Buying used drums online | Best places and tips

Drums are one of the best things you can possibly buy second hand. A cymbal does not go off. A maple shell does not get tired. Half the kits on the used market have spent five years in a spare room being played twice a month.

The catch is that you are now the quality control. Nobody is checking the bearing edges for you, nobody is holding that ride up to the light, and a crack the width of a hair does not show up in a phone photo taken in a badly lit garage.

So where should you actually be looking, what is worth buying used, and what should you check before your money leaves your account? Let’s get into it.

Why buy used drum gear at all?

The obvious reason is money. A mid-range kit loses a serious chunk of its value the moment it leaves the shop, and the wood inside it is exactly the same wood it was the day before. You are paying for someone else’s change of mind.

The less obvious reason is that the used market is the only place a lot of great gear still exists. Discontinued shell packs, the older Byzance finishes, 1970s Ludwig and Rogers snares, that one Zildjian ride you played at a mate’s house in 2009 and have thought about ever since — none of it is on a shop shelf any more.

And then there is the sensible middle path. Buying a used kit and putting the money you saved into new heads and a proper tuning session will get you a better sound than buying a cheaper kit new. Every time.

The only real downside? You do the homework yourself. Which is what the rest of this guide is for.

Where should you buy used drums online?

There’s no single best answer, because “used drums” covers a £40 hi-hat stand and a £3,000 vintage Gretsch kit. Here is where each one actually lives.

Reverb — the marketplace built for this

If you only use one site, make it Reverb. It’s a marketplace for musical instruments and nothing else, which means the listings are written by people who know what a bearing edge is, and the drum and percussion category is enormous — kits, snares, cymbals, hardware, vintage, electronics, oddities.

Three things make it the one we point drummers at first.

The Price Guide. This is the killer feature and it’s free. Reverb publishes what gear has actually sold for, not what people are asking. Look up a model in the Reverb Price Guide and you get a price history graph and a transaction history — condition, new or used, final price. Ten seconds with that and you know whether the listing you are staring at is a bargain or a chancer. Use it even when you are buying somewhere else.

Buyer Protection. If your gear turns up lost, damaged, or nothing like the description, you report it within seven days of delivery and Reverb sorts you out. Crucially that covers you even when the seller has written “no returns” — a misdescribed item is a misdescribed item. It doesn’t cover changing your mind, and “As-Is” listings really are final sale for buyer’s remorse, so read that bit of a listing properly.

Safe Shipping. Sellers can buy insured Reverb shipping labels with cover built in, which matters more with drums than almost anything else. Cymbals crack in the post. Ask a seller whether they are using it.

The honest caveats, because there always are some. Reverb prices tend to sit a little above what you would pay a bloke down the road, precisely because sellers price against the Price Guide. Buying internationally can land you with import duty and VAT on arrival, which people forget until the courier asks for it at the door. And shipping a full five-piece kit across an ocean almost never makes financial sense — buy kits close to home, and use Reverb for the things that post well.

Have a look at what is on there right now: used drums and percussion on Reverb, or go straight to used cymbals — the category where the savings are biggest.

eBay

The biggest raw pool of gear anywhere, and the place where genuine accidents happen — a house clearance listing titled “drum kit” with four blurry photos and no brand mentioned is occasionally a Yamaha Recording Custom. Auctions ending at 2am on a Tuesday go cheap.

The trade-off is that most sellers aren’t drummers. Descriptions are thin, packing can be atrocious, and “fully working” means whatever they want it to mean. Check the feedback, check the returns policy, and pay with something that gives you a comeback.

eBay is at its best for hardware, spares, stands, cases, lugs, tension rods and the small unglamorous stuff that specialist sites barely bother listing.

Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree

This is where the actual bargains are, and it isn’t close. No fees, no shipping, and a seller who mostly wants the thing out of the dining room.

It’s also where you have the least protection, so the rules are simple. Go and see it. Play it. Take a drum key and a pair of sticks. Pay cash or a card on collection, never a bank transfer for something you haven’t laid hands on. And if a listing has a suspiciously good price and the seller will only communicate off-platform, walk away.

Best for: full kits, hardware, and anything heavy and awkward to post.

