Reverb Scammers - Don't Ship To Delaware
Вставка
- Опубліковано 29 вер 2021
- Baxter and Jonathan talk about a specific place where scammers like to have you ship your guitar.. New Castle Delaware! The home of all sorts of scams on ebay , reverb and craigslist. New Castle Delaware is one of the hubs of internet fraud.
Casino should make 'this piano will not be returned' t-shirts
Awesome idea , I’d buy one.
I love that idea 💡!!!
Thats pretty slimy that Reverb takes a cut on the entire amount but only covers you for $2500.
I am sure it is because if they advertised the upper limit that they would cover a seller for, they wouldn't get any listings above that amount! that also seems to be why they told him "this buyer is great, go ahead!" because they hoped that it would go through, if even there was a tiny chance. if it went through, they get the cut, if it gets stolen, then they are out nothing, so no risk to them!
I agree. pretty slimy!
I believe that is the limit on International orders. The domestic USA limit appears to be $10,000.
Wait a second, isn’t reverb supposed to have no risk of credit card fraud to sellers, as long as shipping to right address?
@@abubakr6939 only up to £2500 more than that and it's down to your own insurance.
I agree. Total BS that they take a cut off the payment processing.
Once Reverb got bought out the Customer Service got nonexistent. I don’t ship and will cancel an order in a minute if it seems remotely sketchy these days.
That is a great policy unfortunately
So this is something that is a byproduct of Etsy’s takeover? And they had the nerve to raise fees?
Yep, protect yourself because no one else is going to. On reverb most sellers are small businesses or individuals so getting burned for a guitar, amp, etc... it's a huge set back. It's a shame how many scumbag thieves are taking advantage of people. I think paying the shipping to send them a gig bag full of 💩 would be funnny af
@@seanc.5310 Agreed and if anyone catches said scumbags practicing their horrid craft they should be made known to the rest of us.Said scumbags that specialise in hitting the Guitar community are getting more and more numerous. Rogues galleries with scammers aliases and other identifying methods should be added to Reverb and other platforms so they can be checked against the list which should be constantly updated. I fkn hate thieves, chop their hands off.
@@fongy200 sounds good to me!
"how's the relic on that piano"? I died laughing!!!
Relic my Steinway !
I have a relic'd piano already:)
It's sweet
It's a Murphy labs relic'd piano.
It's a very good piano.
@@beatmasterbossy oh my that had me giggling!
Baxter got so mad one time, he combed his hair.
He could get a comb through that?
Ouch…:)
No he didn’t
Never happened
What I learned from this is that I should never use Reverb to sell anything. Their actions indicate that the seller is merely a source of revenue, and has no other value.
Reverb Rep didn't even do the minimum effort & lied. 😡
you can choose not to sell on Reverb, yet a lot of stuff is bought and sold there. But that does not mean you are an expert on buy/sell of used gear....
@@DougHinVA calm down man. I never claimed to be an expert and I do choose not to sell on Reverb. If you do and are happy, good for you. Have a great day.
That's not what they said. Reverb is the best marketplace out there for instruments. What they said was if Reverb can be invaded by these crooks, you really need to be aware.
Delaware? More like unaware… I had no idea about the $2500 limit on Reverb coverage. Thanks for pointing that one out.🤠
That bullet which you dodged is probably lodged very deeply in a heavily-reliced piano
wow this video just saved me from a messy situation, was getting ready to send a guitar to 1140 address in DE, total scam address. Thank you so much guys!!!
Same!!!!
@@markposillico4851 Seriously?Wow man, fkn lucky. So glad you didn't get stung.
So basically when reverb got bought by etsy they got all of etsy's scammers too.
I wonder reverbs old owners ever even actually got paid for for the transaction, or if they foolishly accepted a shady money order situation.
Glad to see you guys educating people on how widespread this is. I'm a sales manager for an online retail company and I catch and cancel about $10k a day in fraudulent orders. It gets sooo old!
Thank you so much for the tip on this, and especially the limit of Reverb’s liability. Yes, there are a ton of thieves who leverage the power of the internet to scam everyone that that they can. So glad you didn’t lose the guitar. Good work on realizing it was a scammer on the other end.
