Reverb Announces Plans to Increase Investment in Sellers

CHICAGO, July 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Reverb, the largest online marketplace dedicated to buying and selling musical instruments, today announced that it is revising its selling fee to support increased investments in the growth and long-term health of the marketplace. This change to Reverb's selling fee, which is the company's first ever, will enable Reverb to make substantial additional investments in marketing, customer support, and seller tools aimed at attracting more buyers to the site and raising the visibility of Reverb's sellers.

"Over the past seven years, our team has been dedicated to growing Reverb into a global online destination that music makers visit to discover the world's best music shops and sellers. As our community continues to expand and players of all levels increasingly shop for music gear online, we've heard our sellers loud and clear—they want even more opportunities to connect with more buyers on Reverb," said Reverb CEO David Mandelbrot. "As a crucial partner to the businesses and individuals who sell instruments on Reverb, we recognize that now is the time to make further investments on behalf of our sellers. Our first-ever selling fee change will enable us to do that."

Beginning on August 4, 2020, Reverb's 3.5% selling fee will increase to 5%. This revised selling fee will enable Reverb to invest more to sustain sellers' continued growth. This year alone, Reverb plans to increase investments compared to 2019 by:

• Investing over 30% more in marketing initiatives—including SEO, online video advertising, and other digital advertising—aimed at getting sellers' inventory in front of more buyers from around the world.
• Expanding the capacity of Reverb's global customer support team by 25% to support Reverb's growing community of buyers and sellers.
• Increasing by more than 40% the capacity of Reverb's product team focused on creating and enhancing seller tools and services to increase the visibility of sellers' inventory.

"Music shops, gear makers, artists, and more sell their gear on Reverb because our marketplace gives them access to millions of knowledgeable, quality buyers and the support of customer engagement, marketing, and tech teams that are dedicated to connecting buyers and sellers," said Kevin Drost, Reverb's Chief Strategy Officer. "Our revised selling fee will allow us to make crucial investments on behalf of our sellers while continuing to provide what we feel is the best value for our community."

About Reverb

Reverb is the largest online marketplace dedicated to buying and selling used, vintage, and new musical instruments. Since launching in 2013, Reverb has grown into a vibrant community of buyers and sellers all over the world. By focusing on inspiring content, price transparency, musician-focused, eCommerce tools, a music-savvy customer service team, and more, Reverb has created an online destination where the global music community can connect over the perfect piece of music gear. A portion of each sale on Reverb goes to Reverb Gives, which provides youth music programs all over the world with the instruments they need to make music. Reverb is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Etsy, Inc., (NASDAQ: ETSY) which operates two-sided online marketplaces that connect millions of passionate and creative buyers and sellers around the world.

Media Relations Contact:

Reverb, Heather Farr Edwards, Senior Manager, Brand and Communications: [email protected]
Etsy, Lily Cohen, Senior Specialist, Corporate Communications: [email protected]  

Etsy Investor Relations Contact:

Deb Wasser, Vice President, Investor Relations 
Gabriel Ratcliff, Director, Investor Relations
[email protected]

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements 

This press release (including statements quoted in this press release) contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements include statements related to our expectations regarding the updated transaction fees, including the timing of anticipated launch dates, the amount of anticipated investments, and the potential impact on our business and the businesses of our sellers and our future growth.

Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical fact. Forward-looking statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. These risks and uncertainties include the successful execution of our business strategy, the success of the updated transaction fee and the impact of the updated transaction fee on our sellers, our reputation and our business, GMS and results of operations, the success of our marketing efforts, our active and engaged community of sellers and buyers, the growth and performance of our platform, and other risks and uncertainties that are more fully described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2020, and subsequent reports that we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOURCE Reverb

Related Links

http://reverb.com