Reverb continues to get worse.

[fazool]

Originally Posted by Guitars44me

...That said, too. I’m glad I’m not selling or buying much anymore......

yep.....that's where I'm at, too

[UncleJesse]

Originally Posted by Rev Roy

If you live in a major metro area. If you live in a rural area (like me) Craigslist = crickets.

I live in the St Louis area which is a top 20 market in the USA and I've never gotten jack from a craigslist add unless it was a sub $500 item. And even then only once. I stopped using it altogether.

[fazool]

Originally Posted by Rev Roy

If you live in a major metro area. If you live in a rural area (like me) Craigslist = crickets.

Originally Posted by UncleJesse

I live in the St Louis area which is a top 20 market in the USA and I've never gotten jack from a craigslist add unless it was a sub $500 item. And even then only once. I stopped using it altogether.

That's completely untrue!

Every time I post a guitar on Craigslist, I *immediately* get inquiries that they are interested and offering above my asking price and to coordinate their agent to pick the item up from me.

Usually they are so excited that they don't even bother to regurgitate what I am selling - they usually just call it "your item".

Sometimes they even say "thanks to of you and for very much the support of your goodness in the sales for of my purchaseness"


every

dang

tine

[Rosette]

Yeah I too have gotten the “I will send my agent to retrieve the item” emails every time with Craigslist. Or people lowballing right off the bat despite what the ad says.

I’ve had mostly positive experiences with Reverb, but I bought and sold more frequently in years past, and not so much anymore. Only one attempt to scam me in 50+ sales over the years.

[DCCougar]

Originally Posted by fazool

That's completely untrue!

Every time I post a guitar on Craigslist, I *immediately* get inquiries that they are interested and offering above my asking price and to coordinate their agent to pick the item up from me.

Usually they are so excited that they don't even bother to regurgitate what I am selling - they usually just call it "your item".

Sometimes they even say "thanks to of you and for very much the support of your goodness in the sales for of my purchaseness"


every

dang

tine

Haha, quite right. And BTW, he'll give you **a cashier's check** for the payment (but won't mention that he just printed it off on his hi-def printer).

[BBar]

I recently accepted an offer on a guitar. After about 3 hours the buyer messaged me and said he thought he had the funds but he didn’t. So basically there’s no repercussions.

[The Bard Rocks]

Originally Posted by fazool

That's completely untrue!

Every time I post a guitar on Craigslist, I *immediately* get inquiries that they are interested and offering above my asking price and to coordinate their agent to pick the item up from me.

Usually they are so excited that they don't even bother to regurgitate what I am selling - they usually just call it "your item".

Sometimes they even say "thanks to of you and for very much the support of your goodness in the sales for of my purchaseness"


every

dang

tine

Excellent! Loved it. (I hope no one thinks he is serious, though.)

[LFL Steve]

My “local” music store is more than 30 minutes away, so unfortunately I do more and more buying online. For parts and accessories, strings, etc, Amazon would be the simplest option. But they already get too much of my money, so I buy on Reverb when I can. It works just like same: a few clicks, the package appears on my porch, life goes on.

[Palladio]

Originally Posted by fazool

The last two guitars I sold were sold on AGF. I offer a discount to incentivize people to upgrade to charter membership (my way of paying back).

No seller fees, but shipping costs are a lot higher since Reverb gets a significant shipping discount with UPS.

How does this incentive work? You tell them you'll give them X amount off if they become a charter member? Does X = the cost of the membership or do you offer more? Just curious, as I like this idea and might try it too.

And as others have said, try PirateShip. Last time I sold on Reverb, PirateShip gave me rates that were significantly cheaper than Reverb's.

[Mycroft]

Originally Posted by BBar

I recently accepted an offer on a guitar. After about 3 hours the buyer messaged me and said he thought he had the funds but he didn’t. So basically there’s no repercussions.

Ran it by his wife, did he?

[DLQ]

I’m sure like many I’ve given thought to this topic of “is reverb any good anymore?”

Has anyone here had any specific ideas for what a more ideal marketplace looks like? What addresses some of the main pain points that come up here or in other similar threads?

It has been an interesting thought for me, what can actually be done differently? In the end any kind of model needs to be lucrative enough for someone to make the effort to develop it too?

Curious for some of your thoughts.

[SFCRetired]

The last guitar I bought on reverb was a 0000 sinker. I hated to do it but it was the only place I could find one used. I try to stay away from used on line purchases since they started taxing me for buying/selling to a private party. I understand buying from a retailer and paying taxes but this has gotten out of hand.

[vintageom]

Originally Posted by RP

I buy and sell a lot of guitar stuff, and FWIW I have never and would never list an item as "MINT." My perception of mint is based on being a young coin collector back in the day, and mint mean straight from the place where it was minted. Translate that into guitars and in my mind would mean straight from the factory or dealer before being opened or played. I realize that not everybody uses my narrow definition...

I share your definition.

[Riakstonic]

Originally Posted by DLQ

I’m sure like many I’ve given thought to this topic of “is reverb any good anymore?”



Has anyone here had any specific ideas for what a more ideal marketplace looks like? What addresses some of the main pain points that come up here or in other similar threads?



It has been an interesting thought for me, what can actually be done differently? In the end any kind of model needs to be lucrative enough for someone to make the effort to develop it too?



Curious for some of your thoughts.

Hard to do because no one wants a battle but maybe having a site that can dictate fair market pricing and keep said prices within specs at the same time try to do more to verify sellers and buyers . If the your legit be it buyer or seller the hassle will be worth it .

I think Verb was better in the beginning because not to many knew about it . But the bigger one gets it draws in the greedy and or scammers . Every Tom dick and harry that just flips things for a buck . At the same time prices/ values get skewed and blown out of proportion. Used selling for a tad under new .

But hey folks can sell for what ever they want no matter what right ? Yeah I guess but honestly let them go to eBay I’d rather see a site control reality . lol [emoji23]

[Jaimoe]

I’ve had universally good luck on Reverb. I’ve sold half a dozen guitars there, bought half a dozen, plus various other gear. Never had an issue as a seller or a buyer. Must be lucky.

By way of contrast, I tried to sell a guitar on FB marketplace the other month. Got a series of bogus (or at least very suspicious) interested replies or offers from people with fake-looking profiles, several of whom said things like “my brother lives nearby and he’ll come take a look.” I politely declined all of those.

Wound up selling on Reverb a week later! Price wasn’t great but alas it’s a buyers market these days.