Thank you, guys for bringing this up. Over time, I've developed "rules" about buying and selling online. I don't typically buy acoustic guitars on Ebay, I don't buy from anyone who says, "I don't play guitar, so I can't vouch of the condition of the instrument..." -or- I'm selling this guitar for my brother, dad, etc. I also like to analyze the ads to check that language you guys were talking about @ (7:21). Side note, a guy on Reverb: White Shag Guitars shop sends a video before he packs up the guitar. I've bought several from him, great deals too. Sorry for the long comment; you guys really struck a nerve on this one!
Agree with most of your points. Would like to add, in regards to those who are selling for someone else. There tend to be two types from my experience. Those who are legit, a brother , friend , etc. Usually selling for someone else since they know the Guitar (gear), are experienced player with knowledge of the item, helping out where they can. When this happens, found it's great having someone who knows what they're talking about. Usually the person is involved because something has happened to the owner (illness, death, etc) , therefore lending a hand at time of need. Then there are the "scammers" folks saying they're selling for a friend etc. In reality it's an easy answer to give when they know Nothing about the gear. Highly suspect, at which point I figure the gear is stolen or tis some other sort of scam... Run and run away fast!!
I recently came in contact with a buyer on reverb who was looking to purchase my listing for a Lowden acoustic and had the EXACT same Delaware address as the one your refer to in this vid. I avoided a seriously bad situation thanks to your content. Much appreciated !!!
As always very informative and a great topic to deep dive into guys! As a lefty, I have almost exclusively bought and sold stuff through Reverb and or eBay (less on eBay, for a multitude of reasons), and I'm so glad you referenced that the buyer protection on Reverb DOESN'T cover the total cost on an extremely expensive guitar. Truly ridiculous for the fees they're charging to insure your sale...anyway. Great video as always.
I have absolutely dealt with similar stuff on Reverb and eBay. I’m definitely shocked at how not helpful Reverb was! That’s HUGELY upsetting. The wire transfer is really good advice. Thanks for helping me to avoid pitfalls. Great video!
You got it and sorry to hear you had the same issues, tricky out there!
A wire transfers a lot of risk to the buyer. As a buyer I would only consider a wire to a reputable business and not an individual.
@@DrFearCo Unfortunately there is a lot of risk doing business online, and everyone - buyers and sellers alike - wants to minimize their exposure. I can't blame anyone but scammers and thieves for that.
“Piano” is the Chinese word for pretty much any musical instrument. I learned this in the Shanghai Ukulele Group as the token LaoWei. Since we only ever talk about ukuleles, the Chinese word for Uke and piano get used interchangeably.
Fun ExPat stories..,
Very helpful comments, guys. I can feel Baxter's pain with dishonest people. Still, sharing these experiences helps us all. Appreciate it!
Hey guys, great video. Thanks for watching out for us individuals that don't work at or own a music store. Great insider info. I had some bad experiences on Craigslist over 10 years ago, but caught on quick so no harm done. Reverb has been good to me so far and I have bought and sold a lot there. But thanks for the flags, I will definitely watch out for these things. Much love, peace out.
This is why I simply won't buy a guitar from overseas.
I got burned on an online sale once. ONCE.
Fortunately, he was US-based store and dependent on his online sales too. I was able to sue him under my state's long arm statute, take default judgment, and levy on his PayPal and AMEX accounts.
Also, being a collections attorney helped.
Blues lawyer to the rescue!!!!
@@smelltheglove2038 What can I say? I'm a lawyer. I like the blues. And yes, I do have several Les Pauls.
@@MatthewBaron haha, fair enough. I’m blues welder. Build ships all day(or really sit around waiting for fitters to do their jobs) play the blues all night. Unfortunately, I only have purchased one Les Paul. Fortunately my old man gave me his ‘81 custom and bought me an American strat when I was 10 back in ‘93. The only three guitars I will never sell.
@@smelltheglove2038my first Les Paul was a shitty Les Paul Firebrand my dad gave me for my birthday. He had bought it from a pawn shop back in 1988 for $200. Except for a beater American Series Strat I picked up cheap because of bad wiring, I'm strictly Gibson (the New England Patriots of guitars).
this video made me all kinds of mad. I don't like seeing anyone get ripped off. And I don't like hearing about guitars getting stolen either.
I am glad that they didn't ship.
