Reverb increasing seller fees

[Koog]

I get that it sucks for sellers, but I really don’t think it’s that much of an increase. If you got a 1.5% raise at work, I don’t think you’d consider that a big raise.

It’s an extra $15 for a $1000 sale. Still cheaper than ebay.

It's actually a 42.86% increase....1.5 divided by 3.5 is the correct math to calculate the increase.

Seems like a large increase to me.

Business is down almost everywhere because of Covid-19. Many individual businesses, large and small, are raising prices to bring more revenue in the door. I think we have to face the fact that this may be the new reality. I'm certain when it's all over prices will not retreat, except possibly goods and services that trade in negotiated markets.

Koog

 

[DavidG]

I don't like it but Reverb is a business, not a public service.
We can continue to just sell our extra stuff here and on other forums/blogs or reach lots more buyers on Reverb.
These things come and go. eBay, Craigslist, Reverb, Amazon, etc. They are all cool for a while then the cracks start to show or they get too big for their britches and we move on.
Many of us probably find Reverb pretty convenient. Sooner or later something else will come down the pike and we'll move on to that.
As far as raising prices during a pandemic. Was probably in the pipeline for a while. Costs are still on the rise so they are just passing it on. Feels like bad timing but probably unavoidable.

 

[Koshchei]

Just got an email that starts off with

“To Our Community,

I’m writing to share upcoming changes that will enable us to significantly grow our marketplace so that we can help you reach even more buyers all over the world. Beginning on August 4, 2020, we are increasing our selling fee for the first time ever⁠— from 3.5 % to 5%.”

The new income is ostensibly going to increase the number of buyers by:

• Investing over 30% more in marketing initiatives—including SEO, online video advertising, and other digital advertising—to get your inventory in front of more buyers from around the world.
• Expanding by more than 25% the capacity of our global customer support team focused on assisting you and your buyers as we grow.
• Increasing by more than 40% the capacity of our product team focused on creating and enhancing seller tools and services to increase the visibility of your shop and inventory.
• 
  
  
• 
  
• Thoughts?

Kijiji.

 

[fhm555]

Profit isn't a bad word. I love profit. All of my favorite companies, products, and services turn a profit. Congrats to them! I get to continue buying Merrill Vapor Gloves because Merrill turns a profit. I get to start construction on my hangout/pool house/inlaws quarters next month because my contractor gets to stay in business because he makes a profit. Several of my favorite bars and restaurants have permanently closed recently because they couldn't make a profit.

Reverb is not, and should not be, a charity. Congrats to them for turning their passion into a zillion dollars. I wish for all of you to be able to wake up every day and do something you love for lots of money.

If you enjoy selling music gear to strangers 1,000 miles away, or buying music gear from strangers 1,000 miles away on Reverb, you have two choices.

1) Pay the slightly higher fee and continue enjoying their service.

2) Start you own platform and run it at a loss. (I don't see dozens of new platforms popping up every day to assist buyers and sellers of music gear for zero dollars.)

All that being said, I have found dealing with the TalkBass community to be a fun, rewarding experience. Please note that TalkBass is not like Reverb. They aren't set up to handle disputes. I got burned once here. But, overall, my experience has been great.

for years i labored on private boards like TB selling assorted items and it was a crapshoot for length of time to sell. It was before paypal so there was not much risk of getting stiffed but it took a while to move things out. I finally signed up for ebay and the differences were instant. Quicker turnaround, vetted buyers, and the best part was i had no problem raising my prices to cover the seller and listing fees. Unfortunately ebay continued to evolve and became a place where selling anything but cheap gegaws became too risky and too expensive. In essence they went from a great place to reach a massive pool of potential buyers for a reasonable fee to the world’s largest flea market.
Based on my experience with selling music gear, Reverb is still the best game in town for reaching a large enough pool of prospects to make it the best place to sell odd and (semi) rare items, or move volume. They will eventually price themselves out of business but that day has not come.

 

[two fingers]

for years i labored on private boards like TB selling assorted items and it was a crapshoot for length of time to sell. It was before paypal so there was not much risk of getting stiffed but it took a while to move things out. I finally signed up for ebay and the differences were instant. Quicker turnaround, vetted buyers, and the best part was i had no problem raising my prices to cover the seller and listing fees. Unfortunately ebay continued to evolve and became a place where selling anything but cheap gegaws became too risky and too expensive. In essence they went from a great place to reach a massive pool of potential buyers for a reasonable fee to the world’s largest flea market.
Based on my experience with selling music gear, Reverb is still the best game in town for reaching a large enough pool of prospects to make it the best place to sell odd and (semi) rare items, or move volume. They will eventually price themselves out of business but that day has not come.

Well stated. And they will either price themselves out of the market, or another player will come along and price Reverb out of the market by doing things more efficiently and for lower prices/fees. (This is why the free market is a beautiful thing.)

Good luck to Reverb. And good luck to all of the upstarts scrambling to to take their place and keep the market policed through competition.

 

[tekhedd]

This was expected by all, right?

Bunch of BS justifications in their notification email.

