Want to sell your music gear fast and get the most money possible for your sale?
Well, then you’re in the right place!
Throughout the years I’ve sold a BUNCH of my own music equipment (including guitars, microphones, recording gear, drums, etc.) either because I no longer had a need for the gear or I was just looking to upgrade. Over time and throughout this process, I’ve discovered the best places to sell music gear…and some of the worst.
In this post, I’ll cover the best places to sell your musical instruments (and other music gear) quickly and get the most money you can for your sale. I’ll also cover which places you should avoid (unless you need the cash ASAP).
So without further ado, let’s get to it:
Table Of Contents
I recently updated this post to reflect the best and worst places to sell your gear in 2021. You will find over 15 different places to sell your gear, but I’ve listed and structured this article to quickly showcase the top and worst places.
Sell Your Gear at These Places and Get the Most Money:
Make the Most Money on Craiglist
One of the best places for buying used gear is also, not surprisingly, one of the best places to sell gear.
Besides the ease of use of Craigslist, the number one reason it’s the best outlet for selling gear is that there are no seller fees. So whatever money you sell your gear for is all yours.
Even if someone offers you slightly less than what you originally listed your item at, you’ll keep all of the money from your sale (rather than having a sale fee taken out as is the case on sites like eBay and Reverb).
Another bonus is not having to deal with the hassle of shipping out your equipment. You can easily just have the buyer meet you at your house or meet at some mutual, agreed-upon location. It takes only a few minutes out of your busy day.
When you sell gear online, you have to deal with the hassle of buying packaging products, properly packaging your item, and then finding some time in the day to get to the post office or UPS Store. Plus, if you didn’t price the shipping fee correctly in your listing, you may have to dip into your profit to cover extra shipping costs.
Selling on Craigslist is simple, easy, and best of all, you get the most value from your gear.
That being said, it’s not all sunshine and roses when selling on Craigslist. You will occasionally have to deal with time-wasters (people who are interested in your item but never follow-through) and low-ballers (people who offer significantly lower than the value of your item).
Additionally, for some there can be a concern for safety when meeting up with a stranger. In this case, it’s best to meet at a safe, public location or you may even turn to my next best option, which is Reverb.com.
Reverb Has The Lowest Seller Fees
If you do decide to sell online, or just aren’t having any luck with Craigslist, then Reverb is a great resource.
I started using Reverb in the early days of its launch and have been a big fan since. In case you’re unfamiliar, Reverb is an online auction site similar to eBay yet is specifically designed for selling and buying music gear. Users are able to sell their used gear through Reverb’s marketplace and the website is very easy to navigate and use.
The best thing about Reverb, though, is the low seller fees. Reverb charges the seller 5% on every item they sell as compared to eBay where it’s a staggering 10% (eBay has recently updated this to 3.5% for guitars and basses specifically, but it doesn’t cover other music gear that falls outside this category)
Reverb updated their selling fee from 3.5% to 5% in August 2020. There are still no listing fees and the maximum fee you can be charged by Reverb is $500 (ex. If you sell a $10,000 item). Reverb still has the lowest sales fees of any other marketplace of its kind for music gear of any type.
However, don’t forget about PayPal’s processing fee, which is another 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction (eBay, Mercari, and other marketplaces have this fee as well). Of all the other options out there for selling your gear online, Reverb has definitely been the best in my experience.
The last thing I’ll point out about Reverb is their support is easy to get a hold off (there’s a chat widget at the bottom of the page), especially compared to other options like eBay (very hard to get in touch with support), or Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace (you’re pretty much on your own when selling through these sites).
Having trouble selling your gear on Reverb? Then check out this FREE PDF, “5 Tips to Sell Your Gear on Reverb Fast”.
Other Top Places to Consider Selling You Gear
In addition to the two top options I listed above, you may also consider selling your music equipment here:
OfferUp & Letgo
LetGo is now part of OfferUp, with the latter replacing the app version of Letgo. Much like Craigslist, the site (and mobile app) is primarily used for local sales. When selling locally, there are no fees to sell through OfferUp. However, there are fees if you sell the item where shipping is required. In this case, there is a 12.9% fee on the total sale value, not including shipping. The buyer pays shipping.
Therefore, OfferUp (and Letgo) are good options if selling locally. But if you want to sell nationally/online and increase your chances of selling, Reverb is a much better option as you’ll pay about half the amount in fees.
Facebook Marketplace
Again, similar to OfferUp and even Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace is another local marketplace/classifieds site where you can sell gear locally. It’s free to list and sell gear through Facebook Marketplace, which means you’ll keep all of the money from your sale. The same caveats that exist for Craigslist, though, exist for Facebook Marketplace (ex. Concern for safety when dealing locally, low-ballers, etc.).
