Our auction of the late Durrell Armstrong's estate on June 6th and 7th, 2009 was certainly less than a huge success however we did sell off truckloads of things that had to either be moved or liquidated. There was only a small turnout but nearly everything sold except a bunch of player pianos. Many items went for very little money but that's how it goes.
It turns out that there were several "sour grapes" piano dealers deliberately spreading flat-out lies and misinformation about this upcoming auction which surely discouraged many buyers from attending. If you heard any such rumors and placed any stock in the truthfulness, you, along with many others, were snookered and it may have cost you a lot of money by buying into this nonsense. Anyone who fell for these rumors is probably kicking themselves now! If you heard any of these lies please make note of exactly who it was that deliberately lead you astray. These "friends" are the ones that intentionally deprived you of the golden opportunity to buy many treasures, at junk prices, just for spite.
As an example, the largest collection of player piano and nickelodeon rolls (1,000+ boxes) were sold off for pennies on the dollar. Many boxes of nice (many brand new) 88 note rolls brought only $5.00 a box or about 15¢ a piece. More than 50 boxes of nickelodeon rolls, mostly unused and near perfect original condition, brought only $1.25 each. Many of these rolls are now selling on eBay for $100.00 each! Legal action may be taken by us to recover our damages. If you have any information regarding exactly who helped sabotage our auction, we'd certainly appreciate hearing from you.
There are about 80 player pianos that did not receive a bid. Anyone interested in them can come look in person but we do not have any photos at this time. All need some restoration. We will be selling these for $100. choice. Many lesser players will be offered for $10 and up.
The business of player piano parts and supplies was auctioned and did receive several bids from serious parties, did not quite meet the reserve price set by the banker. There are several deals pending as of this writing. Because the two highest bids came very close to meeting the reserve price, we are pushing the banker to lower his reserve in order to get a deal done. Financing a business is very difficult in today's economy but our banker does a lot of creative financing and may be able to help. We'd like nothing better than to see someone continue the business. Hopefully we will soon announce the sale of the business and post information about the new owners and their intentions. Here again, we cannot guarantee or predict exactly what, if any changes will be made by the new owners.
In the mean time, we will continue to accept orders for piano parts and supplies, subject only to the remaining inventory.
call 316-263-3241
Thank you!