Reverb selling woes...

Philtheguitar

I decided to sign up for a Reverb account to sell a few pedals recently. 

Almost immediately upon listing my 3 items I was inundated with spam messages from chancers clearly trying to basically steal from me. 

Not a good start. 

Then a pedal sells - my TC Electronic Sub N up Mini- and I'm 'paid' immediately. Great stuff, I think to myself, and off I go to get it packaged up and posted.

As I was trying to attract buyers, I offered free postage. Trying to save money I opted for Royal Mail 2nd Class, but without tracking number (big mistake! ).
Upon posting the pedal, I message the buyer - No reply. 
I send more messages over the days,  no replies. 
About 10 days pass, no news, and, no money for me. 

I finally reach out to Reverb Customer service - he says he's not received the pedal. 

I'm fuming  - why is he not replying to me, but is apparently communicating with them? 

I'm blatantly getting scammed here and I'm not having it.

(I do accept that I've probably messed up my end by not getting postage with tracking) 

Anyone with any experience in this area please? 

(Apologies for my terrible writing, I've just had a 24hr journey back from holiday where I got food poisoning and I'm a little bit delirious! )

EDIT - REMOVED DETAILS OF BUYER

strtdv

Unfortunately you're probably stuffed since you sent it without tracking, there's no way of knowing/proving where it is.

Philtheguitar

Yep, noob error by me. I've never ever had an issue selling things on here, and I think I got too trusting in people, forgetting that Reverb is not the same as Fretboard! 
Still, what would the game plan be of this guy then? 
Hope that one day someone doesn't provide tracking, then strike? 
Maybe he genuinely hasn't received it..?

Iamnobody

Philtheguitar said:

Yep, noob error by me. I've never ever had an issue selling things on here, and I think I got too trusting in people, forgetting that Reverb is not the same as Fretboard! 
Still, what would the game plan be of this guy then? 
Hope that one day someone doesn't provide tracking, then strike? 
Maybe he genuinely hasn't received it..?

There’s every chance he didn’t receive it. I used Royal Mail tracked recently and they  still ‘lost’ the parcel. I’d take his name and location off your post as well. If he’s done no wrong he won’t appreciate being flagged as a troublesome buyer. 

Philtheguitar

Iamnobody said:

Philtheguitar said:

Yep, noob error by me. I've never ever had an issue selling things on here, and I think I got too trusting in people, forgetting that Reverb is not the same as Fretboard! 
Still, what would the game plan be of this guy then? 
Hope that one day someone doesn't provide tracking, then strike? 
Maybe he genuinely hasn't received it..?

There’s every chance he didn’t receive it. I used Royal Mail tracked recently and they  still ‘lost’ the parcel. I’d take his name and location off your post as well. If he’s done no wrong he won’t appreciate being flagged as a troublesome buyer. 

Yes, fair play. Done. 

ElectricXII

I sell a lot on eBay and a little on Reverb, and I've very occasionally had stuff go missing with Royal Mail. I always send everything by Royal Mail Tracked 48 and take photos of the item next to the shipping label (bought online) with the packaging, and a further photo of the wrapped parcel with the label, and then another photo of me physically dropping the parcel (if it's of low value) at the Parcel Postbox. For anything worth over £20 I always take to the Post Office.

In your case, it's odd that the buyer didn't contact you before flagging non-receipt to Reverb, and even more suspicious that he's blanking you. As you suspect, he's probably a robbing CU Next Tuesday.

Philtheguitar

ElectricXII said:

I sell a lot on eBay and a little on Reverb, and I've very occasionally had stuff go missing with Royal Mail. I always send everything by Royal Mail Tracked 48 and take photos of the item next to the shipping label (bought online) with the packaging, and a further photo of the wrapped parcel with the label, and then another photo of me physically dropping the parcel (if it's of low value) at the Parcel Postbox. For anything worth over £20 I always take to the Post Office.

In your case, it's odd that the buyer didn't contact you before flagging non-receipt to Reverb, and even more suspicious that he's blanking you. As you suspect, he's probably a robbing CU Next Tuesday.

Oh for sure, he's almost certainly robbing me.

Kultschar

Sold a CXM1978 Reverb pedal in the summer on Reverb under the Excellent condition grade and included pictures of where a scratch was on the side of the pedal.   On receipt of the pedal he claims not as described as he wanted a "new looking one", I told him that he should have looked for one that was categorised as new or mint.   He seemed to pipe down after that only to then a few days later say the pedal was unusable as one of the settings has loads of hiss - it was pretty obvious after this second claim that he had buyers remorse and he demanded a refund.  In the end I just got the pedal back off him as im sure Reverb would have sided with him based on similar crap ive dealt with on eBay.   The pedal arrived back (thankfully not sabotaged) and of course there was no hiss - I sent the idiot a message and he never replied back as I expected.       Ive never had issues on a forum such as this so will stick to selling on places like here etc but of course smaller audience.

