Where do these Reverb buyers come from?

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the rossness

the rossness

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About a month ago, I bought a PRS Dustie Waring guitar off Reverb. I had it for a week but it didn’t have the right mojo for me, so I re-listed the guitar on ebay and reverb. I took high-def pictures of the whole guitar, and listed it for sale for $2000 obo. (In full disclosure, I bought it for just shy of $1800 including taxes and shipping)

Immediately, I get lots of watchers and a few lowball offers. Eventually, I sold it to a gentleman in NY. He doesn’t have much feedback, but I decide to rely on Reverb’s seller protection. Shipping takes 2 days and I think “ok, it got there in one piece, good”.

On the 6th day the buyer has the guitar, he sends me a message letting me know he’s not happy with the condition. I reply to him 4 minutes later because I took high- def pictures of the whole guitar. And he doesn’t reply back.

However, I notice he has re-listed the guitar on reverb just like I did. He says it has “minor wear but plays great”. However, he’s pirated my photos for his ad (and in much lower resolution- most likely a screenshot) meaning the guitar is in the same condition as the photos in his ad indicate.

A while later he finally gets back to me saying he’ll send pictures, and then nothing from him. 3 days later he sends pictures of some slight wear on the guitar- the same wear that was clearly visible in my ad. He hasn’t yet asked for a return or money off his purchase, but I can see it’s headed in that direction. In my mind, I think he was trying to get me to give him a discount, and then he would sell the guitar for a higher price and make money. FWIW, he is currently selling the guitar for $2300

So I tell him no. I use his own reverb listing against him. He said the “guitar had minor wear but played great!” He used my photos to show the condition, yet he’s complaining to me, the condition is not how I described it. He goes on to tell me how he just doesn’t like the guitar, yata yata whatever.

I don’t buy any of his crap. He’s now had the guitar two weeks and this is the first I’m hearing of his “problem”. I tell him he can’t return the guitar. I won’t give him a discount and Reverb’s buyer protection is only for the first 7 days and he’s had the guitar for two weeks. That the wear he doesn’t like is clearly visible in my ad. Maybe he missed seeing the picture of the wear, but if he goes back and takes a look at the listing he bought, the guitar was shot in high-def and the dings are easily visible.

If a guitar gets damaged in shipping or there’s a legitimate problem, or course I’ll work with a buyer to resolve it. But this buyer shot himself in the foot when he re-listed the guitar with my photos, and said it had minor wear but played great. Am I right for not accepting his BS or his return? He left me 2 stars of feedback BTW.

So where do buyers like this come from? Its like he bought a white car and two weeks later, he’s trying to return it because the car is white. I shouldn’t be responsible for his buyers remorse, right? Was I right to deny the return?
 
Fuck buyers remorse! What are they, 12? This is why I refuse to sell to anyone other than in person, cash in hand...or a member here I have known for years. You should tell him to shove the guitar up his ass sideways.
 
Not a chance in hell I would take that back. Your ad was honest and you showed high def pics. I have had it with these people. They think they can get guitars to try out and then return them. If I don’t like a guitar, I sell it. The guy definitely wanted a discount.

screw that loser. This stuff has to end. It’s ridiculous.
 
Not a chance in hell I would take that back. Your ad was honest and you showed high def pics. I have had it with these people. They think they can get guitars to try out and then return them. If I don’t like a guitar, I sell it. The guy definitely wanted a discount.

screw that loser. This stuff has to end. It’s ridiculous.
I am telling you, I am DONE with it. I used to buy/sell online constantly. Never had problems in any gear forums, even Ebay. It seems like the past 5 years, people have just became so shitty. Like I said above, I am done with it. I will deal in person, let the person play the guitar/amp/pedal all they want until they feel comfortable, and do a cash deal. Or trusted bros here. It's just not worth using Reverb anymore, or even Ebay. Stratjacket here has a pretty good idea for a business and I hope he makes a billion dollars with it because someone has to.
 
reverb is blacklist city. i don't even look at that shit anymore. why tease yourself?
 
There are still some good buyers and sellers out there but I agree in that folks have gotten really...weird lately. I don't know what it is. But I've still had some very good experiences lately too.
 
F*ck. This. Ass-Hole. And every ass-hole like him. Obvious scammer - buy - bitch - re-list (at a profit!)
Ruining the integrity of online transactions that musicians have worked so hard for so long to establish.
You are 100% in the ‘right’ on this one. Hell, I’m a goddam lawyer and I’d take a case like this to a jury any day of the week.
 
I am telling you, I am DONE with it. I used to buy/sell online constantly. Never had problems in any gear forums, even Ebay. It seems like the past 5 years, people have just became so shitty. Like I said above, I am done with it. I will deal in person, let the person play the guitar/amp/pedal all they want until they feel comfortable, and do a cash deal. Or trusted bros here. It's just not worth using Reverb anymore, or even Ebay. Stratjacket here has a pretty good idea for a business and I hope he makes a billion dollars with it because someone has to.

I would love it if stratjacket pulled it off. It’s a good idea. And he’s a good dude.
 
This shit started for me years ago; sold a guitar for a good price, dude waited two weeks to open the box and then asked me for a refund AT CHRISTMAS because he ‘didn’t like it as much as he thought he would’.

It’s been years since I’ve sold anything online except for a few guys in another forum.

