Reverb seller, Do you think this is some kind of interest free pay day loan or something?

MikeS

Early today on Reverb, I see a guitar I like, being sold with the option of postage, perfect. I make an official best offer, seller accepts. Without delay I pay via paypal, and log out, all is good.

Literally 5 minutes later seller cancels order and I'm refunded. No messages, no notes etc. I contact him to find out what's what, but no response whatsoever. Now, although he's refunded me, because I paid via paypal, there is a 7-9 working day clearing period before the refund processes and I get my funds back, so great, my money is now floating about and I'm unable to touch it for a week or so.

Now, because he's cancelled the order, on Reverb it seems once that happens there is no way to leave appropriate feedback?.

So I was thinking, why would someone do that, what reason apart from an instant regret in selling your guitar, would you have to actively accept an offer, take payment, and then cancel without so much as a by your leave?. And it dawned on me it would be the perfect (If you were desperate enough) interest free loan to keep you going until payday.

Seller sells a guitar, and takes payment via paypal. Instantly withdraws said funds into his bank account, and has instant access now to my money. Then cancels sale on Reverb knowing that the refund wont process for 7-9 working days, and there's nothing the buyer can do, as apparently there is no come back on Reverb. So he has instant free money until payday, and I get humped for a week.

I contacted Reverb early this morning, no response.

What do you think?, makes no sense other than that.

Tenebrous

I mean, it beats the 1300% APR offered on the TV, I guess

joetele

MikeS said:

Early today on Reverb, I see a guitar I like, being sold with the option of postage, perfect. I make an official best offer, seller accepts. Without delay I pay via paypal, and log out, all is good.

Literally 5 minutes later seller cancels order and I'm refunded. No messages, no notes etc. I contact him to find out what's what, but no response whatsoever. Now, although he's refunded me, because I paid via paypal, there is a 7-9 working day clearing period before the refund processes and I get my funds back, so great, my money is now floating about and I'm unable to touch it for a week or so.

Now, because he's cancelled the order, on Reverb it seems once that happens there is no way to leave appropriate feedback?.

So I was thinking, why would someone do that, what reason apart from an instant regret in selling your guitar, would you have to actively accept an offer, take payment, and then cancel without so much as a by your leave?. And it dawned on me it would be the perfect (If you were desperate enough) interest free loan to keep you going until payday.

Seller sells a guitar, and takes payment via paypal. Instantly withdraws said funds into his bank account, and has instant access now to my money. Then cancels sale on Reverb knowing that the refund wont process for 7-9 working days, and there's nothing the buyer can do, as apparently there is no come back on Reverb. So he has instant free money until payday, and I get humped for a week.

I contacted Reverb early this morning, no response.

What do you think?, makes no sense other than that.

Do the live chat thing on Reverb - usually bottom right corner - I've had a young lady called Carmen help me out multiple times with various issues (also had some really nice chats with her). Also can @iain.reverb look into it perhaps? 

mli3

Maybe it was listed elsewhere and he sold it there, forgot to take it off reverb ?

adamm82

mli3 said:

Maybe it was listed elsewhere and he sold it there, forgot to take it off reverb ?

yeah that's happened to me before.

though i've been told lots of times a guitar has been sold only to be offered it a week later when that deal had fallen through. 

MikeS

mli3 said:

Maybe it was listed elsewhere and he sold it there, forgot to take it off reverb ?

No because you would just decline a best offer and end the listing, not accept a best offer, wait until payment is received and then end listing.

adamm82

MikeS said:

mli3 said:

Maybe it was listed elsewhere and he sold it there, forgot to take it off reverb ?

No because you would just decline a best offer and end the listing, not accept a best offer, wait until payment is received and then end listing.

maybe a change of heart? anytime I sell a guitar i try to ignore it put it out of sight until it's gone otherwise i'll start thinking it's amazing.

see if they relist it again?

grungebob

Never tried it but I’m not sure you can issue a refund on a negative or zero balance account? Plus wouldn’t the refund leave his account straight away and let PayPal get interest on the money for the 7-9 day period?

guitars4you

mli3 said:

Maybe it was listed elsewhere and he sold it there, forgot to take it off reverb ?

I have a few items on Reverb that are also listed on my web site - About 2 months ago I sold a guitar, via my web site, on a Sunday afternoon, but as I was out I had not picked up on the transaction at that stage - 2/3 hours later, someone else brought the same guitar listed on Reverb, at full price, so no offer or contact made to me - I quickly had to refund, drop him a line and update accordingly with a big apology - So it can happen, but in this instance surprised the seller did not contact @MikeS and update accordingly

MikeS

grungebob said:

Never tried it but I’m not sure you can issue a refund on a negative or zero balance account?

Yes you can, hence the reason for his withdrawal to bank, and the reason it now takes 7-9 working days to process because of this

grungebob said:

Plus wouldn’t the refund leave his account straight away and let PayPal get interest on the money for the 7-9 day period?

Only If the withdrawal to bank hadn't taken place, and the funds were still in the paypal account yes

MikeS

Reverb have been in contact, apologised for his actions, and given me 20 "Reverb Bucks" whatever that is

Anyway, I guess it's just one of those things. I now have to wait 7-9 days to get my real money back

joetele

MikeS said:

Reverb have been in contact, apologised for his actions, and given me 20 "Reverb Bucks" whatever that is

Sounds like 'Zoo Dollars' from Friends to me. 

Whitecat

MikeS said:

mli3 said:

Maybe it was listed elsewhere and he sold it there, forgot to take it off reverb ?

No because you would just decline a best offer and end the listing, not accept a best offer, wait until payment is received and then end listing.

eBay has an “auto-accept” best offer feature which would still explain it if it were eBay - does Reverb have similar?

meltedbuzzbox

Have you tried @iain.reverb ; ?

TeleMaster

Reverb can’t speed up the refund process.

Sometimes you get idiots and scammers who use these services. 

I use use the pay after delivery feature with PayPal for exactly these scenarios. I don’t pay until I’ve got the item and if someone does mess me around I can just buy another one while I wait for the refund or return to go through at no extra cost or inconvenience to me. 

roberty

MikeS said:

Reverb have been in contact, apologised for his actions, and given me 20 "Reverb Bucks" whatever that is

Anyway, I guess it's just one of those things. I now have to wait 7-9 days to get my real money back

It's USD$20 in credit

https://reverb.com/uk/page/payout-to-reverb-bucks

ash96

I did this to a customer by accident once. forgot something was still listed on reverb (i never really used it before at the time), the pedal was long gone when I found out it'd sold. So just had to apologise and refund the guy. 

adamm82

if you wanted to be very elaborate. if you had pay after delivery on your paypal account you could create a 2nd paypal/ebay make a listing and buy your own item then withdraw the funds. you'd lose a bit on fees but not expensive as pay day loan.

I haven't tried this before you ask haha