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Reverb increasing seller fees

#161
foothilla said:
But, it's NOT Reverb's fee. It's Paypal's (or whoever's fee). It's pretty much accepted that you have to use payment services these days.

Being the payment processor is not without risk, and incredible amounts of work. Companies like eBay and Reverb would rather not enter that business. Processing the payments is dealing with credit card fees, dealing with refunds, dealing with fraud, dealing with chargebacks, dealing with exchange rates, etc., etc.. It's not a worthless service that should come free of charge.
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Like I said:
bassically_eli said:
There are pros and cons to both approaches....
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#165
bassically_eli said:
I'm confused. You still have to pay the fee even if you use a credit card, no? That fee goes to Reverb, right? That makes it Reverb's fee.
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Right,..and if you chose to use Paypal, it's Paypal's fee (with a minor up-charge for bringing in the third party).

Credit cards companies charge the payment processors fees, and being the payment processor opens you up to fraud risk, chargebacks, payment disputes and lots of extra work. Who wouldn't charge a fee for that service?
 
#168
CyberSnyder said:
Another $1.50 / $100 will not change my usage of Reverb for selling. On TB buyers want free shipping, so for a $1000 bass shipping will likely be $100, add PayPal fees and it's effectively a 15% fee here ignoring the membership costs. We'll consider those just supporting the community.
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I've had only good success selling on TB. Met some nice folks as well. Less impersonal than Reverb and eBay. I am a very low volume seller, only selling unneeded personal items so my experience is limited.
 
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#170
BunchyMutt said:
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?
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Terrible. All they had to say was, we're increasing our profits on your listings. Instead, they put this whole drawn out list of why you making less money, and them making more money is soooo much better for you. Seeing as "You" are the only reason we pay our rent, and we love you soooo much, that we're taking more of your money. Thank you.
 
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#173
I was already disgusted with the cost of selling on Reverb, and had not planned on selling there again. Now, I'm sure that I will not. Also, as buyers, do the sellers a favor and try to seek out their websites, ebay listings, etc and look for their items listed here on Talkbass. It takes a few minutes, but it saves them (and possibly you) some money and I know from experience that they appreciate it!
 
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#175
Koog said:
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.
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When business is down, raising prices is exactly the opposite of what a business should do…unless, of course, that business is effectively a monopoly, which is the case with Reverb.

Reverb, in a time of economic crisis that has gravely impacted the arts community more than most, and driven many to desperately sell gear to meet subsistence needs, in a market with drastically diminshed demand, has decided now is an appropriate time to raise their fees by 42.8%, in one fell swoop.

Such a dramatic increase is entirely unwarranted. Their costs of doing business have not significantly increased. This is a naked exercise of monopoly power. Where are you going to go? Back to eBay? Craigslist?

Selling locally is simply not an option for people outside of large metropolitan areas. There aren't enough musicians to support a thriving secondary market in MI products in my town of 12,000 in a county of 44,000, which is the largest town within a 100 KM radius, even without accounting for a global pandemic. Without Reverb and eBay, most of the things I sell online wouldn't sell at all.
 
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#176
Eric Huber said:
Webhosting companies are trying to make up for lost dollars during the 1st and 2nd quarter due to the quarantine.
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Where are you getting that from? Do you follow the IT business news?

Covid-10 has been an absolute goldmine for online sellers and e-commerce sites across the board, as well as online business in general. Netflix and many other video streaming services are reporting significant increases in new subscribers since the pandemic began. Small surprise. Many people are staying home and now looking for more things to watch.

Brick and mortar businesses have been negatively impacted. But online retail (and shipping and electronic payment services) are all reporting record volume and profits.

(Minor note: Reverb isn’t a webhosting company. A webhosting company provides the infrastructure on which to run various web services such as websites, email, discussion forums, shopping carts, databases, etc. Examples include: 1on1, Squarespace, Amazon Web Services, and GoDaddy. Reverb is an online marketplace or shopping mall. It’s just a place to buy and sell things.) :)
 
#177
Has anything not gone up in price in recent months? Don't get me wrong I'm not a fan of paying more but unless you operate a sizable e-commerce business (which I'm sure they can negotiate fees to an extent), Reverb's increase will have a negligible affect on most sellers.
 

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