Symphonichrome
Active Member
I am finally done with Reverb.
I always had great experiences thereon, both buying and selling, except for the past 9 months or so.
I went a little overboard on buying guitars in the past year and 2 of them remained basically unplayed. That being the case, I decided to sell the 2 that had virtually been case queens.
The first one I sold on Reverb about 8 months ago was purchased brand new from Sweetwater just a few months prior. The buyer made an offer and I accepted. I had listed it as free shipping and actually sent it out vie 2-day delivery. The guitar was delivered and, within 15 minutes of receiving the notification of delivery, I received an email from the buyer with a laundry list of “defects” in the guitar. The buyer sent some potato cam photos and I informed them that the guitar did not have any such “defects” when I shipped it. They stated that if I wanted to avoid their making a claim with Reverb that they would accept a partial refund of $500 (the sale price of the guitar was $1999). I declined their proposal and stated I would advise Reverb to expect their claim.
It took a week but, Reverb, based on the fact that I had purchased safe shipping (I believe Reverb actually requires it on sales $1,000 and over), decided to not only allow the buyer to keep the guitar, but, they refunded them their money, and allowed me to keep the money as well. I thought to myself, this does not seem like a good business model for Reverb as well as asking myself whether this was par for the course with Reverb.
Fast forward to couple of weeks ago when I listed the other case queen. The buyer, even though I did not have the make an offer option available, messaged me on Reverb asking if I would go lower. After a few days, we reached an agreement. The buyer though, messaged me to “make sure” I was going to purchase the Reverb safe shipping. I informed them that Reverb required it as the purchased price was over $1,000. That put a thought in my head that the buyer was going to make some claim. Fast forward to yesterday evening when I received a notification that the guitar had been delivered followed by, approximately 10 minutes later, a message from the buyer with a laundry list of issues with the guitar. The buyer stated: “I think these issues arose during shipping”. I informed the buyer that the guitar did not have those issues when I shipped it. I was tempted to tell them how “shocked” I was that they were messaging me about “issues” after they were adamant about my using Reverb safe shipping. However, I held back and responded that the guitar was in mint condition when I shipped it just a couple of days prior. The buyer is now going to make a claim with Reverb.
That leads me to my decision to no longer use Reverb. It just seems to me that even if there is no outright scam going on, that people are abusing the system. I do not want to remain part of a system that rewards doubtful claims by giving buyers their money back and allowing them to keep the guitar. I guess I am old school in that I was raised to honor a deal and not try to work the system. Oh well, old man yells at clouds yet again I suppose.
End of rant. Just be careful out there.
I always had great experiences thereon, both buying and selling, except for the past 9 months or so.
I went a little overboard on buying guitars in the past year and 2 of them remained basically unplayed. That being the case, I decided to sell the 2 that had virtually been case queens.
The first one I sold on Reverb about 8 months ago was purchased brand new from Sweetwater just a few months prior. The buyer made an offer and I accepted. I had listed it as free shipping and actually sent it out vie 2-day delivery. The guitar was delivered and, within 15 minutes of receiving the notification of delivery, I received an email from the buyer with a laundry list of “defects” in the guitar. The buyer sent some potato cam photos and I informed them that the guitar did not have any such “defects” when I shipped it. They stated that if I wanted to avoid their making a claim with Reverb that they would accept a partial refund of $500 (the sale price of the guitar was $1999). I declined their proposal and stated I would advise Reverb to expect their claim.
It took a week but, Reverb, based on the fact that I had purchased safe shipping (I believe Reverb actually requires it on sales $1,000 and over), decided to not only allow the buyer to keep the guitar, but, they refunded them their money, and allowed me to keep the money as well. I thought to myself, this does not seem like a good business model for Reverb as well as asking myself whether this was par for the course with Reverb.
Fast forward to couple of weeks ago when I listed the other case queen. The buyer, even though I did not have the make an offer option available, messaged me on Reverb asking if I would go lower. After a few days, we reached an agreement. The buyer though, messaged me to “make sure” I was going to purchase the Reverb safe shipping. I informed them that Reverb required it as the purchased price was over $1,000. That put a thought in my head that the buyer was going to make some claim. Fast forward to yesterday evening when I received a notification that the guitar had been delivered followed by, approximately 10 minutes later, a message from the buyer with a laundry list of issues with the guitar. The buyer stated: “I think these issues arose during shipping”. I informed the buyer that the guitar did not have those issues when I shipped it. I was tempted to tell them how “shocked” I was that they were messaging me about “issues” after they were adamant about my using Reverb safe shipping. However, I held back and responded that the guitar was in mint condition when I shipped it just a couple of days prior. The buyer is now going to make a claim with Reverb.
That leads me to my decision to no longer use Reverb. It just seems to me that even if there is no outright scam going on, that people are abusing the system. I do not want to remain part of a system that rewards doubtful claims by giving buyers their money back and allowing them to keep the guitar. I guess I am old school in that I was raised to honor a deal and not try to work the system. Oh well, old man yells at clouds yet again I suppose.
End of rant. Just be careful out there.
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