Avoid Selling Your Gear at These Places (Unless You Need the Money Fast)
Avoid Guitar Center (and any other used instrument store like Sam Ash, Music Go Round, etc.)
While Guitar Center is a great resource to buy used gear for cheap, it is the exact opposite when it comes to selling gear.
If you’re really trying to get the most value out of your used music gear, then avoid selling your gear at Guitar Center and other similar retailers.
Their whole model, when it comes to buying used gear, is to buy extremely low in order to sell it back in their stores for a decent profit. The same goes for any other used music store (or pawn shop), they need to be able to ensure they can make a profit.
The model is very similar to GameStop buying back used games. It makes sense that these businesses want to offer you as little as possible for your equipment in order to make some money but it is not in your best interest.
You’re likely to get about 50% (if you’re lucky, it could be less) of what your gear is actually worth by bringing it to Guitar Center. Music Go Round, a used instrument store, will generally pay 40% to 60% of the value of your gear.
This same philosophy goes for other music stores that buy used gear as well, such as:
- Sam Ash
- Music Go Round
- Rogue Music Store (local to NYC)
- Rivington Guitars (local to NYC)
- The Music Zoo
- Cream City Music (local to Milwaukee)
- Any other local music store
- Pawnshops
Unless you really need the cash (they will give you a cash payment), then I would avoid selling your gear to them.
It’s much better to list on Craigslist or Reverb. Even if you sell your gear a bit below value, you’ll still make more than you would by selling it to Guitar Center or similar shops.
Avoid eBay (and their super high seller fees)
While again, another great resource for buying used gear for cheap, eBay is anything but that for selling gear. eBay’s seller fees are rather outrageous. When you sell something on eBay, you are charged 10% of your total sale value at the point of payment (eBay has made an exception to this only for items categorized in the guitars and basses category, where the fee is actually 3.5%).
This 10% fee is not just charged to the total value of the product but the shipping as well. This is pretty ridiculous since buyers don’t make anything from the shipping cost but they are charged a fee on it anyways.
To illustrate this point further, let me present you with an experience of mine.
Not too long ago, I sold a Native Instruments Maschine MIDI Controller (I had the previous model) which sold for a total of $135.05 ($125 for the actual product and $10.05 for shipping). I was charged a fee of $13.51 ($12.50 on the product and $1.01 on the shipping).
Then, don’t forget PayPal’s cut for processing the payment. PayPal charges 2.9% of the total value plus $0.30 per transaction. So for this sale, I “made” $135.05, but in my PayPal account, I got $130.83 (2.9% of $135.05 plus $0.30 take away from $135.05).
All in all, from that sale of $135.05, I had $17.73 taken away from me. While maybe that doesn’t seem like much, that’s over 13% off the final sale. That can really start to add up when you sell more expensive gear.
So again, unless you’re selling a guitar or bass specifically (where the fee is a bit lower), try Reverb and Craiglist first before resorting to eBay. Reverb is really much better for selling music gear online and they’ll only take 5% of your final sale.
Other Places to Avoid
Mercari
Mercari is a marketplace website similar to eBay, where users can list and buy items online. It’s free to create a listing, however, there is a 10% total sales fee once the item sells. Similar to other marketplaces that sell items online, there is also a payment transaction fee 2.9% plus $0.30 on each payment.
The fees are just too high to make this a good option for selling music gear when there are other sites with lower fees.
5miles
5miles is similar to Facebook Marketplace and OfferUp in that it is geared towards local sales and it is free to sell through their marketplace. However, the caveat here is that 5miles is not as popular as the above options, and not that many people use it to buy or sell items. For example, I did a search for “guitar” and the closest result near me was over 1.5 hours from my location.
Selling on 5miles could take a very long time, that’s if you’re able to sell there at all.
VarageSale
VarageSale is similar to 5miles in functionality, and unfortunately, engagement as well. There doesn’t seem to be much happening on this site, as there are very few listings. There doesn’t appear to be any fees to sell on this platform but selling here could take a long time (if anything sells at all). This might change in the future but for now, I wouldn’t recommend listing on this site.
5 Quick Tips for Sell Your Gear Fast
Now that you know which places to sell your music gear and which ones to avoid, I want to quickly cover some tips for selling your equipment in the fastest manner possible:
- Take high-quality photos. It’s not that hard or complicated. You also don’t need an expensive DSLR camera to capture great photos. If you have a smartphone, that’s all you need. Just make sure to clean up the background (so it’s not distracting), use good lighting (shoot in a well-lit room or near a window), and cover as many angles as possible in your photos (to illustrate the condition of the item).
- Include clear, descriptive details. Include specific details like the condition, what’s included, any scratches or scuffs, why you’re selling, etc. You want to make this as clear as possible. Don’t skimp on this as it can be helpful to the buyer to determine whether or not they want to purchase your item and what they can expect when they receive your item.
