Reverb.com - ARGH

[E.M.]

I’m about through with Reverb. I’ve used them off and on over the last few years. Today was the last straw. Apparently, as result of the SVB banking issue, payouts are delayed. I cannot get a straight answer from Reverb customer support, and it is nearly impossible to talk to somebody over the phone. I would avoid using Reverb if I were you. I’ve always wondered what happens to payments when a buyer makes a payment, and there is a several-day delay until the seller gets paid. I’ve always suspected there’s some kind of a shell game going on with our $$. The current banking situation only exacerbates their incompetent process.

 

[goldtop0]

Plus, in my experience over the years there a lot more deadbeat sellers on there compared to ebay.

 

[BillyBling]

With everything happening, Reverb is still allowing people to list, buy and sell without any warning on their home page.

That is SICKENING.

An inkling of transparency would be nice.

I’m talking to several fellow Reverb sellers via text at the moment…most of them had no idea of the shenanigans going on.

If I sell something on Friday, Saturday or Sunday, I typically print the label through Reverb or UPS the same day and add the tracking. Once the tracking is added, my payout is approved typically the same day. Approved…not processed/dumped/initiated to my bank. That happens on Monday for Friday/Saturday/Sunday sales that have the tracking added.

I only found out about this debacle when I didn’t receive the payout email from them tonight.

What’s even more frustrating is the fact that I was counting on this $8k deposit to buy 3 guitars tomorrow. So now I had to contact 3 sellers, that have no idea what I’m talking about, and basically try to convey the fact that I’m a reputable and serious buyer that is stuck in the middle of this mess, while trying to save these deals. Ugh.

Sorry for complaining. I needed to vent a little. It’s therapeutic. Not the end of the world….BUT

 

[E.M.]

With everything happening, Reverb is still allowing people to list, buy and sell without any warning on their home page.

That is SICKENING.

An inkling of transparency would be nice.

I’m talking to several fellow Reverb sellers via text at the moment…most of them had no idea of the shenanigans going on.

If I sell something on Friday, Saturday or Sunday, I typically print the label through Reverb or UPS the same day and add the tracking. Once the tracking is added, my payout is approved typically the same day. Approved…not processed/dumped/initiated to my bank. That happens on Monday for Friday/Saturday/Sunday sales that have the tracking added.

I only found out about this debacle when I didn’t receive the payout email from them tonight.

What’s even more frustrating is the fact that I was counting on this $8k deposit to buy 3 guitars tomorrow. So now I had to contact 3 sellers, that have no idea what I’m talking about, and basically try to convey the fact that I’m a reputable and serious buyer that is stuck in the middle of this mess, while trying to save these deals. Ugh.

Sorry for complaining. I needed to vent a little. It’s therapeutic. Not the end of the world….BUT

I hear you. I have over $12k hung up (unpaid). One guitar was delivered last week and another is being delivered today.
Usually at this point, I would’ve gotten paid for the one that had been delivered and the payment for the one to be delivered would be processing or hitting my bank account already. I am a seller in good standing with a good reputation. Like you, I have other payments that are contingent with current sales. I am livid with Reverb right now. If you can navigate their chat bot to chat with a real human, they have no ETA on resolution. I have been unable to connect with them over telephone. I would say as a company, their ethics, and the way they do business is reprehensible. They need to figure out a way around this SVB mess and it needs to happen ASAP.

Moreover, over the last decade, I have seen a shift with online retailers to automate nearly all facets of their business. I find this unacceptable. I utilize the brick and mortar approach if and when possible. Dealing with buyers and sellers, face-to-face, direct lines of communication with an actual human being - is this so hard these days?

 

[guitplayer]

Fees too high. They did post this on my store I guess for my eyes.

Payout delay​

Some seller payouts are delayed. We’re working with our payment partners to issue these payouts as soon as possible


Luckily , Ive not sold anything lately.
I can see how that would be problematic.

 

[bern1]

Both eBay and reverb have mostly navigated to a non personal approach to doing business. That is, getting an actual person on the phone in the event one actually needs to is very complicated.

