Appraisal

Appraisal, purchase consulting and private assessments

We recommend to carry out an appraisal before you buy an instrument or order a repair work. Only a specialist recognizes defects or damages that are difficult to detect, for instance, damages of the casting frame, soundboard and soundpost. The costs of the transport often exceed the price of a seriously damaged or worn instrument

We inform you about

  • the value of the instrument,
  • the cost of a repair,
  • the possible price range in case of a private sale,
  • and if we are interested in your instrument, a price offer.
Please get in touch with us (contact). We will be happy to advise you.

Court− and private expert opinions

Heinz Letuha is a court-certified expert for the special field 60.23 musical instruments, objective limitation: stringed keyboard instruments (pianos, harpsichords, celesta and historical keyboard instruments).

Court expert opinions
The court-certified expert is legally obliged to objectivity and impartiality. He determines and describes therefor the dispute relevant facts about the current state of the instrument. The appraisal includes the expert’s drawn conclusions in terms of the question.

Private appraisals
Documentation and determination of the current state of the instrument. Dokumentation und Feststellung des IST-Zustands des Instruments. We impart the knowledge which is important for the understanding of the facts to the customer.

In the following situations a private appraisal is useful for you:

Valuation report – determination of the appropriateness of the price

  • The individual value is determined by the combination of experience, market proximity, qualification and expertise.

Review of offers and services – price adequacy

  • Expert opinions on effort estimates
  • Evaluation of additional services
  • Review of investment needs for expediency, economic efficiency and reasonableness
  • Consideration of different solution variants
  • Targeted support of decision-making from a professional point of view
  • Expert opinion as evidence in a dispute

Appraisal for the in- of export of instruments into countries outside of the EU - species protection

Do you plan to move your instrument to a country outside the EU? In this case, we recommend you an verification of the used materials through the “Declaration of materials”. The “Declaration of materials” can be made by a court expert or master piano builder who knows the necessary details and works with utmost care. You have to distinguish:
  • The instrument contains only plant or animal materials, which are not subject to species protection.
  • Components of the instrument are covered by the protection of species (C.I.T.E.S.).
Possible materials affected by species protection used in piano construction include veneers, halftones, ivory facings, tortoiseshell, etc.Additional requirements must be met to import or export an instrument to the United States. Get in touch with us (contact). We will be happy to advise you.