Arrh...my first Reverb.com purchase is terrible

[Vinnie Boombatz]

Whenever I sell something, even if I list it on Reverb, I almost always list it as "Local Pickup Only". I always try to put a super accurate description with plenty of high quality pictures, and point out if there are any dings, etc. I may even over-exaggerate any imperfections because I do not want to mislead anyone. My prescription may not be what the buyer is expecting, so I just insist on them checking it out in person for themselves. With that said, I still have people who ask me to ship instruments even though they're listed as "Local Pickup Only". The few times I've caved in and shipped the instrument I've received nothing but 100% positive feedback, and am usually told it's better than they expected.

I dont know why people try and hide things as sellers. It can lead to a huge potential headache. Even in this case, when a few tiny dents really are insignificant, but if a super-anal buyer who is super picky wasn't told about it, it's gonna get ugly. Dare I say, if the seller listed it as "excellent" and disclosed those tiny dents he still could have sold it for the same price. People get greedy and want to sell things quick so they misrepresent I guess.

I bought my '08 American Standard used for $800 locally. Seller listed it as being in "good" condition with it's fair share of dents dings and player wear. When I checked it out it had some super minor, harry visible, minuscule finish dents here and there, a couple tiny dents on the back of the neck, but overall in incredible shape with no fret wear. It, in my opinion was better than he described.

I guess we all just have different ideas of what we think the condition of things are, but it's always better to err on the side of caution as a seller if you're going to ship something.

 

[Vinnie Boombatz]

1K A MONTH?!!!!!!??!?!?!?!?! I would kill for that rate

My vasectomy cost me $15 and was an office visit. Was only a few days of discomfort, compared to a lifetime of pain!

 

[MommyPlaysBass]

Welcome to Reverb. Consider yourself lucky that you don't have to absorb shipping costs for both ways. It happened to me with a crooked seller. He granted me a refund on a bass with a ruined neck, then somehow convinced Reverb that the neck was fine. I was refunded the cost of the bass only ($380), but not any of the shipping costs. I got beat out of $121 in two-way shipping costs on a $380 bass.

I left the crooked Reverb seller a neg feedback, but that was deleted from the crooks feedback history soon afterwards. Reverb goes to great lengths to protect sellers, and apparently they're even willing to "scrub" feedback histories to lure unsuspecting buyers. Unbelievable.

This would not have happened to me on ebay, where I've run into some crooks over the years, but have always been fully reimbursed for all of the shipping costs. The reason was that Paypal covered the return shipping themselves as part of the ebay/Paypal buyer protection policy. They then debited the seller's account for the original shipping cost along with the sale price. Thus, crooked sellers on ebay have something to lose when they get caught misrepresenting items....the original shipping cost.

The difference as I see it....ebay and Paypal are one and the same outfit and are willing to offer better buyer protection, whereas Reverb is just another vendor doing business with Paypal, same as a million other vendors worldwide.

Bottom line for me; Buying off Reverb is riskier than buying off ebay. Mucho riskier.

I agree. I've bought a few things off Reverb and only had one problem with a seller. When I called Reverb to discuss, they told me they do everything they can to protect the sellers, including what the seller states in their feedback. In my case, it wasn't about a lot of money, it was that the seller wrote a response to my feedback that was untrue. Reverb did not want to discuss the matter with her and I had them just block her for me to ensure I never had to hear from her again. The sucky thing is that after reading all our messages and the feedback, the guy at Reverb basically told me she sounds crazy... yet they weren't willing to do anything about it for me.

 

[eyeballkid]

While I FULLY believe in FULL disclosure in a listing, that is quite nitpicky for a used ray 34. It's not like you were buying a $2500 Lull or something.

 

[MovingPitchers]

That's a Sterling Ray 34 isn't it? If so most of not all Sterling's I've seen came from the factory with that deglossing on the back of the neck. Gloss still on the headstock. And a visible line where the gloss starts/stops.

Yeah I remember my old Ray35 had the same thing.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Reverb is probably passively saying that the item is close enough to 'as described'. Which Id agree. Its not that bad at all. Those dings are easily overlooked by anyone who isnt specifically looking for those type of dings specifically. Its within the realm of possibility.

I recently bought a guitar on reverb that arrived with a non functioning vintage pickup, a $500 pickup on the used market. Also both pickups were loose in the cavity, not mounted properly. Now THAT, is not as described. Printing a full return shipping label today if all goes well.

It wouldn't take much to sand the neck a bit, plus the soldering iron trick, and spray the back of the neck with some satin varnish, and it would probably feel nicer. But if I was feeling picky, I'd ask for a discount for doing it.

 

[MetsMan75]

Dispute it through paypal and if necessary your credit card used. You'll get your money back.

 

[Rockonjp76]

Hope it works out for you OP. Wonder how many people here would be as lax as they are if it came to buying a car, expensive jewelry, electronics, or whatever. Bottom line is the item wasn't as described, again good luck.

 

[Marikk]

I would take it to PayPal. Like you, neck dings concern me, Body dings not at all. If i couldn't hold the bass, I would pass on one with neck dings because it wouldnt be worth the risk.
If you were told mint, It should be mint. Words mean things, At least they used to.
Also if i'm selling something full disclosure is incredibly important, especially when someone makes a specific inquiry.

Mint is Mint and nothing less

 

[Vinnie Boombatz]

"Terrible" is stepping on a Lego with bare feet, having to take a dump right after you've showered, or dropping an ice cream cone. But a few tiny dents on the back of a bass neck on a budget bass that still plays and sounds great is far from "terrible".

