Selling Pedals

BuddytheReow

BuddytheReow

Moderator
I know this has been asked before (myself included), but I wanted to ask about selling your builds and my best avenue to do so. I've probably got about 50+ builds in my collection and obviously there are some that I'm willing to part with. I'd like to recoup the cost of parts plus a little extra for my time putting it together. I'm not in this to make top dollar, but I'd like to keep building in my spare time.

I've approached my local music shop, but they're basically useless. IF it were a commercially available pedal, they'll look up the used price on reverb, ebay, etc. and give me 1/2 price of that. Cash. Anything DIY or clone related and they won't even take it. Which means my options are pretty much online at this point. I've heard that Reverb will gouge your eyes out with fees. Is this still the case?

I've been successful in the past on ebay for other items I've sold over the years. Is this my best option?
 
I see people locally using Facebook Marketplace and music gear swap pages. Denver has one that is just music gear for sale, there are a couple DIY clones on there now.
 
I have had luck both with Reverb and local Facebook pages. The problem with Reverb is that you have to be very careful how you list. They don’t like it if you use the name of the commercial pedal in the title. Plus shipping always costs more than you expect so you have to pad your asking price a little.
 
Just selling to other musicians I know so far. I considered what I would do if I wanted sell online. Take note that I’m kind of nuts.

Make a website and add a page for each pedal- Photos, description, demo video, and a paypal button.

Before adding a pedal, do a bit of QC. Check all functionality. Check connections, jacks, switches, offboard wiring. Spruce up anything that could use a little TLC.

Post on Craigslist once in a while.
 
I've sold a few on reverb, pretty much just parts cost plus $10 or so. I don't think the fees are too bad and it's fairly easy. I use pirateship.com rather than shipping through reverb. Once the pedal is boxed up I take the measurements and weight, grab a random address somewhere on the west coast and get a shipping price, then use that rounded down as a flat shipping price, CONUS only, so I can't get gouged shipping to Alaska or overseas. They seem to sell faster if you do a quick youtube demo and link in in the posting.
 
pingpongcomputer said:
I've sold a few on reverb, pretty much just parts cost plus $10 or so. I don't think the fees are too bad and it's fairly easy. I use pirateship.com rather than shipping through reverb. Once the pedal is boxed up I take the measurements and weight, grab a random address somewhere on the west coast and get a shipping price, then use that rounded down as a flat shipping price, CONUS only, so I can't get gouged shipping to Alaska or overseas. They seem to sell faster if you do a quick youtube demo and link in in the posting.
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Pirateship is definitely the way to go.
 
Wait? You guys sell your pedals??

In all seriousness, if I get 100 bucks for a pedal I am thrilled, most of the time it is around fifty bucks.

It barely covers parts but it still keeps it fun and less of a headache then looking for real money.
 
After fees and shipping I’m looking to take home $60-75. Is this reasonable or am I gonna get too many cheap asses that offer $40 at most?
 
I have a few friends who come by and shop the pedal drawer. I think a reasonable price starts with what it cost you to build. I add up the parts cost and double it as a starting point. There are some dirt boxes that only come to 35 or 40 in parts cost, but some delays and modulation stuff with pricy ICs add up to quite a bit more.

One thing I’ve wondered about is when do you consider a pedal used vs new? They’re all in pretty much new condition, but they all spend at least a little time on my pedalboard.

I’ve seen clones on reverb that looked like they were being sold by builders listed both ways.
 
BuddytheReow said:
After fees and shipping I’m looking to take home $60-75. Is this reasonable or am I gonna get too many cheap asses that offer $40 at most?
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I don't think you'll be selling Tubescreamer clones for 75 bucks a pop but more desirable and/or versatile circuits will fetch more, preamp and AIAB pedals for example. I say just give it a shot on Facebook marketplace and Reverb. If you're not selling anything adjust accordingly. Don't be bummed if you're not breaking even. This is "just" a hobby after all :)
 
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jjjimi84 said:
In all seriousness, if I get 100 bucks for a pedal I am thrilled, most of the time it is around fifty bucks.
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About the same. If someone wants a pedal, I give them a snap guesstimate of my cost, usually somewhere around $40-50. Most times I’m handed a hundred. Which feels nice because I didn’t ask for that amount.

I give my wife every dollar I’ve gotten from a pedal, and then she goes and gets painting supplies.
 
Reverb is reasonable, but when you're first getting into selling it's probably better to go the local route. Almost every place I've lived has had some sort of local music gear buy/sell/trade facebook group, and those can be a great way of connecting with customers and also just networking the local music scene.

