How much is a 5-year-old oboe worth?

May 11, 2009 5:37 PM

How much can I expect to get for a used oboe? (Details inside.)

Details: a Yamaha "student" oboe (it's missing a key [by design] to make it easier to play, I think). We bought it for $1800 Canadian about 5 years ago. We are selling it in Toronto, although I wouldn't want to limit answers to people from Toronto.
How much can I reasonably expect in a private sale - not a negotiating price, but a real final sale price? Assume very good to excellent condition with regular maintenance.

posted by feelinggood to media & arts (3 comments total)

I'm no expert on the oboe-resale market, but Yamaha has a good reputation among oboists, and I believe they generally have a 5-year warranty. If it's the YOB-241 or similar (student line, resin, I think the missing key is the left-hand F) you can probably get $1100-1400 Canadian for it. (A new 241 is approximately 2200 CAD) I'd be surprised if you couldn't get at least $900.

If you had a private oboe teacher in the past, s/he could probably give you a better appraisal of the instrument's condition and put you in touch with interested students. There are lots of young oboists having to make do with crappy loaner instruments because new oboes are so crazy expensive.
posted by Metroid Baby at 6:01 PM on May 11

Have you looked on ebay for comparable instruments?

If you went that route, I'd recomend taking excellent pictures and a really accurate description of what you are selling.
posted by sully75 at 8:44 PM on May 11

Resin body and student model will lower price, mostly because it will only be attractive to beginning (maybe intermediate) students who may want to rent for a few years anyway. If it's missing a key, I imagine it's the low Bb (is there a key hole on the bell? if not, no Bb; it may have two holes drilled there instead, which are completely worthless, IMHO). It's probably also missing the left hand F, but that is much more manageable to do without for even an intermediate player. However, instruments are so blasted expensive that you should still get quite a bit for it. Metroid Baby is probably right that you can expect ~900 Candian.

Oh, and to elaborate on pictures, make sure you have a close up of the bell (so a player can check for the low Bb) and also a close up of the joint between the top and middle sections (F key and many other keys this instrument is probably lacking from a full conservatory model would be here).
posted by dormouse at 10:34 AM on May 12