When good means something else.

I've been buying pedals lately. Not that I need another pedal of any variety. It's just fun. Truth is, I'm about at that point that I need to put some up for sale or go trade them in or something because I'm running out of space. But maybe I'll sell some later. First I need to rant about a couple of things.

First. Reverb sellers I'm looking at you. If you're firm in your price, then say that in the listing, and turn the Make an Offer button off. I try not to lowball anyone. It irritates me when folks do that to me, and, if I wish folks wouldn't do it to me, then I shouldn't do it to them. It's the whole "do unto others" thing. If the Make an Offer button is there, I will typically click it and offer anywhere from 5% to 15% less than they're asking. Or, if they're charging shipping, I might go as high as offering  whatever the price is minus the shipping. And most folks are cool. They may not be interested in taking my offer, but they'll counter and throw me a bone, and give me a few bucks off. In my mind, that's how the game is played.

Lately, however, I've had several items that I've been interested in. The Make an Offer button is there and available, so I'll do my usual offering a little less. If you make an offer, Reverb gives 24 hours for you to reply before it expires.

Quick note: when I make an offer, I always make sure to check the box that, if they'll accept my offer, I'll buy the item.

So, back to the 24 hour expiration time frame. My experience has been that most folks that I've bought from have responded within just a few minutes. In each of the instances recently, the quickest response was one from last night that took 13 hours for me to get a response. And when I get the responses lately, it has been something along the lines of "my price is fair and firm. The price is $XX." 

Fair enough. You're not interested in dealing. I've sold stuff like that, but, when I did, I turned off the dang Offer button. And, in each of the instances recently, it took long enough for the seller to respond that I found what I think was a better deal. So, as soon as I got the Declined notice, I pulled the trigger on the other. Also, had the seller countered and just given me a few bucks off, I would've bought it from them despite finding the better deal. Also, also, it's been kind of vindicating to watching these recent items that I made the offers to the "fair and firm" sellers and got shot down. Every one of them is still for sale on Reverb. If they'd been cool and knocked even a couple bucks off the price and they would've sold their item. Instead, they're still waiting to sell them. Some of these could've sold last night and some could've sold a couple of months ago. And that's their prerogative. So if they're happy about it, then so am I.

Second thing is this. At least make an attempt to be objectively honest about the condition of what you're selling. I know that you think what you're selling is A+ condition and should command top dollar, but that may not actually be the case.

For instance, there is a pedal that I was looking at recently that said it was in Very Good condition. According to Reverb's grading verbiage says "Very Good items may show a few slight marks or scratches but are fully functional and in overall great shape." For your frame of reference, this pedal was a Boss pedal. You know what a Boss pedal looks like. Now here is my realistic description of this "very good" pedal.

The bottom of this pedal was missing the sticker. That's ok, but, in it's place was all this sticky looking white residue that looked like somebody had put duct tape on the bottom, let it sit for a year or two, and then pulled it off. The top of the pedal wasn't much better. The face plate was scratched in several places, and it had been stomped enough that you could mostly make out the Boss logo on the pedal. Then there were the sides. Oh the sides. Somebody had decided to write on the pedal. By scratching into the paint. So the pedal had their credo down the side of it in such a way that the only way to repair it would be to sandblast the case and repaint it. And they were calling this thing in Very Good condition.

I'm sure the pedal worked fine. Truth is, one of the reasons I saw it was because it was from a store that I have bought from in the past. Did I mention that it wasn't an individual selling this pedal? It was a flippin' store! That's one reason I don't buy used from GC online. My experience has been that you can buy something online from them that is listed as Excellent condition, and it is anything but excellent. Reverb is turning into the same kind of free for all it seems. The difference in Reverb and GC is that Reverb will generally have multiple pics that you can look at and judge a more accurate condition of it. GC you're lucky to get one out of focus pic where you're left to the mercies and judgement of whatever disinterested employee posted the listing. 

So to recap, if you sell used gear, here are two thing that will make you more successful in life. If you're not interested in entertaining offers, turn that button off. If you don't, don't be so condescending when you let someone know that you think your gear is worth what you're asking. Truth is, it probably is, but that means there are almost always better deals out there. Second, at least make an attempt at being objective about your gear. I know you've used it and think it should really be prices like an original Klon, but it's still used gear. If it's beat to heck, it's not in mint condition.

That is all. Go forth and buy some gear.