The History of the College Sale Program…
The first college sale in the US was in Arizona. The piano manufacturer who started this
program was Kawai. In the 1980‘s, this program took place in Colorado for the first time at the University of Denver. The purpose of the program was to allow the selected school the opportunity to replace their aged inventory with new pianos at practically no cost to the school. The pianos were loaned to the school for a period of 9 months by the localauthorized dealer and manufacturer. These pianos were used in practice rooms, faculty teaching studios and performance stages. At the end of the school year a sale took place. The inventory carried full factory warranties and the school, consumer, authorized dealerand manufacturer all benefited. The schools made an agreement to purchase pianos as budgets allowed in order to replace their inventory of old pianos.
Fast forward to todays College Sales…
Buyer Beware - most of the pianos at today’s college sales were never used at the schools. Guitars are sold during the events. Promises of tax benefits are made. Most of the pianos advertised including Steinway, Kawai and Yamaha did not come from the schools because the company involved was not an authorized dealer of any of these brands. Ficticious retail price lists are used and stories are made up about the pianos country of origin. Most of the inventory sold at the schools came out of warehouses and dealers showrooms. The majority of these colleges and venues only have a few loaned pianos and digital labs. When state schools bid on pianos through a state authorized bids system, the pianos become state property, a metal tag and number are placed on the pianos and they stay in the schools inventory until put into surplus inventory. These pianos are never sold at the “College Sales.”
Great info on a perplexing issue in the industry today. Thanks for your truth and clarity, this should help people discern and ask pertinent questions for events like this in the future.