Selling an Instrument
Over the last five decades OCH has been involved in the sale and relocation of more the 2000 pipe organs. There are several good reasons to offer a pipe organ for sale:
- The church or institution is closing
- A new organ has been commissioned and the old one must be removed.
- The building is to be renovated.
- The building has been purchased by a congregation whose worship style never has and likely never will require a pipe organ.
We feel that it’s unwise to offer an organ for sale because “we can’t find an organist,” because “it’s too expensive to maintain,” or because “we’re using contemporary styles of worship.” We’ve worked with churches who sold their organ for a few tens of thousands of dollars, who call a new pastor who invigorates the parish, and learn that it will cost many hundreds of thousands to replace the organ they once loved.
The cash value of a standing organ is very low when compared the cost of building a comparable new organ. Scroll through the listing pages under “Organs for Sale” to get an idea of the range of prices. Maybe you’ve heard that a neighboring church paid over a million dollars for a new organ. That will have no bearing on the value of your organ because a purchaser will face huge expense to renovate and relocate your organ.
We welcome you to send us information about an instrument you’d like to sell or offer “free to a good home.” Click here to download our Seller’s Guidelines which lists information (especially photographs) we need to assess an organ, and describes our process. Send what information you can to john@organclearinghouse.com and we’ll be in touch.