Klarinet Archive - Posting 000873.txt from 1998/08

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] major decision
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 1998 13:11:27 -0400

On Sat, 29 Aug 1998, Jack Kissinger wrote:

> Point one. I completely disagree with the argument that you should buy
> a new pro model because, even if you quit in 3 years, you will be able
> to sell it and get most of your money back. In my experience, this is a
> myth. The general rule of thumb that I see in the market and that local
> professional musicians tell me they follow is that (in a private sale),
> a used instrument IN MINT CONDITION should sell for about half the
> street (discount store) price of a new instrument.

I haven't bought or sold any clarinets recently, but the above would not
hold true in the case of oboes, saxophones, bassoons or flutes, and I have
to be skeptical in the case of clarinets. For all the other woodwinds,
what you say is certainly true for student and intermediate instruments.
However, the pro horns tend to hold their value, and in some cases even
appreciate in value. I know of someone who bought a bassoon quite a
number of years ago for around $1,000, and who just sold it for over
$7,000. Several of my students have recently bought used Selmer Paris
saxophones for more than the original owners paid. And, I was offered a
Powell gold plated flute about 30 years ago for $1800, but didn't buy it
because I didn't have $1800 at the time. The same flute would probably
sell for over $10,000 now.

There are many more examples, but the tendency seems to hold true for
top-line woodwinds, with the apparent possible exception of the clarinet.

Ed Lacy
el2@-----.edu

-------------------------------------------------------------------------