Reverb sold prices

  • Thread starter Thread starter ZEN Amps
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ZEN Amps

ZEN Amps

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Someone told me the price you see on sold listings is in fact just the original listing price, not necessarily the final sale price. This doesn't make much sense to me, can anyone confirm?
 
ZEN Amps said:
Wow that's crazy, and explains a lot. Like delusional sellers quoting sold prices on Reverb as the benchmark for their inflated asking price.
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It doesn't help that every once in awhile especially now a seller will list something at a crazy price and someone legit buys it for that price. I wouldn't have thought a Peavey 5150 would put of nowhere sell for 1500.00 but its happened.
 
Totally shady business practice, if you ask me. I think eBay does the same, but not positive
 
ZEN Amps said:
Yep, welcome to Aussie pricing:

Peavey 5150 - $2995

That's about $2300 USD.
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Australian prices are crazy. I used to have a friend there and he would tell me the prices people were paying and it was shocking. He also said customs tips stuff apart there. He got an acoustic, and when it arrived, customs had cut into the actual guitar case looking for secret compartments. Crazy.
 
On the plus side of Reverb, over the last 6 months where most dealers are low or back-ordered on stuff,
I've been able to find it on Verb a lot of times.
 
ZEN Amps said:
Someone told me the price you see on sold listings is in fact just the original listing price, not necessarily the final sale price. This doesn't make much sense to me, can anyone confirm?
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This is correct.
 
Reverb just seems to get worse every couple of months. I’m glad I’m done selling there. After the fees and tax, it’s just not worth it. Their shipping prices were much better than the local ups/fed ex but with all the other fees, no thanks.
 
Bump on this to stimulate some more lively conversation a few years on (and seeing what that CCV 'sold' for).

I think this absurd policy is a factor in soaring used gear prices. A small example / rant:

Sellers often quote Reverb sold prices when posting ads, it's how they've 'researched the market'. And fair enough, seems like a reasonable approach.

The glaring issue is that these so-called sold prices are often considerably higher than the actual negotiated price.

It goes something like this:
  1. seller lists an item with an ambitious price, say 5k for a 3k amp.
  2. buyer offers 3k, seller counters with 3.5k, buyer accepts.
Once the deal is done, the ended listing is discoverable by anyone - and the sold price is listed as 5k.

If the seller reduces the price whilst the listing is active, then this will be reflected in the sold price. But in real life where offers are commonplace - nope.

The issue of course is that the next seller comes along and asks for say 6k, because 'they're going for 5k on Reverb'. They are unlikely to take a 3.5k deal because they now believe it's indeed worth way more, and idiot buyers are just lowballing them. The cycle continues and Reverb laugh all the way to the bank as they are taking a percentage of the deal.

I'm not sure if this happens for every item, in every category, at every price point - but it is absolutely the case for every item I've purchased in the last few years (where the seller accepted an offer). Only really applies to out of production items of course.

I realise things are only worth what people pay for them, appreciation etc, but market trends based on misinformation is never a good thing - even if some sellers are benefitting.

Anyway if you didn't know this, maybe keep it in mind. If you did, you can stop reading 2 mins ago!
 
I've spent over $10k on Reverb amps in the last year. I only deal locally and usually spend 80% tops what it is listed at. Never actually go through RV as we meet. In the last 12mos:

Friedman Smallbox
Royal MSG100
Bogner Helios 100
Mesa Mark III
Fuchs ODS50
 
ZEN Amps said:
Bump on this to stimulate some more lively conversation a few years on (and seeing what that CCV 'sold' for).
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Seems like a big flaw and artificially inflates the market.. at least perception.

I've bought 3 amps off reverb.

One I paid straight up what was being asked - so that listing would be accurate.
The other 2 were listed for insanely high prices... i didn't pay the asking price, but the accepted offer was still what many would consider over paying.

Those 2 amps I had to pay over and above in order to make it worth while for the seller to ship to Australia.

I guess I've overpaid on reverb because Australia doesn't have many of these high end amps available. (original uber and rev f recto at 240v).

My uber ended up costing Wizard prices once you add up price of amp, shipping, customs fees, 240v transformer, shipping of transformer, labour for tech to convert amp to 240v..... but I can't see any other way for me to obtain an amp like this that I've wanted for 20yrs.
 
saxxamafone said:
Seems like a big flaw and artificially inflates the market.. at least perception.

I've bought 3 amps off reverb.

One I paid straight up what was being asked - so that listing would be accurate.
The other 2 were listed for insanely high prices... i didn't pay the asking price, but the accepted offer was still what many would consider over paying.

Those 2 amps I had to pay over and above in order to make it worth while for the seller to ship to Australia.

I guess I've overpaid on reverb because Australia doesn't have many of these high end amps available. (original uber and rev f recto at 240v).

My uber ended up costing Wizard prices once you add up price of amp, shipping, customs fees, 240v transformer, shipping of transformer, labour for tech to convert amp to 240v..... but I can't see any other way for me to obtain an amp like this that I've wanted for 20yrs.
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Yep, I feel the pain man. But we don't have Alex Jones, so I think we're doing ok.
 
Interesting. I had no idea. This explains the crazy price differences on some things I look up on there over time. The high prices probably accepted a lower offer and their sold listings don't reflect it. That is... Crazy!
 
saxxamafone said:
I've bought 3 amps off reverb.

One I paid straight up what was being asked - so that listing would be accurate.
The other 2 were listed for insanely high prices... i didn't pay the asking price, but the accepted offer was still what many would consider over paying.
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Actually man can you please check the sold prices on those and confirm they still indicate the original asking price? I've noticed it on all my purchases, but some random dude on FB (who claims to have worked at Reverb) says it's not the case, or not always the case. Surely he can be trusted, I mean he even said he's totally trustworthy.
 
When I look to sell a piece of gear, I get an average of what they've sold for on Reverb. Depending on the price of the item, I account for markup on the items they sold because they had to cover the fees. Or I'll use the average price and list it at that, knowing people are going to want me to drop the price a little, so I build it in. However, I try and stay away from buying on Reverb unless it's guitar hardware or something that may be cheapest on there. For bigger ticket items, I don't buy off there, though I may contact the seller directly so he doesn't have to deal with their fees if I buy it.
 
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