- Include a video. If possible (and depending on the item) try to include a video of the item you are selling. This can let the buyer know what the item sounds like and confirm that it works correctly.
- Price your gear accordingly. I don’t mean pricing you gear way under what it’s worth. I’m talking about listing your gear appropriately and competitively. Make sure you understand what your item is actually worth in the condition it’s in. Reverb has a solid price guide that can help you understand the value of your gear.
- Gradually price drop. If you’re having trouble selling, try considering reducing the price gradually until the items sells. This is especially helpful on a platform like Reverb, as the listing will shop when the price has been reduced and it may even show in Reverb’s Price Drop category.
Where Should You Sell Your Gear?
In conclusion, I would highly recommend selling your gear on Craiglist and/or Reverb if you want to get the most money for your musical instruments and other music equipment. Only resort to eBay or shops like Guitar Center if you need the cash ASAP.
I hope this post was helpful to you and rather eye-opening. Let me know in the comments below what you thought and/or share any experiences you’ve had selling your gear at any of the places I covered.
If you do sell online, it pays to research shipping options. I’ve found it’s really hard to beat the Post Office for cheapest fast shipping. However you still need to invest time to find best options. Regional Rate Boxes are where you can save the most on shipping. These are a class of flat rate priority mail and the post office supplies the box. You can even pickup priority mail packaging tape free at your post office. Not having to hunt for boxes and tape saves time and money. Get a food or postage scale to weigh your packages and you’re in business.
Thank you, for this. My father passed away and I have a lot of gear to sell. I almost went into GC and Sam Ash. I have some stuff posted on letgo and offer up. I have to settle my parent’s estate so I hope to sell soon. I’ll check out those and maybe Marketplace. Thanks again,
Amber
Mercari isnt too bad either… and sorry for your lost, big dawg.
I could have written the same comment. My dad also died and has so much gear, most of which is expensive and really new.
Just happened to read some of the comments and came across yours! I’m in the same boat as you are or were!?!? My dad recently passed and has a lot of music gear so I need to sell it as soon as possible. What worked for you?
You forgot Sam Ash their mode is to buy for 30% of the retail price and double their money selling fast, I work there and surprisingly loads of people sell to them.
Craigslist is dangerous in that scammers want to mail you phony Cashier’s Checks! NEVER accept checks of any kind. Insist on Cash or Credit Cards or PayPal. Getting a Square D account is easy today… – GJP
Hi Cody,
Very interesting points there. Would you mind if I ask a question? I am starting an online guitar shop with gears and accessories, would you know what guitar gear, parts, accessories are selling the most? I mean anything from the guitar fan hat, t-shirt, necklace, to pickups, amps, strings, pins etc. Obviously, the main product will be acoustic and electric guitars but those are not that kind of a product that you would make real profit from, hence the price range and usually one guitar is for the lifetime, if you know what I mean. Looks like that you are pretty skilled in this industry so would appreciate an advice or at least opinion on this. Thanks Miro
Hey Miro,
I’m not sure if you’ll be able to get exact sales numbers. You could try reaching out to Reverb. They might be able to provide a list of their most popular products or categories. I’m not sure. Another thing you could try is using Google Trends (https://trends.google.com) to look at search trends for keywords. So you could type “guitar strings” and see how and when people search for them. You could also try using Google Keyword Planner to find the search volume of a keyword to see how many searches are done a month for them. That might help show you the popularity of certain items. You’ll need an Adwords account for Google Keyword Planner. Hope that helps!
Yeah you want to risk getting robbed blind by dangerous individuals using craigslist then roll the dice
I guess there’s always a chance with Craigslist but I’ve sold and bought many items on Craigslist (probably 100+) and have never had a problem. Of course, there are a few bad stories but those are rare. I would say for those who are using Craigslist, if you are nervous or skeptical about meeting a person, try to meet in a public place like a coffee shop.
The best and only place to meet someone from craigslist is in the parking lot of the local poilice station.
It depends. I’ve sold most of my stuff in a busy parking lot in front of a store. But a Police station would be the safest i guess.
Many local police departments have begun encouraging people to conduct face to face Craigslist transactions in the station’s parking lot. If any buyer has an issue with that, find another buyer. Also, busy gas station parking lots during the day are one of my go to transaction locations for Craigslist gear.
I’m a Criminal, and I’d still rob you at the police departments lot. You guys think these cops are super heros or something. By the time you alert them to a problem.. I am long gone.
Not while I’m beating your ass in their parking lot drawing their attention.
No you wont! you wont get jack, but you may get jacked…up!!!
Hi Cody
Won’t people want to try out the guitars b4 they buy in person? If we meet in a public place (which we’d prefer), that would not be possible.
