Hi list,

I have found this link: www.allflutes.com, which is not the store in London but a person in Ibiza (a spanish Balear Island). The site belongs to Ben Art.

He claims to have the largest privately owned collection for sale of flutes and piccolos, new and used.

I could be interested because he quoted a reasonable price for a new YFL 574 on the phone. But it's an expensive flight to go there, my "red alarm light" is lit for some reason and first I would like to know whether somebody has already done business with him or has some other good (or bad) reference...

Thank you.

Well I have seen him selling on ebay and wasn't sure if it was legit or not because I asked hime a question throught ebay and then he responded by providing me a link to go to to ask any questions. I just thought that was kind of odd.

what an odd site that is

Hmmm...
That site (www.allflutes.com) almost has nothing to say. They need something more that background image of piano music.

I'll have to agree... that is one really odd site. However many private businesses have unusual home pages to start. Take http://www.doctorsprod.com for instance... though Doctor's products at least has multitudes of people that praise his wares though.

I don't think that doctorsproducts.com is an unusual site or odd in anyway. Maybe it is just me?

It's a little... 16bit colorish and blocky for a site in 2006. It could be just me.

It reminds me of windows 3.1 with EGA video.

Concerning the quality of the site, well I think he has used free template. I did that for the first version of my site and it did not look very nice... But mine had a lot of information inside, not this case.

But, I cannot understand how can someone (in Ibiza or anywhere else) collect such an inventory of used and new flutes, without being known! Whom did he buy these instruments from?

I understood from our short telcon tyat he repairs or at least adjusts the used instruments, so he should be known in the world of flute technicians.

It is really quite odd.

Thanks Micron. I did not know all that.

The fact is that the price he quoted for the Yamaha was very good, provided it's really a new instrument. I am afraid I could hardly tell, unless you could give some tips.

Luis if you have a bad feeling about this seller, then don’t do it. Has he provided you with any serial number? Remember that you are going to spend money to go to a strange land to meet up with a strange seller, no matter how known his site is you still never know whether you are dealing with the right person in this new age of technology.

Ten years ago, I was shopping for my Yamaha flute in Singapore. It is considerably cheaper here. However, the greed in me kicked in when I met a seller in Hong Kong through internet during one of my family vacations. He had a glib tongue during our telephone conversation and he almost won me over. He agreed to meet me at the hotel lobby and I thought that he would be carrying the flute with him. Instead he brought me to his place and showed me his collection. I asked him whether he could provide me with any proof of authenticity and he answered me that he has to check first as he is just a middleman. Finally, he told me that the reason why these instruments are sold cheap is because there are no papers. I heard the big red alarm then left.

My friend who worked at the authorized distributor of Muramatsu in Singapore said that the store would normally be willing to sell their flutes at 25% off (which is about 20% off the normal distributors price in US). This is proven true by myself. I finally bought my brand new Yamaha 311 at S$850 (about US$515) back in 1999 from Yamaha store here in Singapore. If I remember correctly, that is about 15% off their shelf price. So from this experience, I could reasonably state that 15-25 percent off the shelf price is the best bargain that one can take. Anything that is beyond this range is just too good to be true.

Finally be careful as to the proof of legal ownership of the one who is selling this flute to you. You are a foreigner to this land, you might get into trouble if this instrument “could not see light” and the serial number reported to the authority.

Does anyone know if Flute World shippes over seas for trial on their flutes? If so, that would be a very safe way to find one at a good price too.

Thanks Tessa.

I agree with you. With time (and bad experiences) one develops a kind of good/bad feeling that may not be rational but is quite effective.

I think will not buy from that site. Ibiza is in my own country (only that I have to fly there, being an island in the Mediterranean). But the issue of authenticity and legality of an instrument is quite important to me.

The price I have got from them for a "new Yamaha" YFL 574 was 1,500 Eu (equiv to 1800$).
The price at Flute World is 1,795$, but with a B foot (the YFL 574H). They said the YFL 574 with C foot is not available in USA.

It's already a couple of months I have been looking for a suitable intrument to buy. And still cannot decide...

Well, I have been told that this is difficult -and time consuming.

But I have to play a duet with a collegue (or my professor, still not decided) in June. Though the "public" will be mostly other students and their relatives, I would rather not play witn my present student Gemeinhardt. It became too unreliable with age and use.

jose_luis
Not to sway a decision but I have two flutes from Fluteworld store that I bought in person there. I would prefer to buy in person if I can. WIth Fluteworld, it's a day trip for me in the car. When I go up there, I can browse the music and recordings and get some of those things as well. I have bought one used Yamaha flute and one new from them. I have also had students buy instruments there by mail and in person and their experiences were good. I know that they go over their flutes before sending them out and their repair work on that used 581H flute was very good. It was dinged by the previous owner pretty well at one point and it has been in very good playing condition since I bought it back around 1992.

To be totally honest, the only issue that I had with Fluteworld was about a decade ago when I sent a student up there and the salesperson sold them a Dolmer flute instead of what I had recommended they they buy. It was not my intention that they buy the Dolmer brand but I believe that they thought that for that student, the brand was a better choice than what I recommended. The Dolmer had troubles with pieces of the plating flaking off within a year, but it played OK for the price. Nowadays, I wouldn't have let this go so easily.

Keep in mind that with the Yamaha, you aren't buying an off-brand but on the other hand, you can't try out a few flutes of the same brand/model to choose the best.

~Bilbo
N.E. Ohio

<Added>

Also, I believe that FW has a ten day trial period. They don't mention out of country sales but because they don't offer the trial unless there is a valid credit card with available funds, they probably do extend this to overseas since this is like selling the instrument but waiting a few days to collect. One can always ask them.

Bilbo,

I read your post with much interest and I also tried "to read between lines". I apologize in advance if I misunderstood you.

If your are suggesting that you could go personally to Flute World and try this Yamaha YFL 574H for me, well, that would be really great and it is so much kind from you. However, if this not what you were saying, forgive me please.

If it could be done, I could pay FW with my credit card and give them instructions not to ship before it has been tested by you. Then, if satisfied, they could ship it to NYC or Northfolk, as I have here a good friend that will be visiting both places in April and could bring it back to me.

The other alternative is going to London myself and try it personally.

However, apart from the cost, the actual problem is that I do not have enough experience to really test the dynamics, different octaves, intonation and so many details, particularly on a model that (I understand) is at the bottom, but in the line of Yamaha professional instruments.

I am afraid that bringing my teacher with me to London is beyond our possibilities, so I would have to manage it alone.

If my assumptions concerning the possibility of having you go there are correct, I could also pay for the expenses of your travel to Michigan.

I still have to get a final confirmation from my friend that he is still going to the US on April 6 and whether he is still willing to do me this favour.

Lastly, we would have to coordinate dates so that the instrument arrives to NYC or NC in time for him to receive it before returning to Spain.

Concerning the possible ten day trial period, I hope I will not have to make use of it; if the instrument was tested OK, I could only have problems with the EC cut, something I have never tried but keeps me excited to do.

Anyway, sending the instrument back and forth overseas is very expensive and might cause customs problems as its value should be declared to ship it insured.

try Bob at www.flutefinders.com, I have dealt with them a few times and they are reliable, I don't know their overseas policy though