2011 Purchase Program - Buying vs. Renting?
Although Avalon Music has a very competitive rental instrument program with quality, well-maintained instruments from Selmer, Bach, King, Emerson, Pearl, Knilling and other leading brands, we highly recommend that you consider buying one of our student instruments, rather than renting if you believe you will be renting for at least 18 to 24 months. It can make great financial sense to buy a student instrument at our discounted prices.
Let's look at some examples. We sell a leading brand saxophone that has a suggested retail price of $1,715. On a monthly plan, rent (not including sales tax) for a new saxophone would be $624 for 12 months and $1,248 for 24 months. Pre-paying rent for two school years (no instrument in the summer) at $445 per school year would total $890 (without sales tax). If you purchased the instrument, rather than renting, our price for that saxophone is under $900.
A leading brand trumpet has a retail price of $885. On a monthly plan, rent (not including sales tax) for a new trumpet would be $384 for 12 months and $768 for 24 months. Paying rent for two years under the school year plan (no instrument in the summer) at $280 per school year would total $560 (without sales tax). If you purchased this instrument, rather than renting, our discounted price for that trumpet is $500.
More examples? We sell leading brand flutes and clarinets for $349 to $499, violins starting at $249, cellos starrting at $699.
Why buy? You will own a quality instrument that is brand new and will still be worth - and can be sold for - hundreds of dollars after your student decides to move up to a pro or step-up instrument or, unfortunately, gives up band or orchestra. If you sell the instrument, you can effectively pay less than $10 for every month your student (or students) used the instrument.
Please look carefully at rental programs offered by other music stores, such as "Rent-to-Own" programs or programs that give you a "rental credit" towards the purchase of an instrument. Avalon Music has stopped using any of these programs because they can be, in our opinion, unfair to the consumer. Most of these programs charge the full suggested retail price for the band or orchestra instrument, which can be almost twice as much as Avalon Music's very competitive selling price, and these stores also build in a charge for interest at the rate of 12%-18% per year. One of our local customers ended up paying almost three times as much for a violin at another store's Rent-to-Own program as she would have paid for a purchase at Avalon Music.
We care about our customers. We've earned your trust since 1992. We have compared our rental rates against the published rates of our two main competitors and in many cases our prices are at least 10% to 15% lower. But since we sell new instruments at the lowest margins possible, buying can still make better financial sense.
Please consider buying your student instrument. If you decide renting is a better financial fit, then we're here to serve your instrument rental needs.
Band and Orchestra Instrument Rental Rates
Snare Drum and Bell Kits
- Monthly Rent: New Instrument - $20, Used Instrument $18
- Pre-paid for School Year: New Instrument - $165, Used Instrument - $150
Violin, Viola and Guitar Packages
- Monthly Rent: New Instrument - $22, Used Instrument $20
- Pre-paid for School Year: New Instrument - $185, Used Instrument $165
Clarinet, Flute and Piccolo
- Monthly Rent: New Instrument - $30, Used Instrument $25
- Pre-paid for School Year: New Instrument - $260, Used Instrument $210
Trumpet, Trombone
- Monthly Rent: New Instrument - $32, Used Instrument $27
- Pre-paid for School Year: New Instrument - $280, Used Instrument $230
Alto Sax, Cello
- Monthly Rent: New Instrument - $52, Used Instrument $45
- Pre-paid for School Year: New Instrument - $445, Used Instrument $380
Tenor Sax, Oboe, French Horn
- Monthly Rent: New Instrument - $58, Used Instrument $48
- Pre-paid for School Year: New Instrument - $495, Used Instrument $405