Reverb.com Reports 20% of Used Pedal Sales are “Flips”

Reverb.com reports that flipping gear to make music and money is a growing trend among musicians.

Reverb.com reports that 20% of all used effects pedal sales on the music gear marketplace appear to be “flips”. Having launched just over three years ago, Reverb.com is now the most visited music gear website in the world with over 7 million monthly visits — with that comes some interesting data. The growing prominence of “flippers” is just one of the latest trends that Reverb is seeing as part of a larger trend toward music gear liquidity.

Reverb defines a “flip” as the sale of a used item that was previously purchased (new or used) on Reverb. According to Reverb Director of Marketing, Chrissy Hansen, “There are two common reasons a user might flip a pedal. One, they want to experiment with it for a bit, then sell it to try something different. This is something we empower musicians to do — try things without a lot of risk. It really changes the way musicians see gear. It doesn’t have to be a long-term investment. The second reason is simply to make some extra money.”

Reverb.com Overall Stats

• 7 million visits per month
• 60k orders per month
• 2016 projected sales $280mm (2015 was $110mm // 2014 was $34mm)
• 450k live listings
• 600k active users
• Across all instrument categories, sales are split 80% used // 20% new

Reverb Effects Pedal Market

• 60k live effects pedal listings (13% of total listings)
• In the Effects Pedal category, sales are split 75% used // 25% new
• 20% of used pedal sales appear to be “flips”

Top 10 Flipped Pedals

1. Electro-Harmonix Soul Food
2. TC Electronic Ditto Looper
3. Strymon El Capistan
4. Electro-Harmonix Micro POG
5. Strymon Timeline Delay
6. MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay
7. Xotic EP Booster
8. TC Electronic Hall of Fame Reverb
9. Paul Cochrane Timmy
10. JHS Superbolt