Etsy is acquiring Reverb, a new and used music gear marketplace

Etsy, the e-commerce platform for handmade goods, is acquiring music gear marketplace Reverb for $275 million in cash. The site, which sells new, used, and vintage musical instruments and accessories, will continue to operate as a standalone business.

The two companies have a natural connection to each other, with Etsy CEO Josh Silverman describing Reverb “as the ‘Etsy’ of musical instruments.” Reverb CEO David Kalt also credited Etsy with giving him the confidence to launch his own marketplace. Kalt, a former guitar store owner, started the site in 2013 to create a place where musicians could buy and sell instruments from each other. Kalt will step down from the CEO position after the acquisition closes, which is expected in the third or fourth quarter of 2019.

Etsy has made a similar acquisition in the past, buying French marketplace A Little Market in 2014, only to shut it down in 2017 amid Etsy’s layoffs and leadership changes. Since going public in 2015, Etsy’s most recent acquisition was in 2016 for Blackbird Technologies, an AI startup that developed algorithms to help with the site’s search functionalities.