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Wow, just wow. I'm talking about people who represent themselves as a brick and mortar business type seller.
Helping a buddy look and asked a couple of questions about a mandolin for sale...
The responses were snippy and it seemed as though it was a bother to answer. Someone about to lay down about a grand with you and you act like you can't be bothered?
Customer service skills I guess are way overrated.
Wow....just wow. People have forgot how to relate to people in this world. :disbelief:
Ive run into that as well. They dont get my money.
I won't use Reverb. There's too much of people who are selling instruments they think are just widgets.
Alot of store retailers use that site , same as gbase . Theres a few that I deal with but never off of those two sites . Now in most cases they wont ship to Canada cause of the Rosewood issue.
With around a grand, your buddy could get something very nice out of the Cafe classifieds, or from any of the dealers that advertise here, Themandolinstore comes immediately to mind, check the used section first.Quote:
Originally Posted by B381
Best of luck to your friend
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I've gotten some squealing deals off Reverb and haven't ever had a problem as of yet besides a damaged mando in shipping-small top crack but for what I paid and they knocked off a load of $ I got it for like 200 bucks not bad for an old 35 elevated board A-50! Came with original case key, all hardware was original and a neat mid 30's leather Gibson pick pouch! What does kill me is like that 74 Gibson F-5 that's on there for just under 10G! Now that's funny!
My garage is short staffed because they can't find anyone for the front end who can speak with customers. Candidates have all been in their 20's.Quote:
Originally Posted by B381
Have only used it a little bit, but have been very satisfied. Excellent communication, well packed item, no surprises. Except for good ones. However, most purchases have been from individuals, not stores.
But, if it's not working out for you, there are a lot of other places to try. Keep helping your friend search. Something will show up.
I've had good experiences buying and selling on reverb. I also like some of the articles they post.
Because there are a wide variety of sellers there, you will find some that are better or worse than others.
I agree with Darylcrisp that using this site's classifieds and it's vendors is a good idea.
I've had nothing but good experiences buying and selling on reverb but I have had some snippy short responses to questions I have asked. I asked a seller a few questions about a custom shop stratocaster body that I was moments away from purchasing. I had been looking for this exact body for sometime. His response turned me off so badly I decided I would simply pass. Upsetting for me, but I would rather not do buisness with someone like that.
I have used Reverb twice. No problems. One was a smoking hot deal.
I have asked questions of sellers in the Classifieds here with mixed success. Guess it has more to do with the seller than the platform.
Based on information from a friend, I visited Reverb one time looking at a particular mandolin. I didn't buy it but after that, I was inundated with pop-up ads for weeks, more than any site I've ever visited. I know pop-ups are pretty much a way of life on the computer but they lasted almost 2 months. As my mother used to say, "Too much of anything's enough." I don't visit Reverb anymore.
I've since taken steps to eliminate most of the pop-ups.
I always ask a lot of questions and ask for 1 specific angle photo even if there's lots of pix, to see that the seller has the instrument in their possession, before bidding on reverb and ebay. There's some really good sellers on reverb but the last time i bought, after i paid seller refused to communicate anything for 3-4 days. Pretty annoying, the reverb people intervened, I got the guitar and I'm happy.
but I prefer classifieds where we can have phone conversations, or if the other party refuses, i'm not interested. Craigslist, I am put off by many sellers ads, especially the ones with 300 keyword/search terms nestled in the bottom of the ad. You know "trombone, trumpet, piano, violin, guitar, clarinet ..."
DHopkins: there's popup blockers built into all major browsers now, like Chrome you hit Settings/ Advanced / Privacy and there you can block popups from a specific host.
I know.Quote:
Originally Posted by DHopkins
Well, then there are the Reverb buyers.
Within hours after posting a certain mandolin at a certain price, I'm getting messages asking "What's your best price? Will you consider lowering the price? What will you sell it for? What offer will you accept?"
I told him it was for sale at the listed price and if it doesn't move in a few weeks I'll consider nudging that price downward a bit.
