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Post by indiehouse on Jul 14, 2020 7:35:32 GMT -6
Damnit man. Reverb seller fees going up to 5% "so that we can help you reach even more buyers all over the world."
So, I gotta pay for something I don't want? I don't want to reach buyers from all over the world. International shipping is a huge PIA and I have no interest in that.
Sigh.
Well, I've been thinking about selling a bunch of stuff, so maybe I better do it before it gets more expensive. I'm pretty much done with gear.
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Post by Quint on Jul 14, 2020 7:37:36 GMT -6
Yep. I just got the same email. Now begins the slow downward slide of Reverb....
Also, I don't remember when eBay dropped their fees on music gear, from 10% to 3.5% to fall in line with Reverb, but watch, eBay will quietly bump their fees up to 5% now in the very near future, and all with no added services/quality upgrade.
Not that I think that, as a result of the new higher fees, we're actually getting any sort of added services/quality upgrade from Reverb either....
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Post by jamiesego on Jul 14, 2020 7:41:45 GMT -6
It’s already tough to find deals on there. This is only going to make prices go up.
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Post by indiehouse on Jul 14, 2020 7:47:44 GMT -6
Yep. I just got the same email. Now begins the slow downward slide of Reverb.... Also, I don't remember when eBay dropped their fees on music gear, from 10% to 3.5% to fall in line with Reverb, but watch, eBay will quietly bump their fees up to 5% now in the very near future, and all with no added services/quality upgrade. Not that I think that, as a result of the new higher fees, we're actually getting any sort of added services/quality upgrade from Reverb either.... Wait, I thought eBay fees were 10%? I dropped eBay awhile ago because of that. |
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Post by teejay on Jul 14, 2020 8:03:29 GMT -6
I got it too. A telltale sign of acquisitions. Eventually (usually sooner rather than later) the buyer of the business tries to squeeze their investment back out at the expense of the customer because it's really all about short-term profits, not the organic purpose of the business. It's possible they'll see their volume drop, and the trade-off will be a few percentage points more per transaction for fewer transactions. And/or sales cycles will extend as sellers raise their prices to counter the increased fees. Time will tell, but between the sales tax and this, it is becoming a much less attractive option for me, and I'm assuming most of their customer base.
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Post by indiehouse on Jul 14, 2020 8:46:05 GMT -6
Terrible time to raise prices.
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Post by jcoutu1 on Jul 14, 2020 9:08:06 GMT -6
The sales tax on reverb is a major downfall too. Really makes a lot of the deals less attractive.
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Post by Quint on Jul 14, 2020 9:16:05 GMT -6
The sales tax on reverb is a major downfall too. Really makes a lot of the deals less attractive. Though to be fair, I used to never pay tax at places like Sweetwater or UAD either, so everybody is required to charge tax now due to changes in the laws. |
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Post by Quint on Jul 14, 2020 9:17:09 GMT -6
Yep. I just got the same email. Now begins the slow downward slide of Reverb.... Also, I don't remember when eBay dropped their fees on music gear, from 10% to 3.5% to fall in line with Reverb, but watch, eBay will quietly bump their fees up to 5% now in the very near future, and all with no added services/quality upgrade. Not that I think that, as a result of the new higher fees, we're actually getting any sort of added services/quality upgrade from Reverb either.... Wait, I thought eBay fees were 10%? I dropped eBay awhile ago because of that. My understanding is that eBay still charges 10% on everything else, but dropped their music gear fees some time ago to compete with Reverb. If Reverb is going up, you can bet Feebay will follow. |
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Post by jcoutu1 on Jul 14, 2020 9:19:12 GMT -6
The sales tax on reverb is a major downfall too. Really makes a lot of the deals less attractive. Though to be fair, I used to never pay tax at places like Sweetwater or UAD either, so everybody is required to charge tax now due to changes in the laws. I don't think personal sales should be taxed. If I buy here/GS/Craigslist/Facebook, I'm not paying tax. |
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Post by Johnkenn on Jul 14, 2020 9:31:41 GMT -6
Though to be fair, I used to never pay tax at places like Sweetwater or UAD either, so everybody is required to charge tax now due to changes in the laws. I don't think personal sales should be taxed. If I buy here/GS/Craigslist/Facebook, I'm not paying tax. Don't say that too loud...they'll be coming for that too. |
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Post by Quint on Jul 14, 2020 9:57:32 GMT -6
Though to be fair, I used to never pay tax at places like Sweetwater or UAD either, so everybody is required to charge tax now due to changes in the laws. I don't think personal sales should be taxed. If I buy here/GS/Craigslist/Facebook, I'm not paying tax. I don't necessarily disagree with you. I just recently bought a used guitar pedal on Reverb and was charged sales tax. That's a personal sale as far as I'm concerned. I get having to pay tax on new items for online sales. The fact that tax wasn't being paid for online sales was one of a myriad of reasons that mom and pop shops have gone out of business. They simply couldn't compete when they had to add an extra 8% markup on the cost that places like Sweetwater were exempt from doing. It should be an even playing field for everyone. But I don't want to pay tax on a personal sale of a used item either, even though I think it's technically required on ALL sales, used or new. |
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Jul 14, 2020 10:04:31 GMT -6