I’ve sold guitars to people who answered my Craigs List ad at both Starbucks and Wallmart parking lots. No prob their trying them out, even have a portable battery operated Micro Cube amp for the elec. guitars..
I have always taken people to Guitar Center to try out guitars .. they never mind .. never even say a word .. lots of people, any amp you want to try … can’t lose.
So far, a really nice R.M. Olsen guitar I’ve got advertised on Craigslist — at a super bargain price — has had ZERO inquiries, and it’s been there about a month. Paypal (from Ebay) I won’t touch with a ten-foot pole. Used it twice, credit card got hacked twice. Ebay notified me in time, but I got to cancel cards and get new ones twice. Guess I’ll take a look at Reverb, and see if I can do any better there.
Respectfully, Zero inquiries could be because of a lot of things other than Craigslist, the Price, the Look of the instrument, the Brand (I’ve been playing for 50 yrs. and I had to look it up), or the possibility that because this brand also sells kits, that you possibly put it together yourself. I don’t know. Recently sold two guitars on Craigslist.
Try Gumtree also
i disagree with your reverb comment, reverb takes 10% just like ebay. check again and you will see there are 3 different charges that they take out the add up to 10%. that’s sneeky business if you ask me.
Hey John,
What other fees are you referring to? I have not experienced this. Maybe you can elaborate a bit?
Also ebay final value fees in the Guitar Category are 3.5% … they can down when Reverb was kicking their butts. Now as far as selling to stores, I agree, although I have done it, I don’t recommend it unless you need the cash fast.
I’ve never had a problem buying on Craigslis. Only sold there a few times. As a buyer, carrying a pocket full of cash, I always choose the meeting location. I’ve bought a couple great amps in gas stations, even have an outlet on the side of the building to plug in the Amp and give it a whirl to be sure it works.
If you are using the Reverb Payment system, that might account for more fees over 3.5% and $0.25 per transaction. I read their payment terms and didn’t like them, so use Pay Pal instead.
If you buy shipping from them, which IS a better deal than the P.O., then you’d be paying sale fee + payment fee + shipping charge and would look like a fat tab.
You’ve got some outdated facts, and you diss eBay pretty hard based on them.
eBay doesn’t own PayPal; they broke apart completely in 2015. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PayPal)
Selling fees for musical instruments/gear are now 3.5%, an obvious competitive play against Reverb’s 3.5% fees. (http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html#if_auction)
You’re right about eBay and Paypal no longer being together. However, regarding fees, according to eBay’s fee page, that 3.5% applies only to musical instruments listed in the “Guitars & Basses” category. Take a look: http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html
Have you experienced something different? Obviously, there are many more music gear items that don’t fit into that category that would still be charged a 10% fee.
Hi Im new and need some advice as I’m selling a Schecter electric guitar, what is the fastest way as he needs to sell it out and get somecash asap
Try listing it on Craigslist and Reverb.com with the listing bumped.
What schecter is it? I may be interested in buying it depending on the model and if you still have it
What do you recommend to sell gear in Europe?
Hi Juan,
I’m not familiar with the European market but I would try selling on Reverb if you can.
Does anyone if the Guitar Center or Sam Ash pay more if I decided to trade my instruments in for other items? Also, where’s a good place to buy a box for a flying v case?
iS THERE ANYWHERE THAT YOU CAN GET A SORT OF “BLUE BOOK” ESTIMATE ON THE VALUE OF YOUR GEAR YOU WISH TO SELL, IN MY CASE I NEED QUICK CASH AND I HAVE A SHURE UHF WIRELESS MIC AND RECIEVER SYSTEM TO SELL THAT ONCE RETAILED FOR OVER 3000 USD OVERALL, BUT NOW IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO FIGURE OUT THE WORTH ON IT DO TO ALL THE MODELS NOW AVAILABLE ON THE MARKET THAT ALL LOOK ALMOST IDENTICAL, BUT VARY IN VALUE FROM 50$ USD TO 2000$ USD . VERY HELPFUL WEBPAGE THOUGH THANKS FOR YOUR INFO!
Hi Ty,
There isn’t anything like this that I know of. Reverb has a price guide that can help you identify the value of your gear. So you may try that. Outside of that, you’ll have to just look the item up on sites like Reverb, eBay, Craigslist, MusicGoRound, etc. to see how much the item sells for.
I always check the listings on eBay using the “sold” check box filter for the item in question.
I also sort the results by date. Obviously what an items sold for in the last 3 months is more relevant than what they sold for 6 months ago.
Craigslist would’ve been a good idea supposing there was a way of getting to know exactly who you are dealing with. I was robbed trying out a craigslist transaction at gun point and almost shot to death on Aug 2. I wouldn’t advice any one trading on craigslist unless you have security measures to protect both your life and your properties.
eBay died long ago. Reverb is sneaky in that it limits local sales by not being locally searchable and their fees do add up, as do their policies. Craigslist is probably the best way to go at this time, but things change. Craigslist actually reduces risk of fraud, helps to ensure quality and more realistic economy as well as being more environmentally sustainable.
