Anyone sell stuff on Reverb?

But why exactly?

Is it the larger fee that Ebay takes? Conflict resolution and customer service?

Also, there seems to be a distinction between BUYING and SELLING on these platforms. Is it mostly sellers that do the complaining?

I've bought plenty of things on Ebay and had no problems. I've never sold anything on Ebay though.

@mikyok
@single-ply
@notvinnie


EDIT: This kinda answers the question.
Good point. Also:

1. Use of Reverb-bucks bypasses Paypal fees.
2. Much lower fee compared to eBay.
3. The "make an offer" model leads to quicker sales and better deals than eBay's "But It Now" or waiting for an auction to end.
4. Physical, actual music stores often have a Reverb site. I can buy sticks and heads, and actually support a store, rather than some nameless, faceless broker. This comes in very handy when discussing returns or exchanges.
5. Just my impression here, but sellers seem to "dream" less about getting 95% of full price for used items.
 
I've bought & sold on both sites. Reverb is better in every way.
  1. The site is cleaner, more streamlined.
  2. It caters to musicians.
  3. You can post video & audio on the item page.
  4. You can use more photos, of higher resolution, for the listing.
  5. You can negotiate.
  6. They manage the transaction.
  7. Their fee is less than eBay.
 
Good point. Also:

1. Use of Reverb-bucks bypasses Paypal fees.
2. Much lower fee compared to eBay.
3. The "make an offer" model leads to quicker sales and better deals than eBay's "But It Now" or waiting for an auction to end.
4. Physical, actual music stores often have a Reverb site. I can buy sticks and heads, and actually support a store, rather than some nameless, faceless broker. This comes in very handy when discussing returns or exchanges.
5. Just my impression here, but sellers seem to "dream" less about getting 95% of full price for used items.

When I buy musical instruments or the like on Ebay, I've purchased from DCP, Sweetwater (awesome, and in my state), Music 123, Cascio, etc. If you pay attention to whom you buy from, it's very safe. I've also purchased from individuals--once again, paying attention is the key (I will NOT buy from anyone with less than 98%, unless it's a situation where they have 92% feedback, but one negative feedback and 13 positive total, something like that).

I do understand the fees. I've not like eBay's fees for a long time. But, I only recently got back into drumming, never knew what Reverb was until this past December-ish.

Ebay allows offers to be made as well. I'm not some huge Ebay seller. I get nothing for saying anything positive about Ebay. It's just a simple and easy choice for many purchases. You simply have to be careful.

SELLING IS DIFFERENT. Absolutely, yes. But you have to set your parameters. You only ship here, you accept this pay preference. I mean honestly, some of you sound like you've sold items to crackheads or something on Ebay. I've simply never had that problem. I've NEVER sold $1000 worth of drums though either.

All I can say is, Ebay is big. I wouldn't deny myself the opportunity to sell to that many more potential buyers, because of some problems here and there. Fees suck, yes--no denying it. That's the one thing that Ebay does need to change.

I've negotiated on Ebay as well. Simply message a seller, or you can offer "watching buyers" a "special deal".
 
Thanks for everyone's replies.

I just posted my drums One. More. Time. locally at my bottom dollar/firm price ($1000). I'll try one last time, and if I can't get them sold locally, I'll try my hand at Reverb.

Thanks again!
 
One thing I didn't mention previously. eBay used to allow you to block buyers with low ratings. They still do, but the threshold is much lower. You also can't say things like bids will be cancelled, do not bid, or any verbiage that would offer a seller protection, with a negative flair. Can't hurt anyones feelings or make them feel excluded from bidding. They used to allow the buyer to select if they wanted shipping insurance. Now that's on the seller. Their shipping estimates have been seriously screwed up the past couple of years too. What buyers have paid and what it costs sellers have been miles apart. That's using their own, built in shipping estimator, with attached discounts. Literally every burden for everything that could screw up is on the seller. Sell and ship a drum set? I'd rather set it ablaze!

It's been mentioned. You need to carefully review the add and who you're dealing with as a buyer. As a seller, you need to evaluate your threshold for pain and if you can stand to lose the item and your payment as well.
 
Reverb has smaller user base. But, they're more knowledgable users. Items tend to sell for more $$ on Reverb because of that. But it may take longer to sell on Reverb. I think Reverb fees are less, too. I like easy ability to take offers on Reverb. Easier than eBay. I buy and sell a lot on Reverb using offers. I recommend Reverb.
 
