how persistent should I be?......

[gebohmusic]

I have been in contact with a church that has an organ for sale that I would like to have for my church.

I have expressed that I am very interested and that I want to come and check it out (it's an hour away).

The messages from the pastor have been sporadic -- and I am trying not to bother him everyday. But, I would like to have dibs on the organ if possible.

How persistent should I be???

[myorgan]

Gebohmusic,

Be specific in your requests, so there is no room for misunderstanding. Then, follow through on whatever promises or statements you make. Specifically, ask the pastor when you can visit to play the organ. If he hedges and defers to a committee, ask who on the committee to contact. There is a fine line here where you need to be assertive without being forceful or offensive–but then you already said that.

Last advice–be prepared to walk. I contacted a church about their organ when I discovered it was for sale for ca. $8,000. After we ascertained we couldn't come together on a deal, I waited. About 6-8 months later, they contacted me and the organ is now used for the Symphony–as I had promised–and is still used for the Symphony.

Hope that gives you a direction to go.

Michael

[gebohmusic]

myorgan,

I sent another message yesterday.

I have not heard anything yet. I left my cell phone number and offered to call the Minister of a Music or the organist myself if that would help.

I guess I am not being patient..???

Thinking of sending another message saying that I have the cash and ready to purchase if the try out goes good??

I just do not get why I have not heard anything.......

Maybe it’s not meant to be......

[myorgan]

Sometimes, it's when you call. Consider the church's schedule–are they open in the AM only, do they take 1 hour break for lunch, etc. I'm sure you have your own church, but if you showed up on Sunday.... Who knows? The church's schedule generally runs on a weekly basis. For that reason, it may be difficult to wait a week before contacting them again.

Just request a response by a certain time (give them time to respond), and don't contact them until they respond. Perhaps they have found someone else, but it may not be on their radar to happen immediately. Be patient. I know that is hard to do.

Michael

[Organkeys Jones]

There are two organs on the Bay auction about which I have inquired - no response. One has been listed for months! I suppose the owners are wondering why no one hasn't bid yet.

[gebohmusic]

Thank you for your replies.

My last message was sent last Thursday.

The organ is still posted as “for sale”.

Who knows..??..??..

[jbird604]

Sounds a little spooky. You never know what may be going on in a situation like this. There's a chance the pastor is elderly or ill. He could be only a part-time or even an unpaid volunteer pastor, as I'm seeing now and then in small churches. Or there might be something going on you don't want to get involved in, such as an individual or group within the church having decided to try getting rid of the organ on their own.

But if the deal is really attractive to you, and it's only an hour's drive away, you might take the opportunity to enjoy a little drive in the country and just pop over to see what's going on. Go on a Tuesday or Wednesday morning and arrive about 10 a.m. If nobody's home, then they probably have a limited staff, possibly a bi-vocational pastor who may be over-worked and stressed out. But at least you'll know more about the situation.

I recently picked up a couple of good organs (a quite recent model Allen and a classic Hammond tonewheel) for not much money. In both cases, I just made my offer via email, then sat back and waited for them to get in touch. One of the churches took a month to get back to me because they had to wait for a regular business meeting to vote on my offer.

So be patient and you may just get it. They aren't likely to have a lot of offers, the organ market being what it is these days. So I wouldn't worry too much about losing out to another buyer. And if this one slips away, it's only a matter of time before another good one comes along.

[Peterboroughdiapason]

If the church has a web.site you might be able to find out more, e.g. when the church is open, contact details for other people in the church, etc.