Reverb.com reports that flipping gear to make music and money is a growing trend among musicians.
The site says 20 per cent of all used effects pedal sales on the music gear marketplace appear to be flips – previously bought on Reverb and then re-sold.
Having launched just over three years ago, Reverb.com is now the most visited music gear website in the world with over seven 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 $110m/2014 was $34m)
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
- Electro-Harmonix Soul Food
- TC Electronic Ditto Looper
- Strymon El Capistan
- Electro-Harmonix Micro POG
- Strymon Timeline Delay
- MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay
- Xotic EP Booster
- TC Electronic Hall of Fame Reverb
- Paul Cochrane Timmy
- JHS Superbolt
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