Though to be fair, I used to never pay tax at places like Sweetwater or UAD either, so everybody is required to charge tax now due to changes in the laws. I don't think personal sales should be taxed. If I buy here/GS/Craigslist/Facebook, I'm not paying tax. They are, it’s just always been on the honor system just like mail order and internet sales. Problem was nobody was reporting and paying. Everybody in the buisness new it would come down to the court’s ruling the way they did. Every major retailer was ready for it 20+ years ago. Just be glad they only collect State sales tax and not County, City, Tiff ect. Though I’ll bet everybody is set up for that to change. |
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Post by Quint on Jul 14, 2020 10:10:50 GMT -6
I don't think personal sales should be taxed. If I buy here/GS/Craigslist/Facebook, I'm not paying tax. They are, it’s just always been on the honor system just like mail order and internet sales. Problem was nobody was reporting and paying. Everybody in the buisness new it would come down to the court’s ruling the way they did. Every major retailer was ready for it 20+ years ago. Just be glad they only collect State sales tax and not County, City, Tiff ect. Though I’ll bet everybody is set up for that to change. You beat me to it! That's the other side of the equation that a lot of people don't talk about. |
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Jul 14, 2020 10:20:06 GMT -6
As these platforms grow, the deals disappear. It is and always will be that way. I really would find it interesting to see a break down of how much of the gear listed and sold is used vs new. These platforms have and always will care more about a volume seller than a guy who wants to get rid of a pedal he never uses. I wouldn’t be surprised to find that the big dealers pay far less because of their volume.
Now even at 5% or hell 10% if you look at the cost to set up a platform with that much exposure and pay platform (that’s about 3% at least all by its self) the fee’s don’t look that bad. People need to eat. If you don’t like it the best protest is use any of the free classifieds out there.
Loss of revenue and clicks is the one thing that will make these guys take notice. Clicks are what gets the big boy gearpimps to list on EBay and Reverb, that’s the numbers both use to sign them up.
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Post by Quint on Jul 14, 2020 10:34:47 GMT -6
As these platforms grow, the deals disappear. It is and always will be that way. I really would find it interesting to see a break down of how much of the gear listed and sold is used vs new. These platforms have and always will care more about a volume seller than a guy who wants to get rid of a pedal he never uses. I wouldn’t be surprised to find that the big dealers pay far less because of their volume. Now even at 5% or hell 10% if you look at the cost to set up a platform with that much exposure and pay platform (that’s about 3% at least all by its self) the fee’s don’t look that bad. People need to eat. If you don’t like it the best protest is use any of the free classifieds out there. Loss of revenue and clicks is the one thing that will make these guys take notice. Clicks are what gets the big boy gearpimps to list on EBay and Reverb, that’s the numbers both use to sign them up. I think an argument can be made for charging just about any price that Reverb wants to charge for their service, and buyers/sellers can vote with their money. However, the question then becomes what are we getting in return for those hiked fees? I know they are claiming that there will be increased investment to gain greater buyer exposure and things like that, but this just seems to be, as is the case in so many other situations like it, another cash grab driven by corporate greed and incessant investor demand. Etsy acquired Reverb recently. It seems pretty apparent to me what is happening with the increased fees. Maybe not, but probably so. It happens all of the time. |
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Jul 14, 2020 10:48:21 GMT -6
As these platforms grow, the deals disappear. It is and always will be that way. I really would find it interesting to see a break down of how much of the gear listed and sold is used vs new. These platforms have and always will care more about a volume seller than a guy who wants to get rid of a pedal he never uses. I wouldn’t be surprised to find that the big dealers pay far less because of their volume. Now even at 5% or hell 10% if you look at the cost to set up a platform with that much exposure and pay platform (that’s about 3% at least all by its self) the fee’s don’t look that bad. People need to eat. If you don’t like it the best protest is use any of the free classifieds out there. Loss of revenue and clicks is the one thing that will make these guys take notice. Clicks are what gets the big boy gearpimps to list on EBay and Reverb, that’s the numbers both use to sign them up. I think an argument can be made for charging just about any price that Reverb wants to charge for their service, and buyers/sellers can vote with their money. However, the question then becomes what are we getting in return for those hiked fees? I know they are claiming that there will be increased investment to gain greater buyer exposure and things like that, but this just seems to be, as is the case in so many other situations like it, another cash grab driven by corporate greed and incessant investor demand. Etsy acquired Reverb recently. It seems pretty apparent to me what is happening with the increased fees. Maybe not, but probably so. It happens all of the time. Oh I’m sure Etsy made the investment with the intention of raising fee’s, I’m sure they did market research that said the market will tolerate the fee increase. I’m also sure that what ever extra investment they make in advertising won’t mean much to you and me, but will matter to the big dealers. I mean what are the chances that your new ads are going to bring somebody to my 10 listings? But if I have 100 plus listings that’s different. We are lucky to still have decent free classifieds, but if you want to benefit from the possible exposure from eBay or Reverb you have got to pay the piper. |
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Post by Guitar on Jul 14, 2020 10:54:02 GMT -6
Reverb is taking away features rather than adding them. They took away PayPal. So they will hold your money after a sale for several days, no money forwarded even for shipping. Now they are raising their tarrifs.
