Reverb
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Buyers get the largest used music-gear marketplace with protection options, and most report safe purchases.
New check
Comparison
Reverb vs Sweetwater
Reverb lands on Depends, and Sweetwater lands on Worth it.
Sweetwater
Worth it
Confidence: Medium
Buy if you're a musician, studio builder, or worship AV team buying new or used gear . its service reputation is strong.
| Compare | ||
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Worth it |
| Best for | Used and vintage gear hunters | Musicians buying new gear |
| Who it's not for | Margin-thin sellers . fees compound fast | Anyone shopping for software . this is a retail store |
| Privacy | 2021 data breach reported (Etsy-owned site); Laravel Reverb CVEs in sources are an unrelated developer tool.10 | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed. |
| Support quality | Users call customer service useless | Frequent service praise; some recent decline reports |
| Public sentiment | Opinions split: many buyers report safe, smooth purchases, while refund handling, customer service, and the Price Guide draw sharp criticism.³ | Forum and review consensus is strong praise for service and reliability, with recurring complaints about salesperson follow-up calls and recent service slippage.13 |
| Biggest gotcha | Refund experiences rate 1.2/5 on . document everything¹ | Expect a personal sales engineer calling after orders . some love it, others find it relentless |
Pick Reverb when
- Used and vintage gear hunters
- Gigging musicians selling idle gear
- Boutique guitar and synth shops
- Buyers wanting protection on big-ticket items
When Reverb is not a fit
- Margin-thin sellers . fees compound fast
- Anyone needing fast dispute support
- Buyers who skip seller history checks
- Shops wanting a fully controlled storefront
Pick Sweetwater when
- Musicians buying new gear
- Home and pro studio builds
- Worship AV teams
- Open-box and used-gear hunters
When Sweetwater is not a fit
- Anyone shopping for software . this is a retail store
- Used-price bargain hunters; Reverb often wins
- Buyers who resent post-sale sales calls
- Shoppers who trust on-site reviews
Sources
review
- Reverb is the WORST . Reddit r/Reverbreddit.comreview
review
- The top gear scams on Reverb currently . Gearspacegearspace.comreview
- Reverb's "Price Guide" is a joke . Gearspacegearspace.comreview
- Just got kicked off reverb . Elektronautselektronauts.comreview
- Reverb Pricing & Payoutsreverb.comofficial
- Reverb product security pagereverb.comofficial
news
- Summit Partners Invests $25 Million in Reverb.comsummitpartners.comnews
- Read Customer Service Reviews of reverb.com . Trustpilottrustpilot.comreview
- Trustpilot . Sweetwater customer service reviewstrustpilot.comreview
- Yelp . Sweetwater, 998 reviewsyelp.comreview
- Reviews.io . sweetwater.com, 168 reviewsreviews.ioreview