buying flute on ebay

Penny · Post by **Penny** » Mon Dec 15, 2003 7:07 am

Safe? Most likely his feedback record is
excellent. I can't recommend the flute or the price. But that isn't what you
asked.

AG950Flute · Post by **AG950Flute** » Mon Dec 15, 2003 1:02 pm

here's my opinion on buying new flutes online. a
lot of people can buy instruments from companies like yamaha. however, just
because the instrument comes directly from yamaha and hasn't been used at all
doesn't mean that it's working 100%. (but at the same time, from my own
experience of working in a music store, yamaha's work pretty well out of the
box). anyway. you may want to check out other sites because the price seems ok
but most places don't sell instruments at the retail price. check out
fluteworld.com or flutesmith.com.

FluterJenn · Post by **FluterJenn** » Mon Dec 15, 2003 3:18 pm

When ever I hear the words "buying a flute on
ebay" i literally cringe. I bought a gemienhardt off ebay, it wasnt too bad, but
it wasnt anything i would use besides in marching band. My friend got very
UNlucky when buying a flute off ebay. It doesnt work well AT ALL. Make sure you
know exactly what you are buying, make sure that you can return it if you dont
like it. and most of all, if you can buy a flute somewhere else for a good price
(trying it out first) do that. it'll be much safer. good luck, jenn p.s. it
doesn't look to bad, but you never know.

krzymunkey · Post by **krzymunkey** » Mon Dec 15, 2003 8:20 pm

[quote] ---------------- I can't recommend the
flute or the price. But that isn't what you asked. ---------------- [/quote]
what do you think about the flute? you see, i can't afford a 481, the one i
really want to get, so i was thinking about the 381, with a silver headjoint.
all the store/sites i looked at sells the flute for 900-1000 dollars, so i
thought that that flute was new, and it is pretty cheap, the same seller has a
481 for 1100 dollars, i want it, but it's expensive.. [:blackeye:] what flute
do you recommend?

Penny · Post by **Penny** » Mon Dec 15, 2003 10:01 pm

The ad as I remember from looking this morning
said "like new" The discount to what you could buy it new from Flute world with
a good company behind it makes it a questionable price. Some other discounters
also sell Yamaha and would be worth checking, even a local company may cut you a
deal if they know you are going to buy it online instead. 300 series yamaha
especially 381 sell for less than that often on ebay I forget what you said you
play now but a 381 is a student yamaha with a silver headjoint so you may want
to consider just buying a headjoint for your current flute I cant recommend an
inline flute in good conscience to anyone, so I would say check on 361 or 371
depending on what your opinion of the split e is Other than that I think Yamaha
makes a good product in this price range, they are very sturdy, take a beating
and are easily repaired and there are so many out there almost all repair people
have worked on them. They tend to stay in tune across a wider range than other
student flutes. My advice would be to find a used 361 or 371 at about $600. So
those are my thoughts on the subject, take those you like and toss the rest.
After all they are just opinions.

krzymunkey · Post by **krzymunkey** » Wed Dec 17, 2003 6:01 pm

if i get a headjoint for my yamaha 221, it won't
have open holes or b foot, and a headjoint costs nearly as much as a flute, so i
was thinking i should get a better flute, than an all nickel one. i haven't
seen any brand new ones for any cheaper than that, i want a new one, but if that
one really is mint, it is cheaper, so why not get it? but, i'd reely rather
have 461, 471, or 481 (all silver) i just need $400 more to get one, maybe i
should wait..[:((] o yeah, is this place good?? they sell 381 for $795 or
something: http://chucklevins.com/index.asp

Penny · Post by **Penny** » Wed Dec 17, 2003 9:54 pm

It is a matter of your budget. Yamaha makes the
best student flutes and are as good as any step up flutes. If you play and like
the 400 series(all silver tube) better than the 300 (silver headjoint) and can
afford it, by all means. I think you will find it difficult to hear the
difference. I can't recommend strongly enough that you go for the offset
version, 361 or 371 not the inline 381 and in the 400 series the 461 or 471 over
the inline 481. Read the thread about inline vs offline. There is no good reason
to buy an inline except you might save a few dollars because there is more
demand for offset. Many reasons to buy an offset. I am not familiar with that
company but 795 for a "new" 300 series seems like a good price as it is about
150 less than fluteworld. I did see that company sells the 361H, I would get a
price quote on that. They apparently are not an Allegro dealer so they dont sell
the 371, 471. Have fun flute shopping and if at all possible try before you
buy.

krzymunkey · Post by **krzymunkey** » Wed Dec 17, 2003 10:26 pm

thanks a bunch