musical instruments · Alberta

Where to sell musical instruments in Calgary

3 businesses in and around Calgary that buy used musical instruments from the public — what each takes, and whether you are offered a purchase, a consignment or a loan.

Verified 2026-09-24 from each organization's own website. We are not affiliated with anyone listed here, nobody pays to be included, and we receive nothing if you sell to them.

How to tell what you have got

Before you call anyone, two minutes with the object settles most of it. None of this needs an expert — it needs a flashlight and a look at the back.

  • Electric and acoustic guitars from the known makersFind the serial number — on the headstock, on the neck plate, or on a label inside the soundhole — and identify the exact model and year before you let anyone make you an offer. Then look at completed sold prices, not asking prices.
  • Tube amplifiersLook through the grille or the back panel for a row of glass tubes. Fender, Marshall, Vox, Traynor and Garnet are names worth stopping for.
  • Effects pedals and analog synthesizersDo not bundle the pedals in with the gig bag as accessories. Price them separately, one at a time.
  • Professional microphones and recording gearShure SM57 and SM58, and anything stamped Neumann, AKG or Sennheiser, are worth identifying rather than boxing up as cables and bits.
  • Step-up and professional band instrumentsA Selmer Paris stamp on a saxophone, or a professional-model designation on a Yamaha or Bach trumpet, changes the answer entirely. Read the engraving near the valves or on the bell before you treat the thing as scrap.
  • Good grand pianos, and only good onesLook for Steinway, Yamaha, Kawai, Bösendorfer or Mason & Hamlin on the fallboard. If the name means nothing to a piano dealer on the phone, it is a disposal job.
  • Orchestral strings above student gradeTake it to a violin shop or luthier for an opinion before a pawnbroker or a general antiques dealer sees it. Keep the bow and the case with it, and do not have it cleaned, repaired or re-varnished first.

Rarely worth anything

Not a rule, and not a reason to bin something without asking. These are the things people most often expect to be worth money and find are not.

  • Upright pianos, player pianos and reed organs
  • Any piano that has not been tuned in decades
  • Student band instruments from the rental era
  • Digital pianos, home keyboards and electronic organs more than about a decade old
  • Record players and hi-fi separates that come out of the house with the instruments
A CITES permit can be required before you ship an instrument out of Canada, and permits are never issued retroactively Canada — applies to export and import across the border, not to a sale within Canada

Environment and Climate Change Canada administers CITES in Canada. Its permits page states that you must have the necessary CITES permits before you import or export items, that the permits must be validated by a border services officer at the place of exit and the place of entry, and that "Permits will not be issued retroactively" — if you do not have the proper permit, border officers can hold and seize the item and you will not be able to get a permit afterward to release it. The page notes that CITES parts and derivatives turn up in items including musical instruments. The materials that matter here are elephant ivory, common in pre-1970s piano key tops, and tortoiseshell. We have deliberately removed the rosewood warning that appeared in an earlier version of this page: CITES changed how it treats rosewood in finished instruments, and we could not retrieve the current annotation text from CITES, whose site refuses automated retrieval, so this page makes no claim about rosewood in either direction — ask CITES Canada before you ship a rosewood instrument abroad. If you sell to a buyer outside Canada and ship the instrument, you are the exporter. Selling the same instrument to someone in Canada does not engage any of this.

Read the rule →
Worked elephant ivory needs a permit for every import and export, personal items included, since 8 January 2024 Canada — border movements only

Environment and Climate Change Canada states that "Permits are required for the import and export of all items of worked elephant tusk (ivory)" and that "The requirements will be in force on January 8, 2024." Raw ivory is prohibited for import and export without a permit outside narrow museum, zoo, scientific research and law-enforcement purposes. Worked ivory held as a personal effect or household item is no longer automatically exempt. This bites on pianos in particular, because ivory key tops were ordinary before the 1970s, and on older bows, woodwind rings and inlays. Confirm with CITES Canada what documentation your specific instrument needs before you list it internationally.