I was able to sell some of my builds to a music store when I was first getting started, but it was trickier. I chose three different circuits and made three each and the store paid "wholesale" on them, which was 60% of what they expected to sell them for. It wasn't a ton of cash per pedal, but since there were 9 of them it was an okay deal.

As mentioned above, if you're doing original circuits and/or unique looking pedals, something that stands out, it's going to be a lot easier to get visibility online, but if you're mostly doing clones of existing pedals, you're going to have a lot better luck trying to find local buyers. A stranger on Reverb is going to be a hard sell for your TS808 amongst the sea of other TS clones on there, but your friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend that plays in a local band may be more likely to check it out.
 
I don't think Reverb fees are too terrible all things considered. The trouble with Reverb is that at times they can be picky about your verbiage (specifically the title) which can limit your exposure. There are lots of people who might be interested in/open to buying a Greer Lightspeed clone, but most of them are not going to know to look for "Mach 1 Overdrive" or whatnot.

I will also say though that I think in general - no matter how polished or professional your build is - there's a lot of folks who are only interested in buying a "name brand" or something they feel is a known commodity. In this way...it's an added layer of hassle, but I've oftentimes had better luck trading builds for other "production" pedals and then turning around and selling those (or keeping it, if it's something i'm interested in)
 
I sell my pedals on Reverb mainly, or occasionally through Instagram (I've got a little side page specifically for my builds and all that). Reverb fees are annoying, but considering the wide range of people it gives you access to I've kind of just accepted it as a part of the convenience of selling online.

I don't think listing a pedal you've built for $100 is unreasonable, and depending on the build itself I'd imagine you wouldn't have too hard of a time selling them for that range. I usually list mine between $150-$250, but again that depends on what it is I'm selling and how complicated or intricate the build and design is. I've found that clones of discontinued or super hard to find pedals typically sell the quickest, and for the closest price to what I originally asked for. Things that are more readily available generally stay in my shop inventory for a longer time, unless I drop the price quite a bit.

I've tried selling pedals at my local shop but it isn't really worth it financially (for me at least). They typically want to price it for less than I would, and then take like a 30% consignment fee and all that.
 
Ive has decent luck selling locally, where ive actually done really well is if i see a piece of gear i want trying to get them to drop the price by tossing in a few pedals.

I ussually always still add some cash but for instance couple days ago i traded 3 pedals that cost me 75$ to build for 200$ off the asking price of an amp.

Whats funny is when you start seeing pedals youve made being resold on your local pages.

Reverb fees arent bad.

I use the flat rate padded envelopes from the post iffice and pirate ship. Anywhere in the us for 8.90, its consistent at least. And amazon you can get 50 little white boxes that are a perfect fit for 30 ish bucks.

If youre completely new to selling on reverb id sell some used gear first to get some reviews.

Also id stick to overdrives, distortion, fuzzes. Low part count, low cost. You arent going to get adequately compensated for your time period. Might as well only build a 15 count pedal rather than a 50. That caesar you just built sadly wont get you much more than that adhd.

If you do go for some higher part count make sure its a unique and interesting one.
 
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Oh and another cool thing that happened to me locallt selling is get some people looking for a particular build. You can charge a little more for these ussually snd can build some different stuff you might notnhave ever tried and make a few bucks trying it out. If you are looking to get appropriately compensated for your time, effort, skills. Look somewhere else. If you maybe want to be able to build a couple pedals free from the profits of selling some enjoy.
 
I've probably sold a hundred builds on reverb the past couple years.... I definitely dont turn a profit but it does pay for my parts cost and allows me to order the next round of parts and pcbs so I can keep building.. otherwise I could not afford to just build.. I have a separate checking account for just gear and it helps me keep my spending in check.... I wont buy parts unless there are funds to do so.... Built 3 pedals last weekend and all three sold on the verb within a week.... placed parts order for tayda yesterday and SBP... Now I'm broke again..lol
 
I've bought some gear on facebook, and it was very easy to avoid facebook and deal directly with the seller - avoiding the fees. Money exchanged via paypal as a transaction, not a gift, so I could use their payer protection.
 
I don’t use Facebook. And refuse too along with many other “social” networks that store and track all of your information. I’m stuck with shady Craigslist or being robbed by reverb or eBay. I frequent diy and gear sites all the time looking for prebuilt pedals, pcb, parts etc. Paying 50 or whatever for a clone I feel I’m paying for parts and time. I can’t afford $200+ these days for a fuzz with 6 parts lol. Also don’t have the time to build like I used too. I understand the ethics though and that’s respectable. However I’m always interested in quality builds that look good.

Another option would be to start a tourbus thingy so others can try a pedal funded with donations to builder and/or ppcb. Nothing more fun than coming home form shotty job and a new pedal in the mail. 😎
 
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