From a Mom Who's "Been There."

At this time of year, many new "band parents" are scrambling trying to find suitable and affordable band instruments for their children. I was overwhelmed when my first child entered band and I was left paying about $40 a month rental for her clarinet. (I was not certain that she would stay in band, so I didn't want to commit to buying an instrument.) She DID stay in band, and over a three-year period, I paid approximately $1300 for a clarinet (that I now own) I could have bought for approximately half that price through a mail-order source on the Internet, had I been aware of such a thing.

I paid approximately $650 for my second daughter's intermediate wooden clarinet (purchased through mail-order) that I was going to have to pay $1025 for through a local store. (The older daughter's clarinet cost even more ....because of monthly maintenance fees and "carrying charges.")

My suggestion to frugal parents who are interested in purchasing a new instrument is to check prices on the Internet before buying through a local music store. (Some stores will match the mail-order prices, if you ask.) In my community, students are told to begin on an intermediate-level clarinet as opposed to the "student" model. There is no need to do this because the student model is quite acceptable and more appropriate. Student models are available Internet companies for approximately $350 including mouthpiece and case.

I would not recommend buying a used instrument from a private source unless you really know what you are doing. eBay is especially dangerous and caution is necessary when purchasing a used instrument "sight-unseen". If you don't know what you are buying from someone who does not know what they are selling, its just asking for trouble. For those who are interested in buying "used" instruments, close contact with someone who knows about instrument is advisable.

So, where does ZeuS come in? First, we offer the consumer instruments at wholesale price. Since we purchase directly from the factory, then there are no middle-men involved that must be paid their salaries. Salaries that must be passed onto the consumer. Second, we do not have any artist's endorse our instruments nor do we pay exhobitant marketing fees. Again, all of these costs are passed onto the consumer--but, since we do not participate then we can offer you lower prices. Finally, we offer a six month zero interest payment plan. If you are not willing to purchase an instrument because you are not sure if your child will want to continue with the instrument, then you most likely are interested in only student models and should consider this.

With the zero percent interest payment plan you can pay off and own a beginner trumpet, flute, or clarinet for less than you will pay for leasing the same instrument for ten months. The advantage is two fold. First, if your child decides to stick with the instrument then you will not have to lease for another year. Also, if you leased the instrument and decide to buy it after a year, then you will be paying about twice the cost of our instrument that is in most cases of superior quality than your rental. You must realize that there are also lease and rental fees tacked onto all leased and rented instruments. Furthermore, suppose you decide to purchase through us using the zero percent interest plan and your child decides that he or she does not want to play it anymore. Well, all is not lost. You could easily sell the instrument for half of what you paid for it (assuming it was well cared for) and your child's foray in music will have only cost you half of what the lease program would have cost you. Finally, you could sell the instrument that you purchased to a neighbor, via the newspaper, or on e-bay. Anyway you look at it, purchasing is far more advantageous than renting or leasing. Time to try a ZeuS.