There should never be a ‘rare’ or high end guitar being sold by a person with no transaction history. I’ve turned down local offers in order to build my reputation on Reverb, so there’s definitely a way they could gatekeep better.
They are owned by Etsy now. Etsy has little to no interest in dealing with scams, laundering, counterfeits. It has become a huge problem on all their sites. I am not surprised it has reached reverb.
If you have a delivery scan on an item sent through the Postal Service, it can be tracked to the delivery point. The local Postmaster has GPS coordinates that they can access but customers cannot access the information. You must contact the local office to get the information to assist in filing for your claim. I know how this works, I’m a recently retired Postmaster.
I work at a fairly well-known guitar shop, and we (along with several others) have had our pics, listings, and descriptions copied verbatim and spoofed into multiple fake websites over the last few weeks. Bottom line: if the price looks too good to be true, it is!
I never buy anything not based in the USA. My only foreign purchase was a Duesenberg from a very reputable shop in Germany. I received the guitar in less than 24 hrs from Aschaffenburg......freaking amazing!
That's really odd. I communicated directly with the manager or maybe even part owner and received the guitar via DHS from Germany in under 24hr. I was astounded that happened. @@ledaswan5990
Purchased a Dusenberg from Spain that arrived in six weeks, damaged beyond repair. Luckily it was from a brick and mortar store over there and after ten days of chasing some Spaniard around I was able to get refunded and returned the 1/500 Joe Walsh models they had. Stay away from all International sellers and Reverb in general.
I almost got scammed by a buyer on Reverb. He "bought" the Soloist I was selling and cancelled the transaction. Luckily, I hadn't shipped it out yet. Then, he tried to report me to Reverb for being a scammer myself. They reviewed the listing and my messages with him prior to purchase and took my side. I found out about a week later that the "buyer" runs an eBay store and was only buying it to dox me because I left him honest feedback on an item. After that, I changed to selling in person in a public place.
My favorite is when the Sold Listings show the scam listings for well below market as well, this can easily shift prices in the used market if enough listings are there at once.
The more horror stories like this I hear, the more convinced I am that the way to go is simply not buying used guitars online. Go to a store, try the instrument, then decide.
Happening less, but as a seller there used to be a lot of “I am interested, or “my uncle is looking for this” with the “please contact me” at and either an e-mail or a phone number, to try to scam you off of Reverb. Reverb seemed to have put in a filter that flags these and blocks the person because the message will say “you cannot message this person”, though I still reported them anyway.
I got the "My uncle" one last time I sold something on Ebay. Just didn't feel right. I don't hardly list things on either platform, so it took me a second to think about it. Thankfully I just ignored them.
I worked at a music store in the shipping dept and we were responsible for charging the customer's cards or collecting from PayPal. We got scammed once where someone used a hacked PayPal account to order a mid range acoustic guitar. We ended up having to pay the hacked person back the money AND we lost the guitar. Luckily it only happened that once, but that was like 8 or 9 years ago.
Ebay/paypal horror stories: I once listed a 1970s thunderbird (car; "As is" no warranty) for a friends small used dealership (in Wisconsin).Buyer is from Hawaii wins the bid; pays with a credit card through paypal ;we picked him up at the airport. he does the paperwork, drives off. (contacts us two weeks later from California complains the cars tires are worn and the car needs brake work; demands some money back.We sent him the "As is" paperwork he signed. He puts car on freighter for Hawaii and gets a charge back on his credit card. Paypal takes his(/our) money out of the dealers' account. Buyer now has the vehicle; the title AND %100 of his money back.Took months and a denied paypal claim to get the money back to my friends account. Screw paypal ,e-bay and the horse they rode in on...Never again.
I had a Guild acoustic for sale on Reverb. A guy asked me to send his dad photos of the item. I couldn't respond to his message, but he gave me his dad's email address. Like a dummy, I sent the pics. Immediately, I got a long email response from "dad" saying pictures looked great, he's ready to purchase, will send me a cashier's check, needed some personal information from me, and will arrange for someone else to pick up. Lots of separate hands potentially involved in that transaction - and none of it through the Reverb process. I shut that down. Sketchy for sure.
I bought a $400 Squier Strat through the mail, and THAT direct from Fender. I would NEVER EVER buy an expensive, vintage guitar without touching it myself.