Reverb is the way to go for the most part. You can expect to be selling to/buying from people who care about music much more than you would on eBay.
 
Also. if your item doesn't sell on Reverb, you don't pay anything. It's so much better than eBay it's not even a fair comparison.
 
I’ve been an EBay member since 2005. I quit selling on there years ago mostly due to costs, but I’ve continued to buy items there.

I recently decided to sell a Harley Davidson leather riding jacket there as I have three.

Last time ever for me. There website is more difficult to use than it used to be, the fees are ridiculous, and it wouldn’t let me choose the shipping company I wanted, although I didn’t lose anything going direct to UPS, because EBay’ shipping discounts are a joke.

The final straw was that after being on EBay for nearly 15 years, I don’t even get paid till after the item is delivered because apparently even 15 year members start over as “new” sellers if you don’t sell a certain volume monthly. And I have perfect 100% feedback there and have since I started...

EBay is only for sellers who want to constantly sell now, I guess. I’ll buy there when it suits me, but this was my last sale there.

Reverb on the other hand has worked very well for me as an occasional seller. No issues at all, so far anyway. And the things I’ve sold went reasonably fast for at or close to what I asked. Asking a reasonable price helps with a faster sale of course.
 
I wish they’d kept to their original auction site. I began using them in the late 90s and it was great. Now it’s a chore to sell there.

So much of it is at best, an online retail outlet for big stores (to be fair, Reverb has this too) and at worst, a lot of people acting as individual drop shipment companies. So many times I've bought something on there only for it to arrive in an Amazon Prime box.
 
Are you listing shells only on Craigslist? I once bought a kit from Craigslist. When I arrived to pick it up the guy told me that he had it listed as shells only for a long time and got no response. Then he added a hi hat stand, kick pedal and cymbal stand, bumped up the price to cover those and the responses started coming in. I was looking for a second kit to leave at a practice space so I too responded because of the fuller package.

YMMV but that might be a thing.
 
Are you listing shells only on Craigslist? I once bought a kit from Craigslist. When I arrived to pick it up the guy told me that he had it listed as shells only for a long time and got no response. Then he added a hi hat stand, kick pedal and cymbal stand, bumped up the price to cover those and the responses started coming in. I was looking for a second kit to leave at a practice space so I too responded because of the fuller package.

YMMV but that might be a thing.


Yes, it's only a shell pack. Maybe I should add some hardware and up the price a little. :unsure:
 
I figured I'd sell off an old bass pedal I had... but every time I sell something on eBay or now Reverb, I wonder why I bother. I sold it for $140, free shipping. I figured I had to do free shipping because no buyer wants to see shipping on there, so I bumper up the price a bit. The pedal weighs about 6 pounds, and the cheapest shipping option was $36 (!). So I start at $140, deduct Reverb fees, shipping and an hour off work waiting in line at the post office, plus boxing the thing up. In the end it doesn't seem worth the trouble. I should have just given it away for $60 locally, or just left it sitting.

Am I missing something?

I just bought a starter guitar kit for my kid for $120 including guitar and amp, from Reverb. If I carried that stuff into the post office, they'd want $100 or more just to mail it. I don't know how people make enough to make it worth the trouble. What's the secret?
 
Did you do flat rate shipping, or based on the weight & dimensions of the box?

For certain things it's not worth the trouble when you consider shipping (and your time) but sometimes CL just doesn't cut it.
 
First, set up an account with the UPS or the Post office, where you can box the item and have them pick it up, no charge. You have to hjave an accurate scale to guesstimate the weight and be able to measue the "cube" of the box for shipping rates. That will save you an hour in line at the Post Office. Sell it on Craigslist to locals, for pick up only, cash only, and kill two birds with one stone. I have bought and sold on Craigslist many times and it is well worth the effort. You can also use Marketplace on Facebook, for local sales. I have used that as well.
 
I always look at the flat rate boxes, but I swear they are scientifically optimized to not fit any normal objects inside them. A bass drum pedal won't fit any of them.

Regarding Craigslist, I should have used it in this case (hindsight) and I have for lots of other stuff, like old furniture. More unusual stuff is often hard to sell in Tucson, since the market is not very big.
 
I've sold stuff on Reverb and eBay and yes it can be frustrating to figure out how to price the item with shipping so you make at least some money. I also try locally first using Facebook Marketplace.
 
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