My first sale on reverb….

steviejr92

steviejr92

Authorized Vendor
So guys I hope this doesn’t look like advertising just thought I’d share my experience with my first ever sale on Reverb. I happened to sell the Shelly I made not too long ago which is a clone of the Julia chorus. Let me tell you I was ecstatic at the sale and seeing that little order notification next to my listing! I started dancing like Phil Anselmo in the “Im broken” video out of excitement…..then I saw all the fees 👀
I probably stared at the screen for 30 min trying to figure if all those fees were real!
Things are not so sweet on this side huh? I still made a decent profit though. This is going to be a learning experience! Now I see what you guys are going through! 🙃
 
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steviejr92 said:
So guys I hope this doesn’t look like advertising just thought I’d share my experience with my first ever sale on Reverb. I happened to sell the Shelly I made not too long ago which is a clone of the Julia chorus. Let me tell you I was ecstatic at the sale and seeing that little order notification next to my listing! I started dancing like Phil Anselmo in the “Im broken” video out of excitement…..then I saw all the fees 👀
I probably stared at the screen for 30 min trying to figure if all those fees were real!
Things are not so sweet on this side huh? I still made a decent profit on though. This is going to be a learning experience! Now I see what you guys are going through! 🙃
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Sell enough and the IRS has sellers fees too Screenshot_20221128-102320.png
 
I’ve sold a few things on Facebook marketplace recently by making shipping an option but noted in there not to buy now to message me and it worked. They Venmod me and I sent it. I did have a couple people have interest and back out when discussing this though. I did however get all my money without fees. These weren’t diy pedals though.
 
If you don’t mind me asking what did you sell it for? I’ve made one pedal for someone (daydream) and am about to hand over the duo phase I built for the same guy. Charged 150 for the daydream cost me about 80$ in parts doing 225$ for the duo phase about same in parts but a lot more time invested
 
Locrian99 said:
If you don’t mind me asking what did you sell it for? I’ve made one pedal for someone (daydream) and am about to hand over the duo phase I built for the same guy. Charged 150 for the daydream cost me about 80$ in parts doing 225$ for the duo phase about same in parts but a lot more time invested
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I sold it for 159 with free shipping. The total was 170 something with taxes. Then the fees…..I ended up getting 127 after all was said and done.
 
steviejr92 said:
I sold it for 159 with free shipping. The total was 170 something with taxes. Then the fees…..I ended up getting 127 after all was said and done.
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This is my gripe with reverb. Everyone there is a tire kicker and wants to offer half of the asking price. The fees never used to be that bad years ago, now it's not worth it. I see diy builds going for 75-100 dollars all day, everyday. By the time you buy all your supplies and shipping fees and then factor in build time, you should not be getting 100 dollars for a pedal plus fees. Granted, a lot of those cheaper sales are pedals with blank enclosures and questionable build quality. I can only speak for myself but I have a high standard for my own builds, so if I sell to someone I put that same effort into their pedal. I put time into a build from conception to finished product and a lot of that is attention to detail. That's worth more than just the cost of parts and beer money to me. I sell to individuals who want a custom hand made pedal and appreciate the work that goes into it, and are gladly willing to compensate for that. I refuse to undercut myself. Building for friends/family is different of course. Having builds out in the world being used for making music, especially in front of people live, is way better than some low baller giving me 5 stars for selling him a pedal for cost of parts. My brother in Christ, If it's only 30 dollars in parts, build it yourself.
 
Guardians of the analog said:
This is my gripe with reverb. Everyone there is a tire kicker and wants to offer half of the asking price. The fees never used to be that bad years ago, now it's not worth it. I see diy builds going for 75-100 dollars all day, everyday. By the time you buy all your supplies and shipping fees and then factor in build time, you should not be getting 100 dollars for a pedal plus fees. Granted, a lot of those cheaper sales are pedals with blank enclosures and questionable build quality. I can only speak for myself but I have a high standard for my own builds, so if I sell to someone I put that same effort into their pedal. I put time into a build from conception to finished product and a lot of that is attention to detail. That's worth more than just the cost of parts and beer money to me. I sell to individuals who want a custom hand made pedal and appreciate the work that goes into it, and are gladly willing to compensate for that. I refuse to undercut myself. Building for friends/family is different of course. Having builds out in the world being used for making music, especially in front of people live, is way better than some low baller giving me 5 stars for selling him a pedal for cost of parts. My brother in Christ, If it's only 30 dollars in parts, build it yourself.
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Well said. I keep seeing those prices as well and im not happy with receiving nothing for the time and effort ive put into these. Im glad i sold it for the price i did after seeing how all the fees are accounted i say my price was fair. I painstakingly take my time when building to ensure the highest build quality. I think all of our time is worth it underselling isnt the way to go!
 
