Reverb

[mandolinstew]

even tho I find many humourous listings at ebay and craig I have switched to Reverb for all my transactions and am never going back to those sites

[Jacob]

I am never going back to Reverb. It was a truly terrible shopping experience.
Seller didn't respond for days after purchase, then said instrument would be shipped in a few days.
It was not shipped by that date, and seller didn't respond to emails asking why.
Requested a full refund and then the seller offers a small discount if I still wanted the instrument.
I declined and the refund took days to be processed.
Reverb makes me appreciate eBay.

[G7MOF]

I'm having this no response problem with a guy on CL at the moment. How does he/she expect to sell their items?

[Jeff Mando]

Reverb is mostly a collection of vintage instrument dealers, many are also on gbase and eBay, as well. A lot of times I will see the same instrument being sold by the same seller on all three sites. There are very few, if any, individual sellers on Reverb, who are not in the "business". So yes, I think it is a reliable, informed place to buy from, but you probably will never "get the deal" from the individual who is selling his instrument several hundred dollars under the going rate, like occasionally happens on eBay and CL.

[mandowilli]

I got a great deal on a acoustic guitar on reverb from and individual seller. I had placed a few that looked interesting in my watch list and received an email that there was a price drop on this one.

No problems.

Meanwhile over on ebay I was waiting for a refund on an item that I purchased from a hijacked account.......

[colorado_al]

I have sold instruments on Reverb and have had no problems. I also bought one and no problems. It is nice to have a site dedicated to instruments to buy and sell through. One thing that I still like about ebay are the occasional mislisted instruments that one can sometimes find. I always search incorrect spellings just to see what may come up.
Like this "mondolin"
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1918-Gibson-...-/191874767416

[JeffD]

I have looked it over from time to time. I haven't seen any outrageous prices. Either outrageous high or outrageous low.

[texaspaul]

I just completed a purchase on a'75 D-35". Fair price good communication and prompt shipping. Lots of messages sent by seller through Reverb and Reverb. Lots of tips and suggestion to ensure a good purchasing experience. I still the close community of the Cafe or local stores when possible.

[Jill McAuley]

I got my Ajr via a dealer on Reverb, great price, great communication with the dealer. I've also bought high end cymbals and a drum throne via Reverb and again was very happy with the transaction.

[mrmando]

Sold a couple of mandolins on Reverb thus far. I have gotten some entertaining lowball offers for stuff ... very few people seem interested in paying the asking price. I figure if there are people like the OP who have given up on eBay and CL, perhaps they'll find me either at Reverb or my own site (where my prices are lower because I don't have to pay Reverb's listing fees).

[mrmando]

I have looked it over from time to time. I haven't seen any outrageous prices. Either outrageous high or outrageous low.

Oh, I can find you a couple. There's the seller with the completely refinished snakehead with replaced hardware who still thinks it's worth $2K, or the Framus Strat-O-Melodie electric mandola for $1,200.

[Jeff Mando]

One thing that I still like about ebay are the occasional mislisted instruments that one can sometimes find. I always search incorrect spellings just to see what may come up.
Like this "mondolin"
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1918-Gibson-...-/191874767416

I like those too, Al. Trouble is, eBay now has a system in place that will suggest what they think you meant to search for, so if you put "mondolin" it actually shows up as mandolin in the search results. Usually below it will say, did you want to try mondolin, instead? and there is a place to click those results. In the case of the 1918 Gibson, he misspelled "mandolin" in the title, but he had it listed in the correct category under mandolins. Of course, he had it priced at the going rate, which for me makes the discussion moot, anyway! But still fun to believe we can still "pan for gold!"

When eBay first started my buddy's favorite search as "Fender Start".........he claimed they were giving away stuff........the logic being if you can't spell or type, you probably don't know what your instrument is worth........doesn't make a lot of sense, does it?

