Three of my last four Reverb purchases bombed

[Gergo]

I am on a roll.

An old Ibanez Artist that ended up having a totally messed up bridge.The height was being adjusted by stacking, or taking out washers under the bridge, a Burny from abroad that the seller decided to declare way more than the real value for customs, so they could clean up with the insurance claim if something happened to the guitar, resulting in a duty charge of $289.00 that I did not pay, and last but not least a PRS bass where the seller vanished after I made the purchase.

Seems like quality of sellers on Reverb has gone down.

Not my year to be buying gear. It's just as well, I suppose.

[mozz]

Seems like it's time to ask 100 questions and ask for 100 pictures. That really sucks.

[honyock]

The lack of customer support for sellers from the new Etsy overlords has killed my desire to sell through them.

I was a preferred seller, fast shipper, fast communicator or whatever badges they had for sellers. I have given it up after selling an average of 8 guitars per year.

I've now had multiple times where they try to charge me back for supposed UPS audit of my dimensions even though I purposely round up to the next full inch when I measure and take pictures of my measurements. This last time I raised holy hell because they could not provide me any information on the dimensional weight issue that caused my shipping to be almost 2x what I was charged initially.

They said it was an error only after it took 3 different chat sessions and emails to get an actual person who could do more than parrot the BS about a UPS audit with no supporting documentation.

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[Gergo]

The lack of customer support for sellers from the new Etsy overlords has killed my desire to sell through them.

I was a preferred seller, fast shipper, fast communicator or whatever badges they had for sellers. I have given it up after selling and average of 8 guitars per year.

I've now had multiple times where they try to charge me back for supposed UPS audit of my dimensions even though I purposely round up to the next full inch when I measure and take pictures of my measurements. This last time I raised holy hell because they could not provide me any information on the dimensional weight issue that caused my shipping to be almost 2x what I was charged initially.

They said it was an error only after it took 3 different chat sessions and emails to get an actual person who could do more than parrot the BS about a UPS audit with no supporting documentation.

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

It seems that every single thing we feared when we heard that Edsy was buying Reverb has come true. Comissions have gone up and quality of service has gone to s***

I have heard several stories like yours in regards to selling on Reverb. Even though I have sold tons of guitars and other gear through Reverb in the past, I have not sold anything there in awhile. I need to list a bunch of stuff though. Do you have any suggestions in regards to new upstart sites to sell gear through, that may be a better option than Reverb?

[BatUtilityBelt]

I wish there were startups to suggest. This seems to be the trend all over - bean counters ruining good business models with the expectation that unbridled consumerism will continue regardless. I wish I could say I thought they were wrong about that.

[solteroblues]

I sold my Helix backpack that I got for free when I bought my Helix, a $150 value when new. So I listed it for $100. After shipping and bump fees (I made the mistake of using their suggested 10% bump, it sold the first day, so no real bumps were needed) I was able to bring home a total net of $52. They have gotten so bad that I never sell anything on there anymore, this one last time was a fluke.

[uwmcscott]

I have made a few Reverb purchase and sold a few things over the past year and while the fees have increased I have still had good luck with the transactions themselves ( knock on wood ). Then again, I generally go way beyond the burden of proof provided by Reverb even when selling - for example I always ask for their shipping address prior to accepting an offer and google street map it. I avoided a likely scam once when the address given was literally a ghost town out in the desert in Nevada. When buying I always ask for additional photos and information above and beyond what is listed too like @mozz recommends. Sure it's a lot more work but worth it in the end I think.

I almost always buy used, so I still enjoy using Reverb/Ebay/GC/Craigslist/FB marketplace as a shopping platform.

[honyock]

The lack of customer support for sellers from the new Etsy overlords has killed my desire to sell through them.

I was a preferred seller, fast shipper, fast communicator or whatever badges they had for sellers. I have given it up after selling and average of 8 guitars per year.

I've now had multiple times where they try to charge me back for supposed UPS audit of my dimensions even though I purposely round up to the next full inch when I measure and take pictures of my measurements. This last time I raised holy hell because they could not provide me any information on the dimensional weight issue that caused my shipping to be almost 2x what I was charged initially.

