Is Reverb.com getting worse?

[jzucker]

I agree completely with Jack that a seller’s responsibility is to get the item to the buyer intact. But if a buyer who’s been reasonable to deal with insists on a reasonable deviation from what the seller believes is the best way to pack and ship, I think there’s a solution. If the buyer wanted it shipped in a gig bag to save $, I’d obviously refuse. But I’d try not to lose the sale over something that’s not reckless if the buyer has been otherwise been great. There are knowledgeable believers on both sides of the “bridge on or off” issue.hard to sell).

I won't take that chance. I will cancel the sale if the seller insists on a less safe way of shipping an archtop.

[jazzshrink]

...I put the guitar in one of my saved plastic bags from guitars and gig bags I’ve bought. Then I sandwich it between two sheets of closed cell foam the width and length of the box and half its thickness, with an extra strip of foam behind the neck and headstock and the strings slacked. I relieve the foam under the headstock as necessary to prevent excess pressure on it. I remove knobs and switch covers and put little styrofoam blocks over the shafts to protect them from pressure. Then I slip the first box inside another close fitting one. I get the boxes from GC...

I bet you're awesome at tucking the kids in at night.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

I start backing away the more questions a potential buyer has and the more pictures he requests, even if we are talking about a craigslist deal. I include most of that info in the ad so it tells me the person isn't reading it. Just my experience that the guy with a million questions or who needs dozens of photos is a shit buyer or someone who will scam/burn you later on in the deal.

When you’re buying a 4 or 5 figure archtop that’s 25+ years old and was likely to have been gigged, you deserve complete, honest answers to reasonable questions. Apart from major neck and top issues, frets are the most visible example of potential cost and trouble spots. I’ve looked at many over the years that were said to have “no visible fret wear” but turned out to have divots you could ski on. A few had suffered from inexpert refrets that had to be redone to make the guitars playable. Some of these were at well respected dealers who should have known better than to lie about it. Decent pictures would have revealed the truth and saved me a lot of time and money.

The guy who posts an old high end guitar for sale with a glowing description of condition but won’t post or provide decent pics of something as basic and visible as fret wear is a shit seller who will scam/burn you.

[DawgBone]

When you’re buying a 4 or 5 figure archtop that’s 25+ years old and was likely to have been gigged, you deserve complete, honest answers to reasonable questions. Apart from major neck and top issues, frets are the most visible example of potential cost and trouble spots. I’ve looked at many over the years that were said to have “no visible fret wear” but turned out to have divots you could ski on. A few had suffered from inexpert refrets that had to be redone to make the guitars playable. Some of these were at well respected dealers who should have known better than to lie about it. Decent pictures would have revealed the truth and saved me a lot of time and money.

The guy who posts an old high end guitar for sale with a glowing description of condition but won’t post or provide decent pics of something as basic and visible as fret wear is a shit seller who will scam/burn you.

The key word is "reasonable" questions. I've had people accuse me of lying about fret wear even after I sent additional pics of the requested areas. Online buyers and sellers are mostly nuts in the head or just scammers, grifters, and people hoping you have a crack habit now. The endless questions and offers via PM's will always be a red flag. It's a non issue now since I only sell FTF on Craigslist. I let that X-170 go for real reasonable. Someone from outta town sent his buddy to pick it up. I priced it so nice I had a couple interested parties Yup, took a loss on it like most guitars but the transactions are hassle free and that is def worth more than a couple hundred extra hassle ridden bucks to me. I've come to view losses on gear as a rental fee for the time I owned it. I hate collections and sentimentality so if it ain't getting used it's getting sold.

[StoneWaller]

I'm not a volume seller or buyer of guitars, and I'm on the spectrum honest. I sell one to buy one. Post high res photos of every angle, good light, disclose the slightest flaws, etc. My last sale had 25 photos, and I provide many more upon request.

My last few guitar purchases and sales on reverb have been exhausting, and I vowed to never do it again. Endless photo and video exchanges, where buyers freeze frame videos... "Is this a scratch?" No. it's a video screen shot of light moving over a gloss finish... Upload more photos and videos to prove I'm not lying... Rinse, repeat. I understand due dilegence sight unseen, and reasonable questions, but it gets to be a lot of work.

On the other hand, I bought a Benedetto Bravo Deluxe with out doing the proper research until it was in transit.