You can also sell equipment through music instrument buy/sell groups on Facebook.
reverb is not a good place to buy and sell AT ALL!
I will take Ebay’s 10 percent to be able to actually make deals without the subpar intrusive basic system on Reverb.
Reverb is for kids.
I sell a lot of high-end guitars, and ebay is far too dangerous a market for that. There’s a reason so many of the big-dog guitar sellers long ago abandoned ebay. I do quite well on Reverb, although I agree their system is pretty basic. If you know what you;re doing, Reverb is the best place to get top dollar.
I have a la Patrie presentation trans black six string acoustic guitar. I have seen some of the la patrie guitars that are quite expensive. I have googled looked at eBay IT looked like someone sold on auction over a hundred dollars. I would like to find what a fair price is for it or just find out its actual value is. All help would be appreciated. A friend of mine has breast cancer the bills are piling up any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Hi Charity,
I would recommend checking out Reverb’s pricing guide or just searching for the item on Reverb, eBay, Music Go Round, Craigslist, and Google to get an idea of what it might go for.
Want to sell one of my Binson EchoRec(PE-603T6) so studied Reverb(even asked them questions & 1/2 answered). Not over whelmed. Use to do EBay, got burned by seller who threatened to report me if I did not pay to return a vintage item sold no return. He also swapped out a part! NO love for them either. A guy in our state tried selling a Laptop on CL at a “public place” McDonalds AT LUNCH! HE STILL was robbed! Maybe selling in a Police Dept would be safe??
Craigslist is a total waste of time in South Florida. Scammers, utter cheap a-holes who want your gear for nothing OR the absent minded neanderthals who sell their gear for Ebay prices! Ive used Reverb and it beats Ebay by a mile. Great customer service and so far the sellers and buyers are all easy to deal with because they probably hate Ebay and CL as well!
The only issue on Reverb and all online is the RETURN Gearheads who get a meth-like buzz shopping, dont have much money, get the gear and realize it doesnt make them sound “magical” and want to return it …saying somethings wrong with it.
All the Fleabay and Reverb sites tend to side with the Buyer…..so REFUNDS & shipping loss blows!
I have some old music equipment I need to sell, so thanks for sharing this. You make a good point about how selling online meals you have to go through the hassle of packing and shipping the items. I’ll have to find a local pawn shop that offers good prices so I don’t need to worry about it. https://www.sportsmanspawn.com/guitars-pawn-shops-slc
try http://www.musicetrade.com. They only charge 2% of the final sale price and you can list as many products as you like.
Reverb is way too big. They own Chicago Music Exchange and their fees have become just as bad. They are bad news. Long story… Try the Gear Page or Facebook. You can list to many local musician exchange sites in any part of the country through Facebook.
Actually, eBay does 3.5% selling fee on music equipment now.
Source : https://www.ebay.com/rpp/sell-guitars
This is true for items listed in the Guitars and Basses category. All other music equipment listed in any other category is still charged at 10%. See eBay’s fee structure here: https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/selling-fees?id=4364#fvf
THESE COMMENTS HAVE MADE ME CONFUSED. I STOPPED DEALING WITH EBAY…..I WAS JERKED ON SOME NON-MUSICAL ITEMS. I HAVE A BRAND NEW GIBSON ST ELECTRONIC GUITAR. IT SAYS 50TH ANNIVERSARY ON IT…..I NO NOTHING ABOUT GUITARS. MY BROTHER HAD JUST PURCHASED IT AND DIED A LITTLE OVER A YEAR AGO. ITS BEEN SITTING HERE……..I DONT NEED IT…..MAYBE SOME ONE DOES. I WANT THE BEST PRICE A.S.A.P W/O CONFUSION……..CRAIGLIST WON’T WORK FOR ME……I KNOW SOMEONE KILLED SELLING A MINI BIKE ….. I’M IN PHILLY……I JUST LOOKED UP A PLACE HERE CALLED TIERNEY MUSIC ….A LITTLE GUITAR SHOP ON HAINES STREET ARE SMALL PLACES BETTER…..SAM ASH WAS GOING TO BE MY 2ND CALL????
Sharon, sorry for your loss. I would highly, highly recommend not selling anything to a physical store (Guitar Center, Sam Ash, any pawn shops, etc.). I literally just got off the phone with Guitar Center to see what they would pay for a Strymon “El Capistan” and “Flint”. The guy was at least very honest, and told me they’d have to look at it and test it out (which is completely fine/normal), but that even if they were brand new and there were no issues, they would buy items for about 40%-50% of the listed price for the condition. So, if I sold my brand new Strymon “Flint” at Guitar Center, if the pedal cost $290 for me to buy, they would buy it for $120-$145. The guy was really nice and honest, and told me that if I wanted a fair deal that selling anything there and most physical stores is not a good idea. It’s only “good” (I say that hesitantly) if you need immediate cash.
