Selling on reverb

I always check forums first. Craigslist second. If I see an item on eBay/Reverb and they are close I'll go check the Craigslist that is local to them and see if it is on there.

One thing we all can do is to always list our items on the forums in addition to Reverb or eBay. That way anybody can avoid the bogus fees and taxes except for the Paypal/payment fee. If more people did this I think more people would use the forum classifieds. I get that Reverb/eBay are an easier/quicker sell but it still is not worth it to me. Danyeo said it right.
 
bubbastain said:
I really don't like to spend more than about $100 on Reverb. Or it at least has to be a really good deal because I also have to pay 10.2% sales tax where I live. I hate paying sales tax from a private seller on used gear. I haven't sold anything on Reverb ever since they did that whole PayPal thing a while back. I also don't want to ship anything more than a pedal these days.
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People have the option (at least until April 30) to mirror all their listings on a Reverb Sites store which doesn't collect sales tax. I don't understand why more sellers don't use this feature.

Metalhex said:
You're almost always better off selling at GC or Sam Ash. With ebay and reverb fees and taxes and shipping and paypal fees and packaging, you would end up with probably the same amount of money those stores would give you. Plus it's just easier.
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Strongly disagree. If you're not netting more than GC would pay for any given piece (barring exceptionally obscure/bulky/garbage gear), you're not doing it correctly.
 
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stratjacket said:
Thanks. I can’t do anything about the payment processing fees, it’s pretty close no matter the service used. Once the site gets going and I get a feel of cost to run it, I’m hoping to lower the 3.5%, but starting there as it’s what we were used to.
I started to do a matrix, but I didn’t want to reference those sites on the site.
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Hey man, I know a lot of work is going into this plus legal but isn’t that idea totally backwards? I saw people today on FB asking why they should join the site and outside of the trading idea that’s a really good question, I don’t see how you’re going to attract anybody to use this without trying to compete with other sites.
 
Monomyth said:
Hey man, I know a lot of work is going into this plus legal but isn’t that idea totally backwards? I saw people today on FB asking why they should join the site and outside of the trading idea that’s a really good question, I don’t see how you’re going to attract anybody to use this without trying to compete with other sites.
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Understand and thanks for letting me know. Do you mean I should list comparisons on the site or compete in another way?
I do Facebook, Instagram and Google Ads to try to target musicians. I try to highlight the differences in some of those ads.

In addition to the Ads to attract musicians, right now I'm starting to contact music stores around the US to get them to join. I believe it needs sellers first, buyers will come if there's listings. I believe it will take a while and I have created a 12 month roadmap that doesn't bleed me dry and targets a niche within this niche to try to build it. I don't expect overnight success, it took Reverb maybe 3 or 4 years before they started really gaining momentum.

For reference, here are a few differences:
- lower fee (not much, but lower), hopefully can lower more in the future if things work out the way I'm imagining it to be
- ability to trade
- ability for a music store to accept trade-ins
- Protections; the terms are set by each seller, any disputes are settled according to those terms.
- No PayPal - this is also a negative because it's so popular, but there is no buyer coming back 180 days after a sale to file a dispute.
- sign up using your social media account (Google gmail account, Facebook or LinkedIn)

I tried to integrate with Gear Message boards (like this one, TGP, others) so you could use your Rig-Talk account, but none have that ability. I contacted XenForo (the software company that this site and many others are built on) but they could not do it either. So that was a bummer.

Will build more features as time goes by, but will take a while to catch up with all the bells and whistles on those sites for sure.
 
I buy a ton of shit off Reverb
mostly pedals, speakers, and small things, but as a buyer it's great. I buy things that are a good price. Most of the time it's far cheaper than local, and I can find a lot of stuff that isn't local.

If I sell 100% of the time it goes straight on CL and offer up. Sometimes things sell fast sometimes they don't. Oh well it's free, and sometimes I have landed some AMAZING trades with just a listing. I try really really hard not to sell anything big or fragile on Reverb/eBay unless it's really an exception, maybe once a year.

It's all a game, benefits and risks, and just do what you do and make your decision and protect your own ass every way you can and take the high road if you have to even if it sucks.

Out of hundreds of transactions 99% go fine. The 1% sucks massive dong when it happens, but I have a hard time imagining that most of us end up better off with the 99% to compensate for the 1% that sucks.
 
Metalhex said:
You're almost always better off selling at GC or Sam Ash. With ebay and reverb fees and taxes and shipping and paypal fees and packaging, you would end up with probably the same amount of money those stores would give you. Plus it's just easier.
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Not hardly. GC gives you pawn shop money.
 
I quit using reverb when I sold a mint condition guitar neck and some dumb fuck tried to remove the nut, cracked the wood behind it, then filled a dispute. Was GD obvious what happened to anyone who actually works on guitars, but they forced a refund.

So now I use reverb to find things I like, then contact the seller directly and cut reverb out. They've lost a lot more on those $10k plus in sales than they screwed me out of, but hey, karma.
 
You all want to sell your stuff for the same price as the big boys yet you are complaining about overhead and no protections? Welcome to what real merchants deal with.
 
Metalhex said:
I've gotten $350 for an $800 guitar from Sam Ash. That's about what I'd end up with selling online; figure ask for $600 online, get haggled down to $500 or so depending how long it sits on there (could be weeks and weeks) Pay for shipping and possibly packing could run anywhere from $30 - $80. Then selling fees could be anywhere short of $50 give or take......ok so maybe you get a little more selling online, but my Sam Ash is only 20 minutes away so its super convenient lol.
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A 44% return on a guitar sale is pretty bad unless the guitar was really messed up.

Reverb is easy. Search for the piece you're selling and evaluate other people's sell prices. Then list your piece
accordingly. I simply decline low ball offers and wait for serious hits.

I'm averaging about 2/3rds ROI for items I bought new and then if I sell something I bought used I usually can
get what I originally paid, and in some cases even a bit more.
 
[ Donnie B. ] said:
A 44% return on a guitar sale is pretty bad unless the guitar was really messed up.

Reverb is easy. Search for the piece you're selling and evaluate other people's sell prices. Then list your piece
accordingly. I simply decline low ball offers and wait for serious hits.

I'm averaging about 2/3rds ROI for items I bought new and then if I sell something I bought used I usually can
get what I originally paid, and in some cases even a bit more.
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I buy most of my stuff used
 
Metalhex said:
I buy most of my stuff used
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Sounds like you're definitely doing something wrong then.

If I buy and $800 guitar, used, I usually have no problem reselling for $800. If I were to list it for $350, it would probably sell before I could turn my computer off.
 
Like I expected put my Kingsley pedal on reverb and it sold in less than a week. Unfortunately on the forums it sat for months. I net less than I would have, but it did sell. The sad part is that 20% of what the buyer paid was wrapped up in fees, shipping, and taxes.
 
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