So where do people go to buy concertinas? Broadly speaking there are a few approaches but much is going to depend on where you live. If you want to be a serious player then seek out a specialist retailer or dealer. They will typically have a number of high-quality models in stock and will often service and repair them.
Then there are the main street larger music chain stores like Guitar Center, the few remaining independent general music stores and obviously increasingly online music instrument retailers such as: Musiciansfriend.com, Sweetwater.com, Zsounds.com and of course Amazon.com.
New concertinas made in China are also available on eBay and this is a good place to find used, pre-owned and antique models in various states of repair.
Probably by now you have found a lot of comments online telling you that the only place to buy a concertina is through a reputable specialist retailer and that you shouldn’t bother with low-cost mass-produced models from China.
But that presupposes you live within travelling distance of such a place. The chances are that you don’t and you will either have to wander into a local Guitar Center or go online.
I haven’t tried enough of these things yet to make a reliable recommendation. And I could cynically say that maybe one of the reasons my progress is slow is that I am pushing and pulling away on a stiff squeeze box from China and I have to stay on the G scale because 2 of the keys on the C scale stick.
Another factor is that many fewer craft made concertinas are produced today than was the case in the early 20th century for example. This means that you can often find older rare concertinas for sale on eBay. Chances are they will need repair and servicing so I would make sure you have lined up a good repair service before going this route.
Anyway, for the penny-pinching amateur punter like me, the cheapo Chinese made eBay version is the route I took. Having said that I recently acquired a second concertina off eBay with a number of stuck buttons. I took a gamble thinking I will be able to unstick them. I still have to find the time to take it apart and see what’s going on. More about that another time.
So without further ado, here would be a list of all the places I could find in the mostly English speaking world.