Welcome to LivingPianos.com. I’m Robert Estrin. If you are considering putting a piano into storage, this is something you absolutely need to think through carefully. I have seen this scenario play out time and time again, and it can end in a way most people never expect.
Climate Control Is Not Optional
People are downsizing, they cannot sell their piano, or they think they may be moving. So what do you do? You find a place to store your piano. If you ever have to do this, make absolutely certain that it is climate controlled storage. I remember having pianos at a storage facility and only later being told that winter was coming and we had better get the pianos out of there. So double check. Make sure the facility is truly climate controlled. This is critical for the health and longevity of your instrument.
The Hidden Costs of Storage
Here is what often happens. You pay month after month to store the piano. Eventually, you have paid so much that you start to wonder what to do next. If you decide to try to sell the piano, good luck. In many storage facilities, pianos are stored on their sides to maximize space. Just to have someone come and look at the piano, you may have to pay hundreds of dollars to have it set up properly. And of course, it will not be tuned because it has been sitting in storage. It can become a nightmare situation for so many people.
What Happens When Payments Stop
Now here is the part that may really shock you. After paying month after month, sometimes for years, people reach a point where they simply stop paying. They do not know what to do with the piano. Often they have already moved, which is why the piano went into storage in the first place. Storage companies will make a good faith effort to contact the owner. But if they cannot reach them, they sell the piano. So after spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars in storage fees, the piano may ultimately be sold by the storage company. I know this for a fact from at least two companies I am intimately familiar with, and this is something that happens on a regular basis.
Think Long Term Before You Store
The lesson for today is simple. Before putting a piano into storage, think long term about your end goal. You do not want to be stuck spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on a piano you may never get out of storage again.
If I can be of any help to you, please reach out to me at Robert@LivingPianos.com. We have many resources available for you here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.