Folks, if something about a transaction doesn't seem right, don't go through with the deal. I say that as someone who's been buying and selling guitars since the days of Craigslist and eBay.
Great to hear you are coming out on top there! Thanks a ton for sharing!
You guys are on it, thanks. We need more cats like you guys to keep the guitar community safe.
I had this happen with my own store. Sold a 1958 bassman on reverb going to Delaware. The moment the tracking showed that the package was moving, they charged it back through PayPal, and basically my amp was my way to them for free. Thank God FedEx was able to reroute the shipment back to me. Took 47 days for it to get back to me, but it came back. A lot of people aren't so lucky.
I used to work for a mail order firm.
We had this happen a lot.
Half of the time we could call FedEx give them a tracking number and tell them to send it back to us and they would do it no problem.
The other half of the time they would act like we had just asked them to rob a bank and it would be impossible to route our package back to us.
You have actually given the greatest piece of advice in your video. Only accept a wire transfer, nothing else.
On the seller side, the money is transferred instantly, and most banks have now a phone app that notifies you of the operation almost instantaneously.
On the buyer side, you get the name, address, bank branch address. That means you get a lot of verifiable parameters. You cannot open a bank account without producing some verifiable credentials. In the USA, you need to provide a Social Security Number.
A scammer will not be able to provide you with a US bank account matching his name and delivery address.
Great video, guys!
For everyone else, if you are dealing at all with high dollar instruments, I highly recommend getting third party instrument insurance. It's not that expensive for the protection you get. There are a few really good insurance companies that specialize in this. They can also cover your personal collection. Most people don't realize that most homeowner's or renter's policies have very low limits of coverage on musical instruments.
Great subject, needs to be highlighted, been through it a few times over 20 years of selling on Ebay and Reverb. As eloquently pointed out in your video, if the slightest thing is off about the offer, the communications, the buyer stats, the red flags are usually obvious, trust your instincts, WALK AWAY! Next weeks video, bizarre buyers who deliberately break guitars upon delivery and immediately file a complaint, just because.....
Wow, thanks for making this video, really. I sincerely miss the old Reverb, ever since they were bought by Etsy I've had my guard up. And thieves like this are the reason I stopped selling guitars on Craigslist, too.
Thank you for a really great lesson, we all know its a mad world out there but what you’ve shared takes it to another level. I Really appreciate you guys, we have to stick together in this business, whether your a hobbyist or pro or a retailer, we are all part of this guitar community and its great to know we have friends like y’all.
I remember buying and selling stuff as a consumer on reverb back in 2015 when the site was smaller and I always had good experiences. Now days I’d rather sell through consignment with a local shop. I may get less for it, but I don’t have to worry about the online scammers and companies that’ll do nothing to reimburse you for the full price of guitars.
You'll get A LOT less. Reverb is still be best out there. Just need to use common sense.
as a buyer on Reverb and Ebay, my experience as been 99 percent positive, but I am a very reluctant seller. Thanks for the advice
Thanks for this video. I just sold my drumset on reverb. The address is in Delaware. Even though they submitted their payments they have sent me odd shipping request. I was completely ready to ship. Glad I watched this.
Wow, never had an issue selling my gear on eBay or now Reverb. Thanks for the heads up guys!
A few years back I had an offer on a PRS DGT I was selling. The shipping address was not residential. I inquired about it and the guy said that the guitar was then going to be forwarded out of the country. I said no dice and after watching this, I am glad I trusted my gut on that one!
I would like to see Reverb reply here…
They don’t care.. They really don’t.
Thank-you for covering this topic. Buying and selling online is scary!!!!
this is a great video thanks for sharing. I had a similar experience through reverb but i was sent a bank draft which worrying will initially clear as it takes the bank roughly 3 working days to reject it at which stage you are out of a guitar. I happened to delay shipping the guitar as i thought it was a scam and pinged the person who was buying the guitar and asked them if they were excited to get their Gibson when i was selling a fender. they fell for it and i knew it was a scam but they insisted the money would clear once i lodged it i then told them i would not ship for 5 working days as the bank thought the draft was fake and i had gone to the police etc and i never heard from them again.
