Reverb has been rough the last 6 months or so. In the previous 10+ years, I don't think I saw a scammer or scam listing for more than 5 minutes before it was already cleaned up - now I get scam posts ALL THE TIME asking me to email them separately etc, usually buyers with some kind of story ("my uncle had one of these and I want to get it for his birthday") type things. The story alone isn't a red flag itself, but there's other signs.
It's hard for people who are just breaking into the market, or take stuff in trade etc, to know what to price stuff at. I seriously cannot believe how many posts I see on the Kramer guitar facebook group (that's my main collection focus, so I'd argue I'm an expert there) where someone picks up a Kramer in some kind of trade or local deal and has no idea what it is, what the value of it is, etc. and they are asking for help so they can flip it. I don't understand why you would buy anything without knowing its value in advance, but at the same time I feel for them, a quick search for something like that might show you prices anywhere from $500 to $5000, depending on rarity or other bits that make it desirable.
As for posting high prices, it's hard not to especially after the covid inflation surge - I expect to get 15-25% less than my asking price and people seriously WANT to make an offer and get it that way. Let me give an example:
I post two identical guitars for sale. Guitar 1 is listed for $800, no offers. Guitar 2 is $1000, but allows offers. Which one do you think will get nearly triple the views and interest? Yeah, I have to knock back a couple of low ballers, but I'll get $800, maybe even $850 for the same guitar just because I allowed offers on it and chat with a few people.
Some people take that logic to the extreme of course, listing something for double or triple value, especially something used that is still even available new. The only excuse I can make for them is, maybe they have to "list it" to make the wife/girlfriend/partner/family happy, but they don't really want to sell it (I'll admit, I've done this once or twice too).
But yeah, if I had it my way, I'd just cut out all the BS and give the straight price I'm willing to accept for it. Problem is the average buyer straight up does NOT want that - blame the algorithm or whatever - they actually want to do all the BS haggling and offers and tire kicking etc
