Reverb continues to get worse.

[Monts]

Originally Posted by Rolph

It used to be a very good platform. A few months ago I sold a $3500 MIJ Gretsch in mint condition for at least $1K under its reasonable value. The buyer loved it but returned it because my dog drooled a spot of water on the outside of the hardshell case, I didn't notice or care about it and didn't clean it. The place has serious problems, always backs the buyer no matter how absurd they act. I've sold over 75 guitars there, now I'm really thinking twice before I sell there.

Curious if you sold this "as is." I guess technically the buyer could still say it was a discrepancy from the listing description and get his money back. I've learned that selling the item "as is" with no returns unless it shows up differently, keeps some people from trying to return. I say 'some' people because as we've already said there are people who try to do it every time no matter what.

[Jamolay]

When I have sold on Reverb, like eBay, the guitar isn’t mailed until reverb or eBay has the money. Same when I have bought. I have committed the money before the item is mailed. It is held by the online outlet, presumably making them some additional money, until some time after the item is received. I assume, which may be naive, that one the item is mailed, they can’t back out. That would make it really easy to keep your money and get a free guitar.

[Monty Christo]

The AGF Classifieds make a lot more sense to me than Reverb or CL, but the hassle of selling a guitar -- no matter the platform -- is enough to make me very particular about the ones I buy. If I was to become one of those people who buy and sell dozens of guitars a year, I'd probably just go whole hog and get a domain name and sell them on my own site.

[RP]

I've used all of the platforms mentioned to buy and sell stuff, and have had both good and bad experiences. The good ones have outweighed the bad ones by a long shot. I've learned to accept that life is never perfect and nothing works out as we'd like all of the time...

[Guitars44me]

Originally Posted by Rev Roy

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

If I want to drive half an hour and hope the buyer shows, but that ain’t happening.

I will continue to try here and list on Reverb for 20% more, if and when I muster up the energy to sell the next bunch of gear….

It appears to me that a LOT more than Reverb is getting worse, but the older I get the more ridiculous most things seem! Ha ha ha

Good luck to all!

Paul

[fazool]

Originally Posted by gr81dorn

what am I missing? You don't have to choose the gift card option, you can take cash. If you choose the gift card, there are no fees at all, which is a big advantage if you're looking to bank up towards a purchase, but you can cash out like you do on Reverb or Ebay.

I am a Sweetwater customer with a customer account. I went to all the trouble of writing my ad to sell a guitar and at the very, very end they directed me to a page to create a different account for my gift card payout. And if I wanted cash it was a *HUGE* fee like 30% or something stratospherically high.

I was blown away at the slimy feeling I got from this bait-and-switch and the outrageous high fees.

Sweetwater is a great place to buy gear. I wouldn't sell there if it was free.

Whoever put this program together needs to find a new job.

[gr81dorn]

Originally Posted by fazool

I am a Sweetwater customer with a customer account. I went to all the trouble of writing my ad to sell a guitar and at the very, very end they directed me to a page to create a different account for my gift card payout. And if I wanted cash it was a *HUGE* fee like 30% or something stratospherically high.

I was blown away at the slimy feeling I got from this bait-and-switch and the outrageous high fees.

Sweetwater is a great place to buy gear. I wouldn't sell there if it was free.

Whoever put this program together needs to find a new job.

I am not sure how you got that info or what you did to get you that fee structure, but that's just not even close to right.

They are actually the tiniest bit cheaper to sell on their platform vs Reverb, but basiscally the same.

https://www.sweetwater.com/used/help...s-for-a-seller

[gmel555]

My experience selling on Reverb has been okay. Yeh I wish the fees were lower but otherwise pretty good. I've sold 35 items over the years ranging from $30 to about $900. Not guitars, but small amps, pedals, effects/preamps, electric guitar parts, mics, etc.. Besides a few obvious scammers that contacted me, I had one "bad" experience that I was able to catch before shipping. The buyer provided inconsistent shipping info. The Reverb system also "noticed" the issue and flagged it up as something to question. Upon my further investigation of the buyer's name and address(es) I cancelled the order before shipping. I don't discount the issues others have had, just saying I have found it satisfactory.

[fazool]

Originally Posted by gr81dorn

I am not sure how you got that info or what you did to get you that fee structure, but that's just not even close to right.

They are actually the tiniest bit cheaper to sell on their platform vs Reverb, but basiscally the same.

https://www.sweetwater.com/used/help...s-for-a-seller

hmmmm ...you are correct , obviously.

Honestly not sure where I got my bad informaiton.


My apologies for misleading

[pagedr]

I've had a few similar scenarios over the last 6 months or so. A legit buyer makes an offer, I accept, and then they disappear. Actually once I had a guy do that, I cancelled the sale, and he sent me a message a few days later apologizing for not paying and that he could pay now. So he made the same offer, I accepted, and then he disappeared again. Fool me twice shame on me I guess.

It's annoying but all in all not the end of the world, Reverb as a platform still provides great reach to potential buyers and their support has remained good (for me at least). I do wish they'd be a bit more transparent about what they do/what happens when a buyer accepts an offer and then refuses to pay, but otherwise I've found their resolution support to be great.

I've just started instituting my own policy of cancelling an order if someone hasn't paid in 24-36 hours or so. I've never had a successful sale on Reverb where someone took anywhere close to that long to pay so I'd rather just not deal with waiting the 5 days or whatever Reverb says.

I'll add that I've dealt with plenty of flakey buyers here on AGF and on other forums with classifieds as well over the years, so while it's unfortunate that it's become a bit more pervasive on Reverb, they're certainly not the only platform where it happens.

[rmp]

Originally Posted by gr81dorn

what am I missing? You don't have to choose the gift card option, you can take cash. If you choose the gift card, there are no fees at all, which is a big advantage if you're looking to bank up towards a purchase, but you can cash out like you do on Reverb or Ebay.

I just read another reply in this thread,

they seem to charge a 30% consignment fee if you want "Cash".
kind of steep no?

[gr81dorn]

Originally Posted by rmp

I just read another reply in this thread,

they seem to charge a 30% consignment fee if you want "Cash".
kind of steep no?

keep reading...

[Skydog]

My latest Reverb experience was similar to the OP’s. I too thought an offer was binding. It’s not. Your listing is marked “SOLD” as soon as you accept their offer, but they get nothing but a scolding 🙄 if they don’t pay. The solution is to not accept offers. BIN only eliminates the riff-raff.

[Mr. Jelly]

Isn't EBay still in business? I'm just asking why not go there?

[gr81dorn]

Originally Posted by Mr. Jelly

Isn't EBay still in business? I'm just asking why not go there?

I suppose the intentional captive audience just makes it so much more appealing when you're competing for attention against other guitars and music gear vs carburators, sewing machines, star wars toys, etc.