My personal experiences have shown me that Reverb is the best way to get the most money for your musical gear. For example, I can sell my $290 pedal for $270 + shipping (or free shipping if you want to sell it asap), and you will receive a payout of probably about $245-$255 (fees taken out from Reverb, PayPal if used, and depends on how you choose to ship). You’ll be getting between $110-$125 extra selling on Reverb than going to any physical store (at least the main ones that everyone knows about).
The money arrives quickly as well, it’ll be in your account a day or two after you create the shipping label to send it in the mail. So, unless you need money today that is a known rip-off, you can sell it on Reverb and potentially get the appropriate amount 2 days or so after someone buys it. Use the “Reverb Bump” to always have your listing at the top of the lists of other sales for the same gear, and it typically sells quickly. Just price it according to its condition, which means how it plays and how it looks (paint chips, scuffs, drawings on it, etc.) and list every detail about it, even if it has no bearing on how it plays (e.g., pedal has one velcro strip on back, or guitar has loose volume knob that occasionally falls off). This covers yourself, and will not make any buyers mad when they receive what they bought because they are expecting it. One last thing, there is the option to be open to negotiate the price with buyers. The cons are that you will be bombarded with insultingly low prices by buyers who either don’t know anything, are trying to take advantage of a new seller or desperation, or are just plain cheap. The pros are you will have more people trying to purchase your item, and you can use your awesome negotiating skills to sell it just below what you listed it for. As someone who doesn’t know about musical gear and their appraisals/costs, I would not advise anyone who is not at least somewhat knowledgeable about the gear they are selling to use this option. Best of luck, and don’t settle for a very low price out if convenience! Get as much as you can, as I would imagine you would want to sell for a fair price that takes days longer, but will help twice as much financially for all of the things you now need to do. Good luck, and don’t sell it to a physical store!
I just sold my old saxophone from high school on Reverb and it sold in a few hours for market rate – wow. So pumped! Thanks for this article.
Hello all,
Actually GuitarCenter only pays you 50% of what they sell that item for used online and they will give you 60% of what they sell it for used online if your going to buy something right then and there from them.
I have done many deals with GC and know without a doubt that is how it is everywhere. I will supresse urges for new gear and sell my old gear 1st on craigslist before dealing with them. I was just gas’ing for new gear.
Also is your selling gear on craigslist my it mandatory to speak with the person on the phone and feel them out. I can tell in 3 seconds if your a gearhead and know what your talking about. If somebody doesn’t know anything about gear selling or buying it’s your own stupidity for being robbed. Sorry truth hurts it’s a cold world sometimes.
This is really very specific information about the places of music equipment include best & worst. People will come to know exact path of musical world. Great Information . Thanks for Providing,
https://www.musicianmadness.com/
Cody, seems to me the sooner the brick and mortar music store goes under for good the better according to your thought process. Do you have any idea how much consumers still enjoy going into a store and actually have the chance to hold, play and look at great used gear? They LOVE it! Also there is a culture and community within these stores. But, how dare they try to make enough profit to keep they’re stores stocked, provide a decent lifestyle for their staff or keep the doors open. But hey., I’m sure your well aware of all this since your the used gear tell all. Except you keep referring a majority of these questions back to the very stores your telling people to avoid?
Craigslist is still the best place to find a deal. Please stop being scared of craigslist, I have met hundreds of people and been all over and, I have never encountered anything but decent everyday people.. I have made many friends and met some very unique musicians. Life is not 100% safe that doesn’t mean we have to be scared of people.Before C.L. there was a classified ad killer I am sure, Enjoy the world around you and , use common sense, you will do just fine.
Any advice about how to sell an unusual folk-music instrument? The prior comments are very interesting but they all focus on selling guitars or relatively common music equipment.
I need to sell a very beautiful cimbalom (a kind of European hammered dulcimer) handcrafted by an American artisan/musician. I don’t think potential buyers of something like this will be looking on Reverb, based on what is shown on their website. But I could be wrong, and hope someone will speak up if they have sold anything unusual via Reverb in the past.
I have a 1962 Fender Jazz Bass that I’d like to sell. Any suggestions?
I have a Rickenbacker Transonic amp excellent shape I won it in the Budweiser Showdown in “83”. Has a serial no. 001 Led Zeppelin, AC DC,
loved them what’s a good site to sell an amp like this?