I recently bought 3 Les Paul's through Reverb using Affirm. 1 from Arizona. (Guitar store) 1 from Idaho. (Guitar store) 1 directly from Gibson. UPS shipped. Everything went quickly and smooth. 6 Gibson Les Paul's in just 5 months. TOTAL - $17,000 You can never have enough guitars. Especially if they're all Gibson Les Paul Standards.
Man it seems you can't trust anyone anymore. Ebay and now Reverb are full of scammers and I just had a terrible experience with GoodWill that just turned me off the site completely "lets just say they ruined a vintage jazzmaster". I would say don't buy anything unless you physically see it but I don't know anymore...
Reverb has been a complete shit show since it was sold. Customer service, gone. Fair rates, gone. Keeping blatantly devious and bad people at bay, gone. Protecting sellers, gone. Zero F’s to give. Sad times.
I would add that anyone selling a Gibson must include a photo of the truss rod. One of the reasons I don’t buy used on Reverb is because when you return a guitar, you are not able to leave feedback. This gives sellers a limitless license to try to dump damaged inventory, hoping to find the buyer that won’t return the guitar. Of the 3 used guitars I’ve bought, two had to go back for significant undisclosed defects. Both were relisted before I even packed the return, with no mention of the problems I found.
Reverb needs to have serial numbers logged with guitars . Even privately just to the website . Also passport proof or any accredited id system in each country .
I started shopping for a 1971 P-Bass the other day. Of course I checked Reverb first. found one for 500 dollars. I sighed, and closed the window, deciding on the spot that I am unwilling to take the time or put in the effort to weed out scams. I think I'm just done with reverb for good.
Not just guitars, synth as well. I flagged two synth listings this week. In this case, there was unique woodgrain. Reverb did take the listings down very quickly. One was Switzerland and the other was Florida
Hey Trog... A few years back, I had a guy pull a "reverse scam" on me. I had a 62' SG reissue on Reverb. Listed at $1,100, he offered me $950 with shipping. I agreed. Got payment and sent guitar out. 4-5 days later, I got a nasty email claiming there were issues and damage to the guitar. I had just had a fresh setup and new strings done before listing, so I knew it was just right. He said I could either discount the guitar buy $300 and he'd keep it, or he would lodge a complaint with Ebay and post negative reviews to my 100% rating. I ended up giving the discount and put the issue to bed. Out of curiosity, I kept an eye on the guy. *2 months later, he had my guitar up for sale! $1,500 and claiming the guitar was perfect and he was the original owner! This guy was on the other side of the USA and not a local sale. Watch out for buyers, trying to hold you hostage for your rating or reputation.
This is an especially informative posting, Trogly! Personally, I only BUY on Reverb; and only do so (generally) if the seller is in the Continental U.S., has good feedback, posts photos with the serial # and verifies that in writing on Reverb Message, accepts AMEX payment, and ships UPS or FedEx. Haven't been burnt yet--although my volume is nowhere NEAR what you do! Plug for RUFUS in Vancouver, B.C. for playin' straight on my MIK Kramer Pacer LE!!
Lately I've noticed that the fishy late night overseas Reverb listings go up already marked "In someone's cart!" but then hours later it's still there and still in a cart. Wouldn't put it past scammers to work multiple accounts to create urgency that overrides common sense.
Thanks for the tips. We just need more local music shops so buyers can actually touch and see what they are getting...a dream I know but there has to be a way to set up "Guitar brokers" with scrupples?
Great buys are still to be had at thrift stores. You have to check regularily. You really can't buy a guitar online from a picture because you will get burned. If your looking for a vintage guitar I would only spend money at a reputable dealer.
I search eBay for Japanese Epiphones and I’ll see the same exact guitar pic on like 5 different auctions. I messaged one of the sellers to ask why and I got a nonsensical reply. What is the scam?
I have to say, I've never done business on Reverb and when I see video like this it sours my inclination of ever doing business on Reverb. Thanks for the tips to protect myself but I remember a car ad that went: "The best way of not getting hurt in an accident is not to get in one in the first place".
