Reverb: Buy & Sell Music Gear

Review by eFreeware

Most shopping apps sell you something generic. Reverb is built around one corner of the market: musical instruments and the gear that surrounds them, with new, used and vintage pieces sitting side by side in the same catalog. That focus is the most distinctive thing about it, and it shapes everything else the app does.

The idea is that a guitarist hunting a discontinued pedal, a drummer moving a kit they no longer play and a studio owner comparing microphone prices all end up in the same place. Sellers here range from large brands and retailers to small builders and individual musicians, so the listings mix mass-produced items with one-off pieces. If music gear is what you buy and sell, this is the app's entire purpose rather than a side aisle.

It has been in the store since late 2014 and has passed a million installs, with a 4.8 average across more than 37,000 ratings. I'd treat those numbers as a sign that the marketplace model works for a lot of people, not as a promise about any single transaction.

Built for buyers with something specific in mind

The buying tools assume you know roughly what you want and need help finding it at a price you like. You can watch individual listings and get notified when the price drops, which is the closest thing here to setting a quiet alert on a piece you're not ready to buy yet. Saved searches go further: filter something like a Fender electric guitar or a Korg synth by condition, year, price and similar criteria, and the app tells you when matching gear appears.

Offers are the other half of the buying experience. Rather than paying the asking price, you can make an offer and let the seller respond. For vintage and used pieces, where condition and completeness vary so much, being able to message a seller with questions before committing matters as much as the price itself. The Home tab collects offer and deal updates in one place so a response doesn't get buried.

This suits someone comparing a few candidate instruments over weeks, or waiting for a particular model to surface. It is less about browsing for entertainment, though the app does have a browsing side, and more about tracking a shortlist and acting when something lines up.

Selling without a storefront of your own

Listing gear is free, and the developer describes the process as quick: take photos, write a description, set a price. From there the app lets you answer offers and messages from wherever you are, which matters if you're selling several items and responses trickle in through the day. You can also manage your shop from the app, updating prices and promoting listings with Bump when you want more eyes on something.

The appeal for a casual seller is reach. An unused instrument goes in front of a global community of musicians rather than the handful of people who might see a local ad. That is also the reason the app can work as a funding loop: sell what you no longer play, put the money toward the next purchase.

I'd expect the experience to reward sellers who write honest descriptions and answer questions promptly, since buyers on a specialized marketplace tend to know what they're looking at.

The editorial side, which is easy to overlook

Away from buying and selling, Reverb carries gear demos, artist interviews and how-to videos, along with written material on gear history and recording and production techniques. Handpicked collections assembled by the site's staff offer a curated way in when you don't have a specific model in mind, and there is coverage of rare and unusual pieces alongside under-the-radar deals.

For someone learning an instrument or setting up a home studio, this is the part of the app that works when you're not shopping. It won't replace a structured course, but it does put demonstrations and background reading next to the listings they relate to, which is a sensible pairing on a marketplace like this.

I'd see it as a reason to keep the app installed between purchases rather than deleting it once a deal closes.

What it costs to use

The app is a free download. It carries no ads, and there are no in-app purchases, so nothing in the buying, selling or browsing experience is gated behind a payment inside the app itself. Listing gear is free as well, which the developer states plainly.

That combination is worth pausing on, because it means the app's own monetization doesn't intrude on how you use it. Whatever you pay for an instrument or receive for one is a matter between you and the other party.

For anyone wary of marketplace apps that push upgrades at every turn, this one keeps that side of things out of the way.

How it compares with the alternatives

The obvious comparison is a general classifieds or auction platform, where music gear is one category among furniture, phones and bicycles. Those can work for a local sale, but the audience is broad and the browsing tools are not built around instrument details like year, condition or model variations. Reverb's filters and saved searches are shaped by exactly those attributes.

A dedicated retailer's app is the other option, and it will have new stock with warranties and consistent return policies. What it won't have is the used and vintage supply, or the mix of boutique builders and individual musicians selling off pieces. Conversely, if you only ever want a brand-new item from a known brand, a retailer is the more direct route.

There's also the social route of forums and enthusiast groups, which can be excellent for niche knowledge but offer no structured way to watch a listing, make an offer or track a search. Reverb's value is in putting those mechanics around a specialized catalog.

A specialist marketplace that knows its audience

Reverb does one thing and does it in depth: it connects people who buy and sell musical gear. The buying side gives you price-drop watches, filtered saved searches, offers and direct messages to sellers. The selling side is free to list, with tools for responding to interest and managing your shop. Around both sits a body of demos, interviews and writing that keeps the app useful between transactions.

It suits musicians and studio owners who know what they're after and want a catalog that spans new, used and vintage, plus sellers who want a worldwide audience instead of a local one. It's free, with no ads and no in-app purchases to work around.

If music gear is your regular buying and selling territory, this is the app I'd point you to first. If your shopping is broader than that, a general marketplace will cover more ground.

What's new in version 5.80.2

• Fixed shop addresses that could silently fail to save • More reliable notifications so you don't miss buyer messages • Fixed a couple of crashes and made the app faster and more stable