Pianos

A piano may appear to be a somewhat specialized product, with sales that can't even be that high during the best of times. Surprisingly, the piano industry in America is doing reasonably well, with sales of more than $200 million in 2017.

You can spend anywhere between a few hundred dollars and upwards of $10,000 for the piano you want. People who want a piano but don't want to pay a fortune are prepared to look around for decent bargains. The gray market for pianos is a desirable choice.

Gray market pianos frequently originate in Asia, but as Yamaha notes, there are some factors that could pose a difficulty for consumers. The fact that geography matters for pianos is one of the most important and least obvious. They must be correctly manufactured for your climate because they are composed of wood. A piano that warps because your home is too dry for it is the last thing you need. With gray market models, that is what takes place.

Yamaha also expresses worries about the lack of a guarantee and replacement parts, at least from the standpoint of a manufacturer. But it's easy to understand why a discount model sounds appealing when a prospective pianist is gazing at a $5,000 price tag.