Yes, same. Never used Reverb so far. Bought a few things on eBay but all went smoothly, yet still prefer the meet in person hand over cash/instrument in public place option. Reverb is such a great idea and marketplace, but it needs to up its game as there were two sales they lost from Trogly in this one video alone. I've been scammed before on a cheap guitar pedal - so no biggy - but people I know have been scammed even worse for thousands. Only thing that makes any market work is trust and confidence, and right now the online marketplace for high value goods like guitars has neither. It's got to improve :)
The same thing is happening on ebay. I was recently scammed for a Gibson Les Paul custom black beauty and am going through the process of trying to get a refund. The seller shipped the package to a different address in my city so it showed it as being delivered even though it was not delivered to my address. The post office looked into it and said the package details they were able to look up was that it was a small box and clearly not a guitar and they think it was a scam. However, I did not buy it from a country outside of the USA. This ebay seller is based in Colorado which is why I made the purchase.
Thanks for looking out and sharing what you've learned about this stuff, Austin. I buy/sell on Reverb often, although not in the thousand dollar range just yet, and I definitely feel a little better equipped to root out scams with what you have said in the past and just now. I hope they do put in better safe guards. It will only encourage people to feel more comfortable making high end purchases!
I got scammed out of a RAT pedal because the seller sent it to an address in the US when in fact the delivery address was in the UK. I've been on Reverb chat 4 times and after about 15 minutes each time I'm told a specialist will email me within 48 hours. The email never came each day I went on the chat for an update. Over a week now and nothing. BEWARE!
I never buy anything from a different country. I was paranoid as hell when I bought my 1961 jr off of reverb. I messaged the seller multiple times and it all turned out good. Always be cautious people. I'm sorry you got had man.
I have a beat-to-shyt 73 LP Custom BB FW. It has the embossed pup covers (which they did to early 73) along with an old repaired headstock break. The guitar has serious wear and tear, but the orig speed frets, which still has the nibs, have been well taken care of and the guitar plays amazing. This is truly a magical instrument, and like many old Customs, wakes up a few minutes after you start playing it to deliver 10-fold what you put into it. No other guitar I know of does this so this ones a keeper.
Wanted a guitar on Reverb and it was an ok price. About $100 over what id want to pay. It was pick up only off of Broadway in NYC. Had friends there look for the music "store". No luck. I kept emailing the guy stating i have a visual on the address and dont see his business. Asked him if it was in a suite and/or if he was an actual store or a side hustle. No strait answer. So, scam in country...beware.
"...adding more support isn't necessarily within their budget." Ok let's see about that. As of 2019 Reverb is owned by publicly traded Etsy, which had approx $2.6 Billion in revenue in 2022 with a net of approx $700 Million. Josh Silverman, CEO of Etsy, apparently took home approx $16 Million in total compensation in 2022. So I wonder if the Reverb security budget could have a little more resources, but then I'm not paid the big bucks to decide.
Pay pal is an awful company with horrible customer service. STAY AWAY. Their service agreement says if you post something online they do not like they can fine you $2500.00, right outa your bank account. When news came out they said it was a mistake. Then it ended up in their policy.
Just one more reason to deal locally, and in person, when ever buying, or selling, used instruments. It is always better, even if you have to run ads, and wait a while, to find what you are looking to buy.
Just stop buying online fom these places, but then saying that, I was scammed from a shop, I saw the guitar, checked it, played it, bought it, they swapped it for a different one through the back when they boxed it up, the one I ended up with was total sh*t and had loads of problems, trying to get my money back was a nightmare, it was, sadly, a "reputable" british guitar shop, can't trust anybody these days, I now just buy from Amazon, I know it's limited but I've never had a problem with returns.
Many of the red flags can be seen a mile away but when you're caught up in the moment of buying something it becomes way more difficult to spot them. Just take a moment to think things through and don't access links outside of Reverb. I almost got tricked for $700 a while back and managed to figure out the scam at the last moment.
Greedverb has turned my off in recent years. Too many greedy sellers, asking more for a used guitar than that exact same model costs new. (ex. 3 years ago looking at Epi Korina Explorers, new cost $649. Reverb sellers asking $800 for the same). I'm more than happy to see the market go soft and these greedy b*stards have to reduce.
I know that Ebony 72! That guitar came through a shop I was working at a handful of years ago for a cleanup and strings. It was certainly a mishmash of mods, but it did play surprisingly well! And the lady that owned it had a really great story!
If you pay 3'800 dollars for a guitar that has been intensely modified in every corners during her life because it's "collection"... you have a money spending problem. This is an old fart, half destroyed guitar with holes at every corner where they shouldn't belong.