Read the rule →

3 places in Calgary that take musical instruments

Great Western Pawn

Buys or lends Not stated — ask
BuysGold and diamond jewellery, Luxury watches, Professional-grade power tools, Smartphones and laptops, Gaming consoles, Musical instruments, Sporting goods, Collectibles
The dealThey state they "provide quick and secure collateral loans" and separately that they carry "a constantly changing inventory of pre-owned and unclaimed items", so they both lend and buy. On the loan: the standard term stated is 30 days, and "You can choose to pay the interest and fees at the end of the term to extend your loan for an additional 30 days." No interest rate is disclosed. A collateral loan is credit — if it is not repaid the item stays with the shop. Selling outright is the other, final, transaction.
Where1413 17th Avenue SW, Calgary, AB T2T 0C6
The clearest site in the city on identification: it states "All customers must be at least 18 years of age" and requires "Valid Canadian Government issued photo identification and one other valid form of identification", naming an Alberta driver's licence, provincial ID card or Canadian passport. It still publishes no interest rate, so ask for the dollar cost to redeem at 30 and 60 days. Hours listed Mon–Fri 10–6, Sat 10–5, closed Sunday.
Visit their site →403-228-1119

Pawnshop Superstore

Buys or lends Not stated — ask
BuysGold and jewellery, Designer watches, Designer handbags, Electronics including smartphones and video game consoles, Musical instruments, Power tools and compressors, Bicycles
The dealTwo different transactions, and you should know which one you are being offered. A PAWN LOAN is secured credit against your item: the site states you have "30 days to repay your loan and reclaim your item", that you "automatically get an additional 7-day grace period", that extensions are available on request, and that there are "no credit checks required". The site describes pawning as a way to "access quick cash using valuable items you already own—without selling them outright". If the loan is not repaid within the term, the item is not returned to you. An OUTRIGHT SALE is separate — they also run a "Cash for Gold" service, and in that transaction the item is gone permanently. No interest rate or fee schedule is published anywhere on the site.
WhereThree shops listed on their own site: #1, 3520 17 Avenue SE (403-248-4547); #125, 6404 Bowness Road NW (587-391-4364); and Quik Cash, 726 16 Avenue NW (403-233-7845 ext 1).
Their pawn-loan page states you need one government-issued photo ID (driver's licence, passport) plus one supporting ID such as a health card, birth certificate, or a credit or debit card in your name. Because no rate or fee is published, the cost of the loan is only knowable at the counter — ask for the dollar figure required to redeem the item and the date it is due, in writing.
Visit their site →403-248-4547

Prestige Pawnbrokers

Buys or lends Not stated — ask
BuysGold and jewellery, Luxury watches (Rolex, Patek Philippe, Omega, Cartier, Hublot named), Cell phones and tablets, Computers and electronics, Power tools, Musical instruments, Collectibles and art
Won't takeItems not in good condition or not well maintained — the site states it buys goods "in good condition and well maintained"
The dealThe site states they "deal with various goods for purchase, sale, and collateral" — so both a pawn loan and an outright purchase are on offer. On the loan side the site says "Don't sell it, just pawn it" and "Our layaway plan gives you a virtually unlimited amount of time to repay your loans." It also states: "If you choose not to repay the money or pick up your item, it will not affect your credit score." That is another way of saying the item itself is the security — no credit consequence, but you lose the item. Interest is described only as a "competitive interest rate"; no rate, fee or term length is published.
Where410 16 Avenue NE, Calgary, AB T2E 3L8
A second number, 403-255-3335, is also listed on their site. No interest rate, fee schedule, term length or ID requirement is published. "Virtually unlimited time to repay" describes the deadline, not the cost — ask what the redemption figure will be in dollars at 30, 60 and 90 days and get it in writing. Hours listed Mon–Fri 9:30am–6:30pm, Sat 10:30am–6:30pm, Sunday by appointment; the hours block also carries a dated closure notice from March 2025, so phone before travelling.
Visit their site →403-264-5009
We could not verify this city’s municipal rules for second-hand dealers and pawnbrokers from an official source, so we state none. Check with the City or the province before relying on anything you read about them elsewhere.

Not sure what you have got?

Photograph it and we will tell you what it is and what it is worth — including when the honest answer is that it is worth nothing.

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