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Yeah, I know...

My wife found her old flute from middle school the other day. We have no need for it, so we want to sell it -- probably on eBay? It's a Yamaha student model, and it's in great shape, except it (probably?) needs new pads. I think it was new when she got it as a kid, used for a couple of years, and hasn't been used at all for over 20 years.

Is it at all worth having it serviced/repadded before selling it? Or would the cost for new pads simply even out any increase in selling price (so it's not actually worth it)?

Thanks for the advice! I want to get this thing out of here before my 8-month old son gets any ideas...

I often see the costs of a full repad on a student flute running about $130 or so (depending on your location and how well you know your tech/what they want to charge you). Given that a Yamaha student flute runs between about $500-900 new, I wouldn't waste my time and money getting new pads on it--the odds are you won't really increase the value any significant amount. Plus, if it has the synthetic(?) pads that a lot of these student models have it might not need them all redone. I have seen a lot of older student flutes that had pads that were in remarkably good shape considering how long the flute was "lost" in an attic/basement/storage.

Short version: Sell it as is and let the new owner worry about it.

Thanks Robert, that's all I needed to know!

Depends on whether it plays OK as currently set up.

Thanks guys.

Joe, I have no expectation of getting much for it. Just don't need it around here!