People are crazy with this shit anymore, they think everywhere they buy is a fuckin Guitar Center or whatever and they can just send it back for no reason at all.
 
I would love it if stratjacket pulled it off. It’s a good idea. And he’s a good dude.
Thanks guys, working hard on it. Into the last stretch of development for the minimum viable product. If anyone wants to check it the development in progress and provide feedback, just PM me and I’ll give you the dev website.

In regards to making tons of money, I don’t expect that, but would be amazing for it to be a full time job (quit my regular job), support my family and actually help small music shops and musicians. I can’t control payment processing fees, but will have the site fees as low as I possibly can to keep things running.

What do you all think about the Seller’s Shipping and Return Policy being the rule of each transaction?
It feels like the Policy each seller has on the other platforms gets overridden by the site, or am I off base there? I feel like when I buy something then I’m agreeing to the framework the Seller has and if I don’t agree with it, then don’t buy.
 
Same thing happened to me recently on an amp, (there's a thread about it)..

I'm about done with it too.
 
What do you all think about the Seller’s Shipping and Return Policy being the rule of each transaction?
It feels like the Policy each seller has on the other platforms gets overridden by the site, or am I off base there? I feel like when I buy something then I’m agreeing to the framework the Seller has and if I don’t agree with it, then don’t buy.
Gets my vote, brother.

As long as the seller makes his / her policy clear. That's where things can fall down - gotta be crystal-clear.
 
Thanks guys, working hard on it. Into the last stretch of development for the minimum viable product. If anyone wants to check it the development in progress and provide feedback, just PM me and I’ll give you the dev website.

In regards to making tons of money, I don’t expect that, but would be amazing for it to be a full time job (quit my regular job), support my family and actually help small music shops and musicians. I can’t control payment processing fees, but will have the site fees as low as I possibly can to keep things running.

What do you all think about the Seller’s Shipping and Return Policy being the rule of each transaction?
It feels like the Policy each seller has on the other platforms gets overridden by the site, or am I off base there? I feel like when I buy something then I’m agreeing to the framework the Seller has and if I don’t agree with it, then don’t buy.

I think part of the problem isn’t even ebay/Reverb, it’s PayPal too. That 180 day return policy killed us, and because they’re so anxious to keep business they’ll take returns for almost no reason at all.

That’s built into a lot of online businesses (MF, SW etc) but as small sellers that shit sucks for us.

I don’t know that there’s any way around it.
 
It used to be fun to buy / sell online. But these fuckers wrecked it, they took advantage of what was a good thing and screwed it up for all of us. I do not (anymore) and will never again list on Reverb or eBay. Period. Too many shady people for me.
 
I sold one of my guitars to some "Musician" He gave me a hollywood p.o. box to ship to. I have sold a bit of gear, but never shipped to a p.o. box. I got quoted 350 yesterday. If the price doesn't go down when i go to the post office tomorrow, I am going to refund him and just keep the damn thing. It is a really great playing guitar. I would rather it went to someone that would actually play metal with it, as that is what it was designed for.
 
I sold one of my guitars to some "Musician" He gave me a hollywood p.o. box to ship to. I have sold a bit of gear, but never shipped to a p.o. box. I got quoted 350 yesterday. If the price doesn't go down when i go to the post office tomorrow, I am going to refund him and just keep the damn thing. It is a really great playing guitar. I would rather it went to someone that would actually play metal with it, as that is what it was designed for.

Usually, you negotiate shipping BEFORE you take someone's money.

I can assure you, shipping to a PO box doesn't double or triple the shipping costs, but it does limit you to USPS.
 
On Reverb, the shipping is posted on the item, Mr. Napalm, as I am sure you know. I don't know his address before someone buys it. And shipping was increased for me vs what it should have been because my little "ups" store that also does some usps stuff, couldn't get it to go anyway but priority. The box was pretty big, cuz i double boxed it. But if you are right that the post office will not charge more than usual to ship to p.o. box, that is good news at least.
 
On Reverb, the shipping is posted on the item, Mr. Napalm, as I am sure you know. I don't know his address before someone buys it. And shipping was increased for me vs what it should have been because my little "ups" store that also does some usps stuff, couldn't get it to go anyway but priority. The box was pretty big, cuz i double boxed it. But if you are right that the post office will not charge more than usual to ship to p.o. box, that is good news at least.

You're handcuffed to using USPS for a PO box shipment. Buyer kinda stuck you, there.... I could see the frustration, and I think I'd probably bring it to their attention. I sure as hell wouldn't want to be FORCED to use USPS for anything larger than a pedal! They're a joke.
 
I think part of the problem isn’t even ebay/Reverb, it’s PayPal too. That 180 day return policy killed us, and because they’re so anxious to keep business they’ll take returns for almost no reason at all.

That’s built into a lot of online businesses (MF, SW etc) but as small sellers that shit sucks for us.

I don’t know that there’s any way around it.

At least at launch I won’t be able to use PayPal. The underlying services I’m building on top of will only use Stripe (http://stripe.com) which allows you to use credit cards and bank information directly with them. While I think Stripe is a great service, so many people are used to PayPal it will probably be an uphill battle. Even though my site will not see our store any information (it’s an integrated service) it will be a challenge to get people to enter in their information.
 
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