SELL A CELLO OR BOW
Welcome to the Cello Exchange, our service for cellists wishing to sell an instrument or bow. The minimum value of newly consigned cellos is £25,000 and £3,000 for cello bows. If you have a cello or bow you’d like us to sell on your behalf, please send us some photos. If they look promising, we’ll invite you to visit us in Ely where we will examine the cello /bow carefully and discuss minor repairs or set up work needed, as well as completing some consignment paperwork.
All instruments and bows in the Cello Exchange are featured on this popular website and in our newsletters which are distributed worldwide three times a year by post, email and social media. See Cellos for Sale and Bows for Sale for our current listings. As we publish prices online, we undertake careful market research and agree prices directly with the owner, who is consulted at every stage of the process and is informed whenever an instrument/bow goes out on trial. We enjoy showing cellos and bows to clients in our beautiful music room in Ely and we carefully manage trial periods of two weeks for a cello and one week for a bow.
When an instrument or bow is sold, we arrange for the buyer to pay the seller the full sum direct, which ensures complete financial transparency. We only invoice sellers for our sales commission once full payment has been received by the seller. We charge a modest sales commission of 15% for cellos and bows (see Terms and Conditions below for the full details.)
The Cello Exchange has sold cellos by the following makers: Barak Norman, Benjamin Banks, James and Henry Banks, Aristide Cavalli, Collin-Mezin, George Corsby, George Craske, Thomas Dodd, Bernard Simon Fendt, Simon Andrew Forster, William Forster Senior, William Forster Junior, Henry Furber, John Furber, Louis Guersan, Lockey Hill, Henry Lockey Hill, Henry Jay, Thomas Kennedy, Giuseppe Pedrazzini, Jean-Baptiste Salomon, J & J Simpson, Thomas Smith, Mathias Thir, Robert Thompson, Antonio Ungarini and Peter Wamsley as well as fine unnamed Italian instruments. The Cello Exchange has also sold fine cello bows by Bazin, Bultitude, Dodd, Fétique, Hill, Ouchard, Peccatte, Sartory, Simon, Vidoudez and Vigneron.
Cello Exchange Terms & Conditions
If a client wishes to sell a cello or bow through the Cello Exchange, Aitchison & Mnatzaganian (A&M) will assess the cello/bow and agree a selling price. We will also discuss the need for any minor repairs or set up work before the cello/bow is made available for sale and we will agree the estimated cost with the owner who agrees to pay the cost on completion of agreed work. Our sales commission is 15% of the sale price of a cello or bow. There is no VAT payable on sales commission.
The owner is responsible for insuring the cello/bow while it is at A&M’s premises in Ely; A&M are responsible for insuring the cello/bow when it is out on approval. If the owner does not have an insurance policy, they can request that A&M arrange for the insurance cover of the cello/bow while on A&M’s premises and the owner will refund this cost to A&M each January. Insurance is based on the agreed selling price. Cello rates are £20,000-£30,000 at 1%, £30,000 £50,000 at 0.75%, over £50,000 at 0.5 %. Bow rates are: under £3000 at 2.5 % and over £3000 at 1.5 %.
If the cello/bow has not been offered for sale by a different dealer/auction house immediately prior to their consignment in the Cello Exchange, we ask the owner to commit their instrument/bow to a minimum period of six months in the Cello Exchange from the date of the agreement.
If the cello/bow has been offered by a different dealer/auction house immediately prior to its consignment in the Cello Exchange, A&M ask owners to commit their cello/bow to the Cello Exchange for a minimum period of twelve months from the date of the agreement.
If after six/twelve months the owner decides to remove their cello/bow from the Cello Exchange, this can be arranged only when the cello/bow is not currently out on approval with a player. If a cello or bow is out on approval, the approval process must be completed as normal, and the current potential buyer must be free to decide whether to purchase the cello/bow. The owner is responsible for the collection of their cello/bow from A&M’s premises in Ely if they wish to remove them from the Cello Exchange. Before collecting the cello/bow, the owner must have repaid in full the cost of any work completed by A&M on the cello/bow, along with any outstanding insurance costs incurred by A&M on behalf of the owner.
Each cello/bow will be listed for sale at www.aitchisoncellos.com and in selected newsletters. When A&M find a buyer for the cello/bow, they will arrange for the buyer to pay the full selling price direct to the vendor. A&M will then invoice the vendor for 15% of the selling price of the cello/bow. Payment of commission is due only when funds from the sale are cleared in the vendor’s account.