Bad Experience Buying at Reverb

[steve burchfield]

I have had bad experiences with Reverb. You as you know can get a pretty good bass at a pawn shop for about 75$ as far as a Fender Squire goes.

[jzucker]

Caveat Emptor . . . would you ever marry a mail order bride? Nothing like a good workout to check the quality!
Play live . . . Marinero

My sister in law met her husband online and he lived 2500 miles away. The first time they met was when he moved to cleveland to be with her. They've been married for 13 years and have an 11 year old daughter and are very happy!

[jzucker]

I have had bad experiences with Reverb. You as you know can get a pretty good bass at a pawn shop for about 75$ as far as a Fender Squire goes.

This is a gary willis bass. They are very rare and have very specialized setup with lined, fretless, ebony fingerboard, special bartolini pickup and preamp, ramp for the fingers, etc. There are no gary willis basses in any stores in cleveland. Besides, we're still in the middle of a pandemic!

[Marinero]

My sister in law met her husband online and he lived 2500 miles away. The first time they met was when he moved to cleveland to be with her. They've been married for 13 years and have an 11 year old daughter and are very happy!

Hi, J,
Congrats to them and the internet age. The above testimonial is very interesting. Were they aware of the modern convenience of airplanes? Just kidding. Great story! Play live . . . Marinero

[jzucker]

Hi, J,
Congrats to them and the internet age. The above testimonial is very interesting. Were they aware of the modern convenience of airplanes? Just kidding. Great story! Play live . . . Marinero

i was corrected yesterday. Apparently, my SIL flew out to CA once before he moved to cleveland. So, I guess that would be akin to me flying to NY, trying out a bass and having it shipped back to me.

[Chris236]

Yeah, I’m not saying you were wrong of course - over the years I’ve had a couple returns I’ve made due to an ignorant seller not disclosing damage to an instrument. Lately it seems with EBay ,though, that they’ll always side with the buyer and force a return....even after weeks have past. As mentioned in my case all the buyer had to do was lie about the color being misrepresented. Even though there were accurate pictures in the listing and the buyer took and posted his OWN pictures during the arbitration process that looked (although the lighting was changed) the same! It was a no return listing but EBay will always side with the buyer nowadays and force a return on your dime.

[jzucker]

Yeah, I’m not saying you were wrong of course - over the years I’ve had a couple returns I’ve made due to an ignorant seller not disclosing damage to an instrument. Lately it seems with EBay ,though, that they’ll always side with the buyer and force a return....even after weeks have past. As mentioned in my case all the buyer had to do was lie about the color being misrepresented. Even though there were accurate pictures in the listing and the buyer took and posted his OWN pictures during the arbitration process that looked (although the lighting was changed) the same! It was a no return listing but EBay will always side with the buyer nowadays and force a return on your dime.

Again, that's not ebay's fault. They capitulate to the credit card companies and almost any credit card company will side with the buyer if the item was returned. I think ebay and paypal and even reverb tried to fight this but eventually realized that if the customer issues a charge-back, there's not much they can do. The difference is that reverb regularly threatens buyers if the mention chargeback. Reverb also posted some personal information about me on this forum once when I complained about a bad transaction. They really are not a good company.

[customxke]

I used to love buy and sell on Reverb, but after the Etsy buy, as a seller, I had nothing but headaches. I've since deleted my account, and refuse to do business through the platform.

[Chris236]

I don’t think there is a great way to sell online nowadays....too easy for the buyer to put the seller in a bad position through a return and/or haggling for money back after the POS.

[jzucker]

I don’t think there is a great way to sell online nowadays....too easy for the buyer to put the seller in a bad position through a return and/or haggling for money back after the POS.

i'd rather buy or sell on thegearpage or here or facebook TBH...

[jzucker]

they finally sent me a return label yesterday evening so it's now on its way back to the seller.

[nopedals]

I just got an email form "Reverb" titled "Important Information about your Reverb Account" that included a link that I could click on to change my password. Yeah, right.

Nothing to blame on reverb or relevant to this thread, but I thought I would pass along the always timely advice that messages like that are almost always pfishing emails.

[HeyNow]

I just got an email form "Reverb" titled "Important Information about your Reverb Account" that included a link that I could click on to change my password. Yeah, right.

Nothing to blame on reverb or relevant to this thread, but I thought I would pass along the always timely advice that messages like that are almost always pfishing emails.

The ones I got are legit, but good point - not a good idea to click on any suspect email links and type in your password.

[omphalopsychos]

Yeah I'm pretty sure it's legit but you're right not to click an email link from Reverb or even your bank. If there's an issue with your account, log in on the website or contact them directly. Scamming / phishing is one of the largest financial fraud threats today.

[KirkP]

Yeah I'm pretty sure it's legit but you're right not to click an email link from Reverb or even your bank. If there's an issue with your account, log in on the website or contact them directly. Scamming / phishing is one of the largest financial fraud threats today.

It’s posted on their web site. But I agree, if the email includes a URL, it’s best to ignore it and go to their page.
Important Information about Your Reverb Account – Help Center Home

[archtopdream63]

Reverb is worst company ever.
They lie, seem to talk with robots.

Ebay is much better

[wzpgsr]

Reverb is worst company ever.
They lie, seem to talk with robots.

Ebay is much better

Facebook has entered the chat.

[Chris236]

Reverb is worst company ever.
They lie, seem to talk with robots.

Ebay is much better

Ebay is fine for the buyer but can be awful for the seller. It is standard protocol to take the side of the buyer 100% of the time.

[citizenk74]

Ebay is fine for the buyer but can be awful for the seller. It is standard protocol to take the side of the buyer 100% of the time.

[jzucker]

Ebay is fine for the buyer but can be awful for the seller. It is standard protocol to take the side of the buyer 100% of the time.

untrue, see my story above

[ThatRhythmMan]

untrue, see my story above

That may be the exception that proves the rule. The eBay default (although not 100%) is definitely to favor the buyer.

[ThatRhythmMan]

untrue, see my story above

That may be the exception that proves the rule. The eBay default (although not 100%) is definitely to favor the buyer.

[jzucker]

That may be the exception that proves the rule. The eBay default (although not 100%) is definitely to favor the buyer.

The buyer is favored in any credit card transaction. Reverb or ebay. Reverb tries to insulate you but if you return the product the CC company will favor you almost 100% of the time.

[wengr]

Jack there is a Gary Willis bass in talkbass classifieds right now.

[jzucker]

Jack there is a Gary Willis bass in talkbass classifieds right now.

I saw it. It's the less desirable version with the basswood body. It was only out a short time. I ended up buying a GWB-35 (the cheapest version) and I'm having the body, pickups and preamp replaced and then having the frets replaced with lines. It'll be less money than the used one on talk bass. My luthier already made a new body for my other GWB-35 and it's a great bass. I just wanted a fretless one...