Why Cheap Facebook Marketplace Pianos Can Cost More

Scroll through Facebook Marketplace and you will find pianos for £100, £50, or free to anyone willing to collect. For a family looking for a first piano, it looks like an obvious bargain. We regularly meet customers who have been down this road, and in many cases the bargain piano has ended up costing far more than a properly prepared instrument would have done. Here is where the money goes.

The move alone is a serious cost

Pianos weigh between 200 and 400 kilograms and need specialist movers, particularly if there are steps or tight corners involved. A professional piano move typically costs between £150 and £400. If the piano then turns out to be unplayable, you will pay again to have it taken away. The free piano has already cost several hundred pounds before anyone has played a note.

Tuning is not always possible

Many older pianos that have stood untuned for years have slipped well below concert pitch. Bringing one back up requires a pitch raise over several tuning visits, and some instruments cannot take it at all. If the tuning pins are loose or the wrest plank is worn, the piano will not hold its tuning whatever you spend. A tuner cannot fix a piano that has reached the end of its life, and you only find this out after you have paid to move it. We cover this in detail in Is a second hand piano reliable?

Repairs add up quickly

Worn hammers, broken strings, sluggish actions and moth damage are all common in neglected pianos. Individually each repair sounds manageable. Together, a full recondition can run to thousands of pounds, often more than the cost of a good used piano that has already been restored by professionals.

Nobody is standing behind it

A private seller offers no warranty and no comeback. Once the piano is in your living room, any problems are yours. A reputable dealer has a reputation to protect and should offer a meaningful warranty on every instrument.

The real comparison

The fair comparison is not £100 against £2,000. It is £100 plus moving, tuning attempts, repairs and disposal risk, against a piano that has been inspected, reconditioned where needed, tuned, delivered properly and guaranteed. We have written more about this in Why cheap pianos often disappoint, and if you are weighing up the second hand route in general, start with Should I buy a used piano?

None of this means second hand pianos are a bad idea. Most of the pianos we sell are used instruments, carefully chosen and properly prepared. It simply means the price tag on Marketplace is rarely the whole story. If you have seen a piano online and are not sure about it, get in touch and we will happily give you an honest opinion before you commit.