Reverb prices

[SleepyShark]

I'll stick up for Reverb a bit here. I really like the site.

It's provided a ton of local music shops (and individuals) a viable marketplace with millions of potential buyers visiting daily. Good luck getting that kind of traffic after you invest heavily in your own online store that may or may not work out. Because it's become "the place" for online gear sales, there really are a ton of great sellers on there who take awesome pictures, provide a very detailed description, and answer questions quickly.

A lot of the bad-mouthing of Reverb comes from people (I am NOT directing this at OP) who, I believe, are misunderstanding Reverb's place in the market; they expect to be getting a local Craigslist cash-in-hand exchange deal on every piece of used gear. Maybe it used to be that kind of website, I'm not sure, but the business model and audience have changed. Now it's just a place that used gear aggregates, with the best selection online IMO.

• Then there are the people complaining that their gear doesn't sell on Reverb when they take 1-2 off-center pictures in their dark living room at night and the only thing in the description is, "only selling cause I need the cash THIS THING DESERVES TO BE PLAYED!".

It may not be the cheapest place around, but you can bet that if you're looking for something specific or slightly rare that it has a much higher chance of showing up on Reverb than anywhere else. If it's something you've been looking for for a couple years, you'll probably grateful that it has a better chance of having good pictures and you're able to get your money back if it arrives not as described.

tl;dr - there are other options, but very few are giving up Reverb 100% - what it offers is too valuable.

 

[ELG60]

Especially in the '90's, I was getting basses at the pawn shops and selling them on Ebay. I would always try to either Gig or at least Rehearse them once. A few per week was the norm back then.
I remember getting Squiers for $90 and then selling the body and neck for $100/Ea multiple times. Imagine my shock at $650 for a Squier these days.

I remember paying about $400 for my '69 Jazz Bass back in '79. So what. Market prices at a different point in time are irrelevant to the current market.

If I decide to sell it today, should I factor in the price I paid for it? . . . Inflation (which in actual numbers is currently in double digits); storage; opportunity cost of the money used in the original transaction? I'm sure that you understand my point although I have my doubts that the OP will.

I love it when some old codger comes to me and says "I used to buy these for XX amount." I occasionally engage and remind them that in their day, you could get a new Corvette for $4,500 and a new 4 bedroom house for $38,500 (in the Atlanta suburbs no-less) Also, the average salary was less than ten grand.

I always look at the spot-price of gold as the best true indicator of what a given unit of currency actually represents. This has been true for over two millennia. Six years ago, it was around twelve hundred bucks. Today it's about two grand . . . Go figure!

 

[MusiQmaN]

I was very surprised when Reverb charged me, the buyer, sales tax for buying a used item from an individual (not a business). In my state that adds almost 10%. Very expensive place to shop used gear.

Be glad its only 10%. Here it is 21% plus 3,2% over the item (used) ANd shipping combined.

 

[MusiQmaN]

Yup. Thats what makes places like Talkbass, Craigslist, etc so valuable. There are many forums that have classified sections. For those who like to buy a wide variety of used gear, I would suggest venturing out and becoming active in these other musical forums. Build up a positive reputation and gain trust so people will be willing to sell to you in those forums. Both the seller and buyer benefit from transactions in these forums. The seller pays less fees, the buyer pays a cheaper price, and the increased activity helps support the moderators of the forum as well

I trust Reverb’s feedback system more then any forum tbh.

 

[gln1955]

I'll stick up for Reverb a bit here. I really like the site.

It's provided a ton of local music shops (and individuals) a viable marketplace with millions of potential buyers visiting daily. Good luck getting that kind of traffic after you invest heavily in your own online store that may or may not work out. Because it's become "the place" for online gear sales, there really are a ton of great sellers on there who take awesome pictures, provide a very detailed description, and answer questions quickly.

A lot of the bad-mouthing of Reverb comes from people (I am NOT directing this at OP) who, I believe, are misunderstanding Reverb's place in the market; they expect to be getting a local Craigslist cash-in-hand exchange deal on every piece of used gear. Maybe it used to be that kind of website, I'm not sure, but the business model and audience have changed. Now it's just a place that used gear aggregates, with the best selection online IMO.