And this is exactly why I will not shop for a guitar online, unless it's, trogly. Only person I'll deal with once I can. That's all I say. Only person I will ever trust. If I buy a guitar. I gotta see it in person first
@@CatBlackGuitars exaclty. Always been local shop's for me, except for my last 2 I got off of Sweetwater. 1st 2 I've been the only owner of off. Never got a new guitar. Always bought used stuff and made it my own
I get the sentiment, but I also think complete self-prohibition on online used purchases is really limiting and isn't necessary. I have done literally hundreds of transactions and ran into only a handful of issues in the last 5 years (and no actual scams, though I'm pretty careful). IMO if you ask a lot of questions, you can find out pretty quickly who you're dealing with, and if you stick to people with a clear feedback profile you can do enough research to feel good about your purchase. As Trogly mentions, it's better to stick to Reverb payments (they'll have your back as a buyer).
Years ago, Trade Tang from China advertised American made guitars using photos pirated from e-bay. Attractive pricing enticed unsuspecting buyers (don't ask how I know) then once payment was made, they send you a Chinese cheap substitute - not the guitar shown in the photo. They advertise returns and you soon learn that you have to pay shipping easily exceeding the original price you paid for the guitar.
Reverb could definitely either use a third party verification system (i.e they don't have to store any info on their servers) or utilise some photo matching tech on their newly submitted listings to at least check against their old listings and demand genuine re-sellers of old listings use their own photos. Easy stuff to implement these days! In the meantime there's always the one golden rule - If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is! Always worth doing a Google image search which will at least give you the heads up that something is a bit "off" when you invariably find the original listing at twice the price. Great vid Trog!
Since Reverb was sold it really has gone down hill. There are so many sketchy adds now. If I see anything from Europe I won't even consider buying it. I do buy guitars from Japan and have not had any issues but they have all been from larger well known sellers. Buyer beware
My very first transaction on Reverb was a scam (counterfeit Tokai in Canada, I got full refund) so I've ALWAYS been leary of Reverb. Honestly their payment processing fees are a rip.
I feel that you should send this episode to Scammer Payback. He's gone as far as getting scammer offices shut down overseas. Just a thought. Loved the B Roll footage of those great guitars. I really dig that Special with the blue overspray.
Thanks for the warnings! I’ve been fairly lucky through five transactions. I’ll be more careful in the future. I usually have a message exchange to get a sense of the seller. The last time, I didn’t hear back in a day, so I just put in a very low ball offer (to open a conversation) and it was accepted. But … the description of this classical did mention a “small crack” that had been repaired. It wasn’t pictured (although I mistakenly thought I saw it) and it turned out to be 3” on the edge of the lower bout and patched underneath. Fortunately, in that location it doesn’t noticeably affect the sound quality, but it definitely affects the overall value. In the end, because of my low offer, it was a good deal because it is a gorgeously rich sounding flamenco model, handmade by one of Granada’s top luthiers, whose other guitars on Reverb go for roughly twice as much.
It's not a scam on Reverbs part. It that the guitars that have been coming out now since about 2009 are getting better and people are just putting the right parts on and then selling them . I ran into a goy that did the designing of the 5 Asian factories for Gibson. Because they were going to do in a bigger way what a lot of smaller companies do . They have the guitar basically made or the cnc part and paint done in the Asian factories and then they send them over here and finish assembling the guitars here and call it a made or whatever word you want to use to ,make you think you have bought a real USA Gibson! This has been going on a long time,and even though Gibson is trying to pretend that they are politically correct and everything,they don't even call a tobacco sunburst TOBACCO anymore,it's not p.c.! So while people fight about the difference in Gibson and Epiphone and thr woods that are used ,remember who had the best sound ever and did it with b stock and al by himself ! EVH! But ,now you can buy what he made for almost nothing for 25 grand or more! it's stupid. and it has taken the fun out of collecting ! I stay off Reverb and do it the way I have for the past 15 years. Which works well and I never buy new guitars ,if I see something I like I'll wait and buy it used and that way I have NEVER been burned ! Plus ,this just gives RU-vid pages like this something to talk about! This is old ,old news! There is 1 dealer on DHgate that sells guitars that ARE made in Gibson and Epiphone factories and have junk electronics in them and so all these years I started telling people this was happening,i guess they thought they knew better,or something? In the end ,who cares. Actually we should because it's China who is getting all the money for these guitars they are illegally selling ,but Gibson doesn't want to make waves I guess! Now Let the basing and all these guitar experts tell me where I'm wrong. I have 130 + guitars and basses ,and have been buying them since 1978.
