Often, the price of chuko shamisen is determined by the included accessories! One day I went to Yahoo Auctions and saw an intense auction where the bidding price reached $800 for what appeared to be a severely broken shamisen. Why? Upon examining the picture closely, there was a beautiful bachi, worth at least $1000, included with the shamisen! At least a dozen people were bidding, and you know all they wanted was that bachi. In these cases, the included accessories are just a big a factor as the shamisen itself.