Reverb?

[jaycat]

What have people's experiences been with buying through Reverb? (I am currently guitar shopping.) All input welcome, thanks!

[Timbofood]

No experience, at all.
Another guitar? Pal, you've got it bad.

[Bill Kammerzell]

I buy and sell on Reverb frequently. Low fees. About 40% of what it costs to sell on EBay. I've never had a problem with a buyer or seller at all. I have nothing but good to say about Reverb. They have great buyer and seller protection.

[jaycat]

No experience, at all.
Another guitar? Pal, you've got it bad.

Tim, I can't sneak anything by you. I've got my eye on an F-30, whattaya think?

[HonketyHank]

I bought two instruments through Reverb. Everything went smoothly. I guess it all depends on who is on the other end of the transaction, just like here. My preference would be to buy here, second choice Reverb.

[jefflester]

I've only bought small things, but my experiences have all been positive.

[Mandobar]

Reverb is owned and operated by the same owner(s) as Chicago Music Exchange. Do a search over on thegearpage.net and you will get a lot of info.

[Timbofood]

I think the F-30 is another (it was back when I sold them) damn fine guitar for the money, I had a buddy, the guy who owned the shop who had some pretty interesting guitars available to play but, his gigging guitar was an F-30. It was an outstanding finger picking guitar, different than Martin characteristics but, balanced and, in his hands pretty powerful.
I have another friend who owned (and may still) a surprising little Guild F-20 which was once played by Leon RedBone when he did a show at a local coffee house. You could have one (more) dandy guitar if you find one you like!

[jaycat]

Reverb is owned and operated by the same owner(s) as Chicago Music Exchange. Do a search over on thegearpage.net and you will get a lot of info.

Thanks Mary. I am seeing electrics almost exclusively at gearpage.net.

[Jill McAuley]

I've bought stuff off of Reverb regularly, mostly drum stuff (cymbals, hardware) but also got my A-jr there this time last year and it was a very smooth transaction (as have been all the others).

[pops1]

I bought a banjo for a friend on reverb and after I bought it the seller said he would send it. Never did nor would he answer and correspondence. I contacted Reverb and they solved the issue no problem. I would say go for it.

[indexless]

Tim, I can't sneak anything by you. I've got my eye on an F-30, whattaya think?

Jaycat, it's nice to meet you and I don't want to be a big enabler here, but there is an late 60's-early 70's Guild F-30 at Sylvan Music in Santa Cruz that sounds huge, they had 1200 on it, no connection just letting you know

[darrylicshon]

I've bought guitars and mandolins everything went great only when i bought an amp did i have trouble, like about seller said he would ship never did i complained to reverb and they refunded my money. I still buy from there

[jaycat]

Jaycat, it's nice to meet you and I don't want to be a big enabler here, but there is an late 60's-early 70's Guild F-30 at Sylvan Music in Santa Cruz that sounds huge, they had 1200 on it, no connection just letting you know

Hmmm. Food for thought . . . Thanks!

[Petrus]

I've used 'em a few times to buy stuff. The site is certainly snazzier and more focused than eBay if you're looking for instruments though from a seller's p.o.v. it lacks some of the bells and whistles (regarding tailoring your listing, not actual bells and whistles which can also be found) and it does take a lot longer to sell an item. I've had an item sit on Reverb for months that later sold within days on eBay. There's just not as much traffic on Reverb.

[Bill Kammerzell]

I've used 'em a few times to buy stuff. The site is certainly snazzier and more focused than eBay if you're looking for instruments though from a seller's p.o.v. it lacks some of the bells and whistles (regarding tailoring your listing, not actual bells and whistles which can also be found) and it does take a lot longer to sell an item. I've had an item sit on Reverb for months that later sold within days on eBay. There's just not as much traffic on Reverb.

This is an excellent point. My recent experience. I had a set of Rubner Tuners on both EBay and Reverb. Same price, make an offer. I had 2 dozen views on Reverb in about 10 days. Put them on EBay and they sold in less than 24 hours at full price.
A Gibson A-40 at Reverb for 13 days got 170 views and 6 watchers. At EBay for 9 days, 210 views and 24 watchers.

[Chris Daniels]

If you can afford to be patient then Reverb is the way to go due to lower fees than Ebay, but sometimes things don't follow rules of thumb. I sold a new and unplayed Rogue mando on Ebay that took a quite a few weeks to get rid of at a good price, but a used/near mint Epiphone F-style I listed on Reverb for twice what I paid for it was bought without haggling within 48 hours.

Of course, the really nice like-new Deering banjo I had listed here at the Cafe and on Reverb for well below retail took months before it sold (on Reverb) even with using the bump tool.

I'm about to sell my The Loar LM500 and I'm listing it the same places as the Deering. Maybe it'll sell before I change my mind.

C.

[Mandolin Cafe]

This is an excellent point. My recent experience. I had a set of Rubner Tuners on both EBay and Reverb. Same price, make an offer. I had 2 dozen views on Reverb in about 10 days. Put them on EBay and they sold in less than 24 hours at full price.
A Gibson A-40 at Reverb for 13 days got 170 views and 6 watchers. At EBay for 9 days, 210 views and 24 watchers.

Interesting stats. I like Reverb, but have noticed not much traffic for stringed instruments. eBay somewhat the same depending on what it is.

For comparison, someone posted a 2003 F-5L less than 24 hours ago on the Classifieds. It received 638 specific views of just that ad by midnight last night, not counting methods of viewing other ads with it and this was in less than 12 hours. Pretty typical. Of course it only takes one buyer. This is not a we vs. they so just us offering up data. Reverb is easily worth hundreds of millions with dozens, probably hundreds of high level employees while the Cafe is mostly a one person site with some paid part-time help.

[Bill Kammerzell]

Exactly. I wasn't comparing Reverb or EBay to the Café. Reverb vs. EBay, traffic. I would expect stringed instrument traffic to be larger here. Not too many people list Jasperware plates (NFI) at Mandolin Café. An F5-L would be an attractive listing just about anywhere. Eddie's Pawn Palace included.

[Timbofood]

You,mean no one,here wants a great deal on a set of havilland "Harvard" dinner plates? PM me if you do!

[Gary Hedrick]

Just had a situation with a purchase on Reverb. Bought a mandolin that suffered end block damage in shipping. The seller Doug Heinold of Vintage Instrument Exchange was WONDERFUL to deal with on the issue. I took pictures of the damage...worked with him on the UPS claim and he refunded my monies quickly.

Very very honest person who did a great job. I was and am impressed with him!

[Timbofood]

I'm serious willkam, I don't know what the heck I will do with them! I'll make anyone a good deal on them!

It's so refreshing to see sellers,working with buyers when there is a problem. Glad to see your issue worked out amicably Gary!

[Bill Kammerzell]

I'm serious willkam, I don't know what the heck I will do with them! I'll make anyone a good deal on them!

It's so refreshing to see sellers,working with buyers when there is a problem. Glad to see your issue worked out amicably Gary!

The dinner plates are more of an EBay item I would think.

[Doug Heinold]

Gary, thanks for the kind words. You get back what you put out into the world, and I appreciate your handling of the situation. For what it is worth, I have used Reverb for several transactions, and I like the site and the buyers and sellers seem to be pretty knowledgable musicians. Makes me feel like I can trust the site and its community a bit more.

[Timbofood]

So Jaycat, have you found something yet?

Thanks willkamm, are you sure you don't want a box of blue Harvard havilland plates!? Shoot, I thought I had them sold!