The truth:
1) eBay has found so many ways to crank your fees up (piping shipping and tax through paypal etc) that reverb can raise prices and still be a better value

2) Reverb is now established (not quite a monopoly) for music gear, and can totally get away with this.

*shrug* that's just business. Where else you gonna go? :/

 

[jdthebassman]

More reason to sell here in the classifieds or use facebook market place.

 

[lfmn16]

Between reverb fee, PayPal fee, shipping; I don’t make significantly more than selling it to my local music store.

I’m done with Reverb and eBay.

 

[Discount Bassy]

There's always the option of a hand-written ad stapled to a telephone pole.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Just got an email that starts off with

“To Our Community,

I’m writing to share upcoming changes that will enable us to significantly grow our marketplace so that we can help you reach even more buyers all over the world. Beginning on August 4, 2020, we are increasing our selling fee for the first time ever⁠— from 3.5 % to 5%.”

The new income is ostensibly going to increase the number of buyers by:

• Investing over 30% more in marketing initiatives—including SEO, online video advertising, and other digital advertising—to get your inventory in front of more buyers from around the world.
• Expanding by more than 25% the capacity of our global customer support team focused on assisting you and your buyers as we grow.
• Increasing by more than 40% the capacity of our product team focused on creating and enhancing seller tools and services to increase the visibility of your shop and inventory.
• 
  
  
• 
  
• Thoughts?

I realize most of the world doesn’t have guitar shops on every corner to buy and sell gear, hence the reliance on internet commerce. The problem with internet commerce in the secondary market, is there is a great deal of risk that both buyer and seller are exposed to. The stories of internet deals gone south appear here on this forum on almost a weekly basis. By most accounts resolution is not satisfactory.

The adjudication of stated value , which is based on the opinions of of both buyer or seller which may vary widely, as it Is very easy to overstate value, damage, and understate value, making a fair settlement for both parties almost impossible.

My thought on the OP is a good chunk of this money should go to resolution services to protect both buyer and seller. Without such protections, don’t be surprised if your great deal isn’t so great, the person that bought your gear wasn’t impressed or worse yet, has buyers remorse and trashes it.

 

[james condino]

The new corporate version of Reverb sucks and is not what most of us signed up or agreed to.

I got banned from them two months ago for expressing this exact feeling to their customer service......

 

[Dirk Diggler]

In traditional business, the company would be responsible for advertising. And charging the Sellers for SEO is comical at best. Web searches aren't how most look for gear. I have noticed Reverb's search however is very hit and miss, they should focus on that first.

Apparently they've done a great job of shifting that cost to the seller instead now.

I do notice most of their sales are MAP priced, so no real deals.

Dirk

 

[ole Jason]

I'd rather lose some money and just sell locally or to GC. It just isn't worth the trouble of selling online anymore. Forums aren't too bad since there are fewer scumbag buyers.

 

[Killing Floor]

Yes, totally, wonderful news. Now the global community can grow and prosper. Whew, finally.

 

[Bebo2020]

I will never buy again from Reverb. They simply robbed me with a foreign currency matter. No way to find a responsible person around. Never again.

 

[StayLow]

With the jump in shipping costs, rather just sell locally. This sucks for people who make a living off reverb and it's just going to pass cost to the buyer

When making your living depends 1000% on someone else's infrastructure over which you have no control or say, and there's zero barrier of entry to competition, it'll never take very long to not end well.

 

[jbhaugh]

I closed my account with Reverb, eBay and PayPal. I will only sell locally now. The fees are getting to high and there are other processing fees that Reverb hits you with after the sale is made so you will pay more than 5%. Not to mention the outrageous shipping fees.

That's one option, but I have found that trying to sell locally to avoid fees and shipping costs requires me to accept 50-75% of what I might make on a piece of gear if I shipped and sold through Reverb or the classifieds here. The market for the gear I want to sell is basically nonexistent locally, for me. I'm not interested in trying to convince someone that a pedal from a manufacturer they've never heard of is worth 5x what an apparently similar device made by EHX or TC OR whoever would be worth. And on top of all that, it's less convenient to arrange safe private sales.

 

[brushfirewolf]

Although I didn't make a business out of it, I do a lot of selling on Reverb. Mainly instruments I snag used online from GC, try for a bit, then sell to fund another purchase. It's a never-ending cycle that I may finally be able to justify putting to an end after this increase, as I was barely breaking even on a lot of stuff recently due to the increased shipping costs after covid.

 

[Fight4Bottom]

I expect eBay will follow suit, then. Their fees for musical instruments was the only thing on there that had any competition.

 

[scuzzy]

I get that it sucks for sellers, but I really don’t think it’s that much of an increase. If you got a 1.5% raise at work, I don’t think you’d consider that a big raise.

It’s an extra $15 for a $1000 sale. Still cheaper than ebay.

Not much less than our annual raise as RN's in my area. To make matters worse, bankers and teachers are getting hazard pay, but as a nurse testing and caring for covid + patients daily, it's base rate only. Executives won't budge.

Wait, we're discussing reverb, aren't we....