Retailer used programmes

In the US, Guitar Center’s used department and Sweetwater’s Gear Exchange both grade and describe used gear to a consistent standard and put a real returns policy behind it. You pay a bit more than a private sale. What you get is a shop’s reputation standing behind the condition rating, which for a first big purchase is worth the difference.

Specialist drum shops

Places like Drumshack in London, and the big US drum specialists, sell used gear that has been through the hands of drummers. Listings come with the details that matter — cymbal weights in grams, whether the shells are original, what has been replaced. Prices are higher and they should be. This is the right place to buy a vintage snare or a hand-picked ride if you can’t go and play it yourself.

Drummer forums and buy/sell groups

Drum-specific forums and Facebook groups are full of enthusiasts trading gear between themselves. Descriptions are usually scrupulously honest, because everyone knows everyone. Always pay with PayPal Goods and Services, never Friends and Family — the small fee is the entire point of the transaction.

One more option: B-stock and outlet

Not used, but worth a mention because it is often the better deal. B-stock is returned or box-damaged stock sold cheap with a full warranty. Worth checking before you commit to a used kit at a similar price.

The right shop depends on where you are: Guitar Center in the Americas, Gear4music in the UK, or Thomann for Europe and the rest of the world.

What is worth buying used — and what isn’t?

Not all drum gear ages the same way. This is roughly how we think about it.

Buy used without hesitating	Buy used carefully	Just buy new
Cymbals	Electronic kits	Drum heads
Shell packs and full kits	Thrones	Mesh heads
Snare drums	Anything with electronics in it	Cymbal felts and sleeves
Hardware, stands, racks	Very cheap beginner kits	Bass drum beaters
Bass drum pedals	Heavily modified kits
Cases and bags

Cymbals are the standout. A twenty-year-old crash that has been looked after is functionally a new crash with better manners, and you will often pay half. If you are building a set from scratch, buying used is the single biggest saving available to you — the same logic that makes people try low volume cymbals for practice applies to the main set for gigs.

Heads are the opposite. A used head is a consumable someone else has already consumed. Budget for a full set on any kit you buy and factor it into the price.

What should you check before you buy?

Here is the inspection list, by category. Ask for photos of every one of these before you pay — a genuine seller will happily send them.

Drum shells

Bearing edges. The most important part of a drum and the most expensive to fix. Ask for a photo of at least one drum with the head off, edge visible. You are looking for dings, flat spots and lifted plies.
Round shells. A shell that has been dropped or stored under weight can go out of round, and you’ll never tune it properly. A head that won’t seat evenly is the giveaway.
Wrap and finish. Lifting seams and bubbling on a wrapped kit are cosmetic but they spread. On a lacquer kit, look for cracks radiating from the lug holes.
Hardware and threads. Missing tension rods are cheap. Stripped lug inserts are not. Ask whether every rod turns freely.
Bass drum spurs and mounts. Bent spurs, seized tom mounts and rust in the memory locks all point at a hard life.

Cymbals

Cracks. Edge cracks, radial cracks running in from the edge, and hairlines around the bell. Ask the seller to photograph the cymbal held up against a bright sky or a lamp — hairline cracks show up as light through the metal and disappear completely in a flat photo.
Keyholing. An elongated, oval centre hole, caused by years of playing without a sleeve. It’s a warning that the cymbal has been hammered on a bare metal rod, and it’s the beginning of a crack.
Flea bites. Tiny nicks around the edge. Minor on their own, but they are where cracks start.
Weight in grams. Ask. Two cymbals of the same model and size can be hundreds of grams apart and sound like different instruments. Any seller who knows cymbals will have this to hand.
A ten-second video. Just ask them to hit it. If they won’t, that tells you something.

Keyholing, lathing wear and a logo that has faded to nothing are all fine. Cracks are not. A cracked cymbal isn’t worthless — it’s just not worth used-cymbal money.

Hardware and pedals

Memory locks, wing nuts, felts and tripod feet all go missing. Individually trivial, collectively a £40 shopping list.
On pedals, check for play in the bearings, wear on the chain or cam, and a footboard that flexes. A tired pedal feels vague in a way that’s hard to photograph — this is one to try in person if you can. If you’re comparing mechanisms first, our guide to direct drive bass drum pedals is a good place to start.
Hardware is heavy, so shipping costs bite. Buy it locally where possible.

