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Selling Used Gear - What's the Best Option?


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When I have anything to sell, I use Reverb.com. All my experiences with it have been very positive...no problems, great customer service, no issues with the people buying stuff. But it's a big world out there, and I know some people who swear by eBay, and some by Craig's List.

 

I've been restoring an OB-8 and seriously thinking of selling it, but one in good condition typically goes for $5,000 and up. t weighs a lot, so I'm thinking I should probably try to sell it locally instead of trying to ship it in some kind of flight case and having to spend a ton on shipping...let alone get it in my car to take to Fed Ex or whatever.

 

Has anyone had really good experiences with selling used gear via particular methods?

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thats an expensive board and you could get insurance for shipping

 

my FA-07 was valued at $1300, and Fedx w/nsurance was $140 est.

 

then add in your reverb selling fees.

 

as a result, I went local Craigs list, which is notoriously sketchy.

 

fortunately I found a cash buyer. net net, I sold it for $100 less.

it was a 10 day process, not too bad.

 

with CL, I was prepared to be flexible on my selling price.

as the goal was cash terms.

 

so my advice is to get your out of pocket expense figured if you go reverb.

 

with that, you can mark down, for a CL cash price, local pickup, if you need to.

 

I don't know your OB8 resale value in your local area.

 

Thus my FA-07 experience may not be comparable in actual demand vs your OB8

Why fit in, when you were born to stand out ?

My Soundcloud with many originals:

[70's Songwriter]

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I've just sold a couple of things on Reverb so far, and I"m happy enough with it. As a rule, I"ll put stuff here on the KC Garage Sale thread and give forumites a crack at it before it goes to the general public on Reverb.

 

LIKE: Selling, shipping, insurance, and escrow all under one roof. That gives buyers confidence as well. Like the ability to set up my own 'shop.'

 

MEH: High selling fee at 5 percent. Bump fees to boost listings can add even more, and they insist on charging sales tax. That"s added to buyer"s price, but can still deter some buyers who"d rather skirt the tax on CL or eBay.

 

Living near Burlington, Vermont is wonderful in many ways (for starters, low Covid and we"re not on fire) but not being in a major metro area pretty much makes CL a non-starter for anything but the lowest-common-denominator music gear, i.e. SM58 mics, ten-year-old Mackie consoles, and entry-level digital slab pianos. For a lot of the stuff I"m planning to sell, people in my area simply don"t have the money and it gets to be sort of clowntown with tire-kickers.

 

With Reverb, I second the motion to make sure you 'bake in' your total selling costs to your asking price. But in general, the pros of Reverb have outweighed the cons for me, and I"ll only bother with other major online outlets if something there simply won"t move.

Stephen Fortner

Principal, Fortner Media

Former Editor in Chief, Keyboard Magazine

Digital Piano Consultant, Piano Buyer Magazine

 

Industry affiliations: Antares, Arturia, Giles Communications, MS Media, Polyverse

 

 

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I love Reverb.com.

I despise Craigslist.com.

 

Selling on Amazon is okay, but sometimes, it takes a really long time for items to sell.

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I've been buying and selling for many decades. Typically music gear and photography gear.

 

I always list on craigslist first, if it sells there I don't have to worry about packing, shipping, returns or other people taking their "cut".

My best advice would be to add the following to your listing "Local cash only, I will not ship or deliver this."

That will minimize scammers, people who want you to drive a considerable distance so they can "try it out" etc.

 

If it doesn't sell there and it's music gear like your keyboard I have two paths. If previous sales on ebay and reverb indicate that it is a desirable, popular item then I might want to list it on ebay in an auction format.

Sometimes people bid things up beyond all reason, this is good for the seller. Best results come from a 10 day auction posted on a Thursday and timed so that it ends on Sunday afternoon no later than 4pm Pacific time - this is to give East Coast buyers an optimum shot at last minute bidding. Starting price is always 98 cents. You can cause a pile-on early that way, once somebody bids they think they "own" it.

 

It is VERY important that the end time be just after the second paycheck of the month!!!! People have discretionary money then.

 

I listed an excellent condition Gibson Les Paul Custom in white with the chainsaw case that way, by mid day Friday I had lots of bids and it was already up well over $1k. It ended around $3,200. If I'd posted it for $3,200 I doubt I would have gotten it.

 

If I have a set price because the item is more of a "niche" item, then I would post it on Reverb with a price that is a bit higher than what I want and use the Make Offer option. People love auctions and they love to make offers.

 

I've done very well over the years finding cool stuff at thrift stores and flipping it online for an income stream.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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Reverb.com has been working very well for me, this year especially...but I wasn't happy with their recent price hike. :rolleyes:

 

I do admit that hearing that the increase came right after they were sold recently may be negatively affecting my perception.

 

dB

 

And it is still significantly lower than eBay/Paypal fees. I like Reverb but some things will fetch more in an auction so I still use eBay sometimes.

Both are good resources but Reverb is better overall if you are selling music gear.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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Reverb.com has been working very well for me, this year especially...but I wasn't happy with their recent price hike. :rolleyes:

 

Actually, I wasn't surprised...however, I always was surprised at how they could get away with charging only 3.5%. I also think they've been pretty stretched for resources, so some extra $$ will probably help lubricate the machine.

