I recently decided (for about the 4th time) to sell some unused equipment and donate the proceeds to the Harry Konick complex in New Orleans for displaced musicians. As of last week-end there are certainly more than there were.

I had my son list a few "starter" pieces on Reverb to build up a good rating. No one is going to spend $5,000.00 on an unseen instrument sold by a guy with no rating.

We started off with miscellaneous pedals, stage lights and a very few, very cheap instruments ($500 and under, mostly).

Some surprises: First: some of that old stuff is worth a lot more than I thought. A 30 year old (lightly played) Parker Fly goes for $1,650.00, for instance. Old Boss pedals made in Japan are at a premium. 2nd: it is easy to trace recent sales by dollar, quantity sold, etc. to set prices. Plus, as soon as you print your shipping label, easily arranged from Reverb, the money is deposited in your account. And, SURPRISE: because of where the proceeds are going, and the fact that if I sell the 300 pieces I have set earmarked, I'll still have 11 keyboards, 61 guitars, about 30 amplifiers and other goodies, I m not as "in the dumps" as I thought I'd be.

In the first 5 days, we sold $1,950.00 of what I thought were mostly junkers. With a good rating, which is building, we'll be in the $3,000 up range soon. I think I'll make my goal of a $100,000.00 donation in a couple of months.

Got extra equipment lying around? Give Reverb a try.


Russ (the hoarder) Lay

PS: Most of the stuff sold last week was still in the box, wrapped in clear plastic, with the sales tag on it. I Know, it's a sickness.

Used Reverb for the first time recently. Seems better that Ebay these days. Priced it fair and sold it in a few days. Only thing is it seems every time I include shipping its someone in Califorina who buys it. Still came out OK. I didn't get paid till the unit was delivered.
Good for you Captain for the generous donation.

I had many good and bad experiences with both REVERB and Ebay selling on both have gotten too expensive, between the shipping and fees it's not worth the hassle for me to pack and ship anymore, I would prefer local pickup in most cases and then you have the bad experiences that you have to deal with, example the buyer might be corrupt and just take accessories out of your board then, return it empty, just one of the pitfalls.

Sadly, its gotten so when I consider a new musical purchase a strong factor is how I will sell it when and if the time comes.