Selling gear post-Reverb

[jirodreamsofdank]

I would say turn to TGP to buy used but they're probably all using them to build shrines to his bravery.

[Dowi]

Don't know in the US but here in the EU there are plenty of used-marked websites where you can find stuff a lot cheaper than Reverb, the only downside is that you have to check them all one at the time instead of doing just one research, but it's worth it.

[goroth]

I still am waiting to buy Fulltone pedals on the cheap so I can circuit bend them and paint penises on them. I thought Reverb would be the place. Alas, it is not.

[coldbrightsunlight]

I still am waiting to buy Fulltone pedals on the cheap so I can circuit bend them and paint penises on them. I thought Reverb would be the place. Alas, it is not.

I think they decided to ban second hand sales of these on the site if I remember correctly.

Wait like, actually? wtf

[Kasrkin]

I still am waiting to buy Fulltone pedals on the cheap so I can circuit bend them and paint penises on them. I thought Reverb would be the place. Alas, it is not.

I think they decided to ban second hand sales of these on the site if I remember correctly.

Wait like, actually? wtf

The original statement from Reverb said you couldn't sell new/mint/b-stock Fulltone stuff so I think used is fair game so long as it is rated excellent or below (unless they revised that later idk?).

[echorec]

*hahahahaha*

Mike Fuller has always been a knob, but this is insanely laughable. I can still remember when Reverb revised his interview responses to make him come across as less of a douche.

I knew he made some polarizing comments about the protests, but I had no idea Reverb banned his new items from their platform. (yes, you can sell used items, but dealers are banned from selling his new/b-stock items) As much as I dislike him, I think that's somewhat absurd.

What about banning Behringer? They're a company built on theft, dishonesty, pettiness, and ineptitude. If any brand should get the boot it's Behringer.

https://help.reverb.com/hc/en-us/articl ... %20justice.

[coldbrightsunlight]

Yeah this is a really weird, and off-putting action from Reverb to be honest - Fuller seems like a jerk but I don't agree with this at all. They've made a kneejerk response to look woke, but as you point out they clearly aren't auditing every other brand sold on their platform for ethics in manufacturing, design and the personal beliefs of the people who run the companies.

Pretty stupid.

[echorec]

They've made a kneejerk response to look woke, but as you point out they clearly aren't auditing every other brand sold [...]

You know what they are auditing? Your data. Reverb suspended my accounts in March, because they said my activity on the platform wasn't "typical." They flagged my account, because I was issuing too many refunds. ---Hahahaha! So if someone has multiple accounts and is demonstrating how to do listings/refunds/account maintenance, that's an unforgivable offense?!? That's not money laundering, it's not mail fraud, it's not feedback inflation.

I've never had a single dispute filed against me in almost 7 years on the site. 5* glowing reviews across 200+ transactions and they suspended me in the middle of a pandemic. I haven't worked since March and I don't qualify for unemployment. Reverb took away my safety net, which was essentially my 3rd job. I can't stop laughing about this Fuller business. They fucked me in the middle of a global crisis, and they're trying to carry the banner of moral integrity.

I've tried calling, emailing, chatting, et cetera. They completely closed ranks and refuse to respond to me. I would get into greater details, but I'm too busy with personal projects to discuss it further. In my intimate experience with Reverb, they are one of the shadiest outfits around. Reverb has fostered a culture of unethical behavior, and when I saw them hijacking BLM, that absolutely disgusted me.

[coldbrightsunlight]

That sounds really weird... Surely if people are requesting refunds and you're giving them, this is all OK? I don't understand this at all...

Yeah definitely weird to see them acting righteous over Fulltone (give me a break) if they're treating people like that.

[echorec]

That sounds really weird... Surely if people are requesting refunds and you're giving them, this is all OK? I don't understand this at all...

Yeah definitely weird to see them acting righteous over Fulltone (give me a break) if they're treating people like that.

No, I had multiple Reverb accounts and multiple PayPal accounts.

EX: I created a dummy listing with generic info: Custom pedal $200

then I performed the act of creating a listing, purchasing it, and then issuing an immediate refund.