This is not even mentioning the thing that is most upsetting to me on either platform, or on internet sales in general: it is increasingly difficult to actually talk to the seller of a piece of gear in person on the phone. Sometimes it is the platform that discourages communication and at times it is also the sellers themselves.

I don’t see how you can expect to sell multi thousand dollar instruments with a description amounting to a couple of sentences.

I recently took a good look around my studio. I compared the guitars I purchased online or sight unseen vs the guitars I had bought in person. We’re talking about half and half in a 10 guitar arsenal acquired over the last 40 years or so. My ratings are as follows: good, excellent and fantastic. The tally: with one exception, the guitars bought sight unseen were ”good.” The one exception was an ”excellent.” Of the guitars bought in person, they are all excellent or fantastic.

So, I am not buying off the internet unless I can actually talk to somebody who has the guitar in hand. I am returning to in person buying at a show, a store or a Craigslist ad.

 

[AA00475Bassman]

Without details I had a very bad experience on Ebay as a seller out of pocket was a north of $300.00 - on a $1500.00 transaction . I sell. on Ebay constantly this format is still a great way to market .

 

[boogieongtr]

My advice if you sell a lot online is to open a store front on Gbase. One yearly fee and you control the types of payments allowed.

 

[motowntom]

Reverb.com, LLC | Complaints | Better Business Bureau® Profile

View customer complaints of Reverb.com, LLC, BBB helps resolve disputes with the services or products a business provides.

www.bbb.org

Cheers

 

[bursty]

I suppose I've been lucky as far as online sales.
I sold guitars on eBay from circa 2000 to 2017 and then transitioned to selling on Reverb in 2017.
In that time frame (~23 years) I have sold over 200 guitars, shipped guitars to over 20 different countries and never had a single issue with payments.
I'm a USA based seller (and buyer).
One thing I do in an attempt to set myself apart from other sellers is to offer items that are limited in production, custom order and/or rare.
Don't know if that helps, or not with payment issues but I typically don't offer 'stuff' that every other seller is offering. 🤔
Setting yourself apart from other sellers could potentially be important.

 

[DoubleBoogie]

I'm glad I noticed this post. Due to a serious arthritis issue with my left thumb, I need to sell of some of my gear. I may even need to give it up altogether because it is so painful and severely restricts what I can do with a guitar. I have sold on ebay before with no issues but have had issues with deadbeat buyers on Reverb. I am going to look into Gbase as an alternative.

 

[AA00475Bassman]

I will ad I have sold several amps on Ebay in the last 10 months do to whiny complaints as to function of tube amps upon delivery & absolutely not taking returns .
I now take a video of gear in operation the day I ship , video the day of shipping newspaper to time date and post video to buyer stopped all the BS .
People are buying vintage audio gear- amps and such robbing tubes transformers & returning non functioning equipment on Ebay SELLER BEWARE OF RETURNS !

 

[goldtop0]

I'm glad I noticed this post. Due to a serious arthritis issue with my left thumb, I need to sell of some of my gear. I may even need to give it up altogether because it is so painful and severely restricts what I can do with a guitar. I have sold on ebay before with no issues but have had issues with deadbeat buyers on Reverb. I am going to look into Gbase as an alternative.

That's tough, all the best with it DoubleBoogie.

 

[E.M.]

I suppose I've been lucky as far as online sales.
I sold guitars on eBay from circa 2000 to 2017 and then transitioned to selling on Reverb in 2017.
In that time frame (~23 years) I have sold over 200 guitars, shipped guitars to over 20 different countries and never had a single issue with payments.
I'm a USA based seller (and buyer).
One thing I do in an attempt to set myself apart from other sellers is to offer items that are limited in production, custom order and/or rare.
Don't know if that helps, or not with payment issues but I typically don't offer 'stuff' that every other seller is offering. 🤔
Setting yourself apart from other sellers could potentially be important.

Glad you’ve had success. I don’t sell cheap stuff either. My issue is not with buyers or sellers it’s with Reverb as a company. Shady and manipulative. High fees and laughable customer service. Their customer service is so bad, in fact, it’s almost like the people that work there are chat bot automatons.