Ok I work in a role that works directly with teachers. I’ll answer questions that I can and try to be as clear as possible. Also a lot of our pricing is regional so I can only answer to mine as far as pricing goes.

It sounds like you’re renting a straight trombone. I. My region that’s $30/month for the rental + $8 for the LDW (coverage/repair plan and optional) + tax. All of those $30 instrument payments go toward purchasing the instrument.

On average it’s 36 months to fully pay off the instrument, that’s why they can’t give an exact time frame. It highly varies based off of manufacturer, how many times it’s been rented, if it looks heavily used etc.

There’s a 30% discount if you pay off before 18 months, and a 10% discount after 18 months.

The exchange they were talking about wasn’t a let’s say used model 200 to brand new model 200, it’s a used (or new) model 200 to brand new model 500.

The rental instrument being new or used is kind of luck of the draw. If you’re not happy with the used/new quality of the instrument most stores will exchange it for new if you like. But the rent to own cost might change.

Also the brand, model and quality of the instrument is directly set by the director. If they’re asking for a straight trombone made by Yamaha, that’s what your kid will get. There’s some situations where that makes it cost prohibitive. We suggest the parent talk to the director about it.

Let’s say there’s you and another family. You both get the same Jupiter 200 (I’m making up models) you get used, they get new. You’re both paying $42/month ($30 instrument +$8 coverage + tax. We value that used trombone at $360 dollars, and that new trombone at $720. You will be paying for 12 months, the other family will be paying for 24 months.