steviejr92 said:
Well said. I keep seeing those prices as well and im not happy with receiving nothing for the time and effort ive put into these. Im glad i sold it for the price i did after seeing how all the fees are accounted i say my price was fair. I painstakingly take my time when building to ensure the highest build quality. I think all of our time is worth it underselling isnt the way to go!
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That's what I like about Instagram. Always people out there looking for unique stuff. And many of us hobby builders prop each other up on their. If someone is looking for something and I'm not into it (wether for price, the circuit, or most often lack of time), then I will tell them to hit up a number of people who I support and vouch for their work. Best of all no sellers fees and that means I can be more empowered and flexible in what I charge.
 
Guardians of the analog said:
That's what I like about Instagram. Always people out there looking for unique stuff. And many of us hobby builders prop each other up on their. If someone is looking for something and I'm not into it (wether for price, the circuit, or most often lack of time), then I will tell them to hit up a number of people who I support and vouch for their work. Best of all no sellers fees and that means I can be more empowered and flexible in what I charge.
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I might have to start looking into that! It never crossed my mind to post on there! Thanks for the heads up might get the page up by this weekend! I guess the more exposure the better huh?
 
Well they let you keep 79%..... In order to survive a business should make 66% profit at least. Obviously 1000% is better but that's usually cannabis involved businesses..... I make this arthritis cream that costs me 67 cents for 2 ounces. *Same stuff* goes for $40 at the dispensary. And like it's fall off the log easy to make......
 
I did a little business on Reverb in the early days when fees were low and it was fine, but the low-balling tirekickers got me down. Working through social media and building up a following is an excellent suggestion, that's what I ended up doing. I dealt exclusively through facebook, taking payment through paypal, then when I had enough business to justify launching a website to sell direct from there. I still have to pay web hosting fees and payment processing fees (card processing is lower fees than paypal), but if you have enough of a following from social media it eventually works out to be a hell of a lot less than Reverb ever was.
 
vigilante398 said:
I did a little business on Reverb in the early days when fees were low and it was fine, but the low-balling tirekickers got me down. Working through social media and building up a following is an excellent suggestion, that's what I ended up doing. I dealt exclusively through facebook, taking payment through paypal, then when I had enough business to justify launching a website to sell direct from there. I still have to pay web hosting fees and payment processing fees (card processing is lower fees than paypal), but if you have enough of a following from social media it eventually works out to be a hell of a lot less than Reverb ever was.
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Im going to definitely take advantage of social media. Going to create the profiles this weekend! Thank you for pointing me in the right direction!
 
Guardians of the analog said:
This is my gripe with reverb. Everyone there is a tire kicker and wants to offer half of the asking price. The fees never used to be that bad years ago, now it's not worth it. I see diy builds going for 75-100 dollars all day, everyday. By the time you buy all your supplies and shipping fees and then factor in build time, you should not be getting 100 dollars for a pedal plus fees. Granted, a lot of those cheaper sales are pedals with blank enclosures and questionable build quality. I can only speak for myself but I have a high standard for my own builds, so if I sell to someone I put that same effort into their pedal. I put time into a build from conception to finished product and a lot of that is attention to detail. That's worth more than just the cost of parts and beer money to me. I sell to individuals who want a custom hand made pedal and appreciate the work that goes into it, and are gladly willing to compensate for that. I refuse to undercut myself. Building for friends/family is different of course. Having builds out in the world being used for making music, especially in front of people live, is way better than some low baller giving me 5 stars for selling him a pedal for cost of parts. My brother in Christ, If it's only 30 dollars in parts, build it yourself.
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I'm with you, dude.

I take a lot of pride in my builds and I think that they are high quality and I stand behind them. I'd rather give them away to a good home where I know they'll be used than make $40 from some joker.

Edit to add: I realize this is a pretty privileged position to have that I can built what I want, when I want, for whomever I want, and afford to give it away.

I don't mean to judge people for selling for a profit or who crank out builds to pay the bills or fund future builds, I'm no yum-yucker. I'm just lucky enough to be able to be a bit stupid and idealistic without it hurting me yet. My situation might change down the line and my attitude likely would as well.
 
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