HMS Reverb presence gone?

[Hochapeafarm]

Just tried to look at what ukes HMS has listed on their Reverb page and there were 0 listings. Did HMS get rid of their presence on Reverb? It seems unusual, even considering the holidays and Covid, that they’d have completely sold out and have zero listings. Last I had checked a month or two ago, they had around 90 listings.

On Reverb, HMS used to offer a lot of showroom/floor models in mint-excellent condition for sale as well as seconds, from what I recall. Since they launched their new website, I noticed that they’re now selling used and B-stock instruments on their website...maybe this new section is to replace Reverb so that they’re not having to pay Reverb fees, etc.

I’d be curious what’s going on and if they did drop Reverb.

[Ms Bean]

From the UK you can still find their place on Reverb, but there are no listings: https://reverb.com/au/shop/ukulele-station

It seems that they incorporated the B-stock and used instruments on their mainstream website when they had their major revamp and relaunch a few months ago.

[scarver]

I heard from other sellers that Reverb had significantly raised its rates (change in ownership?) and that these other sellers were leaving the platform. Maybe the same thing is happening for HMS.


[QUOTE=Hochapeafarm;2259325]Just tried to look at what ukes HMS has listed on their Reverb page and there were 0 listings. Did HMS get rid of their presence on Reverb? It seems unusual, even considering the holidays and Covid, that they

[dwizum]

Reverb charges 5% as a selling fee, and a 2.7% plus 25 cents payment processing fee, so the total fees are effectively 7.7%. The 5% selling fee is up from 3.5% - that change happened in August. You can also pay extra to "Reverb Bump" an item, which puts it at the top of search results - you get to choose an extra percentage and the frequency with which your item gets bumped increases the more you pay. Reverb says that most bumped items are between 3 and 6% if I recall correctly. So that brings your total fee to 10% or more if you want to actually be seen among the masses of other sellers.

Compare that to someone selling direct with their own merchant bank doing payments and they may only be paying 2 or 3% total on card payments. It's not an insignificant difference, if a seller has the volume to support their own website anyways and doesn't need to be on Reverb to compete, it makes sense that they'd not use it.

[Griole]

Yep, Reverb fees have gone up significantly since they were acquired by Etsy. And they've added a "processing fee", in addition to a percentage-based "selling fee".. The most annoying thing to me about their new rules is the fact that as a seller, you MUST agree to receive funds in "Reverb bucks", which delays your payout for a few business days. I used to opt for payments via Paypal, and when a buyer's payment had cleared, I could request Paypal to transfer funds to my bank account. I guess Etsy likes the idea of Reverb holding your proceeds for 1-3 business days so they get the interest. I was a frequent Reverb user, both as a buyer and a seller, for quite a while until they made these latest changes. Ah, the corporate mind. Avarice is king in the corporate world. When Etsy bought Reverb, they soon figured out a way to make even more money! That's progress, eh?

[Jerryc41]

[QUOTE=scarver;2259335]I heard from other sellers that Reverb had significantly raised its rates (change in ownership?) and that these other sellers were leaving the platform. Maybe the same thing is happening for HMS.

Just tried to look at what ukes HMS has listed on their Reverb page and there were 0 listings. Did HMS get rid of their presence on Reverb? It seems unusual, even considering the holidays and Covid, that they

I've heard the same thing. When you're running a business and trying to keep prices under control, having to pay extra to sell on a different site is an unnecessary expense.

[Hochapeafarm]

Thanks for chiming in, everyone. Yep, I would agree with the impressions people are sharing, here. I think, tho, I’ll reach out directly to HMS to see what the deal is. If you compare the number ukes listed, previously, on their Reverb page (used to be around 80-90 instruments) to what is found, currently, on their used and seconds page (10 instruments), it’s a drastic difference in the numbers of ukes listed. Makes me wonder what they’ve decided to do with all of the rest of those ‘ukuleles that were once listed before on Reverb, but not found, currently, on their website. Perhaps they’ll end up eventually listing the rest...or, perhaps they did, indeed, just sell all of those instruments that used to be on Reverb. Regardless, they’re an absolutely awesome company. I’ve been purchasing ukes from them for close to 10 years, now. Hands-down, incredible service, incredible instruments. Peace, folks.

[Ukecaster]

I remember back in the old days, pre-internet, when the best way to sell gear was in a publication called the Want Advertiser. Pretty much just like Craigslist, but in a weekly magazine format available in most convenience stores. Buyers would call your phone number, which you needed to include in your ad. The commission was a flat 15%, based on the honor system. So, by the time you're done with it, eBay and Reverb are probably in that same 15% ballpark, with a much wider reach than a local Craigslist, but CL is still free. But, Reverb and eBay now send you tax info at the end of the year, so you can declare income on all your transactions.

[clear]

I remember back in the old days, pre-internet, when the best way to sell gear was in a publication called the Want Advertiser. Pretty much just like Craigslist, but in a weekly magazine format available in most convenience stores. Buyers would call your phone number, which you needed to include in your ad. The commission was a flat 15%, based on the honor system. So, by the time you're done with it, eBay and Reverb are probably in that same 15% ballpark, with a much wider reach than a local Craigslist, but CL is still free. But, Reverb and eBay now send you tax info at the end of the year, so you can declare income on all your transactions.

That brings back some memories. Here's what I remember using to sell stuff, in chronological ordering:

Physical bulletin boards (e.g. library, school, community centers) -> local community newspaper -> usenet news -> yahoo classifieds -> amazon (only for books) -> craigslist.

I sold over $3000 worth of books on Amazon about 18 years ago when I switched to electronic books during that period. Amazon commission was, 30%, but they gave you some credit for shipping. Besides, amazon, all the others were totally free for the stuff I sell.

Currently, I use craigslist for everything. There's a lot of buyers there; and the f2f aspect is something I like too.

[Hochapeafarm]

Just had a reply email from Joel at HMS to my inquiry regarding HMS’ Reverb plans. Joel said that they’re using the new web page to sell these instruments in lieu of Reverb. Here’s the link that Joel provided to me:

https://theukulelesite.com/b-stock-u...-specials.html