A used guitar is listed on Reverb at $800 plus $75 shipping. You paid $450 for it. Marketplace is entered at 5% of the item, payment at 3.19% + $0.49 on item plus shipping charged, postage you pay at $65, and $10 of packing. A local shop will consign it at 30% of an $800 sale, or buy it today for $520. These are starting points, not live schedules — overwrite them on the calculator.
Consignment is a percent of the shop's sale. They ship and they collect, so you do not pay Reverb marketplace, payment processing, a bump, or a label. Their cash offer is a buy today. Listing it yourself keeps the Reverb checkout and the fees that come with it.
| Path | Their price | You receive | Net after gear | vs Reverb list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| List it yourself on Reverb | $800.00 | $731.60 | $281.60 | +$0.00 |
| Consign at the shop | $800.00 | $560.00 | $110.00 | −$171.60 |
| Take their cash offer today | $520.00 | $520.00 | $70.00 | −$211.60 |
On this example, listing it yourself still leaves the most cash. A 30% shop cut on an $800.00 sale leaves $171.60 less than Reverb at list, and $98.15 less than taking the $720.00 Reverb offer ($208.15). The shop cut would have to drop to 8.55% — or they would have to sell it at $1045.14 — to match Reverb list cash. Their cash offer would have to be $731.60.
At a 15% shop cut the consignment payout becomes $680.00 and net after gear is $230.00. That still loses to the $281.60 Reverb list, but it beats the $208.15 Reverb offer by $21.85.
None of those sentences is advice to consign, to take their cash, or to keep the listing — they are the arithmetic on the inputs above. Enter the cut the shop actually quoted and the cash they would hand you today.
Change the shop sale price, the consignment cut, or the cash offer on the calculator and the three paths update. Your numbers stay in the browser. Who pays postage is a different question — walk that on should I include shipping on Reverb. Comparing this guitar to eBay, Etsy, Amazon, or your own store? The where-to-sell calculator ranks Reverb against them with this item's price, shipping, and cost already filled in.
On the worked example — $800 Reverb list, $75 shipping charged, $65 postage you pay, $450 gear cost, 5% marketplace, 3.19%+$0.49 payment, $800 shop sale, 30% shop cut, $520 cash offer — listing it yourself leaves $281.60. Consigning leaves $110.00. Their cash offer leaves $70.00. The shop cut would have to drop to 8.55%, or they would have to sell it at $1045.14, to match Reverb list cash. Their cash offer would have to be $731.60.
No. The shop ships and collects. You receive their sale price minus their cut, then subtract what you paid for the gear. Marketplace, payment processing, a bump, and a label stay on the self-list path.
When their cash offer minus what you paid for the gear is larger than Reverb list profit on the rates you typed. On the worked example that crossover is $731.60. A $520 cash offer leaves $70.00 versus $281.60 on Reverb.