Non Gray Market Yamaha Piano (Extremely Important)!
Dave’s Piano Showroom is Tampa Bay’s only piano dealer that has taken a public stance, with Yamaha against gray market pianos.
Sure, you can buy a Yamaha grand piano for $5,000. But it will likely be REALLY old and a gray market/”Yamawas”. Keep reading to learn what a gray market/”Yamawas” piano is.
This piano is NEITHER really old or a gray market/”Yamawas”. It has 3 pedals! Gray market/”Yamawas” pianos usually have just 2. That is why you will see some dealers strategically place a bench infront of the pedals to conceal this fact in a photo.
A new Yamaha grand piano of this size could cost nearly $30,000! For just 20% of that you can now own what is considered by most to be the very pinnacle of piano construction.
Don’t be fooled into buying a gray market piano, or what Dave refers to as a “Yamawas”. What is a Yamawas? Please allow me to explain.
Yamaha pianos can be a great value, but ONLY if purchased on the secondary market. Much like a Lexus, Audi, BMW or Mercedes Benz, a new piano’s value drops dramatically as soon as it is delivered to a home.
Understand that there is no preowned market in Japan. Culturally, the Japanese do not buy used anything. This includes pianos. American entrepreneurs are aware of this fact and make contacts with Japanese business men. These folks have established connections with multiple churches, schools, universities, etc.
These instruments are collected, then sold to US importers. This is where the term “gray market” comes into play. Gray Market pianos are not supported in anyway by Yamaha Corp. That means if you need parts, you are on your own! As a result gray market Yamaha pianos have terrible resale value.
Unfortunately it gets worse:
The US importers then takes these worn out, beat up instruments and begins the refurbishing process. Without Yamaha’s support these shady piano outfits are forced to use whatever parts they can find and plus non OEM parts to hodgepodge things together. A Yamaha’s transformation into a Yamawas is fully complete when the importer has finished the rebuilding/refurbishing process.
Buyer Beware:
You should know that there are gray market piano dealers (whom often refer to themselves as “wholesalers” because they convince traditional piano stores to buy their flawed product), in every major American market.
Fortunately, it is very easy to determine if the piano you are considering to buy is a legitimate one or not. Yamaha has an active website that allows the user to enter a Yamaha piano’s serial number. The database will generate a phrase such as, “This piano was made for the North American market.” Or, ” This piano was NOT made for the North American market.”
Google “Yamaha serial numbers”. The first or second organic listing is where you will find the database. You may also contact Dave. He will be happy to run the serial number, using Yamaha’s database to determine if the Yamaha piano you are looking at is legitimate or not.