Help with valuation

[Siri]

Hello everyone, I have been playing PA for nearly 10 years but am new to this forum.

I'm considering whether to sell my Manfrini accordion but am finding it hard to know the right price to ask for it. If I sell I will be replacing it with a CBA (I've had button envy since trying out my friend's 5-row). Alternately, I've always been tempted by the BCC# 3-row bisonoric, (I live in Scotland and play mostly trad. Scottish) but that's probably a foolhardy notion at my age (68) due to the steeper learning curve.

It's an Artisan 34/96. LMMM
4 treble voices, 5 bass voices
9 treble register switches, 5 bass register switches.
Mild musette tuning (if I go ahead put it on sale I'd find out the exact tuning).
Upgraded handmade reeds. I may be biased but it has a fantastic rich tone.
High quality straps, backstrap, and original hard carry case.
9 years old, excellent condition inside and out (just had a health check from Manfrini). One careful lady owner only.


Any pricing guidance from experienced accordion connoisseurs is very welcome. Thanks!

 

[Ventura]

hi

nice accordion

are you no longer on good terms with Manfrini/Robert ?

i mean the current price for a new one with upgraded reeds
would be the obvious first source for todays value

then compare to the price you paid him for it 9 years ago

then decide if you want to sell it privately or consign it with him
for sale and at what commission.. Likely, people who want a
Manfrini will be looking toward his website, and having yours in stock
ready to sell is appealing compared to order one and wait months
and months for it to get built and delivered.

i would think the reputation and hence market desirability of the brand
would be regional/UK limited for the most part.. since Scotland
seems to prefer a strong Musette tuning, offering it through Manfrini
allows for a wider market reach as well as tuning adjustment

 

[John Doe]

What Ventura said...

 

[Siri]

hi

nice accordion

are you no longer on good terms with Manfrini/Robert ?

i mean the current price for a new one with upgraded reeds
would be the obvious first source for todays value

then compare to the price you paid him for it 9 years ago

then decide if you want to sell it privately or consign it with him
for sale and at what commission.. Likely, people who want a
Manfrini will be looking toward his website, and having yours in stock
ready to sell is appealing compared to order one and wait months
and months for it to get built and delivered.

i would think the reputation and hence market desirability of the brand
would be regional/UK limited for the most part.. since Scotland
seems to prefer a strong Musette tuning, offering it through Manfrini
allows for a wider market reach as well as tuning adjustment

 

[Siri]

I'm still on excellent terms with Robert, but for whatever reason, he doesn't actually take back accordions to sell on commission - he'd only take it in part exchange. I may end up doing that, but I'm trying to get the overview before deciding what to do. He did actually give me a suggested value for it a couple of years ago for a private sale (£3,800) but it seemed unrealistically high to me - hence I was trying to get a few other opinions.

 

[Ventura]

from the website

• 34 Piano Keys, 96 Bass.
• 9 treble registers, 5 bass registers.
• 4 treble voices, 5 bass voices.
• 16'8'8'8' or 16'8'8'4' Hand finished reeds
• Musette or double octave.
• £ 6,195

(Handmade reeds available. Price on request.)
so more like $7400 new

the HM reeds seem to have increased rather faster than
other components, so around $4000 seems a bargain
as 9 years is barely a drop on the wear of an accordion
in private use used genteelly .. if there is ANYONE
considering a new Manfrini at the current price,
to get yours instead with the better reeds for a lot less
money should be a no-brainer and an easy sale

there are many Scots here on the forum, hopefully they
will spread the word for you a bit.. and there is a for sale section
here where you can list it,, nowadays YouTube video's are
almost necessary, if you could just do your best song
and post it up somewhere that is the modern equivalent
of "1000 words"

being slightly less than full sized is also in your favor

the only other thing that might help the value would be if
he ever revealed the actual factory from whence ir came

good luck

 

[Siri]

from the website

• 34 Piano Keys, 96 Bass.
• 9 treble registers, 5 bass registers.
• 4 treble voices, 5 bass voices.
• 16'8'8'8' or 16'8'8'4' Hand finished reeds
• Musette or double octave.
• £ 6,195

(Handmade reeds available. Price on request.)
so more like $7400 new

the HM reeds seem to have increased rather faster than
other components, so around $4000 seems a bargain
as 9 years is barely a drop on the wear of an accordion
in private use used genteelly .. if there is ANYONE
considering a new Manfrini at the current price,
to get yours instead with the better reeds for a lot less
money should be a no-brainer and an easy sale

there are many Scots here on the forum, hopefully they
will spread the word for you a bit.. and there is a for sale section
here where you can list it,, nowadays YouTube video's are
almost necessary, if you could just do your best song
and post it up somewhere that is the modern equivalent
of "1000 words"

being slightly less than full sized is also in your favor

the only other thing that might help the value would be if
he ever revealed the actual factory from whence ir came

good luck

Thanks, very encouraging. However, in the UK the website price for my spec accordion (before adding reeds) is £4,750 (the figure 6,195 is the $ price). Allowing e.g. £700 for the reed upgrade, the asking price of £3,800 that was suggested to me is approx 70% of the cost of the same accordion when new, which seems a little optimistic to me.

 

[Ventura]

it looked to me like your accordion has 5 bass shifts,
currently the cassotto model has 5 , the regular model
has only 3.. and they all are called artisan it seems

if yours has cassotto, my valuation would be likely accurate,
if not, yours sounds about right

$4000 is fine.. it's only 9 years old and has another 50 or 60
good years left in it !

LoL

the real problem is, there are a lot of things a person can spend $4000
on, and there are a lot of nice accordions you can buy between
$2000 and $4000.. it mostly depends on finding the person
who actually needs a better accordion and is actively looking to
acquire one.. the market is small, and it can take awhile

a musician in the UK recently bought a great used professional
accordion for a good bit less than that, and was able to select
it from several on offer.. so if you were only competing against
a brand new manfrini, piece of cake at 70%, but you are also
competing against the market, so a big factor is do you have
the time to wait for the right buyer ? and the persistence and
patience to advertise it everywhere and put up with the tire kickers ?

in a way, it would be sad for you to give this accordion up,
since it's a fine accordion that would likely serve you well the rest
of your life without costing you any more money

 

[McSqueeze]

G'day Siri,
About 12 months ago I bought a Manfrini C system in as new condition from a lady in England.
Looks much the same as yours but with a CBA keyboard.
Similar specs to yours LMMM 96 bass but with 11 treble couplers.
Possibly a bit newer than yours.
I paid £2,000 which I felt was a good buy.
Hope that helps and welcome to the CBA fraternity.