Meet at your local police station if your scared of public people. And or bring a few of your giant buddy’s with you to wack the dude if he gets stupid. Funny you say get robbed. Cause you do get robbed at pawn shops etc, that’s the point … Or go to the gym and take roids another option. Stop being afraid because some dude with a 30k rolex met in some shady ass parking garage with a broken light bulb got robbed and cried all the way to abc7 news. And blamed a FREE FUCKIN web site. Good luck dice guy.
Reverb is 3.5% and they push you now to bump it up 2 or their “”recommended”” 3 % , which seems not too bad till you sell a guitar for 10g and loose E550 before you use Paypal which now charge over 3% too.
How do you figure out the cheapest and best way for shipping a guitar.
I have a large collection of electric guitars, wondering how to sell them and how to ship
Ok, Music Go Round also sells gear on Reverb.com and I realize that Music Go Round will offer between 40%-60% for buying our used gear…. So if they’re selling a guitar for $599.00 plus $50 shipping on Reverb then what should I offer???
Please don’t tell me an approximate percentage, just tell me a straight up price.
(Yes, they have a guitar for that much that I want right now. it’s been listed for 2 months w/no offers and 9 watchers.) Thanks, bob
Vintage Guitar magazine issues their “Vintage Guitar Price Guide” every year. It is a comprehensive book (the 2019 issue was 640 pages!) that lists prices on acoustic and electric guitars, basses, amplifiers, effects, lap steels, mandolins and banjos. I have compared many of the prices in this book to the actual selling prices on Reverb and they seem to fall within similar ranges, at least for the instruments that I used for comparison. This book can be ordered at a number of places and is also frequently available at Barnes and Nobles. I hope this helps to at least set a value for some of the instruments that you are looking to sell.
Guitars shows are another avenue. Although there are a number of people who feel that everyone there is just out for a super deal, I have been offered fair prices on some instruments that I have taken to them. Again, having a good understanding of what you have is a big part of the battle.
My brother, a musician in the Dallas area, recently passed away. Fortunately, two of his former band members have helped us sell a Yamaha drum set, 30 guitars, lighting system, etc. However, we still have several types of midi controllers, as well as MANY special effects pedals. Any suggestions on how to sell these? Weve got to clear out his music room.
Hello,
Thank you all for discussing this topic. Information is valuable.
I have a suggestion for those who are selling higher dollar value instruments or equipment, and for those wanting the most secure seller-buyer transaction.
I recently sold, from here in Southern California,, an instrument I valued at $999.99 to an interested buyer from Hilo Hawaii. The listing was on both Sweetwater Used Marketplace (who charges $0 in fees of any kind!) as well as Craigslist.
We all wonder in transacting with remote folks about trust, both buyer and seller. I’m no exception, and .my buyer had an ocean between him and I.
So I researched and found an excellent resource that takes ALL worry out of buyer/seller transactions!
Let me state now that I am not affiliated in any way with this resource except for having made a single transaction as a customer of their service.
The resource is called escrow.com and their method of managing transactions really is worry free. Here’s why.
Online escrow is a five-step process. It protects the Seller by verifying funds and protects the Buyer by allowing inspection of the merchandise before funds are disbursed
1.) Buyer and Seller agree to terms – Either the Buyer or Seller begins a transaction. After registering at Escrow.com, all parties agree to the terms of the transaction.
2.) Buyer pays Escrow.com – The Buyer submits a payment by approved payment method to our secure Escrow Account, Escrow.com verifies the payment, the Seller is notified that funds have been secured ‘In Escrow’.
3.) Seller ships merchandise to Buyer – Upon payment verification, the Seller is authorised to send the merchandise and submit tracking information. Escrow.com verifies that the Buyer receives the merchandise.
4.) Buyer accepts merchandise – The Buyer has a set number of days to inspect the merchandise and the option to accept or reject it. The Buyer accepts the merchandise.
5.) Escrow.com pays the Seller – Escrow.com releases funds to the Seller from the Escrow Account.
Transaction is complete – safely and securely!
Both my buyer and I were happy and felt secure through all 5 steps and escrow.com was able to assist us with a question we had as well as sticking like glue to the initial agreement my buyer and I formulated and agreed to. There were no snafus and my buyer and I both mentioned to each other that this was exactly what each of us needed to both conclude our initial sale and to feel completely satisfied with our transaction process.
In fact, the one issue we had was caused by our choice of shipping companies. The item, an 88 key 45 lb workstation synth got damaged in transit. Escrow com walked us through the choices we had and we decided to file a claim against the shipping company. Without escrow.clm’s advice we may have soured the sale. Instead, since we had proof on both ends of shipping and receiving that neither my buyer or I caused the damage (I took photos of the synth in the shippers presence showing the perfect physical condition and even plugged it in and took video of it functioning perfectly through a little practice amp I keep in my GMC Yukon, and my buyers roommate accepted delivery but notified the driver that the shipper provided and packed shipping carton had damage which the driver put into his pad and gave my buyers roommate documentation stating thei shippers aknowledgement that damage was present upon delivery).
