Help!! How can I sell a brand new limited edition Steinway?

Q. About 1 year ago, we purchased a brand new 200th Anniversary Limited
Edition Steinway Tiffany L in African pommele.

It has never left the
store and has never been used; we were about to embark on some major
remodeling so we left it in the store's warehouse for safekeeping.

We now are in the unfortunate position of having to sell the piano; it
could make the difference between keeping or losing our house. I've
placed ads at both pianomart.com and pianoworld.com and also in our
local paper (the Seattle Times). Unfortunately, I really haven't
gotten any responses at all. The store will happily try to resell it
for us at a whopping 40% commission; that's a bit too much to stomach
at this point.

Do you have any ideas as to how I might be successful at selling this
piano for as high a price as possible? It truly is brand new and will
be delivered from the store with its full warranty. I'm sure there's
someone out there who would love a brand new Tiffany L; I just need to
figure out how to find them.

A. I would be curious as to how much money you actually have given the store.
Please don't tell me you paid cash in full and never took delivery of the
piano. If so you really have no option other than to sell it. If that is
the case, good luck! There's a similar piano on the floor in Kansas City
that has been there over a year tagged at 90K with no buyer. A Steinway is
enough of a niche piano without the "limited edition" tag. Anyway you look
at it, you're going to get between 50% and 70% of the value of the piano in
the best case scenario.

If you owe a significant portion of the purchase price to someone there are
always options. If you have the piano on layaway the dealer is pretty much
going to have to live with what you've paid so far plus own the piano.
That's your easiest way out if you have 10-15% equity or less - if that is
the case just get your attorney to draft a letter that says you forfeit your
layaway money and they can keep the piano - case closed. If you have more
equity that that it will get hairy, but let your attorney work something out
with the dealer that allows BOTH parties to win. (You give some, they give
some). Keep in mind I think they are legally pretty much entitled to
whatever you've already shelled out.

If you have signed any sort of financing documentation that makes you the
"owner" with a lien on the property then you will most likely have to
consider talking to a bankruptcy lawyer. Personally if it were a choice
between losing the house and considering the services of a bankruptcy lawyer
I'd do the latter. Even if you don't actually declare here's where a little
spent now can save you a bundle.....

BENEFITS of letting the dealer know you're considering bankruptcy (provided
you still owe a good chunk on the piano):
- If you financed the piano at the dealership then it is likely that
their contract with the bank is "with recourse" which means they get the
piano back and owe the RETAIL balance minus what you've paid in. A strong
negotiating tool indeed.

- If the dealer doesn't sell the paper with recourse, or if you financed
independently one can have the same conversation with the bank - get them to
put a little pressure on the dealer to take the piano back and get you out
of the "piano jam". The bank is going to have to sell it to someone to
recover a portion of the costs, and to minimize their loss you may get the
dealer and the bank to communicate on a win-win.