They said it was an error only after it took 3 different chat sessions and emails to get an actual person who could do more than parrot the BS about a UPS audit with no supporting documentation.

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

It seems that every single thing we feared when we heard that Edsy was buying Reverb has come true. Comissions have gone up and quality of service has gone to s***

I have heard several stories like yours in regards to selling on Reverb. Even though I have sold tons of guitars and other gear through Reverb in the past, I have not sold anything there in awhile. I need to list a bunch of stuff though. Do you have any suggestions in regards to new upstart sites to sell gear through, that may be a better option than Reverb?

None I've found. The loss of CME backing the Reverb via knowledgeable folks seems to have been a flash in the pan. It obviously scared eBay so much that they still only charge 3.5% on guitars and basses.

Sweetwater has a marketplace, but it isn't anything like Reverb used to be...it is free though. It seems more like a Craigslist where you aren't protected except by your own gut feeling and whatever payment brokering service you use if sales aren't done in person.

[jhull54]

Biggest issue I have had with Reverb recently is their "shipping calculator", which used to be fairly ballpark, is totally worthless now. If I can't accurately gauge price to ship within a few bucks now, I just overcharge and tell the buyer I will refund the difference. Been burned a couple of times.

Their customer service has definitely slipped, and had a hassle with them regarding partial refunds to a buyer that they ran through twice. That has happened on two different occasions, as well.

[golem]

I've definitely had the UPS audit experience. It was for an amp and they said it weighed 60+ lbs more than I said it did. I assure you the amps wasn't 100 lbs, but the price was only $1.65 different so I didn't bother. Overall, I'm sticking with Reverb a little longer just because things sell faster there and for more money than I'd get locally. But I do have to charge more there because of the fees. With their required insurance on items I'm often up to 10% in fees for pricier items.

[Morrison]

Did they change something to require insurance?

I always decline the reverb protection.

[uwmcscott]

Did they change something to require insurance?

I always decline the reverb protection.

There is a dollar threshold where they do require insurance now. I'm not sure exactly what it is but I got dinged on a sale earlier this year. Fortunately I had priced the item high and someone bought it for the asking price so I covered the insurance many times over. But if I had not I would have been peeved.

[mickey]

Did they change something to require insurance?

I always decline the reverb protection.

There is a dollar threshold where they do require insurance now. I'm not sure exactly what it is but I got dinged on a sale earlier this year. Fortunately I had priced the item high and someone bought it for the asking price so I covered the insurance many times over. But if I had not I would have been peeved.

Pardon my ignorance but is this something the seller is charged of which the buyer is unaware?

[honyock]

Did they change something to require insurance?

I always decline the reverb protection.

There is a dollar threshold where they do require insurance now. I'm not sure exactly what it is but I got dinged on a sale earlier this year. Fortunately I had priced the item high and someone bought it for the asking price so I covered the insurance many times over. But if I had not I would have been peeved.

Pardon my ignorance but is this something the seller is charged of which the buyer is unaware?

Yes, it is shipping insurance that is supposed to protect the seller, paid for by the seller, at a percentage of the sale price in case of damage, but they can deny your claim even in the case of clear mishandling by the carrier and then you are left on the hook with no recourse to file a claim with UPS on your own behalf.



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[uwmcscott]

Pardon my ignorance but is this something the seller is charged of which the buyer is unaware?

Yes, the buyer is unaware. When you accept an offer, or if someone buys your item for the full asking price, you then complete the transaction via the reverb cart as the seller. You can print a shipping label right there and they offer a decent discount on UPS rates so I usually do that, and then the shipping cost comes right out of the transaction too. They also offer "reverb protection" which is the insurance mentioned here, but it's traditionally always been optional. There is now a threshold where the protection becomes mandatory, and cannot say exactly what it is - but the transaction I processed was over 3k for reference.

The buyer does not see either the shipping cost or the insurance, just a grand total plus whatever their local tax rate might be.