My name is Sam and I was given a flute from a family member before they passed on as a gift in hope I would learn to play it. Unfortunately I have not had time to commit at all and am in a bit of financial trouble so I need to sell the flute, however I am having a bit of trouble determining the value of the flute as I know very little about them. I have uploaded some pictures of the flute to my dropbox in hope that someone here may be able to assist by looking at the pictures. I have identified that it is a Trevor James Virtuoso, however I am not sure if it has any additional features as I can see there are quite substantial price differences between the models of Virtuoso and the additional keys/features they may have. I would be extremely happy if someone could assist me.
Your flute appears to be an earlier Trevor James Virtuoso model. Newer models are designated Virtuoso V2 and Virtuoso (VF). From the photos, here are the options that I can see:
Split E mechanism - Yes
C# Trill - No
D# Roller - No
C foot - Yes
B foot - No
Y key arms
Also, from the photos, the flute shows signs (tarnish) that it has not been used or serviced in a while. For a flute to bring top resale value, it needs to be clean (shiny/no tarnish) and in tip-top playing condition.
Your choices are to sell it as-is at the lower end of the price range (perhaps $1000 or likely less) or have it serviced (COA) which will cost a few hundred dollars and sell it at the upper end of the price range (perhaps $1500-1800 if you are lucky). New Virtuoso models sell for around $2500 and normally include a B foot and pointed keys. Flutes with C foot and Y key arms are often less desirable in today's market. However, the only way to determine a fair price is to have it assessed by a flute shop. One thing you might consider is to place it on consignment with a well known flute shop. Sometimes they will only accept it on consignment if they service it first so that they can certify that it is in good playing condition.
"Never give a flute player a screwdriver."
--anonymous--
I think I will sell it in it's current condition - at the moment I am not in a position where I can afford to have the flute serviced, and am not to keen on attempting to clean it myself as I may cause more harm than good!
