WATCH THIS before buying on Reverb (seriously)

So you've been browsing online to buy a guitar.. and you finally found the one you want to buy..

You go to Sweetwater to compare the price... then Sam Ash... then Guitar Center.. then Ebay...

And then you finally stumble across Reverb.. and you notice that they have the best deal online...

You get excited... real excited... so you finally pull the trigger... and purchase the guitar you've wanted for so long....

BUT then......... WTF.......?

The price is not what you thought it was? In fact.... it's much higher??

This is exactly what happened to me.....

And I will tell you my first Reverb buying experience story...
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[byrong]

Yup. Reverb went to the dumps after they added the double tax rule. And now they increased the sellers fee to 5% from 3.5%. Reverb started out as a great idea that was "catered towards musicians". Now it's just a big money hungry company just like any other major company. Sucks.

[garybranton]

Lol every business adds taxes... a thrift store you pay taxes... that's life.

[mr.e]

The tax isn’t Reverbs fault. That’s imposed on them by federal and state governments. That’s why people have to pay attention when they go to the voting booth.

[ericv]

I avoid the major businesses and try to buy it off actual musicians and individual reverb sellers. Much smoother transactions overall. Plus they usually are easier to negotiate the price too

[mossheaddd]

As a first time buyer I had the same exact surprise, wish they would say it somewhere obvious on the site or before you make an offer

[IsakuKageyama]

TLDR - Doesn’t like paying taxes when buying a used guitar on Reverb.

Title of the video should be “WATCH THIS before buying anything (seriously)” - but hey, you got me to watch so joke’s on me.

[CraigHlavka]

Yea, they used to not have tax. Then, they sent out these nice emails saying how well they've done and they deserve more... Increasing rates..etc. Since then, it's been more hit and miss as far as available items and often you don't save much money if any. But as a seller, I appreciate their discounts on shipping. Though they include the shipping into the total amount you earned.

[OmicronTauKappaClassicDaddy]

I feel your pain. I would agree with your argument about double taxing the sale of used gear for which tax has already been paid on before. Some States do that with inheritance as well for $$ that had already been taxed right? To stay on subject though: Not long ago both Reverb and Ebay generally did not collect Sales Tax unless the seller's State Law required it. A few years back that all changed with a new law. Reverb (as well as Ebay and Sweetwater) are just complying with the new tax law so that they won't be breaking the law. The new law covers all internet sales here in the good ole USA. I don't know about other folks' buying habits but the new law has changed how I purchase guitar gear. I now heavily favor NEW gear in lieu of used because the value of used gear is diminished due to the sales tax. Let's say a pedal is going for $200 brand new and you find a mint condition used one for $160 with shipping included. Sounds good but it really isn't because from the apparent $40 savings you save you will need to take out approx. $13 in tax which leaves you only saving $27 net. If I'm saving less than 20% on used gear compared to new it isn't worth it because I take a RISK buying used from a private seller. It is also a poor deal for the seller that has to chip in $10-$12 for shipping just to compete with the market. So my only USED gear purchases online as of late are either for gear that is otherwise unavailable online (vintage, discontinued, etc.) OR I purchase only at my local small music store for which I don't mind forking over the double tax nearly as much since I'm a patron of that store.

[tikigodsrule]

Actually States were complaining Amazon was not paying them state taxes on sales on residents buying fom them. After Amazon lost all on line stores had to fall in line.

[johnshanesyandtheaccommoda]

Dude message the seller and buy it outside of the site. Most sellers will oblige because they won’t lose 7% of their sale and up to 4% on top
Of that. I bought an amp for 1575 that was listed for 1599. Would’ve paid 1750 and he would’ve got 1350 but he got as nuch as it was listed and I didn’t get taxed. Bro, work the system don’t let it work you.

[arnolds]

its the same thing as buying at a store like guitar center. you gotta pay the taxes either way which is so annoying. reverb is like amazon for music gear

[natureandphysics]

Someone's never heard of sales tax--what?

[CORNPOP]

So messed up. I once owned a 1978 Dodge Diplomat and each year I paid property tax on that POS. Somehow we need to get Trump to stop tax on old shit, dude.

[RByrne]

That's weird that you had to pay the tax. I've bought 2 guitars on Reverb, one a Mint Gibson Les Paul 50s AAA, and a 2008 LP Supreme. The standard he had listed at $3000+$200 shipping(Canadian prices, and he was also located in Canada) so we worked it out to $2900+100 shipping. That's all I laid, $3000Cad. Guitar arrived, and had a couple small blemishes but was pretty much mint, and I was happy.
The Supreme was listed as Excellent, and the guy drove from Montreal to my house in Toronto as he was coming here anyway for business. Of course it was not even close to mint, but any dings and scratches were easily buffed out and now it looks like new. I paid him a reduced amount(due to poorer condition, No shipping), and I didn't get any extra fees. I guess up here we don't get charged taxes on used goods on Reverb, or it comes out of the sellers end. Either way, I try to buy everything in person now, or at the very least talk to the person over the phone and get extra pics. It gives you a good idea on whether or not you can trust their description.

[samiam]

Their prices are insane now(imho). Have looked and looked and everything is overpriced? Very thankful purchased the guitars I did when they started because now no way.

[PeekaPeep]

I NEVER do any actual business on Reverb for some of the reasons you stated in that upload. That is a terrible site to navigate from a customer standpoint. Won't even recognize my go-to Visa debit card for the most basic transactions despite their claim that they do take such forms of payment 😒, plus they seem a little TOO "seller-friendly" for my taste (had a particularly bad experience with one vendor whose attitude was so rotten and despicable in responding to a specific item inquiry I had that I ended up dressing him down proper via e-mail before finally leaving him behind for good 😏). The only silver lining I did find regarding Reverb is that communication between seller and buyer is much easier to deal with compared to other online sites, so much so that I mainly use it just for that purpose nowadays. In the meantime, I usually just stick to my default E-Bay site or go straight to the seller's storefront page if they have one (cut the notorious "middle man" out of Reverb entirely like I did on at least two separate occasions that I can recall 😉) to make my purchases.

[sustainablelifest]

That's how taxes in the us work. Uncle sam takes a cut everytime money changes hands. When you sell that guitar online, they'll get the sales tax, and on and on. Best to sell in person for cash.

[MichaelHolland-wh]

Great video! I agree double dipping is wrong!

[richardburchett]

I got a deal on a new amp there. If they add any extra price for taxes, I'm just going to back out and get it from Sweetwater.

[sadeairbender]

I was thinking about getting a used guitar on Reverb since I wanted an American Standard Strat. Where would you recommend to get a used guitar? I thought about shelling out for the professional but I wanted the medium jumbo frets.