I had this same exact experience on reverb with probably the same address in Delaware. 1140 something or other street with an apartment #. It was supposedly a warehouse but I couldn’t really find it on google maps. The proposed buyer seemed a little sketchy but he had around 100 5 star reviews over the previous several years and was quick to communicate. I contacted reverb about my suspicions of it being a scam and they told me the payment was 100% verified and safe but I was welcome to cancel if I had reservations. It was a $1300 guild jumbo that I stood to make a little profit on and really didn’t want to cancel. I combed through the buyers feedback and contacted a seller that had sold to my buyer in the past. He said everything went fine with his sale and he never heard another word from the buyer. I went ahead and shipped the guitar and have never heard another word from the buyer. I’ll say that I was extremely nervous about the whole thing, but apparently this address in Delaware is legit and is a forwarding service to ship goods overseas. My buyer was located in China. There is, however, scamming involved with the same address, so do your due diligence before shipping.
Exactly! There might be the cases with scamming but there are also legit cases. The Delaware warehouses is the only way for us overseas buyers to buy products from US marketplaces, since they don't ship to these countries directly.
Very good information to have. Thanks for the heads up on the scams.👍
Very interesting. Thanks guys. I’ve sold quite a bit on Reverb and it’s all worked out. Last piece was near $5k which I will admit made me a little nervous. I thought I was protected by Reverb as they worked as the middle man and give you the ok to ship once they have received to money. I guess it goes a little deeper. Time to read the small print (which let’s face it how many people do).
That makes me happy to hear Dave! We have had overwhelmingly positive experiences but enough to count on two hands now that are quite rough as well.
Keep going and keep safe out there...and read the fine print just in case:)
I would put Reverb in a class pretty close to our late friend Bernie Madoff.
I thought the 2500 was international only. I recall it was 10000 domestic. Maybe they've changed it
As a Delaware resident, it bums me out to hear all this.
Same here
You think you got it bad? Imagine being a Nigerian Prince.
@@charlesrense5199 hahahaha!
@@charlesrense5199 Oh man. What a gold comment.
I quit reverb. Sold a kemper, guy had it week and half, left feedback saying he loved it, then claims it shipped broken. Reverb said they sent proof, which was a screen shot the guy sent of other kemper reverb ads. They tried charge my debit back but we already called bank and gave them a run down and keybank refused. They tried (reverb) to ship it back cod but I know my ups driver and he refused it for me, they ended up banning my account for scamming. I was a preferred seller with dozens of positive feedback. Oh well. I paid thousands in fees, bought tens of thousands in gear, this dude has 2 to this day purchases, one of which was my kemper.. their loss!
As an independent seller that just started a home guitar and pedal business, I absolutely appreciate this. Thank you!
Complicated stuff can happen in person too… I once went to pickup a guitar Gibson LP and was clearly fake … I am not sure if the guy was sincere but he got extremely upset when I suggested I had my doubts, ( even thou I had no doubts…) and became quite aggressive on his ways when tried to back down …) I then tried to play along offering a tele on exchange as part of the deal, I show the guy a picture of the tele , his face light up He asked me to bring the guitar … to close the deal :) never back again , the add was removed rather quickly afterwards…. So it’s a mean world out there
I've only seen a couple undisclosed fakes for sale locally where I'm at. One stands out because I went to look at a Charvel, which was legit, but I brought up an obvious fake Ibanez JEM that was also posted. Pretty sure these 2 guys had posted it...they glanced at each other and tried to convince me that the JEM was real and that JEMs were known to ship in pieces like a kit. LOL. I own a JCraft JEM and I'm pretty damned sure no one would ever get one of those sent to them in 'Kit' form LMAO. The "JEM" post was gone shortly after, hope no one bought that thing thinking it was a real Ibanez JEM. JEM Kit LOL
@@kennethh2430 i don’t know if I did ok reporting the add but to be honest it took 3. Days for the service platform to remove it … this may very well sold and someone out there babysitting a Chinese les Paul …. It’s a pity this services don’t take responsibility on their ads too, but I agree is difficult for both ends seller and buyer.
Facebook Marketplace may be the worst offender of them all. My favorites are the angry girlfriend/ex-wife ones where it is clearly obvious (at least to me) that the guitar being sold by the angry woman is a total fake. The ads are usually something like "I kicked my ex to the curb and he had to give me half of his guitars in the divorce. I don't know anything about guitars but he said it is worth a lot of money. Make me an offer."
I troll those people to no end. Then I report them.