It had a Super 400 vibe which was different to the aesthetics of Benedetto and I was nieve or dumb enough to think

1: nobody would mod a Benedetto to such an extent, and 2: sell it with zero disclosure. Only when I poured over the entire Benedetto photo data base by serial number and couldn't find it did I realize something was very wrong. Called Benedetto and got the full rundown. Full Refinish, different pickup, replaced pickguard, 3rd party block inlays, possible neck shave.
Never opened up the box, and the seller took it back on his dime....and this was a retail shop. Ignorance or deception I don't know, but that was the last straw for reverb and me.

[jzucker]

i definitely "feel" the comments about over-questioning stuff. I had a guy who was obsessed about the condition of my 175. He wanted me to make an inventory (spreadsheet??) of every scratch or ding the guitar had. I politely told him that i wasn't up for that and that if he was that picky, he should consider only buying in person.

However, there was a guy recently selling a $3500 boutique, electric bass and the description just said it was in excellent condition. He was put off when I asked him what the specs were and he countered, "what specs are you looking for, <sigh>".

I responded, body material, top material, neck material, neck stringer material, fingerboard, scale, SS or nickel/silver frets, string spacing at the bridge, nut width, weight?

His response,

35", I don't have a scale.

[DawgBone]

i definitely "feel" the comments about over-questioning stuff. I had a guy who was obsessed about the condition of my 175. He wanted me to make an inventory (spreadsheet??) of every scratch or ding the guitar had. I politely told him that i wasn't up for that and that if he was that picky, he should consider only buying in person.

He was hoping you'd follow through, desperate to make a sale, that way he can burn your ass by getting you to provide a partial refund when he finds a ding or a dent not listed in your spreadsheet or sale description. With the spreadsheet he really could've nailed you to a wall. He gets a deal and you get the hose. And if he can't find a ding or flaw you didn't describe, he can create one. At that point you have to be one of those "send it back for a full refund" guys or take it on the chin when he wants $200-300+ off. Neither of those are winning plays except for the dirtbag you sold it to. Telling him to consider buying in person instead was the best move you could make.

[Mick-7]

I don't know if Dawgbone is a cynic or a realist, I would like to think it's the former but I am an optimist.

[jzucker]

I forgot to also mention that the guy got butt-hurt that I said he should find one that he can play beforehand and said that it was off-putting and made him re-think wanting to buy a guitar from me. I merely replied, "well, good luck with your search and take care."

A few days later he was back, offering to buy me a set of calipers so I could take detailed neck depth measurements. I replied that I wasn't interested in selling to him and to please not contact me again. He continued though and I finally had to contact reverb and ask that they intervene. They blocked him from contacting me. That evening, I got an email on my personal email account from him attempting to defend his actions. I blocked him there too.

So yeah, i definitely feel you guys for people who ask too many questions.

i definitely "feel" the comments about over-questioning stuff. I had a guy who was obsessed about the condition of my 175. He wanted me to make an inventory (spreadsheet??) of every scratch or ding the guitar had. I politely told him that i wasn't up for that and that if he was that picky, he should consider only buying in person.

However, there was a guy recently selling a $3500 boutique, electric bass and the description just said it was in excellent condition. He was put off when I asked him what the specs were and he countered, "what specs are you looking for, <sigh>".

I responded, body material, top material, neck material, neck stringer material, fingerboard, scale, SS or nickel/silver frets, string spacing at the bridge, nut width, weight?

His response,

35", I don't have a scale.

[John A.]

I forgot to also mention that the guy got butt-hurt that I said he should find one that he can play beforehand and said that it was off-putting and made him re-think wanting to buy a guitar from me. I merely replied, "well, good luck with your search and take care."

A few days later he was back, offering to buy me a set of calipers so I could take detailed neck depth measurements. I replied that I wasn't interested in selling to him and to please not contact me again. He continued though and I finally had to contact reverb and ask that they intervene. They blocked him from contacting me. That evening, I got an email on my personal email account from him attempting to defend his actions. I blocked him there too.

So yeah, i definitely feel you guys for people who ask too many questions.

Sounds like Adrian Monk is hanging out on Reverb these days. It’s a jungle out there …

[jzucker]

sounds like adrian monk is hanging out on reverb these days. It’s a jungle out there …

hahaha!

