Reverb Launches Digital Wallet with Ansa to Keep Money in the Marketplace
Reverb, the online marketplace for musical instruments and gear, launched a digital wallet powered by US wallet provider Ansa. The concept is straightforward: sellers keep their earnings in the wallet instead of transferring to their bank account, then use those funds to buy more gear on the platform. For that, they receive 1% cash back as an incentive (Ansa).
The Marketplace Wallet Playbook
If I were to quote our previous virtual event guest, Christian von Hammel-Bonten, this is the typical playbook for keeping money within your business as long as possible. When a seller lists their guitar, makes a sale, and then immediately buys another guitar from someone else on Reverb, the platform never has to process an external payout, resulting in lower payment costs, more transactions, and higher retention.
I don’t live in the US and am not really into instruments, so I first thought Reverb is likely a small niche marketplace. Well, the marketplace processes around $1 billion annually with 10 million monthly visitors. The question is whether sellers actually want to keep their money on the platform or prefer the flexibility of having it in their bank account.
Why Ansa?
Ansa is positioning itself as the infrastructure provider for marketplace wallets. They handle wallet functionality, the promotions engine (such as 1% cashback), and the instant payout mechanics. Use cases like this are a perfect fit for them. I recall that in our podcast episode #24, I spoke with Arda Cagaptay about potential use cases for wallets.
The interesting part is whether this wallet actually changes seller behaviour. A 1% incentive isn't huge. However, for a musician who wants to sell one item and immediately (or soon after) buy another, the use case makes a lot of sense.
I'm curious to see if other marketplaces follow this playbook or if the wallet approach only works in specific verticals where repeat transactions are common.