Thank you for this video! Just saved me from being scammed. Just was in process of selling an item and then the buyer was asking me to ship to freight forwarder in New Castle DE! This exact scam! Shameful. Luckily I watch you guys. Love what you do, always appreciate seeing you guys chat about guitar and gear.
The problem with you and other sellers with similar views is that instead of looking into each case individually and REALLY checking the buyer, you generalize all the cases, thinking the whole world outside US consists of scams. How pathetic!
@@blazymolds7495 Actually I didn't generalize. I offered the buyer (probably you BM?) a chance to provide a different address that I would have shipped to. They insisted I use the same address (which has many reviews on google saying they were scammed from that exact address!). I wasn't comfortable with that and said so to the buyer before cancelling the deal. There were plenty of chances for the "buyer" to show they were legit and they didn't. What doesn't make sense is why if it wasn't a scam, they would buy my used item AND pay for shipping outside the country when they could have ordered the same item NEW from any number of retailers probably with free shipping for about the same price than buying my item. If I ship to a freight forwarder, and then it's sent out of the country, what protection does a seller have if the deal goes bad? Do you realistically think it's possible to even get my item back in such a case, that it would be possible to track it down in some other country? Get real. This isn't about generalizing, this about not doing deals you aren't comfortable with, especially when there are red flags and issues.
I really appreciate your passion behind the industry, gentlemen. 😊
When a man with a massive beard shakes his head no, you know its a bad idea.
Holding some guy in a headlock, whose face is slowly turning purple, "I do believe, sir, that you have by genuine mistake failed to pay for said guitar currently in your increasingly weakening hands and, while I am certain that was not your intention, I feel we should discuss this in more detail back inside the store.... blink twice if you understand me?"
That made me smile!
Other way around can happen on Reverb, as well. Guitar being sold from Japan. Put in a PayPal payment on the guitar and it never shipped. Did some digging...the entire profile, PayPal, Reverb, gmail, etc. Was only a few weeks old. Luckily, Reverb put a stop to the sale and returned my money. So, do some digging and know who you are buying from, as well! Also, and this p#$@%d me off, Reverb dinged ME for stopping the sale, even though they admitted it was probably fraud. They warned me if I stopped 2 more sales, I'd be booted from the system. What a joke?!?! And, thanks guys!! I'd love to buy a guitar from you one day!!
Great video- again looking out for the legitimate guitar community! Still feel for Robby Z. Rock on guys
So I bought two guitars (one, with shipping, was right over that $2500 mark) on Reverb from a seller in Spain. Prior history suggested the guy was a little slow sometimes and a little undercommunicative, but did deliver. One guitar was a Duesenberg prototype, and they had a photo of it on IG on their wall. The designer had previously had it on his shop wall, and mentioned their shop on his blog. So, sounds legit. I get a non-traceable tracking number from a shipping company I'd never heard of (and I've shipped stuff to more than 40 countries and bought from an equal number). Two weeks later, I get a tracking number from a different company, but following it over time, there's no evidence the guitar was picked up or ever left Spain. After waiting another couple of weeks, I started contacting Reverb support. Just got the $ back, finally, yesterday, and that was almost a week past the 60-day mark. I don't know what happened, but they've definitely trashed their reverb rep based on the recent reviews. And yes, they're still selling.
Sorry to y'all 😂....guess what!
I was able to recover my funds through the service of this recovery expert after been scammed by them .....You're a Lifesaver
You are legit! Don’t excuse yourself for being cautious and thorough! 🤘🎸🤘
I'm picturing Baxter in the big jacket, and the David Byrne vibes are making me smile
Great video... I just sold my first two guitars on Reverb. Everything went well, but this information is great advice. Robby Z
That's exactly why I stopped selling through Reverb after 10 year run, siding with buyers after UPS/Fed Ex clearly damaged guitars. ETSY screwed it up royally. Used to enjoy visiting with the original Reverb team at NAMM.
The OG of Reverb was fantastic! They still could come back if enough folks are heard...maybe, or maybe the bottom line is the end all be all here. Thanks a ton for sharing!