• Then there are the people complaining that their gear doesn't sell on Reverb when they take 1-2 off-center pictures in their dark living room at night and the only thing in the description is, "only selling cause I need the cash THIS THING DESERVES TO BE PLAYED!".

It may not be the cheapest place around, but you can bet that if you're looking for something specific or slightly rare that it has a much higher chance of showing up on Reverb than anywhere else. If it's something you've been looking for for a couple years, you'll probably grateful that it has a better chance of having good pictures and you're able to get your money back if it arrives not as described.

tl;dr - there are other options, but very few are giving up Reverb 100% - what it offers is too valuable.

Yes. I think of Reverb as a consignment shop. You let them bring a huge number of people in to look at your items, greatly increasing the chance of someone buying. They also handle much of the transaction and any post-transaction problems. Like a brick and mortar consignment shop, you give them a percentage - a fee for service, not a ripoff. As a buyer, you are paying for some of that service through higher prices at times. If you don't think any of that is worth it, don't sell there and don't shop there, and good luck selling your stuff or finding what you want somewhere else.

 

[60bass]

While it certainly does cost way more to ship stuff nowadays, I still feel the shipping charges from some sellers on Reverb have always been excessive even before all this mess we're in now. Individuals and small volume sellers don't get deals like corporate sellers and larger retail companies do. They have to charge more. Here's an example. I had to ship a parts bass I built for my Nephew from my area NC to his home in AZ. I didn't have a box at that time and couldn't get one large enough local. I usually go to GC and ask for a box but my local GC was in the process of moving to a new location and didn't have a box. So I ended up having to take it to the US store for their Pack n Ship service. It cost me roughly $200.00 bucks to have it boxed, inured, and shipped. (OUCH). FedEx was around the same. I'm sure USPS would 've been cheaper but no box. It was for my 14 tear old Nephew who is just learning and didn't have a nice bass, so I wanted to surprise him (which he really was when it got there). There's zero way I could sell that on Reverb if it would cost me that much to ship it.

Sure I could've removed the neck and used two smaller boxes but then he wouldn't have been able to assemble it and set it up. Yep the perfect Catch 22.

 

[dfreeland83]

It's provided a ton of local music shops (and individuals) a viable marketplace with millions of potential buyers visiting daily. Good luck getting that kind of traffic after you invest heavily in your own online store that may or may not work out. Because it's become "the place" for online gear sales, there really are a ton of great sellers on there who take awesome pictures, provide a very detailed description, and answer questions quickly.

Yep. I've seen quite a few local music stores, especially in the middle of this Pandemic, start selling a *ton* of stuff on Reverb. Sure there are fees, but selling an item with a decent margin at 90% of what you'd make in-store beats the heck out of not selling that item while it's sitting in your inventory in the middle of a pandemic.

I actually had a dude on Reddit see my board, recognize a pedal, and shoot me a message asking if I had bought that pedal from his shop on Reverb the previous week. It was one of the one-off special color EQD pedals. He told me Reverb has been a godsend in all of this.

Then there are the people complaining that their gear doesn't sell on Reverb when they take 1-2 off-center pictures in their dark living room at night and the only thing in the description is, "only selling cause I need the cash THIS THING DESERVES TO BE PLAYED!".

A few years ago, I saw a really nice silver burst Sterling Ray35 on Reverb and it had been listed there over six months... at a very reasonable price ($399). I'm 99% sure the reason it didn't sell was because of the first picture... at first glance, when you're scrolling through the thumbnails, what do you notice? That white mass under the cutout. Looked like some sort of wood damage to me at first glance, but I loved the finish and went to the other photos... that wasn't there in any of the other angled shots... I noticed in one photos that there were miniblinds in the corner of the room, and that white patch in the first picture was a reflection from the window. While I can't prove it, I'm 99% sure people passed on that sale because of a bad thumbnail photo.

I pulled the original pic, here she be.

 

[SleepyShark]

Yep. I've seen quite a few local music stores, especially in the middle of this Pandemic, start selling a *ton* of stuff on Reverb. Sure there are fees, but selling an item with a decent margin at 90% of what you'd make in-store beats the heck out of not selling that item while it's sitting in your inventory in the middle of a pandemic.

