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Reverb - best thing ever?

TTA

TTA

Jun 10, 2021
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4,548
#1
Or just a bunch of stores posting stock at inflated prices to cover the reverb “profit grab” on every sale? And then private sellers mostly matching those prices cause they hope they can.

I dont seem to see many good deals on the basses i am interested in. Either i have amazing taste and basses i want are all in high demand (high prices) or reverb is a bit crap.

My apologies if i state the obvious. I was out of the scene for 10+ years.
 
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#2
TTA said:
Or just a bunch of stores posting stock at inflated prices to cover the reverb “profit grab” on every sale? And then private sellers mostly matching those prices cause they hope they can.

I dont seem to see many good deals on the basses i am interested in. Either i have amazing taste and basses i want are all in high demand (high prices) or reverb is a bit crap.

My apologies if i state the obvious. I was out of the scene for 10+ years.
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Reverb is an on-line business providing a platform to sell instruments to anywhere in the world (depending on where the seller is willing to sell the their instruments/parts etc) Regardless of what you personally consider "a good deal" - exactly where else are you going to get this sort of exposure to sell an instrument. Yes, you are "out of the scene" as far as current reality is concerned.
 
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#4
JIO said:
Reverb is an on-line business providing a platform to sell instruments to anywhere in the world (depending on where the seller is willing to sell the their instruments/parts etc) Regardless of what you personally consider "a good deal" - exactly where else are you going to get this sort of exposure to sell an instrument. Yes, you are "out of the scene" as far as current reality is concerned.
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Well it happened to ebay to a degree also. Do common people even sell on ebay now? Or is it just professional sellers now?

Basses and reverb aside, the trend i am seeing is that online shopping is no longer a way to get a better deal, or a product faster. It is a place to pay a premium to get something faster.

Online used to be “faster cheaper.” Now it is faster but be ready to pay the premium.
 
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#5
TTA said:
Well it happened to ebay to a degree also. Do common people even sell on ebay now? Or is it just professional sellers now?

Basses and reverb aside, the trend i am seeing is that online shopping is no longer a way to get a better deal, or a product faster. It is a place to pay a premium to get something faster.

Online ysed to he faster cheaper. Now it is faster but ne ready to pay the premium.
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Buyers always "expect" to "get a deal". Sellers are in business to make money - it's called reality. If someone wants something, why do they expect someone else to 'give it away'? As always, if the shoe was on the other foot...
 
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#6
JIO said:
Buyers always "expect" to "get a deal". Sellers are in business to make money - it's called reality. If someone wants something, why do they expect someone else to 'give it away'? As always, if the shoe was on the other foot...
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I dont mind. Things are coming full circle and my recent purchases are from brick and mortar stores because online pricing is just more for the same product.

And yeah buyers always want to pay less, sellers always want to get more profit. It is what it is. Death and taxes right?

But still… trends have changed. The increased competition on online selling used to depress prices. Now we see a reverse. And an increase in commercial sellers. Just an observation.

the trend i see is: new online selling site, individual sellers put on their used gear. Low fees, good deals to be had, good word spreads. Fees go up, commercial sellers pile on, prices go up. Fees go up again. Private sellers begin to find other lower fee options to sell. Commercial sellers flood the site.

but imho any savvy shopper knows to bypass the “advertising platform” and contact the sellers brick and mortar shop direct. You can always get the product at a price that does not have the site fees built in.
 
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#7
TTA said:
but imho any savvy shopper knows to bypass the “advertising platform” and contact the sellers brick and mortar shop direct. You can always get the product at a price that does not have the site fees built in.
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That's fine if one is shopping for new gear.

For older stuff it's Reverb, fleabay and GC online...and, of course, TB classifieds.
 
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#8
Ebbs and flows. Music purchases have driven the market up right now and you're seeing the demand reflect the prices. I was just looking at the string purchases and other ebay sales in my history and see where certain things have definitely got more expensive. And mind you I'm a hawkish e commerce buyer. I really did for deals when I need to buy something. I think we've seen the peak in terms of inflation in internet vs brick and mortar retail but I can see the tables turning again once the online market gets too greedy and the brick and mortar guys capitalize on that. That's where the saying comes from. Capitalism at work.
 
#9
GTHintz said:
I can see the tables turning again once the online market gets too greedy and the brick and mortar guys capitalize on that.
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The problem here being, there's not too many B&M stores left. Internet - along with the likes of GC/Sam Ash - put most of them out of business for good.

Not to mention the fact that the gear prices went through the roof during the lockdowns and are unlikely to come down anytime soon...
 
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#10
I'm hoping that more brick and mortar stores pop up and people make a push to create more businesses. That would certainly balance the market into a more happy medium. I know people have been running business from their tablets and phones at home more and more and it's a different world than it was. We'll see how it shapes up.
 
#13
ajkula66 said:
The problem here being, there's not too many B&M stores left. Internet - along with the likes of GC/Sam Ash - put most of them out of business for good.

Not to mention the fact that the gear prices went through the roof during the lockdowns and are unlikely to come down anytime soon...
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Yeah all prices seem to have gone up with covid. People originally expected everything to crash. But the reverse occurred. Car sales up, housing prices up, bikes up, models up, pools up, guitars up, etc etc.

Only thing down was tourism. And soon that will go to the moon in prices (2 years since i went somewhere warm in the winter) and hopefully the rest will drop.

As i see it, less tourism, so more money spent on “luxury” hobbies cause everyone was bored. But supply did not go up, if anything, it went down. So prices up!!
 
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#19
Leonid Nidis said:
If there are insane prices on reverb it's not rationalized by any free market logic.
It's people who just dont know what the gear really worth or someone looking for a sucker.
There are lots of listings of used common gear that costs less new.
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Agree to a point. I found Some good deals (ibanez afr) for example. But i am seeing an overall trend of increasing online pricing. Driven by popularity, sites wanting more fees, and i think with lower availability due to covid… a big premium on “if you want it now…”. There is also a natural cycle that seems to hit all popular online markets.

i ordered a ric 90th anniversary 4005xc from our local music store monopoly. Not a cheap bass. It arrives when it arrives. Likely early mid 2022. Or i can get it now on reverb for near double the price.

dingwall combistion bass… their import model. Cheaper to order through our local music store monopoly. Reverb is flooded with new overpriced models now.

Custom dingwall… cheaper to custom order new. Similar to the 4005xc… those on the market are charging a premium for “dont wait 1-2 years to get it”
 
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