What some Reverb buyers don't realize is that anything on my Reverb page can be had on my own site for less, since when I sell directly I don't have to pay Reverb's fees.
This. I had to turn off the "Make an offer" when selling because I was always getting extreme low-ball offers just from people fishing for deals, and ridiculous counter offers. I understand there are snippy and rude sellers that don't want to ask questions, but just as many bad buyers. Oddly though on sites like here, talkbass, or any other community site I have bought and sold on I never dealt with any of that stuff, only on Reverb the more I think about it. But overall I had great experience with Reverb on getting great deals and selling stuff overall rather quickly.Quote:
Originally Posted by mrmando
I only had one "bad" Reverb experience I guess. After a week of no shipping notification on a guitar I purchased, the one and only time I ever contacted them. I politely asked what the status was on it. I get things happen. They never replied back and simply just refunded my money and then went back to listing it for sale cheaper than I bought it for. Which was overall odd because they had like 60+ positive feedback all from sales.
Excellent!Quote:
Originally Posted by gtani7
Before there was Reverb, I had good results buying on eBay, which I credit to asking questions even if I really didn't have any, just to test how the seller responded. Those sounding like they were looking for a home for their old friend generally were just that, while those sounding like jerks left me thankful that they DID sound that way and I could avoid further contact.
I have only bought from Reverb once, had a good experience, but it was from a private individual. I also had good success with the Café Classifieds, one purchase and one trade. You just have to weed out the "cranky" people.
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Originally Posted by LadysSolo
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Originally Posted by EdHanrahan
Great advice! And, you can bet if they are a jerk BEFORE you buy, they will be a bigger jerk if you want to return it. :cow:
I had a sale go wrong on Reverb- not because of Reverb or the buyer but %$#*&!! UPS smashed up a guitar I was trying to sell. I must say the Reverb staff was great, mediating between me and the buyer and eating the shipping costs both ways. I still have the guitar, it got fixed up and well, now it sounds great but ain't worth much, so I might as well keep it. I am much more likely to try to sell on Reverb than ebay if the Cafe or UMGF or local Craigslist doesn't get me any nibbles.
I liked the advice of asking questions even if you don't really have any to test the response. I think I've been doing that without realizing it but . . uh, once I pay off the basement remodel, that's a great idea if MAS or GAS strikes. (Well, those afflictions always strike. The question is can I resist?)
I sell and buy instruments on Reverb and have had a very positive experience. I am not a store, but having traded on Ebay for many years, which takes skill and care, and I have found that Reverb is a better business model for musicians who want to trade online. Ebay is still worth participating in, but a buyer needs to consider the seller and look at the experiences of the buyer history. This is true on Reverb, as well.
I agree with the original poster, that we who list and sell should be friendly, helpful and responsive. I have seen as a hobby seller/buyer that this takes time and effort, but the idea is to see that an instrument finds a happy player as the outcome. I think most have had success in doing this with an honest effort and a desire to conduct oneself in a fair and professional manner.
Thanks for pointing this out because there are plenty of good sellers/buyers and we want to weed out those who would not be ethical. Don't give up on Reverb: just take care to consider the instrument as well as the seller with great care and attention to detail. Expect a respectful response and a willingness to communicate or move on to a different listing.
Yes its a problem when people even reputable dealers in the business send you an instrument-high end packed like a 4 year old did it! I guess I don't get that one bit as I've gotten damaged instruments from individuals and dealers of high end repute! I do not get it as all the ones I've sent are packed so well nothing has ever happened!
I agree William! One should use good materials and pack with care when shipping. It is thoughtless of sellers not to do so.
I had a similar experience on Reverb, but surprisingly it was with a pretty high end guitar store. I was inquiring about a pretty high end (6,500 dollar or so) guitar and the response I got to some pretty basic questions really turned me off. I was more interested in another guitar anyway, but they certainly didn't do anything to make me want to give them my business.