner on klaviano.com free of charge.
Tim decided to try out klaviano.com and registered as a company, as he as a sole proprietor can consider himself a company. To start with, he will announce these 9 promising pianos, the other 4 will at most wait in line. He is already about to announce the first piano when he spots the promotion 20 ads for the price of 10! Is Klaviano reading my mind? Satisfied, Tim announces all the instruments collected from the customers and waits for the results.
To finish…
After a week, Tim received his first enquiry about a piano for sale, then another … he reaffirmed that there was no escaping the internet anyway, and that it could become his ally. He also got an email from the klaviano.com team. That a family was looking for a tuner in his area and that he still had 7 unused instrument slots. And if he doesn’t have time, and has more offers, they’ll even help him upload new adverts as soon as he delivers the materials and piano information. Tim is already rubbing his hands together, and happy that his commission for helping to sell pianos will find its way into his wallet quicker and easier than he thought. 🙂
*True story although we have changed his name at the request of the tuner