@@CasinoGuitars Love you guys! Great fun. Reverb has made me really appreciate my local musicians and we sell/trade with each other which is that organic thing we all did. back in high school like trading my Les Paul for your SG 😁
@@eljefeguapobarbon so I'm assuming you didn't pay the extra $10-$15 for the safe shipping then? Because if it was damaged they cover it with no questions asked. Really quite simple unless you're over the $2500 limit. In that case, just insure it through UPS or FedEx...
Thank you fellas, for this information, i am in the U.K. and will try to pass news this around, the community. ✌
Thanks for the heads up!! I had a scary experience with reverb. Bought a expensive pedal and was suppose to have it in 3 days! Turned into a week,into three weeks! I finally received it but definitely thought I had been screwed! If it doesn’t feel rite,just don’t do it!! I got lucky!
Thanks for the heads up! I've bought a lot via Reverb without any issues, but only sold a handful of smaller items (mainly pedals, also without issue). BUT, I have a guitar or 2 I'm planning to sell, so I'll keep my wits about me during the process and BEWARE OF DELAWARE! lol
Not totally scam related, but last 2 guitars shipped to me using FedEx, one from Reverb and one from Sweetwater, both ended up "missing" for a couple days in transit. That is all on FedEx. Last year I had a Gibson branded Les Paul case ordered show up at my house 3 months after the order was deemed lost. That was USPS. I really don't like shipping anymore. Part of the reason for my recent visit to pick up a guitar there at Casino.
thanks for sharing this. that's brutal!
I'm not waiting 6 years for a guitar to be made that's ridiculous
relics are overrated and overpriced! fools and their money
Get some sandpaper and make your own. There's honestly not much skill required to produce a respectable relic. Anyone who says different is a hipster D-Bag trying their best to justify a seriously stupid purchase...
For a tele at that. In 6 years you can bang out a tele in your garage with nothing more than a hacksaw and sandpaper.
@@retroquest3579 let’s see a convincing relic you’ve done.
My store had a transaction that started in Reverb but then we allowed the transaction off the platform. Don't do that- 3 months later a PayPal return was started, and PayPal sided with the customer "return or partial refund" we said fine return it- didn't get back our 1956 Martin. Got back a "Shard" direct from a Chinese factory.
Dude that is brutal. Never go off site.
I bought a PRS on Reverb recently, but was sweating out until I got it. I will buy only in person now. Nice jacket Johnathan!
Thanks Baxter & Jonathan, I recently sold like 60 items on reverb (pedals, amps, guitars, tubes, etc….) and I seriously needed to listen to this episode.
I’m about to build another cab and list that too, Nick’s Shred Shoppe, custom speaker cabs
I haven’t had any issues on Reverb, but I have not shipped to Delaware, and refuse to ship anywhere outside of the US
You’re right about us, southern boys we don’t take kindly to strangers trying to get over on us , especially those f*ckers from (country deleted)
Wow. What an eye opener. I'm building my website now. Wire transfer it is. Thanks my man.
As someone that lives in Delaware, this sucks.
Ha! Just made a comment about how I’m glad I left. Well not really, because I’m in NJ now, just in this case.
Just the scammers have figured out a way to trick the system unfortunately.
Hey there, what's the shell pink Strat with reverse slanted bridge pickup in the background?
Thank you for sharing this.
Some very good points and clearly made. That's experience talking. I buy and sell a lot via Reverb & eBay but also a huge amount through private sales on FB Marketplace...this is even more dangerous. If it's over £200 I straight-up ask for a photo of their ID. If they get funny about it I just shut it down. They ask why? I just tell them it's so, if there's any problems, I can swing by their house hahaha.
The real thing is to just double check everything and *trust your gut*. If it looks like an asshole, and smells like an asshole...chances are it's a goddamn asshole - so don't get shit on.
Reverb is a joke now, used to be great. I bought some gear that arrived broken and the goods were fake. Worked with the manufacturer to validate the authenticity of the product who advised it was fake. Seller’s attitude was BS telling me to leave negative feedback. Reverb “support “ didn’t help and told me to take it up with my card company. Have not used them since and will never again. Great show as well.
Wonder if you could use a third party escrow service for high dollar music instrument transactions as they do with some other items
I was just looking on your website and I don’t see a piano for sale. I am seriously interested in a relic piano. While we are at it can you get me a relic accordion?
All the more reason to work with and support your local shop.
I had an experience last week that made me laugh so hard, but at the same time was not funny for the people involved.
