Buying from the USA via Reverb?

Philly_Q

Just having a random Google tonight, I stumbled on a pretty rare (and pricey) guitar I've been after for a quite a while.

Trouble is, it's on Reverb... and I've never bought from there before.  The seller is in the USA, has minimal feedback, only this one item for sale and the guitar has been listed for several months.  That said, looking at his previous sales the pictures were all taken in the same location so it seems legit, as far as I can tell.

I've bought loads from eBay, from all over the world, over the years and I don't suppose Reverb is really much different, but it feels uncomfortable because it's unknown territory.

Anyone bought from the USA via Reverb before?  How good is the buyer protection?  I need reassurance....

BloodEagle

It’s fine -  I had a problem with something pretty pricey I bought from the US via Reverb and they were very helpful and my ‘case’ was assigned to one particular guy who acted as an intermediary between the seller and I. Eventually it was bought to a satisfactory conclusion and. I got a partial refund. They are good and they won’t leave you hanging, they seem pretty proactive. The customs fees and vat are the real kickers buying from the US 

JDE

Have bought from the States, Japan and Australia on Reverb, all with no problem. Reverb is decent, and you also have the buyer protection built into PayPal. 

Gagaryn

BloodEagle said:

It’s fine -  I had a problem with something pretty pricey I bought from the US via Reverb and they were very helpful and my ‘case’ was assigned to one particular guy who acted as an intermediary between the seller and I. Eventually it was bought to a satisfactory conclusion and. I got a partial refund. They are good and they won’t leave you hanging, they seem pretty proactive. The customs fees and vat are the real kickers buying from the US 

Yip, I had a similar experience and Reverb customer service were excellent in helping out - even though the seller was not interested in reaching any kind of resolution.

Philly_Q

BloodEagle said:

It’s fine -  I had a problem with something pretty pricey I bought from the US via Reverb and they were very helpful and my ‘case’ was assigned to one particular guy who acted as an intermediary between the seller and I. Eventually it was bought to a satisfactory conclusion and. I got a partial refund. They are good and they won’t leave you hanging, they seem pretty proactive. The customs fees and vat are the real kickers buying from the US 

Only a partial refund?  Is that because you ultimately kept the item but it wasn't quite as described?

Hattigol

@iain.reverb is of course on here and I'm sure he'll reassure you.

BloodEagle

Philly_Q said:

BloodEagle said:

It’s fine -  I had a problem with something pretty pricey I bought from the US via Reverb and they were very helpful and my ‘case’ was assigned to one particular guy who acted as an intermediary between the seller and I. Eventually it was bought to a satisfactory conclusion and. I got a partial refund. They are good and they won’t leave you hanging, they seem pretty proactive. The customs fees and vat are the real kickers buying from the US 

Only a partial refund?  Is that because you ultimately kept the item but it wasn't quite as described?

Yes, it arrived safely but it was a fairly old guitar and some of the tuners were knackered, which wasn’t mentioned in the description - which is why I requested a partial refund.  I just had to swap them out for some new ones of the same type and it was fine.

chris78

Only thing to be aware of is that you only have 7 days to raise a dispute. I had a pedal delivered when I was on holiday and it was faulty, reverb didn’t want to know as I didn’t raise it until day 8. The seller knew it was faulty, quoted the 7 day rule and I was stuffed.

Powerslave

Not specifically related to Reverb ....

Without knowing the specs of the guitar, possibly worth waving the CITES flag - Mark from Guitars4You, and others, would be able to advise in detail.

MikeS

I've bought guitars on Reverb on 5 occasions now from the States, 4 of which had Rosewood fingerboards. Never an issue.

The longest I had to wait for one of the sellers CITES guy to do his thing with the paperwork was 5 days. The others have been done in 2 or 3 days. I've actually just bought a guitar direct from Reverb themselves, they had it in their office in Chicago, and again a Rosewood neck, and this time only 1 day for CITES to be completed and guitar to be dispatched.

Like others have said, you've got paypal as protection as well. I can highly recommend.

iain.reverb

Philly_Q said:

Just having a random Google tonight, I stumbled on a pretty rare (and pricey) guitar I've been after for a quite a while.

Trouble is, it's on Reverb... and I've never bought from there before.  The seller is in the USA, has minimal feedback, only this one item for sale and the guitar has been listed for several months.  That said, looking at his previous sales the pictures were all taken in the same location so it seems legit, as far as I can tell.

I've bought loads from eBay, from all over the world, over the years and I don't suppose Reverb is really much different, but it feels uncomfortable because it's unknown territory.

Anyone bought from the USA via Reverb before?  How good is the buyer protection?  I need reassurance....

I've you need me to take a look at anything for you drop me a PM

Philly_Q

Thanks for the advice and comments gents.  CITEs shouldn't be an issue as there's no rosewood involved.

@iain.reverb ; I will send you a PM, although there's no particular problem.  Thanks!