Ebay "reverb equivalent" fees are only in the Guitar/Bass category and sub-categories. I wonder how many days or hours it will take before those go to 5%.
Synchrony Bank owns both Paypal Credit and Sweetwater Credit as well as many other bodies of funds. I wonder who owns Reverb, ultimately. I guess the originators have cashed out and sailed away by now. Good for them, I suppose.
Choose your poison, I guess. I list on eBay, Reverb, and RGO classifieds just hoping for any sale.
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Jul 14, 2020 11:18:11 GMT -6
Reverb is taking away features rather than adding them. They took away PayPal. So they will hold your money after a sale for several days, no money forwarded even for shipping. Now they are raising their tarrifs. Ebay "reverb equivalent" fees are only in the Guitar/Bass category and sub-categories. I wonder how many days or hours it will take before those go to 5%. Synchrony Bank owns both Paypal Credit and Sweetwater Credit as well as many other bodies of funds. I wonder who owns Reverb, ultimately. I guess the originators have cashed out and sailed away by now. Good for them, I suppose. Choose your poison, I guess. I list on eBay, Reverb, and RGO classifieds just hoping for any sale. Nobody owns their private label credit cards, one of the big reasons for private label credit cards is they are Considered to be a credit line vs card so the dealer can offer 90 days interest free or 10% if you use it. In the U.S. you can’t discount for using Amex VS VISA or MasterCard (the card company can as a reward but the seller can’t). Syncrony is what was once GE Capital, GE Capital was who issued about 90% of the House label credit cards. ( almost everybody but Sears). |
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Post by Tbone81 on Jul 14, 2020 11:24:51 GMT -6
Reverb is taking away features rather than adding them. They took away PayPal. So they will hold your money after a sale for several days, no money forwarded even for shipping. Now they are raising their tarrifs. Ebay "reverb equivalent" fees are only in the Guitar/Bass category and sub-categories. I wonder how many days or hours it will take before those go to 5%. Synchrony Bank owns both Paypal Credit and Sweetwater Credit as well as many other bodies of funds. I wonder who owns Reverb, ultimately. I guess the originators have cashed out and sailed away by now. Good for them, I suppose. Choose your poison, I guess. I list on eBay, Reverb, and RGO classifieds just hoping for any sale. I always thought getting rid of PayPal was a blessing. Reverb holding my money for a few days was way better than PayPal routinely holding my eBay money for 21 days, for no reason at all. |
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Post by kcatthedog on Jul 14, 2020 11:33:35 GMT -6
Never been a big fan of reverb, obviously a money grab.
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Post by indiehouse on Jul 14, 2020 11:48:07 GMT -6
Never been a big fan of reverb, obviously a money grab. I actually really like Reverb. eBay is garbage to me. I don't use it anymore. I guess I don't know of many other second hand places to buy/sell music gear, other than forums, which I've never really had much luck with. |
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Post by kcatthedog on Jul 14, 2020 12:11:10 GMT -6
I think they charge too much and pretend they don’t. I also get trolled regularly on Reverb.
I have very good results with Gearslutz and Paypal.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2020 12:41:28 GMT -6
The sellers just cross list the item for more money on these listings. If you can find the item on a forum or in their web shop, it usually goes for less. If the listing is a dealer, you can always call the dealer directly.
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Post by sonnycheebs on Jul 14, 2020 16:04:13 GMT -6
Reverb is taking away features rather than adding them. They took away PayPal. So they will hold your money after a sale for several days, no money forwarded even for shipping. Now they are raising their tarrifs. Ebay "reverb equivalent" fees are only in the Guitar/Bass category and sub-categories. I wonder how many days or hours it will take before those go to 5%. Synchrony Bank owns both Paypal Credit and Sweetwater Credit as well as many other bodies of funds. I wonder who owns Reverb, ultimately. I guess the originators have cashed out and sailed away by now. Good for them, I suppose. Choose your poison, I guess. I list on eBay, Reverb, and RGO classifieds just hoping for any sale. I always thought getting rid of PayPal was a blessing. Reverb holding my money for a few days was way better than PayPal routinely holding my eBay money for 21 days, for no reason at all. I have never in 15 years had PayPal hold my money unless I owed them money or there was a charge back. But I have been waiting a week for my money from reverb and the other person already has their equipment. Good for the buyer but as the seller I don’t feel confident. |
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