I actually had a dude on Reddit see my board, recognize a pedal, and shoot me a message asking if I had bought that pedal from his shop on Reverb the previous week. It was one of the one-off special color EQD pedals. He told me Reverb has been a godsend in all of this.



A few years ago, I saw a really nice silver burst Sterling Ray35 on Reverb and it had been listed there over six months... at a very reasonable price ($399). I'm 99% sure the reason it didn't sell was because of the first picture... at first glance, when you're scrolling through the thumbnails, what do you notice? That white mass under the cutout. Looked like some sort of wood damage to me at first glance, but I loved the finish and went to the other photos... that wasn't there in any of the other angled shots... I noticed in one photos that there were miniblinds in the corner of the room, and that white patch in the first picture was a reflection from the window. While I can't prove it, I'm 99% sure people passed on that sale because of a bad thumbnail photo.

I pulled the original pic, here she be.

View attachment 4603170

I always see the "I'm not a photographer" and "I don't do technology" (what does that even mean in today's age?) as an excuse for dreadful photos. There's no legitimate excuse, assuming you have a phone from past 6 years and access to Google. Heck, when you google "How to Photograph a Guitar" an article from Reverb itself comes up in the first couple of results.

I love how the first photo absolutely captures the energy of an awful listing so well in their example of a bad shot:

 

[dfreeland83]

I always see the "I'm not a photographer" and "I don't do technology" (what does that even mean in today's age?) as an excuse for dreadful photos. There's no legitimate excuse, assuming you have a phone from past 6 years and access to Google. Heck, when you google "How to Photograph a Guitar" an article from Reverb itself comes up in the first couple of results.

I love how the first photo absolutely captures the energy of an awful listing so well in their example of a bad shot:
View attachment 4603197

Yeah. It 100% does. My biggest problem in my current place is lighting. It's a very bright / open floorplan and there are reflections *everywhere.* I usually end up taking about a bajillion photos of anything and everything before I get ones that I actually like.

 

[dfreeland83]

While it certainly does cost way more to ship stuff nowadays, I still feel the shipping charges from some sellers on Reverb have always been excessive even before all this mess we're in now. Individuals and small volume sellers don't get deals like corporate sellers and larger retail companies do. They have to charge more. Here's an example. I had to ship a parts bass I built for my Nephew from my area NC to his home in AZ. I didn't have a box at that time and couldn't get one large enough local. I usually go to GC and ask for a box but my local GC was in the process of moving to a new location and didn't have a box. So I ended up having to take it to the US store for their Pack n Ship service. It cost me roughly $200.00 bucks to have it boxed, inured, and shipped. (OUCH). FedEx was around the same. I'm sure USPS would 've been cheaper but no box. It was for my 14 tear old Nephew who is just learning and didn't have a nice bass, so I wanted to surprise him (which he really was when it got there). There's zero way I could sell that on Reverb if it would cost me that much to ship it.

Sure I could've removed the neck and used two smaller boxes but then he wouldn't have been able to assemble it and set it up. Yep the perfect Catch 22.

If that happens in the future, here's something I learned while on a trip... this won't help with packing materials, but it will help with shipping as a walk-in. Walking into a UPS store off the street, you get a discounted rate, but just barely discounted relative to buying from a broker. And their packing supplies are so marked up it's ridiculous... you'd be better off waiting for GC to have a box or ordering a box from Reverb / Amazon / Walmart. I found this out when we were on our honeymoon and I wanted to ship a box of all of the crap we had bought on our trip back, so we didn't have to check an extra bag. The Vegas UPS Store quoted me like $90 for a pretty standard sized 18x12x12 (or so) box, with minimal packing material, shipped to North Carolina... which was *crazy*... so, we ended up checking an extra bag. Later I found out that if I would have went back to the hotel and bought a shipping label from an online broker, I could have gotten it home for around $30.

The best thing to do is to if you're not shipping on something like Reverb, where they use negotiated rates, is to use a site like pirateship.com or something similar. I sold a couple of pedals on here for the first time a few weeks ago, and was getting quotes of like $15-25 to ship a pedal via UPS on my own (USPS was slightly cheaper). I was able to ship via Pirateship for around $8-10 each.

