Bump on this to stimulate some more lively conversation a few years on (and seeing what that CCV 'sold' for).
I think this absurd policy is a factor in soaring used gear prices. A small example / rant:
Sellers often quote Reverb sold prices when posting ads, it's how they've 'researched the market'. And fair enough, seems like a reasonable approach.
The glaring issue is that these so-called sold prices are often considerably higher than the actual negotiated price.
It goes something like this:
- seller lists an item with an ambitious price, say 5k for a 3k amp.
- buyer offers 3k, seller counters with 3.5k, buyer accepts.
Once the deal is done, the ended listing is discoverable by anyone - and the sold price is
listed as 5k.
If the seller
reduces the price whilst the listing is active, then this will be reflected in the sold price. But in real life where offers are commonplace - nope.
The issue of course is that the next seller comes along and asks for say 6k, because 'they're going for 5k on Reverb'. They are unlikely to take a 3.5k deal because they now
believe it's indeed worth way more, and idiot buyers are just lowballing them. The cycle continues and Reverb laugh all the way to the bank as they are taking a percentage of the deal.
I'm not sure if this happens for every item, in every category, at every price point - but it is absolutely the case for every item I've purchased in the last few years (where the seller accepted an offer). Only really applies to out of production items of course.
I realise things are only worth what people pay for them, appreciation etc, but market trends based on misinformation is never a good thing - even if some sellers are benefitting.
Anyway if you didn't know this, maybe keep it in mind. If you did, you can stop reading 2 mins ago!