Selling on Reverb - advice please

Jimbro66

I have been selling guitar related stuff on Reverb lately and have been happy to have payments go through their system rather than PayPal etc. What I have sold so far has been couriered and I get paid when I give Reverb the tracking number.

All pretty straightforward but now I have a guy who wants to buy a £1k guitar I have on there but wants to collect it in person which means I won’t be able to give Reverb a tracking number. Has anyone here encountered this. If so how do you get Reverb to release payment and is the sale still covered by their protection system?

I’ve tried finding the answers on Reverb’s web site but just get taken round and round in circles. They don’t seem to have a chat line either.

Any experience here?

fandango

Paging @iain.reverb ;

Fuengi

They do a collection in person option. The buyer can pay via that option and reverb get their fee, plus you get the security as does the buyer.

Whitecat

fandango said:

Paging @iain.reverb ;

“Last active August 2019”

Jimbro66

Thanks for the responses chaps.

Fuengi said:

They do a collection in person option. The buyer can pay via that option and reverb get their fee, plus you get the security as does the buyer.

I couldn’t see that @Fuengi. If you could post a link to that page I’d really appreciate that . Ta.

Fuengi

Jimbro66 said:

Thanks for the responses chaps.

Fuengi said:

They do a collection in person option. The buyer can pay via that option and reverb get their fee, plus you get the security as does the buyer.

I couldn’t see that @Fuengi. If you could post a link to that page I’d really appreciate that . Ta.

I think it's just on the listings page? Offer collection in person. 

Fuengi

Just checked... If you remove postage options on your listing and just select Local Pickup he can buy through Reverb then collect.

pjf

Doubtless against Reverb rules but if the buyer is collecting in person why not have him/her pay cash/bank transfer on collection and cut the middle man out? I don’t really see what protection Reverb would be offering in that scenario.

rlw

pjf said:

Doubtless against Reverb rules but if the buyer is collecting in person why not have him/her pay cash/bank transfer on collection and cut the middle man out? I don’t really see what protection Reverb would be offering in that scenario.

It’s not a question of what they’re offering in that scenario but that the OP has used their platform to get the sale and common decency demands that you play by the rules.
YMMV.

Fuengi

He can pay through Reverb to hold it and show he is serious. Any issues and he can also be fully refunded. 

Jimbro66

Thanks for the info @Fuengi. Reverb is a great selling platform but their web site can be frustrating at times.

@rlw agreed. If everyone did that Reverb wouldn’t last long. It’s a matter of trust -  and hopefully having some seller/buyer protection. I’m not sure I would want to deal direct with this Particular buyer. I just have a slight uneasiness so prefer that he pays through reverb.

pjf

rlw said:

pjf said:

Doubtless against Reverb rules but if the buyer is collecting in person why not have him/her pay cash/bank transfer on collection and cut the middle man out? I don’t really see what protection Reverb would be offering in that scenario.

It’s not a question of what they’re offering in that scenario but that the OP has used their platform to get the sale and common decency demands that you play by the rules.
YMMV.

I take your point, but I don’t see it as a question of common decency. So far the OP has only used the Reverb website for exposure. He could have achieved the same via a different platform - Gumtree or the classified ads on here - where there’s no payment processing facility, or buyer protection measures, etc, and where common decency wouldn’t demand that OP cut those parties in on the deal.

I agree that when you actually sell through Reverb you pay their fees - can’t say fairer than that! But when you don’t, why should you? Buyers end up having to pay more and/or sellers end up receiving less. Reverb will be just fine because for the vast majority of sales the buyer won’t be close enough to collect and pay in person. But where that is possible, I certainly wouldn’t feel obliged to cut Reverb in due to some overriding sense of common decency. 

Jimbro66 said:

Thanks for the info @Fuengi. Reverb is a great selling platform but their web site can be frustrating at times.

@rlw agreed. If everyone did that Reverb wouldn’t last long. It’s a matter of trust -  and hopefully having some seller/buyer protection. I’m not sure I would want to deal direct with this Particular buyer. I just have a slight uneasiness so prefer that he pays through reverb.

Makes sense. If you prefer not to deal directly with the buyer then that’s of course completely up to you and the Reverb route seems sensible. 

hessodreamy

You can get the buyer to mark it as received while he’s at your house. That prompts reverb to release the funds. Without this I think reverb don’t release your money (or maybe I missed the collect in person option). 

Jimbro66

hessodreamy said:

You can get the buyer to mark it as received while he’s at your house. That prompts reverb to release the funds. Without this I think reverb don’t release your money (or maybe I missed the collect in person option). 

Thanks. I could really do with clarification from @iain.reverb but perhaps he no longer works there? As has been said, there is an option to collect but nowhere on Reverb's web site can I find how you then prove that it's been collected to have payment released. All the Help articles only refer to proving with a tracking number. There has to be a way but Reverb's Help section just sends you round and round in circles!

What do you mean by 'mark it' @hessodreamy ?

Jimbro66

Just as a follow-up for anyone who's interested. I contacted Reverb and they replied as follows (in a nutshell):

If as a seller you check both option boxes in your ad: 'Shipping' and 'Local Pickup', then when a buyer places an order they can choose either option. If they choose Local Pickup they don't pay the shipping charge, just the item cost. After that a 'Mark As Received' button appears on the buyer's Purchases page. When they arrive to collect the item they have to log in to their Reverb account and click on the Mark As Received button before they can take the item away. Heaven knows how you know that they have done that, especially with current social distancing. Anyway, once they have done that Reverb will pay the seller. Unlike PayPal, Reverb's seller/buyer protection scheme seems to still be valid if an item is collected.

So we'll see what happens if/when the guy places his order.

Thanks again to all here who offered advice.