A guy was selling a vintage Gibson SJ200 for around 6000$ CAD. They were located in Rimouski, Canada. I asked to talk to the guy on the Phone. When he called me, his phone number showed in Montreal. First red flag.
When he called, he had a strong Haitian accent. Suspicious. There is no Haitian community in Rimouski that I am aware of (it’a up north east)
The guy said that guitars was his passion. Started to ask question on the guitar, and the guy didn’t know what a bridge was 🤣. Big red flag.
Asked for his address in order to calculate shipping myself. The address was a dump. Red flag again.
Then I asked for an ID. The guy sent me a piece of ID with a picture of a white fat guy 🤣🤣
Man, that cracked me up big time. At the same time, that piece of ID was ligit. Which means that it was stolen from someone at some point.
Last, I asked him to send me a video of him playing so that I could hear the guitar. He sent me a video of a random guy with a beard playing the same model.
Needless to say that I did not transfer him the money. 🤣🤣
When I buy guitars from people on Reverb, Kijiji or Facebook Market, I always ask to talk to them. If it’s a shop, I call in.
So far, I’ve only had good experiences by doing so.
OK. to tie this video into the video from yesterday about people being all pissy about what a guitar shop is willing to pay to buy their used guitar - part of what you’re paying for when you “give up” 30-40% of the “value” of your guitar to sell it to the shop is not having to deal with all this stuff. You walk into the shop with a guitar, and leave with cash or a check. You’re done. And you don’t have to worry that the check’s no good, or the credit card charge will be reversed, or that the buyer will claim that he/she never got the guitar, or that buyer decides to return your Fender Custom Shop reliced Strat (or piano) and what you get back via return UPS is a box with a cheap cheap cheap made in China imitation of a MIM Strat. In pieces. That's worth something.
Great video guys. Thank you
I am really learning alot from this video and the comments.
Good general advice here that applies beyond just selling guitars.
Solid advice. Thank you!
Never sold on reverb but have bought several. Always pay thru reverb so money is secured before shipment. Have shipped to my work. No problems.
Thank you guys. I have been reporting low ball fender custom shop guitars. I report around 10 every week. There is a listing for a Stratocaster for over $300000. It originally sold for under $2000. Total scam. I tried to report it and it has not been taken down. My solution for this is I listed my Stratocaster for the same price explaining that the other guitar is a scam. I will do whatever I can to help out musicians.
I’ll also add, meeting in person via reverb is super sketchy. They can pick up the guitar and then say they never got it.. I had to make the guy log onto reverb and acknowledge receipt and leave feedback as proof of receipt. And i got them to sign a bill of sale paperwork I created. It was a $2k+ custom bass..
I’ve had a few issues on reverb I bought a guitar from a dude in Japan and when I got to my house it was in two shoeboxes taped together it took weeks of trying to get a refund and video of what I received versus what I’ve seen on reverb one that I was settling on an amount and then having to take to Guitar to a luthier to be built and repaired reverb doesn’t care
Michael I am sorry to hear that...what a bummer of a situation. We have a friend going through something similar as well.
We hope through enough voices they may try to fix some of their issues along the way.
Good advice here for sellers. I only buy stuff from actual shops on reverb. I've been burned from a couple private sellers marking items in excellent condition not showing pics of the damage. Only to show up in good, then saying its excellent for something 20 years old. Refusing the return and then I have to get Reverb involved.
I have that issue with people bringing me used gear to purchase. They will call and tell me that they have the finest, cleanest, most perfect gear I've ever seen in my life for sale and they'd like me to give them an estimate. Bring it down and let's see what we can do.
I literally had a lady go berserk on me because I had to be the one to inform her that her father's no name (blank headstock, no S/N, No sticker in the soundhole, nuttin'), water damaged (I hope it was water), cracked top and sides, broken tuners and stringless guitar... Lovingly stored in the crappiest decaying chipboard case I've ever seen, tucked away in the hay loft of the barn was for all intents and purposes worthless. It wouldn't even make good firewood because the fumes would be horrifically toxic. And with all the pigeon s*** (yes... I SWEAR to you it's had bird shit on the case!) dolloped on the case was indeed festive and its appearance, the odor and acidity have given us a genuine peak into what hell itself would smell like.
