Sticker shock from Reverb.com

[Rosewood99]

Originally Posted by RussL30

I’ve never used Reverb before, but thinking about it since I’m having horrible luck on here selling my guitar. I thought the selling fees were only 3.5%. So are there additional fees they’re not being upfront about?

If you want to know how much selling costs just use this calculator:
https://www.roxxxtar.com/reverb-fees-calculator

My issue is the buying.

[RP]

I've grown to appreciate selling on Reverb. They seem to reach a wide audience and sellers get a break on UPS shipping. It's a fairly easy site to navigate. I've been on both sides of mediation, and they handle it promptly and well....

[Matts67]

Originally Posted by RP

I've grown to appreciate selling on Reverb. They seem to reach a wide audience and sellers get a break on UPS shipping. It's a fairly easy site to navigate. I've been on both sides of mediation, and they handle it promptly and pretty well....

I'm finally using their buyer protection now for the first time. Received a guitar that has a very apparent top seam separation which was not described in the ad. Contacted the seller and he basically told me it's mine and to go pound sand. Contacted Reverb about it and now they're escalating the case for me. They seem to be very professional and courteous so far.

[RussL30]

Originally Posted by Matts67

Sorry, I said 2.5 and 2.7 - I edited my post to correct it to 3.5 and 2.7.

It's 3.5% for the actual listing. But you still need to receive payment...if you receive payment via PayPal, they charge 2.9% plus $0.30. If you receive payment via Reverb, they charge 2.7%. So you're still paying a minimum of 6.2% as a new seller.

I assumed that you automatically made the transaction through Reverb’s version of PayPal and the 3.5 was the percentage for paying through that. I guess I better just hope that my guitars eventually sells here.

Thanks for the explanation.

Originally Posted by paulzoom

If you want to know how much selling costs just use this calculator:
https://www.roxxxtar.com/reverb-fees-calculator

My issue is the buying.

Thanks for that.

Good to know on the buying end too as my next guitar may come from there if mine ever sells.

[libtech]

What also bothers me for selling they are forcing everyone to use reverb payments which holds the payment first time until the item is delivered!

[vindibona1]

Originally Posted by paulzoom

Was about to purchase a guitar on reverb.com and when I went to pay I discovered that they recently added my state as one to collect taxes and it would have added $150 to the bill.

Do you think the tax would have only cost you $150? Think again. That $150 was already taxed. So in effect, to pay that $150 you would have had to EARN $195 (maybe more... maybe a bit less)!!! [based on nominal tax rates of Federal income tax and FICA]. How's that for double sticker shock???I'll stop here. You can figure out what I would say next.

[gr81dorn]

Originally Posted by Matts67

Sorry, I said 2.5 and 2.7 - I edited my post to correct it to 3.5 and 2.7.

It's 3.5% for the actual listing. But you still need to receive payment...if you receive payment via PayPal, they charge 2.9% plus $0.30. If you receive payment via Reverb, they charge 2.7%. So you're still paying a minimum of 6.2% as a new seller.

You’re math isn’t really right, though when you say you’re saving the store 6.2%. The only thing you’re saving the seller by going off of Reverb is the 3.5%. Your CC processing or PayPal fees still exist for them.

[RP]

Originally Posted by libtech

What also bothers me for selling they are forcing everyone to use reverb payments which holds the payment first time until the item is delivered!

That irked me at first, but I've sold a few things over there and it's much quicker now. In fact, I sold a guitar today, and they initiated payment as soon as I got my UPS label through their site...

[Rev Roy]

Originally Posted by RP

I've grown to appreciate selling on Reverb. They seem to reach a wide audience and sellers get a break on UPS shipping. It's a fairly easy site to navigate. I've been on both sides of mediation, and they handle it promptly and well....

+1. I grumble about the seller fees sometimes...but have come to believe they are worth it to have the use of such a widely watched, professional selling platform.

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by Rev Roy

+1. I grumble about the seller fees sometimes...but have come to believe they are worth it to have the use of such a widely watched, professional selling platform.

Yeah, I agree. I just sold a guitar. An electric. I’d listed it on a few forums for X amount and had gotten one decent offer. We went back and forth, got within $25 of a deal, and he ghosted me. Got no other even remotely serious interest. After a few days, I put it up on Reverb, for the same price I’d been asking on the forums, which equaled the lowest price that model was selling used for on Reverb, but also added a $50 shipping fee - I’d offered to include shipping to CONUS on the forums. I got a couple of waaaay lowball offers in the first hour or two and then later that day, it sold at full price. The buyer paid taxes for his state and $50 toward what turned out to be a $60 shipping fee through Reverb. If I’d shipped it myself it would have easily cost $100-130. End of the day, I cleared more than I would have if the guy who ghosted me had bought it from me for the price I’d agreed to, which was $25 higher than he’d offered. And it sold the day I listed it. That’s with all of the fees, but I saved around $100 on shipping.

That was the first time I’d sold anything bigger than a set of tuners on Reverb, but it was a very good experience. I won’t hesitate to list there the next time I decide to sell something pricey...

-Ray

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by paulzoom

Makes me wonder, are we supposed to collect taxes on the AGF classifieds if we use paypal to sell?

If you go above a certain threshold (usually 100K in sales or 200 tranactions) within a state, you are required to collect. So for just about all of us who are not running online shops, we're not going to meet that threshold.

[Rev Roy]

I don’t mind paying taxes. It’s the right thing to do. What shocks me about Reverb are the prices some folks are asking for. Check out the prices on a used Martin D-41 for instance. The cheapest one is $700 more than you can buy a brand new one for from a forum sponsor. Crazy...

[RP]

Originally Posted by Rev Roy

I don’t mind paying taxes. It’s the right thing to do. What shocks me about Reverb are the prices some folks are asking for. Check out the prices on a used Martin D-41 for instance. The cheapest one is $700 more than you can buy a brand new one for from a forum sponsor. Crazy...

That's obviously on the shoulders of the seller, not Reverb. My guess, and I could be wrong, is that someone who lists at a high price probably paid full freight when he purchased and/or set the price high realizing that many buyers will want to talk him down a bit. The other possibility is that the seller wants to capitalize on a temporary perceived scarcity with the Martin factory closed. At any rate, if the seller's price is high and is inflexible about accepting counter-offers, just don't buy it...

[Rev Roy]

Originally Posted by RP

That's obviously on the shoulders of the seller, not Reverb. My guess, and I could be wrong, is that someone who lists at a high price probably paid full freight when he purchased and/or set the price high realizing that many buyers will want to talk him down a bit. The other possibility is that the seller wants to capitalize on a temporary perceived scarcity with the Martin factory closed. At any rate, if the seller's price is high and is inflexible about accepting counter-offers, just don't buy it...

Never meant to imply it was Reverb’s “fault.” Obviously they don’t govern the prices seller’s ask. Just an odd feature of the site...

[rokdog49]

Originally Posted by Rev Roy

I don’t mind paying taxes. It’s the right thing to do. What shocks me about Reverb are the prices some folks are asking for. Check out the prices on a used Martin D-41 for instance. The cheapest one is $700 more than you can buy a brand new one for from a forum sponsor. Crazy...

I had to chuckle as I have seen similar scenarios with listings on Reverb all the time. Either the seller is ignorant or they believe the buying public is.
I once looked at a new guitar that was being offered by a legitimate “ online” dealer who was also a “brick and mortar” store.
The guitar in question was priced at $300 over list.
Thinking this might have been in error or a typo, I politely mentioned this to them in an email...crickets.
The price remained where it was.