I think there was an amazing amount of deals on eBay when they first started, that everyone had an equal chance at. Now, and I hate to say it, it doesn't happen as often. (and I'm always looking....}

[HonketyHank]

In the super-duper-deals-because-of-miscategorization department: I wish someone would snag that chainsaw that keeps showing up with the mandolins over there on eBay. Oh, and that Chinese pagoda wooden puzzle, too.

By the way, I have made two very satisfactory purchases via Reverb in the last few months. Both from individual sellers with little or no evidence of commercial business intent. Neither was a dramatic "steal" but both were good deals from my perspective. I think the sellers feel the same way about them. To me, that means it is a pretty good marketplace.

[Bill Kammerzell]

In the super-duper-deals-because-of-miscategorization department: I wish someone would snag that chainsaw that keeps showing up with the mandolins over there on eBay. Oh, and that Chinese pagoda wooden puzzle, too.

By the way, I have made two very satisfactory purchases via Reverb in the last few months. Both from individual sellers with little or no evidence of commercial business intent. Neither was a dramatic "steal" but both were good deals from my perspective. I think the sellers feel the same way about them. To me, that means it is a pretty good marketplace.

Have done purchases and sales at Reverb with no problems. Three sales, 4 purchases I believe. I like it over EBay and Craigslist. Got a Breedlove Quartz OF up there right now. Same mandolin here, but cheaper here because fees are less here. No offers yet.

[mrmando]

.the logic being if you can't spell or type, you probably don't know what your instrument is worth........doesn't make a lot of sense, does it?

Well, maybe, but for every person who thinks his snakehead is worth $300 there are a dozen who think their Oscar Schmidt bowlbacks are worth $25,000.

[fentonjames]

i have done 2 transactions on reverb. on both of them i wound up getting partial refunds for undisclosed items, despite my asking many, many questions.

on one, 'the frets were great and everything was in mint condition.' but, it came with several high frets, an unoriginal pickguard (couldn't tell in the photos) and the bridge had a massive amount of tilt, again not shown in the photos.

on the other, i specificially asked about the bracing and was told it was fine-everything solid, were the words used. well the forward brace on the back was barely hanging on and there was another brace completely loose and flopping around in there. not to mention that there was a significant back crack.

i have learned that it's EASY to hide things depending on your camera angle and that people LIE.

i am not certain i'll buy from there again.

[Bill Kammerzell]

i have done 2 transactions on reverb. on both of them i wound up getting partial refunds for undisclosed items, despite my asking many, many questions.

on one, 'the frets were great and everything was in mint condition.' but, it came with several high frets, an unoriginal pickguard (couldn't tell in the photos) and the bridge had a massive amount of tilt, again not shown in the photos.

on the other, i specificially asked about the bracing and was told it was fine-everything solid, were the words used. well the forward brace on the back was barely hanging on and there was another brace completely loose and flopping around in there. not to mention that there was a significant back crack.

i have learned that it's EASY to hide things depending on your camera angle and that people LIE.

i am not certain i'll buy from there again.

Those types of transaction are difficult, to say the least. I have had 2 very similar. One mandolin was said to be "Like New". Not close and I was able to "coax" about a 20% refund from the seller. A very recent transaction was resolved quickly and painlessly. Had a bridge crack as I was bringing the instrument up to concert pitch. Received an immediate refund which paid for a new Cumberland Acoustic Bridge.

[Petrus]

Lower fees and more seller protection.

[Jeff Mando]

Lower fees and more seller protection.

Interesting that they still consider a 64 percent offer, a serious buyer.....

I would consider 64 percent 'wholesale' at best......

