Found a gorgeous Victorian piano from the 1870's-does anyone know it's value?

Hi, I have a piano on Ebay right now,it is gorgeous. I paid a lot for it and I am wondering if I have it listed too low. I did do some research on it and have that in the description,but it was difficult for me to really get an idea of price as I only found two others from the same company on the internet. Both were listed between $4,000 and $6,000,but I am not great at knowing if those were great prices or inflated. I paid $5,500 for mine,but need to sell it,so I do want to list it fairly. The Ebay # is 120274654807. It really is gorgeous. Also,wondered if there is a better place to market it to get a good price on it. Thanks for any of your expertise!

Kirkman was/is apparently London-based, so a lot of the auction sales over the years have been overseas (artfact.com has many of these on record but hard to compare the UK market to what you get in US) and the prices vary dramatically based on complexity of design.  Some simple upright Kirkmans go for a few hundred (see here) while the grand pianos can be in the several thousands (see here).

I would recommend bigger and more pictures from multiple angles on your Ebay listing.  Two small pictures won't instill the confidence to spend 4-figures on your piano.  You will not likely get retail value of 4,000 to 6,000 on Ebay is my feeling, but I wish you luck.  You might be able to do better consigning at a Piano shop locally.

One person's opinion, FWIW

Just FYI, Artfact has sister UK site, Invaluable.com.  Worth taking a look at

Thanks, Anon.

I just checked it and using typing "invaluable.com" or "http://invaluable.com" won't work.  You have to put the fully qualified "http://www.invaluable.com" or "www.invaluable.com" to get anywhere (need the "www").

I know that I'm a little late to this discussion, but I have kept an eye on the following web site for the last couple of years so as to have an  idea as to what a fully-restored retail price is for antique pianos (they usually have a good inventory).

http://www.vintagepianoshop.com/forsale.cfm

I also used to watch ebay for Victorian uprights...prices varied from a couple of hundred up to a few thousand (2-3 range), depending on condition (none were quite as freshly restored as those on the site above). 

I never got around to buying an old piano...still on the long-term wish list though.

Thank you,

Jason

I just had an opportunity recently to buy a square grand piano in Rosewood from the 1850s or 1860s but overlooked it.  Now that I see the prices they're getting on this site, maybe I should ask her how much it was.

I have come across those square rosewood types over the years ranging from a couple hundred dollars (operationally junk, but "decorative") up to, say, $6,500.  Again, I have never come across one that is "fully restored", so the prices that I have seen all reflect some sort of condition issue.  My hunch is that the pianos on the retail site are very much retail priced.  Any person who has one piano for sale is generally a very motivated seller ("please come move this so I don't have to" and such). 

I suspect that the retail price is probably worth the effort to get a "fully restored" instrument.  Much like an old car, you will probably never recover the cost of your own restoration unless you have something that is really in demand.  The optimal situation with the pianos is to find somebody who recently bought one of these restored pieces but has to get rid of it for some unfortunate reason.  ...perhaps not a likely scenario, but certainly not outside the realm of what is possible. 

- Jason

1881victorian/ Jason said he still had a Victorian upright piano on his wishlist. Try www.craigslist.com - click your state, then the area closest to you. Then use the search box in the top LH corner - there are always pianos on my local craigslists (there are 3 areas within an hour of me). There are almost always free ones listed (I just checked mine - there are 6 free uprights on right now), most are $100 - $1,000. They're big and heavy - the demand is low so they almost always go cheap. Albeit many need from some to much work. I saw a nice carved Victorian one an hour away, tuned and in good condition - taking offers. I've had several given to me. I don't play - so I take them apart, keep the ornate panels and nice woodwork/ parts, keep the keys for the Ebony and Ivory, cut up the remains for firewood and break the cast iron harp into pieces & strings for scrap metal.
I've bought a couple sets of cabriole legs from the square style pianos to use for pool table legs. The square pianos are usually Rosewood (mostly veneer) , but the solid wood cabriole legs on them are generally Poplar (not Rosewood) stained to look like rosewood. I also have a small rosewood spinet I plan to someday make into a desk.  woodwright