Where are you selling your guitars lately?

blakejcan

Well-known member
Been trying craigslist and FB marketplace but not getting a ton of hits.

I like using Reverb but the fees and buyer protections are kinda nuts

Maybe back to ebay?

What else is there these days?
 
Reverb for me, unless someone I know makes me an offer locally. The fees are a little much, but in the end I still end up with more money than selling it to a store. And I don't have to leave the house.
 
Im interested too because I have finally decided in my "old age" to just keep 1 or 2 guitars and sell the rest of the lot. I have so many that I just never play and probably never will.

I hear you about the reverb buyer protections, I got burned by that a few years ago, it was infuriating, I've told the story before but essentially I'm pretty sure the buyer just found a better deal locally - because as soon as I shipped it he started whining about the estimated delivery time and how he needed it before that for some gig. and then when the tracking number showed attempted delivery, he made up this whole story of how I delivered to the wrong address to get out of the purchase, reverb sided with him even though I thought it was very clear what he was trying to pull. The tracking number showed attempted delivery and waiting for pickup and he just refused to pick it up and reverb forced me to refund. luckily I got it back eventually but I was out 50 or 60 bucks whatever I paid to ship it to him and got a hilarious made up 1 star review.
 
I've had a better experience with Reverb. Sold on CL and FB Marketplace too for stuff I just didn't want to ship. There's more tire kickers on FB Marketplace than a used car lot.

Bonus with Reverb is the shipping rates are better than taking it to your local UPS Store or FedEx. I saved a bunch in shipping using their labels.
 
Last edited:
I have had decent luck at Music go round locally for store credit as well as a Guitar Center in Kansas City metro for a trade-in. I want to try the Sweetwater trade-in system as well.
 
Reverb it is. I just need to jack the price up to bake in the 8% fee

How does the Reverb shipping work? They print you a label? Do they give you a box too?
 
Reverb it is. I just need to jack the price up to bake in the 8% fee

How does the Reverb shipping work? They print you a label? Do they give you a box too?

You can buy a box on Reverb for $20. Add it to the price if you have to, but most stores in the area wind up throwing guitar boxes out, so they will usually give you one or sell one cheap.
 
FB marketplace is the only thing that's worked for me lately.

Shipping anything sucks.

Reverb and eBay fees and policies.... Suck.
 
Reverb it is. I just need to jack the price up to bake in the 8% fee

How does the Reverb shipping work? They print you a label? Do they give you a box too?

Before I list anything on Reverb, I make sure I have my shipping boxes and packing material so I can pre-pack it for proper dimensions and weight. When creating the listing I put that in and let Reverb calculate shipping based on the buyer's location. When the item sells, I print a label straight from the Order and slap it on the box. Drop it off at UPS or FedEx or USPS (depending on the carrier) and done. Tracking info is already added to it in Reverb for the buyer to be able to track it. They have some negotiated discounted rates so it really helps.

As for boxes, the local GC's here and other stores have been keeping them for shipping online orders so I've had to look at other avenues. Never ordered the Reverb boxes but have ordered from another place online that I was referred to from a friend who runs on small shop a few hours from here. It was like $45 or so for a pack of 5 large enough to ship a guitar in the case. Packing material; anywhere really - Home Depot has popcorn, Staples, even the larger U-Haul locations.
 
Last edited:
Yup, Reverb is the best option unless you're committed to dealing locally.

I've sold 4 guitars and several pedals in the past month alone, no issues. Lots of sales before that, too (probably 200+) and only a handful of issues overall.

I rarely list anything on eBay anymore and 95% of Craigslist/Facebook "buyers" are flakes, scammers, rude lowballers, or habitual traders who never have any cash and always think their gear is worth twice what it is!
 
I have to say that the best deal I had on FB Marketplace was trading a Dean ML Chicago Standard (Korean) w/ case for a Fender Player Series Jazz Bass with a Gator hardshell case.
And I sold a couple guitars on there and a bass cabinet. But those are few and far between compared to the tire kickers.
 
If I am getting rid of a guitar it will be traded in, not sold, usually because Im not grooving with it and will end up trading it in on something better or different.
 
Back
Top