 

[MDBass]

I’d keep the bass if the seller had shown his willingness to work out the issue. His attitude of “you got a $800 bass for less” pissed me off.

I spent 10 minutes to file formal complaints at Reverb and Paypal. It’s not about getting $50 more. To me, it is about doing the right thing from my perspective. The seller should be responsible for his written statement: the bass is in mint confition.

...and how much time spent here, venting?

You asked for a refund immediately, including the threat of escalation: doesn't seem like you were willing to keep it at all.

If you're not finding any lessons at all to learn from this experience, that's a shame.

Again, the bass was listed as "excellent" not "mint", and blemishes that small are fairly easy to genuinely overlook.

 

[Chuck M]

Nixdad is exactly right, IMHO. The only people I know who are that anal retentive about their gear are the people who can't play, and buy gear so they can stare at it and pretend to be musicians. Sorry to be so harsh, but I've been getting paid to play for 50 years, and I've never had a club owner, audience member, or anyone else for that matter, compliment me or complain to me about the condition of my bass. Granted, the seller shouldn't have have used the term "mint," but many people don't know what it means to begin with. New, completely untouched since it left the factory - that's mint. anything else is not.

I completely disagree with your statement about folks that care about the looks of their gear cannot play. Just one glaring example is that I recently looked at John Patitucci's Yamaha and it looked fine indeed.

I care very much about taking good care of my basses and I play several gigs a week. I'm confident that many other pro players take good care of their equipment as well.

 

[Jase The Bass]

Saw a Ray 34 described as excellent. I emailed the seller whether there were dings or scratches on the neck. He wrote me it was in MINT condition.

I received the bass today. At least 7 nicks on the neck. Two biggest nicks are behind the first fret, so my thumb feels them. Also, someone messed up with the neck finish behind the nut.

He told me that he would issue a return minus the $50 original shipping, and that return shipping would be on me. I wrote him, "Please issue me a full refund and return shipping because the item is not advertised. Otherwise, I'd have to escalate the issue." The seller got upset because I was threatening him(!!!) and wouldn't agree to issue a full refund.

I've contacted Reverb, but I'm not sure how so-called Reverb Protection works. I paid with Paypal. What is my option if the seller doesn't cover return shipping and doesn't issue a full refund?

I'm a seller on Reverb (3 years) and can tell you I do not run adds and business like that. THAT seller messed up and should pay 100% to have that returned. That bass is NOT mint. I would list it as excellent at best. If you do anything before purchasing... check the feedback and return policies. Reverb should step in a help you. Apologies for the bad experience on behalf of other sellers on Reverb.

 

[40Hz]

This might not be as easy a case to win as many here seem to think.

Based on what I’ve seen, Paypal invariably sides with the buyer. Makes sense because it’s the buyers who use their services rather than the sellers who accept Paypal that drives their business model. Sometimes Reverb will do something for the seller after the fact. But I’ve never seen a buyer file a claim through Paypal and not get their money back as long as they’re within Paypal’s terms of service for making a claim. Credit cards are the same way. The cardholder is their real customer. So that’s who they back when push comes to shove. And with them it’s virtually always too.

 

[Fergie Fulton]

Keep the bass and take the marks out...it is an easy and cheap job to do.

 

[Iridescentone]

It's in Reverb's best interest to incentivize honest sellers and happy buyers. If the bass was not as described, the transaction becomes void. Why should you pay to be scammed by a seller? That's BS. Maybe "gently remind" reverb of this. They should be charging the seller for the shipping, not you.

The neck finish is apparently as from the factory, but the dings most certainly aren't and disqualify the thing as "mint". That's enough to absolve you of any financial responsibility. Especially if the guy said there were no dings in the neck. How do you even GET a ding in the neck? Especially on a bass that is max a few years old.

As some others have said, if reverb won't play ball, go above their heads to paypal (and still get a return shipping label).

In my case, I did that. I (mistakenly) assumed Paypal would cover my return shipping costs as they had always done when things went sideways with dishonest ebay sellers.

But because this time it was a Reverb purchase, Paypal informed me that their buyer protection did not apply to return shipping costs, as it would have with an ebay purchase.

Lesson learned. Now that I'm aware of the additional risk when buying off Reverb, as opposed to buying off ebay, I doubt I'll expose myself to it again.

 

[mattattack187]

What does mint actually mean? To me, mint means "as new". Excellent, great and good mean something different. This neck is clearly not mint. I really don't understand how this can be looked at differently.

I don't care how good of a condition a used bass is in. If it's used, to me it's NOT mint.

 

[bassstrangler]

Strategically placed nicks. And someone tried to degloss the neck behind the nut?

View attachment 2872637

Can you explain what you meant by strategically placed nicks? This verbiage just doesn't make sense to me. Do you mean the seller strategically put the nicks there? Sorry, just doesn't make sense.

 

[LowB-90]

Mint is described as new..
Stand ur ground and let the seller refund u full amount.

Whenever u sell something u always described any damages such as a small scratch..

Seller is at fault.

 

[dan1952]

I completely disagree with your statement about folks that care about the looks of their gear cannot play. Just one glaring example is that I recently looked at John Patitucci's Yamaha and it looked fine indeed.

I care very much about taking good care of my basses and I play several gigs a week. I'm confident that many other pro players take good care of their equipment as well.

I didn't say that good players didn't take care of their instruments. Heck, I take good care of mine! But I don't obsess over a tiny little ding on the back of the neck...