For example: if you were testing/training to become acquainted with a platform, what better way is there than to give people hands-on experience? There's no victim. If a generic listing is created and taken down in 3 minutes, it's not up long enough to be stealing traffic from other resellers. ---This wasn't a peer-triggered review. In an era of invasive data-mining, Reverb---I kid you not---suspended my account, because they found refunds issued 8 months prior. Across hundreds of transactions, I never even received a single 4* review. I had a perfect 5* user rating, and they suspended my account (seemingly forever), because they felt I was interfering with their precious algorithms. Thou shall not trespass in the temple of data.

I asked the moronic zealot, who suspended my account, repeatedly to explain what laws were broken or to name a single victim, or example of how I was harming their brand/platform, and she couldn't do that. ---This individual is a fraud agent. (haha) This is a company that won't let you leave negative feedback for people committing felonies, so long as the offender agrees to issue a refund. In the US, using the postal service to aid in the act of a crime is always a felony. There's no such thing as misdemeanor mail fraud. (misdemeanor: level 1 offenses, felonies: level 2 offenses) So Reverb protects felons, but they suspend people who they feel are committing listing malpractice. (hahahahahaha)

[coupleonapkins]

No, I had multiple Reverb accounts and multiple PayPal accounts.

EX: I created a dummy listing with generic info: Custom pedal $200

then I performed the act of creating a listing, purchasing it, and then issuing an immediate refund.

For example: if you were testing/training to become acquainted with a platform, what better way is there than to give people hands-on experience? There's no victim. If a generic listing is created and taken down in 3 minutes, it's not up long enough to be stealing traffic from other resellers. ---This wasn't a peer-triggered review. In an era of invasive data-mining, Reverb---I kid you not---suspended my account, because they found refunds issued 8 months prior. Across hundreds of transactions, I never even received a single 4* review. I had a perfect 5* user rating, and they suspended my account (seemingly forever), because they felt I was interfering with their precious algorithms. Thou shall not trespass in the temple of data.

I asked the moronic zealot, who suspended my account, repeatedly to explain what laws were broken or to name a single victim, or example of how I was harming their brand/platform, and she couldn't do that. ---This individual is a fraud agent. (haha) This is a company that won't let you leave negative feedback for people committing felonies, so long as the offender agrees to issue a refund. In the US, using the postal service to aid in the act of a crime is always a felony. There's no such thing as misdemeanor mail fraud. (misdemeanor: level 1 offenses, felonies: level 2 offenses) So Reverb protects felons, but they suspend people who they feel are committing listing malpractice. (hahahahahaha)

While I'm not a genius or even an expert (in anything, maybe), I will say that on a majority of selling sites, having/operating multiple accounts and buying and selling to yourself is what constitutes fraud in their terms, usually covered within the Terms of Service agreement that pops up in when you create an account, henceforth what happened to you.

You know where this comes from, shaking hands? It was a way of showing a stranger you weren't carrying a weapon in the old days.

You offered your empty right hand to show that you meant no harm.

[echorec]

While I'm not a genius or even an expert (in anything, maybe), I will say that on a majority of selling sites, having/operating multiple accounts and buying and selling to yourself is what constitutes fraud in their terms, usually covered within the Terms of Service agreement that pops up in when you create an account, henceforth what happened to you.

You are blindly speculating in this case and would probably be surprised to learn of how many companies don't sharply define the prohibition of multiple accounts. There is nothing under Reverb's user agreement covering this.

https://reverb.com/page/reverb-dot-com- ... rms-of-use

Why? Probably because there's no crime being committed. I didn't stand to gain financially by demonstrating site features.

Reverb, like a lot of companies, deliberately hides behind vague and ambiguous language, so as not to limit their own ability to lord over their customers. Reverb's policy is essentially that they are able to freelance and expand their powers of censorship and censure as they deem fit.