[Cunamara]

I think the inherent fear everybody has buying online is that they're getting ripped off in some way, so they are hypervigilant. An awful lot of folks should not buy online, sight unseen; it is just too anxiety provoking for them. Unfortunately if you want something like an ES-175, in most of America you can't buy one in person without driving a real long way to play it first.

I am fortunate to have had mostly good luck buying guitars online, which includes four guitars (one from someone on the forum, the other three via eBay). But that was also 10+ years ago for all and 18 years for one of those instruments- which I bought direct from the luthier.

I've been out of the pool for a long time, I guess. I hear enough stories on the forum about bad outcomes that I would probably only consider buying another guitar online from somebody selling it here. That's not a guarantee, but the batting average seems to be much higher.

[DawgBone]

I don't know if Dawgbone is a cynic or a realist, I would like to think it's the former but I am an optimist.

Probably some of both truthfully.

Jack got all the warning signs and made the right play. Truthfully the guy who was contacting him deserved to be blocked. Creep behavior getting all butthurt when he refused to receive a caliper and take measurements. I think some of those guys have scam intentions while others are mega anal collectors and the remaining ones are mega anal re-sellers trying to get top dollar (and maybe after claiming fake "damage" and other BS). None of which you want to deal with.

I have had to cancel the bids of people who won an auction, didn't pay, then started bidding on it again when I finally re-listed it. Just to keep someone else from getting the ttem I guess cause you have to give them time to pay, per ebay, before you can cancel the transaction for the winning buyer. I had to cancel multiple bids from the same zero feedback buyer. It was like every item I ebayed had problems. A blueridge acoustic I got scammed/burnt on. A Warmoth neck two different buyers didn't pay for....."sorry couldn't respond I was camping I guess I can't afford it my van is broke right now"r. Yeah ok bro. The Hamer Vector some kid hit "buy now" and then mom made excuses "he didn't have permission". Probably some chump with no money. A Visual sound pedal sold for $40 and the buyer didn't pay?!?! I had so many problems I walked away.

Craigslist FTF only and only if you follow my directive to text me so I know you are a serious buyer who wants to potentially make a deal soon. I don't do emails and say so in my ads because that's what tire kickers who do not read my ads always use. But yes, I get a lot of spam calls. Those are easy for me to ignore. Others may not like that.

[Cunamara]

I have had good results buying things via Craigslist, except one case when the seller just simply did not know jack about what she had and misidentified it. But she seemed fairly strung out and I didn't buy the item from her when I saw it in person.

It seems like most people, at least around here, are likely to be honest with you if they're going to actually be meeting you face-to-face. I got my most recent guitar, an ES-175, through Craigslist and I would say it was in better condition than he described in his ad (and probably under-priced). Maybe he was just a pickier person than I am. 6 months later and it is my main guitar for jam sessions, rehearsals and the sparse number of gigs I play.

[jzucker]

I have had good results buying things via Craigslist, except one case when the seller just simply did not know jack about what she had and misidentified it. But she seemed fairly strung out and I didn't buy the item from her when I saw it in person.

It seems like most people, at least around here, are likely to be honest with you if they're going to actually be meeting you face-to-face. I got my most recent guitar, an ES-175, through Craigslist and I would say it was in better condition than he described in his ad (and probably under-priced). Maybe he was just a pickier person than I am. 6 months later and it is my main guitar for jam sessions, rehearsals and the sparse number of gigs I play.

have you sold anything lately with craigslist? All I get are nigerian scammers...

[tomv713]

I’ve had a ton of trouble buying amps, I had one DV Jazz come in completely busted, seller tried to not take a return.

[John A.]

I have had good results buying things via Craigslist, except one case when the seller just simply did not know jack about what she had and misidentified it. But she seemed fairly strung out and I didn't buy the item from her when I saw it in person.

It seems like most people, at least around here, are likely to be honest with you if they're going to actually be meeting you face-to-face. I got my most recent guitar, an ES-175, through Craigslist and I would say it was in better condition than he described in his ad (and probably under-priced). Maybe he was just a pickier person than I am. 6 months later and it is my main guitar for jam sessions, rehearsals and the sparse number of gigs I play.

Maybe you're in one of the areas where CL is still OK. I think at this point in most metro areas it's dead as a market place for musical instruments.