LionAquaLooper

I've sold hundreds of items on eBay. Royal Mail have not lost a single one in so many years. Only Evri have ever done that, and I lost my money because it turns out the fine print on Evri's insurance policy makes it nigh impossible for senders to claim for lost or damaged parcels. I'm gonna say your buyer must likely received the pedal. The fact he's gone quiet speaks volumes. 

Philtheguitar

Thanks for the responses everyone. I am going to pursue this with Reverb, though I know it's almost a certainty that I won't get anywhere. 

Perhaps I'll share my email chain with Kevin from Reverb...

TTony

Philtheguitar said:

 though I know it's almost a certainty that I won't get anywhere. 

Unless Reverb grant you some sort of goodwill gesture, it’s not “almost” a certainty.


Can you prove that you sent the pedal?

Wazmeister

Always ALWAYS use Special Delivery

Kittyfrisk

TTony said:

Philtheguitar said:

 though I know it's almost a certainty that I won't get anywhere. 

Unless Reverb grant you some sort of goodwill gesture, it’s not “almost” a certainty.


Can you prove that you sent the pedal?

I got a receipt for every item of any size or value that I have ever sent by Royal Mail via a post office, recorded delivery or not.
Kept the receipt until delivery was confirmed then got rid.
Such a receipt must count as proof of postage?

TTony

Kittyfrisk said:

Such a receipt must count as proof of postage?

It’s about the best that the sender can do.

It proves that something was sent, though, if you cast your mind back to the famed “photographer”, you could post anything and still get a receipt.


Which really just highlights the risks - to both buyers and sellers - in online marketplace transactions.  There are so many ways in which one party could scam the other, or either/both could think they’ve been scammed when a genuine problem - like lost packages - occurs.

Kittyfrisk

TTony said:

Kittyfrisk said:

Such a receipt must count as proof of postage?

It’s about the best that the sender can do.

It proves that something was sent, though, if you cast your mind back to the famed “photographer”, you could post anything and still get a receipt.


Which really just highlights the risks - to both buyers and sellers - in online marketplace transactions.  There are so many ways in which one party could scam the other, or either/both could think they’ve been scammed when a genuine problem - like lost packages - occurs.

I agree, that's why I would send valuable items by special or recorded delivery.
 I was just making the point that the receipt has details of the tariff for sending, thus giving an approximate size & weight of an item. Might help if a sympathetic agent was looking into the case.  Clutching at straws I know, but worth a try  

JezWynd

I think even items sent via Royal Mail 2nd Class are insured up to £20. The PO receipt has a unique number which should at least inform you whether the item has been delivered.

supes

I sell quite a bit on ebay and a bit less on reverb. I use 2nd class parcels for quite a few low value items. The receipt you get has a number you can enter in tracking - it doesn't let you "track" the parcel, but if you keep checking it, it does show when it's delivered. It's saved me a couple of times from lowlifes wanting the item and their money back. Ebay have always found in my favour. You can enter that number into "tracking" on both Ebay and Reverb. 

DavidR

ElectricXII said:

I sell a lot on eBay and a little on Reverb, and I've very occasionally had stuff go missing with Royal Mail. I always send everything by Royal Mail Tracked 48 and take photos of the item next to the shipping label (bought online) with the packaging, and a further photo of the wrapped parcel with the label, and then another photo of me physically dropping the parcel (if it's of low value) at the Parcel Postbox. For anything worth over £20 I always take to the Post Office.

In your case, it's odd that the buyer didn't contact you before flagging non-receipt to Reverb, and even more suspicious that he's blanking you. As you suspect, he's probably a robbing CU Next Tuesday.

What a sad reflection of modern society that you have to do all that @ElectricXII ;

FelineGuitars

I thought that you had to provide a tracking number to get paid by Reverb at all, so would make it a necessity. Sorry that you have encountered a problem sale.

boogieman

Unless I’m selling to a known regular on here I always assume there’s someone waiting to rip me off over a sale. So take as many precautions as you can; like sending things tracked and properly insured, also take photos of the parcel and keep the postage receipts. You still won’t always beat the scammers but at least it gives you a better chance of getting some or all of your money back. 

Philtheguitar

OK, humble pie time. I'm not being 'robbed' or scammed - there's been a miscommunication and we're working to resolve it. I chatted with the customer and he seems pretty genuine. Most of the responsibility lies with me on this one - hey, every day is a school day I guess. 

Remains to be seen if the pedal ever makes it to him or not, and if I end up being out of pocket, but ultimately I just want to put this all behind me now!