 

[SleepyShark]

Yeah. It 100% does. My biggest problem in my current place is lighting. It's a very bright / open floorplan and there are reflections *everywhere.* I usually end up taking about a bajillion photos of anything and everything before I get ones that I actually like.

Assuming it isn't stupid-cold where you're at, you can always take a guitar stand outside and snap some choice pictures during golden hour (sunset/sunrise) or on a cloudy day as a backup. No direct sun reflection, captures the finish really well, even with an older phone camera.

 

[MusiQmaN]

If that happens in the future, here's something I learned while on a trip... this won't help with packing materials, but it will help with shipping as a walk-in. Walking into a UPS store off the street, you get a discounted rate, but just barely discounted relative to buying from a broker. And their packing supplies are so marked up it's ridiculous... you'd be better off waiting for GC to have a box or ordering a box from Reverb / Amazon / Walmart. I found this out when we were on our honeymoon and I wanted to ship a box of all of the crap we had bought on our trip back, so we didn't have to check an extra bag. The Vegas UPS Store quoted me like $90 for a pretty standard sized 18x12x12 (or so) box, with minimal packing material, shipped to North Carolina... which was *crazy*... so, we ended up checking an extra bag. Later I found out that if I would have went back to the hotel and bought a shipping label from an online broker, I could have gotten it home for around $30.

The best thing to do is to if you're not shipping on something like Reverb, where they use negotiated rates, is to use a site like pirateship.com or something similar. I sold a couple of pedals on here for the first time a few weeks ago, and was getting quotes of like $15-25 to ship a pedal via UPS on my own (USPS was slightly cheaper). I was able to ship via Pirateship for around $8-10 each.

You can do this with Reverb too. This is how I always ship myself.

I buy a label through my own UPS login, and then add the tracking manually.

Assuming it isn't stupid-cold where you're at, you can always take a guitar stand outside and snap some choice pictures during golden hour (sunset/sunrise) or on a cloudy day as a backup. No direct sun reflection, captures the finish really well, even with an older phone camera.

Inside can work too at the right time during the day (depending on where the sun is coming in), you can make you own lighting diy too.

I learned this when working at Reverb. Here is a good example of two of my sales pictures (also make sure you cover at least every view of sight):
Fender Contemporary Precision Bass Lyte 1992 MIJ | MusiQsounds Productions | Reverb

Tony Williams owned, and played DW Drums / Craviotto 14x6,5 snare drum. | MusiQsounds Productions | Reverb

 

[Jeremy Crockett]

The OP seems unable to acknowledge all the factual explanations that are freely provided. I’m calling this out for what it is- TROLL. Let’s hope a moderator steps in.

Tangent approaching:

I really do not think the OP is a "troll" in the classic sense. Based on his responses, he's just got ahold of an idea that he will not relinquish. Just because I completely disagree with him, doesn't make him a "troll". Stubborn, single-minded, and resolute in his convictions, but not necessarily trolling.

At least, that is how I see it.

End Tangent.

 

[bassdrummer]

When I ship a bass or a cab, I go to Lowes and buy a sheet of styrofoam insulation, a cardboard moving box , and duct tape. I build my own box out of the styrofoam insulation sheet, then I cut the cardboard box into panels to fit around the styrofoam box. I seal all of the seams with duct tape. Cheaper, lighter, smaller, and better protection. I have shipped basses, amps, cabs, and drums across the country this way. I weigh and measure the dimensions, then calculate shipping (using the FedEx online shipping calculator) all the way to Florida and Maine from California, so that I know the maximum amount that shipping would cost me. I do all of that before listing the item, and I specify that the buyer will pay actual shipping. In my listing, I disclose my packaging method, the package weight and dimensions, and the FedEx price for shipping to various regions of the continental USA.

I don’t do a lot of shipping, but when I do, this method works for me. The majority of my sales in the past were on EBay and the old Eden forum.

On EBay, I sold to international buyers…a GK 800 RB to the UK, a DW9000 double bass drum pedal to France, and a Yamaha Maple Custom Absolute drum set (minus the bass drum) to Czech Republic. After the 800RB got held up in London customs for weeks, and the DW9000 got held up in Paris customs for months, with the poor buyer and I in regular communication trying to track it down, I stopped doing international shipping.