NSFW: show

11. Breach of Reverb Terms of Use and Policies

Without limiting its legal recourse or any other remedies, Reverb may, without notice, and without refunding any fees, delay or immediately remove Content, warn Reverb's community of a user's actions, issue a warning to a user, temporarily suspend a user, temporarily or indefinitely suspend a user's account privileges, terminate a user's account, prohibit access to the Site, take technical and legal steps to keep a user off the Site and refuse to provide services to a user for any reason, including, for example if any of the following apply: (a) Reverb suspects (by information, investigation, conviction, settlement, insurance or escrow investigation, or otherwise) a user has breached this Agreement, including the Privacy Policy, the Community Rules or other policies and community guidelines incorporated herein; (b) Reverb is unable to verify or authenticate any of your personal information or Content; (c) Reverb believes that a user is acting inconsistently with the letter or spirit of Reverb's Community Rules or policies; or (d) Reverb believes a user has engaged in improper or fraudulent activity in connection with Reverb or the actions may cause legal liability or financial loss to Reverb's users or to Reverb. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Reverb retains the right to suspend or terminate a user without cause at Reverb’s sole discretion. Use of the Site is a privilege, not a right.

At the time of my suspension, I politely asked for her to cite a passage under their terms, as to where I explicitly violated any pre-existing policies. Obviously she couldn't and wouldn't cite a passage, because she wasn't concerned with having a respectful dialogue. Most of my questions were ignored, or she pivoted away from them, until she got tired of doing her fucking job and just started ignoring me.

If you want to defend Reverb, have at it. I look forward to reading that. It doesn't change the fact that they refuse to suspend sellers who repeatedly violate site terms, listing policies, and legal guidelines. Yet, simultaneously they are trawling through millions of sales, and banishing people who have never harmed other site members. The criminals get protected, but the 5* members get canned.

Here's another example of what's wrong with Reverb:

Sellers may not charge excessive shipping fees.

Hahahahahaha! It's totally ambiguous and undefined. What is excessive? That statement reads as unenforceable, hollow virtue signaling. If the actual cost is $10, but the seller charges $25 for packaging materials/gas/handling? Reverb draws a line in the sand over high shipping, but they won't do jack shit about their rampant culture of price-gouging. ---Why? Because Reverb is the driving force behind it. They encourage builders to do small-batch runs and then they make bank. They collect a cut off a $400 item at the beginning of the month, and then they take a cut when it shows up a week later for $800. I'm not here to debate/discuss capitalistic greed. That, however, is straight up price-gouging and Reverb doesn't just benefit from it, they encourage it. ---Yet they want to draw the line at excessive shipping costs? So hypothetically, Reverb isn't cool with someone being overcharged $20 on shipping, but they'll give you a nod and a wink when you artificially inflate the value of an item 200-to-800% in 48-hours.

Reverb is a company overrun with shameless hypocrites. Fuck those clowns.

[cosmicevan]

I'm ok with 5%. That's not that big of a jump.

43%

[Jwar]

I'm ok with 5%. That's not that big of a jump.

43%

I mean, when you look at it that way...lol


I have not read any press releases or anything from Reverb, so my reaction is mild I'm sure. I just remember eBay was charging close to 10% if not more at one time. It would be awesome to have a heavily trafficked site that you could also sell on and actually make money without price gouging. Reverb and like sites make that next to impossible. ILF selling is a crap shoot. Talkbass is even worse. The Gear Page, don't even get me started. eBay fucking sucks. Craigslist sucks.


This is why I will now only buy and no longer sell. I will be in perma debt forever like the rest of my country. JK. I'm not sure what to do. Super annoying.

[jirodreamsofdank]

Hahahahahaha! It's totally ambiguous and undefined. What is excessive? That statement reads as unenforceable, hollow virtue signaling. If the actual cost is $10, but the seller charges $25 for packaging materials/gas/handling? Reverb draws a line in the sand over high shipping, but they won't do jack shit about their rampant culture of price-gouging. ---Why? Because Reverb is the driving force behind it. They encourage builders to do small-batch runs and then they make bank. They collect a cut off a $400 item at the beginning of the month, and then they take a cut when it shows up a week later for $800. I'm not here to debate/discuss capitalistic greed. That, however, is straight up price-gouging and Reverb doesn't just benefit from it, they encourage it. ---Yet they want to draw the line at excessive shipping costs? So hypothetically, Reverb isn't cool with someone being overcharged $20 on shipping, but they'll give you a nod and a wink when you artificially inflate the value of an item 200-to-800% in 48-hours.

Reverb is a company overrun with shameless hypocrites. Fuck those clowns.

That's not the kind of overcharging they're talking about. It was a common scam on EBay to list items for a penny with $100 shipping to avoid fees back in the day.