 

I think I get value received for that 5%, it's such a seamless operation. Hey, at least they didn't do the Apple 30% thing!

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I always was surprised at how they could get away with charging only 3.5%.

There are other processing fees as well.

 

dB

 

Aren't they what PayPal, Mastercard, etc. charge? I suppose Reverb.com could "eat" the percentage, like restaurants etc. do. All I know for sure is that any fees always get passed along to the consumer, one way or another, either exposed or hidden in other costs.

 

However, your comment about the recent purchase rings true. Etsy has always charged 5%, so they probably wanted Reverb.com to do the same. Where I do see a difference is that Etsy charges a listing fee, but Reverb doesn't.

 

OTOH if you buy a shipping label from them, it saves bucks. I usually give a price for shipping based on looking up UPS/Fed Ex/USPS rates, but when the time comes to buy the shipping label, it's usually much less. Then again, I assume Reverb.com is getting some kind of a kickback from those, and it also gets revenue from bumps. We'll see how it pans out over time but I suspect most of the major changes have been made by now...

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I've used CL numerous times, but it takes some stubbornness and humor to blow off the annoying replies, the ones that don't respond after the initial contact, filtering out the spam attempts, etc. The good side is that it's local so you don't have to deal with packing and shipping (just meeting up with some peopleâ¦), and if you're buying you can take things for a test run if you bring the necessary accessories and have power at the meeting place if you need it.

 

There's also the Facebook marketplaces. I've dealt with people on there as there are Buy/Sell groups that could be local musicians' groups or neighborhood ones. Unfortunately, stupid FB made it too easy for someone to simply click a link to send you a message that says, "Is this available" or something like that, which is exactly what we don't respond to on CL. Also, I've gotten a lot of wives who I'll work something out with, and then they say something like, "my husband will have to pick it up tomorrow" and then "he can't get it, sorry." Like they're incapacitated or don't have a car or something. It's weird. If it's a scam, I can't figure out what it might be because I don't give them my address at that point.

"I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck

 

"The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI

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My philosophy is never to sell anything unless you really need to sell it. I can't remember the last time I sold any piece of audio gear or a musical instrument. But my shelves of gear that I haven't used in a long time but some day might just be the right thing are getting mighty full.

 

What I do have a problem with is the collection of things that don't work any more, aren't likely to ever work again, but are too good to throw away. While I no longer take things apart for the parts, I keep them around in case someone is trying to fix one of the same unit and needs a part that there might be a good one of in my "doesn't work" collection. Power supplies (internal or external) are a pretty common gift from this stash.

 

My common sense tells me that if I ever move (my home) I'll probably take the lot to a dumpster and not worry that someone, somewhere, some day might be able to use a part.

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My philosophy is never to sell anything unless you really need to sell it. I can't remember the last time I sold any piece of audio gear or a musical instrument. But my shelves of gear that I haven't used in a long time but some day might just be the right thing are getting mighty full.

 

What I do have a problem with is the collection of things that don't work any more, aren't likely to ever work again, but are too good to throw away. While I no longer take things apart for the parts, I keep them around in case someone is trying to fix one of the same unit and needs a part that there might be a good one of in my "doesn't work" collection. Power supplies (internal or external) are a pretty common gift from this stash.

 

My common sense tells me that if I ever move (my home) I'll probably take the lot to a dumpster and not worry that someone, somewhere, some day might be able to use a part.

 

I sell stuff that doesn't work all the time. I always describe everything I know about the item and make it clear that it is for parts only and returns are not possible.

If somebody buys the item (so far they always have), I figure they must need it for something. So it's a win/win. 20 years on eBay with almost 900 feedback at 100% positive, if you dig deep you will see that I have 1 negative from many years back - a buyer who demanded I ship the item to France when my terms clearly stated "lower 48 states only". Everything is always honestly described, you don't want a broken item don't buy my listing.

 

People will pay reasonable $$ for a chance to fix something they have already, hopefully the parts I've sold have been useful.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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The most satisfying way to buy/sell for me has always been to/from musicians I know. But that's something of a rare opportunity - but it's worth a shot, letting friends and family and good acquaintences know via email or some other method. Word gets around, people know people, etc. If you like to be a sharp dealer, then perhaps this is not a wise option - but if part of the process for you is feeling good that your beloved bit of kit has a good home, then this can be the best option. I'm an old softie and not very money-motivated, so I just love this rare option.

 

Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace are so crammed with items that are no longer available, they are a pain. Plus the spammers and so on. Dislike.

 

Ebay still works pretty well - but Reverb seems to have the process down and it's become the go-to market for most people I know. And as Craig mentioned, buying your shipping label from Reverb can significantly offset the other fees Reverb charges. Sure, the fees are a pain, but I'm in business and used to the costs of business - I charge 'em and I pay 'em and the world goes round.

 

Lastly, there is consignment with GC or local shops. I don't understand why anyone consigns stuff these days, but there's always guitars on the consignment wall at the local GC -

 

nat

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If you want no-hassle deals, then Vemia is the auction site for vintage synths and pro audio gear. They have auctions twice a year with international sellers and buyers, professional transactions, accurate item descriptions..

 

Vemia

 

Their next auction is gearing up shortly so hop on board with that OB-8.

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