From a consumer point of view, I'd like to see reviews of violins in each price bracket. The violins are priced from under $80 to almost $600, but besides the materials and fittings, what makes them different? Does the $400 one sound significantly better or is the $300 difference from the $80 one more of a splurge and cosmetic thing? Does the one pieced back make a difference? What are the trade-offs between them?

Since it's hard to try out violins when ordering on the internet, it be cool to have a baseline comparisons across the different price brackets, especially since you'd be playing each one and would have first hand experience.

Even the difference between the basic violin and the next one up would be good. I'd like to get the pretty dark brown violin, but money is a bit tight. If the differences aren't that big or are only for looks, I'd like to know. : D

Here's what I mean by price brackets...

This one is $79 (uncolored, in case that makes a difference in the quality)

http://www.kkmusicstore.com/me.....-p-83.html

This is $199

http://www.kkmusicstore.com/me.....p-273.html

This one is $399

http://www.kkmusicstore.com/ce.....t-p-6.html

This one is $499

http://www.kkmusicstore.com/ce.....p-311.html

When I looked I could only find a few bits of old (a 5 years back old) feedback for both brands. Most of the detailed feedback for the violins boils down to "Violin Shaped Object that costs more to fix-up than the original price" or "Junk/toy quality and tinny. The bridge/bow/other part was warped/crooked/broken on arrival" While most of the good feedback is prefaced with "I've never played violin before, but" or simply a one liner about how awesome it is. 

v__v When I was searching, I came across a bunch of people that said the ebay violins (both brands dominate ebay) were money sinks and it would be better to just save the extra time and money that would go towards fixing a VSO for a "real" violin. Even some of the people I met in person when I was looking for lessons said the same thing, but they didn't have any recent examples. With advancements in technology, the ebay violins of a few years ago may well have been junk, but the new ones might put them to shame. 

That's awesome! XD Are they sending them all at once, or are you going to receive just one at a time. I imagine sending them all at the same time would save on shipping, but the boxes would be a bit overwhelming.

Mendini FLAMED 1 Piece Back with Ebony Fittings = love! <3333

You could always have the winners pay for some or all of their postage. Or maybe have everyone who wins chip in a set amount that goes towards all of the shipping, so no one person would be footing a large shipping bill. 

>__> I know the cheap shipping from China to the US was like $50 when I ordered clothing, so I would think that the weight of a packaged violin would be in that ball park for that half of the world.