For sales, I have since switched to Talkbass because of seller fees. I sold a Squier VM Jaguar bass on Reverb, but all of my other Reverb transactions have been purchases. I haven’t had any bad experiences on Reverb, and I am not surprised at the shipping costs. Whenever I see a seemingly exorbitant shipping cost, it turns out to be from Europe or Asia, so I understand.

 

[MusiQmaN]

Just got hit with almost 540 bucks of reverb fees on a 3,6k sale.

That still hurts and with the international shipping issues of UPS as of late (and they were the last ones to have these issues for me after DHL and others) I might stop selling outside of Europe and big items on Reverb alltogether.

 

[bofus]

I just bought a used Taylor guitar from Guitar Center (of all places). New, it is $1100. It was in brand-new condition, 6 months old, and they wanted $750. I found the same exact model locally on Craigslist and the guy wanted $875 "because that's what they show used on reverb." He would not budge. Yes, I had to pay tax, but still came in under his asking price. People seem to be using reverb as a sort of "kelly blue book" for valuation.

I agree, they are a bit over. However, if you're looking for that one particular guitar/bass, the right year, the right color, etc...then you will eventually find it on Reverb. They've become a bit like "bringatriler.com" for cars. You won't ever find a deal there, but you will eventually find the exact car you want.

 

[IrishLuck]

Reverb isn’t as bad as people make it out to be. Ya some sellers jack up prices. But they won’t sell if there’s no buyer at that price.

Regarding the high shipping prices. I used to be so confused when I’d find a great deal on something but the shipping price was insane. Say for instance an item that goes for around $200 you find for $150 plus $100 shipping. At the beginning of this year the US govt. is requiring Reverb to make sellers document their sales and report for taxes now (some stupid ********. More on that later) so in order to keep sales numbers as low as possible to avoid paying taxes on sales, sellers are bringing down the list price and inflating the shipping cost accordingly. You can’t be taxed on shipping charges.
Now about being taxed on sales. What kind of ******** is this that when we buy something, we get sales taxed. Ok whatever. I’m used to that. But now a year or years later when we decide to sell that same item, we get taxed for selling it too!!!? So we get taxed now buying and selling!? And we’re taxed for sales on Reverb as if it’s profit. Which we all know when we buy new and sell used years later it hardly ever results in a profit. It’s almost always a loss. And we’re taxed on sales of a loss? I think that’s total ******** and I can totally understand why some sellers are trying their best to skirt these stupid new tax laws on Reverb. I’m no longer going to sell there now. Hope this sheds a little light on the high shipping prices.

 

[amper]

Here's why the buyer shouldnt pay insurance. Seller is responsible for the items safe arrival and is properly packed. Thats reverbs own rules. The seller could fsil to package the item properly so it gets damaged or send a damaged item and then claim on the insurace the buyer has paid for. It goes against the whole ethos of the sellers responsibility to get the item to the buyer safely. It's very sneeky. Sellers will be asking me to pay for their loo roll next.

This was tiresome 20 pages ago. Welcome to reality. No one owes you anything. You don't like the price, don't pay, and ffs don't whinge about it.

 

[Grahams Groove]

This was tiresome 20 pages ago. Welcome to reality. No one owes you anything. You don't like the price, don't pay, and ffs don't whinge about it.

"Don't whinge about it," says the person who quoted a post from four days ago to whinge about it...

 

[two fingers]

The OP seems unable to acknowledge all the factual explanations that are freely provided. I’m calling this out for what it is- TROLL. Let’s hope a moderator steps in.

Nope

Tangent approaching:

I really do not think the OP is a "troll" in the classic sense. Based on his responses, he's just got ahold of an idea that he will not relinquish. Just because I completely disagree with him, doesn't make him a "troll". Stubborn, single-minded, and resolute in his convictions, but not necessarily trolling.

At least, that is how I see it.

End Tangent.

Exactly this. He's being stubborn. Or, even more likely, he's annoyed that the days of screaming deals and easily-determined "market values" of certain basses on Reverb are gone. He's not trolling. Granted, we've all been not-so-politely asked to remove ourselves from his lawn. But he's not a troll.