Been buying and selling a really long time, reminds me of 30 years ago, not as many "vintage dealers" as there are today, but most, including Gruhn had the standing policy that they would purchase an instrument from a seller for 60 percent of what they would sell it for. (obviously, trust was involved, since there was no way to 'police' this since they only published a listing of instruments once a month and your instrument could sell locally from their want file before it ever 'made' the list -- and for an undisclosed price.) Of course, you could consign the instrument and get back a higher percentage, once the instrument sold. Keep in mind, in the days before the internet that was pretty fair. There was basically no way for an individual without a store to sell for "retail". eBay did not yet exist. I should add that for people who bought and sold, like myself back then, there was actually plenty of opportunity at 60 percent to make money if you could find a vintage instrument at a pawn shop, let's say for 25 percent of Gruhn's retail. It was a different world back then and few people were armed with that kind of specific knowledge. Pawn shops, in the days before the internet, used these huge 'Blue Books' to price instruments. If it wasn't in the Blue Book, they just had to wing it -- and they were often wrong. And sometimes you could negotiate to make the price right.

Most of us today are somewhat spoiled in that I don't think many of us would like to pay $10K for a mandolin and then be happy with an offer of $6400.......unless circumstances motivated us to do so.

[goaty76]

Looking into listing some items for sale through reverb. Just wondering, for those that sell there did you choose their Reverb Direct Checkout or just Paypal to get funds. It seems that the Direct checkout includes accepting paypal payments (plus credit cards) and the fees are a little lower than just Paypal. Why would you not go with this option? Is it not wanting to give out banking info to Reverb?

Phil

[Bill Kammerzell]

Looking into listing some items for sale through reverb. Just wondering, for those that sell there did you choose their Reverb Direct Checkout or just Paypal to get funds. It seems that the Direct checkout includes accepting paypal payments (plus credit cards) and the fees are a little lower than just Paypal. Why would you not go with this option? Is it not wanting to give out banking info to Reverb?

Phil

I've never tried the PayPal option, but I may, as Reverb, with me, has been slow to initiate the bank transfer, and inconsistent in their pay out policies. I get my money instantly from PayPal and initiate the transfer myself.

[goaty76]

I think it said the first payout from Reverb's service could take up to 15 days and I believe that starts only when the buyer has marked the item as received.

Phil

[Bill Kammerzell]

I think it said the first payout from Reverb's service could take up to 15 days and I believe that starts only when the buyer has marked the item as received.

Phil

It said that? Funny. My 1st sale they paid me by the 1st business day, after the item shipped. My wife's 1st sale, her money was held until 1st day after item arrived at buyer's. Her second sale, 1 day after item shipped. My second sale, 6 days after item shipped, though it "says" 1 day. Of course it "says" two days somewhere else, and 3-5 days another place. I had this discussion with 2 different customer service reps. Too many inconsistencies with their policies. I just changed my payout to PayPal. The .2 of a percent difference in service fees, is far outweighed by the ability to initiate my own transfer the day of the sale.

[Scott Tichenor]

gbase, one of the previous darlings of stringed instrument sales has taken a huge nosedive in traffic in the past year. Last July their global traffic ranking was in the 80-85K range of all internet sites. Since the Cafe is in this range year round or better (80K, but has been as low as high 50Ks), I have a good idea what kind of traffic that is. Today they're standing at 176K. That doesn't mean they've lost 50% of their traffic, I'd think it's more like 60-65% or more (lower the ranking, the more traffic). Still good numbers, but clearly headed in the wrong direction. I'll bet money by year end they're well into the 200K range if not further down. I think the reason for this can largely be attributed to Reverb. In fact, I've been discussing various classifieds outlets with a few people today and know two of their prominent vintage customers that will be leaving gbase in the near future. When you go to the Anaheim NAMM Show and Reverb has a huge booth stocked with reps you know the dollars are flowing heavy. They are definitely a force right now, but along with that kind of traffic comes a lot of online scrutiny.

Of course I personally find all of this interesting. Many of you may not. Nothing wrong with gbase, it's just that they're out of favor right now and that's unlikely to change.

[Jeff Mando]

Good points, Scott. I find this stuff interesting, as well. The US economy is another factor and has been slow for 7 years or so. As an eBay seller and buyer, everyday I search "vintage guitar" and see what is newly listed. 10-15 years ago, this search would show 19-20K items daily. Today, the same search shows about 5K items. I don't think there are less vintage guitars, people are just finding other places to sell them besides eBay and gbase.