She went full Karen on me. Her father's precious family heirloom would be taken elsewhere and she would tell all of her friends that she did her absolute best to shop local but was not only refused custom, she was insulted and belittled and the owner of said rinky dink so-called "shop" (I run my business from home. It's advertised that way) besmirched her father's precious memory and Legacy.
If his memory and Legacy were so damn important why was his most prized possession, so you say, stored in this fashion? And more importantly.... Why are you selling something that you claim is a personal family treasure? You drive a nicer car than I do.
I was as nice and as gentle as I could be to this lady. She was the poster child of what 30 years of Prozac does to the human brain and personality. I suggested she go to Guitar Center.
All of the folks in my area that own local music shops are friends of mine and even though friendly competition is present, they don't deserve that sort of horror.
Great sound information.
I feel really stupid asking this but I havnt had tons of experience selling online, some but not tons. But, how do you as the seller get ripped off? I get the loot then I send the merch right? Is it some kind of way that it makes it look like they sent the money and its in you paypal when they diddnt?
I haven’t experienced a scam with an online sale, but I haven’t shopped online through, except retail, in a very long time.
The only time I’ve been scammed out of music gear is from lending gear or leaving it somewhere where it’s supposed to be safe and secure. I don’t loan out anything or leave anything anywhere and I don’t care how you feel about that!
I’m so paranoid and neurotic anyway that I doubt I’ll ever buy anything used from an individual unless it’s in person in a safe place, and I usually don’t sell my gear
Hi guys, interesting video. I'm from Australia. Gretsch & Fender have their own distributor co here and Gibson is through a 3rd Party Distributor. Both of these distributors are slow in releasing new products and we have a snowball's chance in hell of buying some in demand Limited Editions that these cos. will release in USA. That might be why you are contacted and then using a 3rd party to get it into Australia. We can't get those same models in Australia.
Remember Casino and other retailers ship a lot more than most of us. For the everyday person, have personal conversation about guitars and use your ‘spidey senses’, and turn your emotional desire to sell ‘off’.
When in doubt slow down the sales process! My favorites sale was to Italy and had amazing chat with a lady on a deal that made no sense with the shipping. Learned she was just a huge Brian May fan and he played a similar 1979 Ovation on some track.
While I bought one guitar on reverb and had no issues I have heard several people talk about having major issues both buying and selling. Multiple people that I have talked to that have purchased guitars on there have either received fake guitars or not received anything. A few that have sold guitars on there have talked about shipping guitars to buyers and having the payment bounce back. In both situations Reverb did not want to help and it was a struggle for the people to get help. So it is not just sellers that are getting screwed and because of that I will not buy another guitar on reverb. Also there are a ton of videos on youtube about how bad Reverb has gotten.
Getting smarter… And y’all helped!🤠
Thank you for this info.
The turtle and the walrus have spoken! They really care and know their stuff!
Coo-coo-ka-choo!
The walrus was paul 👀
I bought a used mic pre last year on reverb and one of the opamps went bad 2 days after the return period, conveniently. Looked into getting the part, messaged the seller, who agreed to cover the cost, then ghosted me. Reverb gave me a $40 reverb credit when the opamp was almost 90
shipped
Thanks for the info!
It's good to know there are people like you guys in this burning dumpster called earth that still have good morales.
In Canada, our Delaware is Montreal. Google earth is great. Check where your package is going, look at the house and street. Port cities are bad as it’s a direct link to a ship headed overseas. If the sale feels weird, 98% of the time it is!!! Interesting about Reverb. I didn’t know they cover so little, thanks for the info!!
I had an issue with a buyer, but the most frustrating part of the entire situation was trying to get Reverb to respond on the Chat function. They just blew me off.
You guys are Great and Thank God you didn’t ship that guitar….
I had someone who bought a guitar from me on Reverb want a $250 partial refund because he didn’t like the tone when the tone pot was turned all the way down, claiming the guitar was not as described.
You can't fix stupid
In my experience it is stressful enough shipping an expensive piece of gear to a buyer you are having good communication with. I really hope I don't have to go through that again too soon. Reverb and Ebay has to change their policies to make things fair for the seller, too.
Getting overloaded with scam buyers over the last month. Very frustrating!
Same thing happened to me last week while trying to sell a Gibson J-45. Same SF Express address in New Castle DE. There were a few red flags. I canceled the sale.