Sell or Donate Your Piano - PianoForte Chicago

Sell or Consign
If you are interested in selling your piano and it is in near showroom condition we may be interested in either buying it from you or taking it on consignment. Please fill out the form below and we will contact you if we are interested in making an offer. We are not interested in pianos that are old/vintage and not rebuilt, unless they are by Steinway & Sons.

Donation
If your piano is functional and not more than 20 years old we might accept it as a tax-deductible donation to the PianoForte Foundation (501c3). The piano will then be donated primarily to Chicago Public Schools or a similar educational or community non-profits for the benefit of an institution that cannot afford to purchase a piano. We currently only accept pianos from the Chicagoland area. Our acceptance of a piano donation is predicated upon us having an institution ready to accept a donated piano.

While fine for use in someone’s home, pianos older than 20 years likely won’t hold up to the amount of use they will see in these institutions. The cost of maintenance required to keep them functioning would quickly outgrow the value of the instrument. Because of this it is our policy to reject any piano for donation if it was manufactured more than 20 years ago.

Piano Information

In order to give you an appropriate offer for your instrument we will need to get some information from you. If you need help locating the Brand, Model, or Serial Number scroll to the bottom of this page.

Name*
First Last
Email*
Phone
Address
Street Address Address Line 2 City State / Province / Region ZIP / Postal Code Country
Piano Brand
Piano Model
Piano Age (If Known)
Serial Number (If Known)
Years of Ownership
Describe Condition
Let us know if the piano is fully functional or if there are any problems, what the cosmetic condition is, and any other details you feel we should know.
Maintenance
When was the piano last tuned? And has the piano been tuned regularly, at least once per year?
Name of Piano Technician (If Known)
If you have a piano technician that regularly services your piano we will try to contact them to gather more information about your piano.
I am interested in...*
- Selling my piano to PianoForte
- Consigning my piano with PianoForte
- Donating my piano to the PianoForte Foundation
- I just need more information
Piano Donation Age*
The PianoForte Foundation can only accept pianos that are 20 years old or newer. The pianos we donate are placed in to schools where they get more than their fair share of wear and tear and a piano older than 20 years will not hold up for very long under those conditions. It will end up costing too much in maintenance for it to be of enough value for the school to take it.
- Check this box to verify that the piano you wish to donate is 20 years old or newer.
Pictures
If available, please upload up to 5 images of the instrument. Images must be less than 10 MB each and in .jpg, .jpeg, .gif, or .png format.
Drop files here or

Accepted file types: jpg, jpeg, gif, png, Max. file size: 10 MB, Max. files: 5.
Message
Is there anything else you want to ask or let us know?
Check here if you are interested in being added to our email newsletter.
The newsletter contains information about upcoming concerts and events, sales, and other piano information we feel may be relevant to you.
- Yes, sign me up!

How do I find the Brand and Model of my piano?
The brand of any piano is usually visible just above the keys in the center of the piano. The model is a series of letters and/or numbers located on the large metal plate inside the piano. To find the model you will have to open the lid of an upright piano and may have to remove the music desk of a grand piano. Here are some examples:

Frequently Asked Questions

I need to part with my piano. What do I do?
You have four options: you can sell your piano, trade in your piano, donate your piano, or pay for disposal.

How do I sell my piano?
If your piano is in near showroom condition and you need to remove the instrument quickly, PianoForte might be interested in purchasing it at a wholesale price.

If your piano is in near showroom condition and you wish to maximize the value of the sale, we recommend opting for a consignment. We will, however, need to establish if your piano is a good fit for our inventory.

For either of these options we require a tuning and appraisal to be done by a skilled piano technician at the owner’s expense. We can recommend such technicians upon request. This costs around $175 and will give you information that will be valuable whether or not your piano is a good fit for our inventory. In our experience, being able to confidently say that the piano has been tuned and inspected by a piano technician will increase the value by more than the cost of the appraisal no matter where you end up selling it.

How do I trade in my piano?
When purchasing a new piano from PianoForte we will often take your old piano as a trade in, subtracting the value from the purchase price of your new piano. This is ideal for someone who is looking to upgrade to a higher quality instrument or for someone who is moving and needs to downsize to a smaller instrument of similar or better quality.

When trading in your piano we will need to know the Brand, Model, and Serial number in order to give you a fair valuation for the instrument. In some cases we may need to send a piano technician to your home to assess the value of the piano.

How do I donate my piano?
If your piano is functional and not older than 20 years, we will likely accept it as a tax-deductible donation to PianoForte Foundation. The piano will then be donated primarily to Chicago Public Schools or a similar educational or community non-profit for the benefit of an institution that cannot afford to purchase a piano. We currently only accept pianos from the Chicagoland area.

If your piano is more than 20 years old or in poor condition we recommend creating a listing on Craigslist, eBay, Facebook Marketplace, or Reverb.com. You can also reach out directly to schools, private music instructors, or local community centers and see if they or one of their students would be interested.

How do I dispose of my piano?
If your piano is old and in poor condition and you need to get rid of it quickly you can pay our piano movers, Alden’s Piano Company, to pick it up and dispose of it. Their fee for this service is typically $200-$500 but may increase based on the specifics of the move. Their phone number is (847) 336-3369.

How do I know what my piano is worth?
There are a lot of factors that could affect the value of your piano. These include: Brand, Age, Model, Cosmetic Condition, Mechanical Condition, Regular/Irregular Maintenance, and Type (Spinet, Console, Upright, Grand).

The best way to find out what your piano is worth is to hire a Piano Technician to complete a tuning and appraisal. This generally costs around $175 and will give you all the information you need to get the best value for your instrument.

If you aren’t sure if it’s worth having your piano appraised you can get a general idea of the value by looking for similar pianos (look up by Brand/Model/Type) on Craigslist or EBay. If you find that your piano is worth more than $1000 it is probably worth having it appraised.

Buying or selling a piano on one of these websites or through a private sale can be risky. Pianos are a lot like cars: if they aren’t regularly maintained they may develop serious problems that are not obvious at first glance and may end up costing the buyer a lot of money to fix. We recommend having a Piano Technician do an inspection to establish condition. If you have a piano of high quality, value is usually maximized by selling through a reputable dealer.