Going through one’s late grandparents’ belongings can be a sentimental time, for sure, but one Michigan family was in for a shock after looking over their grandpa’s organ. The grandson, who goes by Five_Slow on Reddit, says he was going through his recently passed grandfather’s things with his mom when they realized the electric organ was once valued at $37,088 new. “Now, essentially these organs are worthless,” Five_Slow wrote in a disappointed tone.
“They’ve been nearly fully replaced with standard electronic keyboards,” Five_Slow explained, referring to electric organs. However, in the modern day, the grandson claims people struggle to give their bulky organs away. “I cannot believe the loss of value these have,” the grandson remarked.
He wasn’t alone in his shock, as over 37,000 Redditors were also quite intrigued that such a musical instrument could drop so drastically in value. “The folks who play them are few and far between,” wrote a commenter, calling electric organs “living room Cadillacs” that are comparable to the fancy china and curio cabinets from years ago.
Reddit Points Out How Electric Organs Were Like China Cabinets for Old People
While treasured by older generations, they are of little use to younger people today. As a Redditor put it, “They were very much of their time.” Another user chimed in, saying, “Regular upright pianos are even worse, too. You pretty much can’t even give them away now.”
One shrewd individual in the comments suggested getting the electric organ appraised before donating it to a church. Whatever value it was appraised at could then be written off in taxes. On the other hand, selling it would be a hassle as well, even if the Michican family found a buyer. “Someone will want this, but yeah your not going to get alot of money for it if any at all. It’s expensive to move them and tune them,” pointed out a commenter.
According to Five_Slow, his grandparents were quite frugal with their money, which is why seeing how much they spent on an electric organ was all the more surprising. For context, though, they paid $12,000 as extra for a trade-in for a previous electric organ they had. As to where this ‘organ money’ came from, “my grandma won a settlement from a motorcycle accident and came into a sum of money,” the grandson explained.
Fortunately, Five_Slow claims his aunt has a buyer possibly lined up to take the heavy instrument off their hands. Though, “I’m half tempted to learn how to play it just because of the investment they made,” OP expressed, referring to his late grandparents.
