Should I Buy A Violin From Ebay?

As a grade 8 violinist (UK associated board) I have been through the violin buying process many times.

And a few years ago when I was teaching music lessons, one of the most common questions I was asked, was:

Should I buy a violin from ebay?

Well, the answer to this question obviously depends on what you want your violin for.

If you want a violin that does the basic job of a violin, my advice would be yes, buy one online.

What makes me say that? Well, violins can be expensive.

I remember when I was young, I asked my teacher how much his cost him. He added up the cost of:

• The Case
• The Bow
• The Violin

And it came to a grand total of nearly £20,000.

Yes, a lot of money - but believe it or not, you can pay a lot more!

But if you're just looking for a cheap kit that does the trick, I've seen them on ebay for Buy It Now as low as £44.99.

Unless you know exactly which model, size, quality etc you want and are absolutely sure that the seller has listed the item right, then if you want the top quality my advice is to buy it from a place you can go and test it.

Many music shops will allow you to try out the instrument before you buy it, allowing you to check how well it sits with you (the shoulder comfort, the desired sound, the weight etc).

Be Warned that online there are a lot of people trying to sell mass-produced products as antiques. Watch out for phrases like:

• Stradivarious Copy
• Based on the model by Stradivarious
• Stradivarious style violin

These all give the impression of being made by a high quality and well renowned historic violin maker whose products will sell for hundreds of thousand - yet will actually wind you up with a tinny mass-produced copy most of the time.

You shouldn't pay more than around £200 for a low-quality violin