Minimum to Pay for Decent Used Upright

[aka_anon]

Hello all!

What would you estimate to be the minimum I could pay for a decent used upright piano?  The advice that I have read so far suggests that I buy a piano that is 1. 20 years or younger; 2. At least 45" tall; 3. In good condition.

I am not looking for anything fancy, just something serviceable that I can play for a few years.  I am a beginner, and despite the fact that I have been doing a bunch of research, I am still a bit lost.  I live near Chicago, and there a number of dealers in the northwest suburbs, but I don't want to waste a salesperson's time if my expectations are completely out of line.

[keys60]

"Decent" is vague and subjective. An upright doesn't have to be younger than 20 years old. There are plenty out there that are playable and still sound good. Steinway, Baldwin, Sohmer, Knabe, Yamaha, Kawai, Chickering, oh....I can go on and on, all make decent 40" pianos. It really depends on what you and only think sounds acceptable. Sure. A taller piano may have longer strings which may be more voluminous and create overtones that last a little longer, but I'd be more interested in a piano of high initial quality. With an older piano, you may have the occasional glue joint on a flange come apart and it might need the occasional minor repair more often, but most of this is subject to the pianos environment throughout its lifetime. Guess what I'm trying to tell you is to get out there and play as many as you can from a few hundred to a few thousand, spinet to 52 incher and see what is available. Individuals have different levels of tolerance with actions, sound, aesthetics, overall quality and price. If you'd really like though, I'd ballpark guestimate 800-1500 minimum.

[aka_anon]

Very good points keys60.  I guess that after reading so much advice, I've gotten caught up on what other people say is acceptable without considering that my threshold might be lower/different.  One problem is that I am a beginner, so my repertoire is limited to the right hand of "Heart and Soul." - though I am starting lessons in February.  I think that in the next few weeks, I will head out to big piano store about 1 hour away from me and see what I like.

[indianajo]

You don't show what continent or hemisphere you are on. Here in the US, I see beautiful low hours console pianos of reputable brands, going for $100-200 to clear out the room to sell a house or make room for a television. I see pianos from the local closed factory going for $600-$1000, despite their laughable lack of durability.  Kimbel pianos were defacing the air in the EM clubs of military bases all over the US when I was in the Army.    The age of a post depression console is not an issue, the condition, hours of use, and original builder are.  Pianos are not cars, and don't go obsolete the way the gasoline of the 1950's did.  The big cost of a piano today is having the knowledge to inspect it yourself, and the friends, truck, and dolly to move it quickly out of the way of the current owner.  
In the US the cheapest source of used pianos is Craigslist.com.  In Canada, it is Kiji. I don't know other country's practices.
Actually, newer pianos are much more dangerous than ones built between 1936 and 1980.  Brands to absolutely avoid are Kimbel and Winter.  Newer pianos have imported woods, or plastic parts, that are not proven by time.  Actually prewar uprights can have very attractive tone and be durable, but are very difficult to move due to their 600 lb weight.   Very reputable brands built in the US before 1980 have been recycled to sell import junk, inferior in every way to the "prestigious" main import brand.  
When inspecting a piano, check for hammer wear in the middle, tone of high low and middle strings, look for broken or spliced strings, and for broken soundboard.  It is in tone that I find many post 1980 pianos are utter failures, including the ones that are highly respected by rich non-musicians.  I find the emperor has no clothes, when it comes to certain popular modern brands. Check for speed of repetition of a given note- better pianos are faster.  Check for touch,modern  Steinways are particularly heavy which is good training for playing a grand but I don't like it.  I played a very inferior console this holiday season with a very heavy touch, which bought no purity of tone or speed whatever.  Wisely, there was no brand name on front or on the metal casting.    One problem of individual pianos is loose tuning pins, which is something you can't really check until you or a tech has tuned the piano.  My $1000 1941 Steinway sounded horrible when I bought it since it hadn't been tuned in 44 years, but after I tuned it 7 times, the intonation has been stable for 2 years.  The Steinway has only 3 plies of wood behind the metal plate, compared to another piano I know that has 5 plies off wood and need tuning about once a month.  
Going to a dealer will ease the moving problem, but double your costs, and subject you to the dictatorship of the modern fads.  The new piano my church bought was tremendously pleasing to the salesman and the donor.  It sounds so weak and lacking in tone that  they had to install a microphone in it, even though our auditorium is only for 250. I refuse to play it.   Oh, this expensive new piano at the church is 44" tall, whereas my much better sounding and louder pianos are a 40" 1941 Steinway and a 39" 1981 Sohmer.  Another brand I have been very impressed with in the 40" size, is the Baldwin Acrosonic (not the Hamilton). They are quite loud, which is great for churches, but not for apartment dwellers.