The Piano

When shopping for a used piano, Orvel Ray answered a newspaper ad. The piano was a beautiful upright in a massive walnut cabinet. The seller was asking $1,000, and it would have been a bargain at that price, but Orvel had received a $700 tax refund and had set this windfall as the limit that he could afford to invest. He searched for a negotiating advantage.

He was able to deduce several facts from the surroundings. The piano was in a furnished basement, which also contained a set of drums and an upright acoustic bass. Obviously the seller was a serious musician, who probably played jazz. There had to be a compelling reason for selling such a beautiful instrument.

Orvel asked the first, obvious question, “Are you buying a new piano?”

The seller hesitated. “Well, I don’t know yet. See, we’re moving to North Carolina, and it would be very expensive to ship this piano clear across the country.”

“Did they say how much extra it would cost?” Orvel queried.

“They said an extra $300 or so.”

“When do you have to decide?”

“The packers are coming this afternoon.”

Now Orvel knew where the seller was vulnerable. He could ship the piano cross-country, or sell it for $700 and still break even. Or he could hold out for his asking price and take his chances. “Here’s what I can do: I can give you $700 in cash, right now,” Orvel said as he took seven $100 bills out of his pocket and spread them on the keyboard. “And I can have a truck and three of my friends here to move it out of your way by noon today.”

The seller hesitated, then picked up the money. “Well, I suppose that would work. I can always buy a new piano when we get settled.”

Orvel left before the seller could reconsider. By the time the group returned with the truck, the seller had received three other offers at his asking price, but because he had accepted the cash, he had to tell them that the piano had already been sold.

If the seller had not volunteered the information about the packers coming that afternoon, Orvel might not have been able to negotiate the price.

Source: Adapted from J. Conrad Levinson, Mark S. A. Smith, and Orvel Ray Wilson, Guerrilla Negotiating: Unconventional Weapons and Tactics to Get What You Want. (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1999), pp. 15-16.