The end result was that the claim I filed benefitted my buyer buy paying the total value I had placed on the item upon shipping plus the complete packing and shipping costs. He ended up MAKING $300 from buying my synth and I made an equal profit by adding that amount to my declared value over its used value just in case!
My buyer, at my suggestion having seen photos of the damage decided to accept the shipment because the damage was cosmetic in nature and was made right again with an inexpensive dent puller kit and some elbow grease on his part and a bit of teaching on mine (he was a younger person and not terribly mechanically knowledgeable)!
I had already received the portion of our agreement that covered my expenses to have the item packed and shipped by the shipping company as we had decided to make ours a “milestone transaction” which simply defines certain actions to be made upon reaching a milestone within said transaction. In our case I made the buyer pay all packing and shipping costs if I would front that money for him which he agreed to. So, when escrow.com had secured his payment (the milestone) they were instructed to release the packing and shipping costs (defined in our agreement) to my bank account thereby allowing my to pay for packing and shipping and ship it right as scheduled with me having already recouped the costs.
The shippers insurance company took their sweet with all facets of their part of the claim but eventually concluded that they were going to pay the full amount of the claim AND the shipping company had a guarantee policy of refunding the total packing and shipping cost when the customer had THEM pack the item to be shipped and damage was caused in transit!
The insurance co sent me a check which I deposited and wiretransferred to my buyer, he then notified escrow.com that our transaction was complete and they then released the balance of my buyers held funds to my bank account.
Buyer got his synth, already repaired and he was.loving it, and I made him a.$275 profit and myself a $345 profit plus the sale partially funded my newest synth workstation upgrade to a gently used Korg Kronos II 88 I had already purchased and was totally in love with (they are absolute BEASTS of musical ability!) all thanks to chosing the right resource: Escrow.com and their knowledgeable and helpful advisors!
So, if you want absolute security from a very well established company with a AAA+ BBB rating that can make nervous buyers confident (and you as well!) I highly recommend placing your worries in the trustworthy hands of Escrow.com!
Oh, yeah! Escrow does cost, but IMHO it is a small price to pay for the value provided in exchange., snd, it can be set up so that you pay the escrow fee, or, the buyer pays the escrow fee, or you can equally split the escrow fee. My transaction fee, which my buyer agreed to pay (I’m a pretty good salesman!) was $32 & change for our $1,300 & change transaction. That works out to @ 2.46%. Very cost effective for its value!
I hope you find this post helpful in providing confidence in your sales endeavours.
PLEASE do not ask me who the shipping co was. They actually have the top rating for successful transiting of packages undamaged and they are one of the biggest worldwide so I chalk it up to percentages and I won’t badmouth them!
Rock ‘n’ Roll, BABY!
Whoever wrote this is incorrect about selling or buying on Reverb. Their fees plus Paypal is almost 8%. That’s just a rip off. So if I sell an amp for $1000, they get $80. And I have to pack and ship my item which is hard to calculate the exact cost of shipping, so expect another $30 or so for bubble wrap & boxing.it. It’s ridiculous. Then on top of that the buyer pays sales tax. What a rip off. So if you buy something on Reverb you pay shipping plus tax. So on that $1000 amp, shipping about $75 plus $80 in taxes for about $150 extra for both on top of some of the most ridiculous pricing people ask. Plus now during Covid very hard to sell something on Craigslist if it’s close to a grand. Only the cheap stuff goes.
Reverb gets almost 8% in fees. It’s rediculous. If your selling something that’s a least a grand they take $80 plus, it’s hard to figure out the shipping fees let the price of packing the item, like bubble wrap and a box. Try to buy something on Reverb, now they charge tax. So you pay shipping plus tax it’s can add up quickly. Was going to buy a Marshall STudio Classic amp cost around $900, then pay shipping plus tax which costs about $150 for both. If you had to turn around and sell that amp the very next day you would lose money. If you sold it for the price the original buyer asked the $900. you have pay$72 in fees. So you bought the amp for $900 plus the $150 for shipping and tax total = $1050. No you go sell that amp for $900 because that’s all it’s worth plus pay the $80 in fees, You sold that amp and got $820, but paid $1050. You just lost $230. No one thinks that way but that’s what happens. It’s just like buying a used car from a dealer. You lose money as soon as you take it off the lot.
Reverb takes too much money from you now. Between their fee’s and paypal it’s almost 8%. That’s alot. What a rip off. I’ve had a few offers from it to sell my amp but with the fees plus shipping it’s hard not to lose money. They are making it very difficult to get a good deal anymore.
Great article. Wish it had compared Elderly to Reverb. Thanks just the same!