Good idea with getting them to add something to the photo. Might be worth getting them to tuck it under the strings as well as that would be very hard to photoshop!
Who gives a rat's butt about idiots paying 5 times, 10 times and up for anything like 'collectible' guitars? Why don't they do arbitrage in the stock market? That's what happens when one sells anything priced so far above it's actual value. Caveat Emptor 😮
Had one Ship FedEx. They stole someone else’s fed ex shipment number to my town. So they didn’t even ship anything. Reverb wouldn’t help. PayPal wouldn’t either. Luckily my brother in law worked IT for them and was able to tell me where it actually shipped to.
Yeah, it’s frustrating to be a hobbyist in the internet age, particularly when it involves vintage items. People exploit everything for maximum profit.
I was scammed and lost almost a 1000$ when I purchased a stratocaster off eBay. They did the shipping package to another address trick, and eBay sided with them... nothing I could say or do, and believe me, I said a lot. It's a deep cut because not only did I lose the money, but I also was so excited for the guitar to come in and then was let down so hard by the outcome. It makes me a little sick to think about it now. Money is just that, but I'm a father of 3 divorced, and I never buy myself anything, so that hurt. Anyway, I thought I'd share the story since it related. Be safe guys and play on!
This makes me miss the old days of regional swap meets where you could spend a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday meeting up with people looking to sell, buy, swap music gear. You could show up, check out the gear, haggle, trade with something you have and so on. Even barter. The better swap meets were a community with known and reputable dealers and collectors showing up. Yes. You needed to check out the gear thoroughly but then again you should anyway - and it was a lot better than taking chances on a listing from Switzerland!
I was nearly scammed, but my heightened sense of paranoia made me question the transaction just after making it - I was able to shut it down with Reverb and PayPal before it completed. Now, I see these types of ads all the time and report them. I just saw one today that said it was from Milwaukee, WI but shipping from Sweden! No ratings is a tip off as is the ridiculously low price. Report early, report often.
I stop buying from reverb because of the taxes, which put the prices close to what the items is worth. (Price, shipping taxes) rather market place or local pawnshops.
I've bought two pieces of gear from Reverb, a Schecter guitar and a Blackstar tube amp. Both arrived as advertised but then again, I purchased from retail outlets with a large amount of positive reviews (and verified that said retail outlet existed) instead of some Joe Schmoe.
To learn more about the scammers from INDIA, there is an American guy that helps people to avoid getting scammed. his RU-vid channel is called "Scammer Payback" The Indian scammers will try to use a common sounding American name like "Bob Cooper" no Bob Cooper has an Indian accent.
yep. The ONE time I bought a guitar on Reverb, it had a major catastrophic issue that was not obvious. Took me a few months to notice it, which was too late. Scammers.
Its getting way worse even as a seller too. Recently on Reverb I had a guy with no feedback send a fair offer and I accepted once. He never paid so I promptly relisted after a few hours. Messages me again and says he's trying to figure out the Affirm payments, said Reverb is not letting him get the right financing he wants. I accepted his offer a 2nd time as he said he'd get it done, again no payment. RIGHT AFTER I denied his order and relisted, I got another offer with another account with no feedback almost immediately. Just denied and sold the guitar locally. I've dealt hundreds of orders on Reverb but they are definitely losing control here. Just glad I didn't desperately try to work with these mystery accounts with no history or feedback. The first seller didn't have great conversation but he spoke in clear enough English, so I thought it may be real. Not convinced by any means now all said and done.
For the 2nd time a synth I've purchased on Reverb was within a few hours cancelled, and stated *I* requested a refund (when I didn't). The seller's account in both cases were disabled (assume by Reverb). Reviewing the listings later both were in Switzerland (I've bought from all over the world and never had an issue before) and both were PayPal only (but I paid via PayPal as a "guest" so I wasn't using a PayPal account).
I just got screwed won’t the 7 day thing myself. On a cassette deck. Listed as very good condition. Arrived non functioning. Was too busy to look at it within a week. I didn’t know there was a 7 day clause.
