Up from 3.5% to 5% effective Aug 4, 2020. I just got the email from Reverb.
I get that everyone hates an increase and I get that customer service ain’t what it used to be, but holy cow maybe take stock of how good we’ve got it.
Given what happens every time someone realizes the technology to collect sales taxes (that have been on the books for decades) has finally arrived and is being deployed, are you surprised?
IIRC my local music store charges like 30% consignment...I see people all over complaining about this. Lets do some math.
Current fees on a $1000 guitar would go from $35 to $50.
What would it cost you to put it on consignment at your local store that probably no longer exists and gets zero foot traffic if it does? Probably 20%. For the math challenged that’s $200 on a $1000 guitar. And it won’t sell unless the store lists it on freaking Reverb and Ebay which is what they’ll do.
Oh, and there is another world-wide marketplace with lower fees: Ebay, which is still 3.5%.
I get that everyone hates an increase and I get that customer service ain’t what it used to be, but holy cow maybe take stock of how good we’ve got it.
I could assemble a team and build a Reverb and I‘M here to tell you that I wouldn’t do it for less than 10%. Maybe 15.
When everyone walks away and Reverb falls Ebay will just put their fees back to where they were when Reverb disrupted the market.
They have a right to make money for providing a service, and 5% seems pretty reasonable to me.
Actually, i think 5% commission is still very reasonable.