Help -- Buying a used piano and I know nothing about pianos

[Mogster]

I am looking to buy a used piano for my 2 children and I do not know what questions I should ask sellers. Right now I am looking at a Wurlitzer upright with a bench for $400. What should I ask the seller before buying? Do you think this is a good price?

[Hen Jen]

If you can find "The Piano book" by Larry Fine at the library, you might want to read it to become more in the know about pianos. My second suggestion would be to take your piano teacher, or someone who teaches or plays in a professional capacity -with you to look at a piano you are considering.

[chickenpatty]

Yes, it is definitely worth it to take someone with you who knows what to look for. We purchased a used piano a few years ago. It sounded fine, had held its tune well and to me, the inside looked practically new. However, when I had it tuned this past summer, the tuner was unable to tune the top octave because on that end of the piano, it was actually pulling apart! I hadn't noticed! Now, it can't even be tuned to universal pitch (I think that's what its called).

[tess in the burbs]

while I play, I know nothing about buying used, lol. So when we bought ours this winter I went through the local piano store. They had a variety of used to choose from. They tuned it 30 days after we had it in our home and has a 1 year guarantee on any problems we may have. So basically I felt comfortable picking the one that felt good when I played it :-)