Electronic kits

This is the one category where we genuinely urge caution.

Modules don’t last forever, and discontinued ones can’t be repaired. Before you buy, check whether the manufacturer still supports the module. A dead module on a ten-year-old kit is usually the end of the kit.
Pad sensors and cones are consumables. They wear, they go double-triggering, and replacements are fiddly. Ask the seller to confirm every pad and every zone triggers, and to send a video of them playing the whole kit.
Mesh heads wear out. Not a dealbreaker — see our mesh head buying guide — but budget for them.
Cable looms are proprietary and expensive. Make sure the harness is included and undamaged.
Depreciation is brutal. Electronic kits lose value fast as new models land, so check the used price against the current new equivalent — a Roland TD-07KV style entry kit new is sometimes barely more than a tired used one.

Vintage drums

Vintage is its own world, and the short version is this: buy the drum, not the story. Check badges and date stamps against the known ranges for that brand, ask whether the shells, hoops and lugs are original to each other, and be clear with yourself about whether you are buying a player’s kit or a collector’s kit. A re-wrapped 1960s shell pack with modern hardware is a lovely thing to gig. It isn’t an investment.

What should you ask the seller?

Copy and paste these. It takes a minute and it has saved us a lot of money.

Are you the original owner, and how long have you had it?
Why are you selling?
Can you send a photo of one drum with the head off, showing the bearing edge?
Are there any cracks, dents or repairs anywhere on the kit or cymbals?
Does every tension rod turn freely?
What does the cymbal weigh?
Can you send a short video of you playing it?
How will you pack it, and is it insured?

The answers matter less than the willingness. A seller who replies properly to all eight is a seller you can buy from.

How do you know the price is fair?

Start with the Reverb Price Guide, because sold prices are the only prices that mean anything. Asking prices are opinions.

Then apply a bit of rough maths. As a general rule, mid-range kits settle around half to two-thirds of new; cymbals hold value better and sit a bit higher than that; boutique and desirable vintage gear can hold or even climb; electronic kits fall hardest and fastest.

Then add the costs the listing does not mention:

A full set of heads, if they’re old — realistically £80 to £150 for a five-piece.
New felts, sleeves and washers for used cymbals. A few quid, but do it.
Shipping. A boxed five-piece kit is not cheap to post, and hardware is heavier than people expect.
Import duty and VAT on anything crossing a border.

Do that sum before you make an offer, not after. A “bargain” kit that needs £150 of heads isn’t a bargain if it was only £150 under the new price.

How should it be packed and shipped?

Drums travel badly, and the damage almost always happens for the same handful of reasons.

Cymbals should be sandwiched between two sheets of stiff card cut larger than the cymbal, then boxed. Bubble wrap alone isn’t packing — it’s decoration. A cymbal loose in a box will crack.

Drums should be shipped with the heads on, because the heads protect the bearing edges. Each drum individually wrapped, nothing rattling around inside the bass drum, and hardware boxed separately so a stand leg can’t punch through a shell.

Insure it for the full value, and if the box arrives damaged, photograph it before you open it. On Reverb, get any problem reported inside that seven-day window — after it closes, your options narrow considerably.

What are the red flags?

A price well below every comparable sold listing.
Photos that look lifted from somewhere else. Reverse image search them.
A seller who wants to move the conversation and the payment off the platform.
Bank transfer, PayPal Friends and Family, gift cards or crypto. All four mean you have no comeback whatsoever.
A brand new account with no feedback selling something expensive.
Refusal to send a video or an extra photo.
Vagueness. “Not sure, it was my son’s” is fine from a genuine seller — but then the price should reflect the uncertainty, and it usually doesn’t.

Should you sell your old gear too?

Almost certainly, yes. Most of us have a snare we never reach for and a crash that has not been on a stand since 2019.

Reverb takes roughly 5% as a selling fee plus payment processing of around 3.19% and a small fixed charge, so budget somewhere near 8–9% all in, and check their current fee page before you price. Bump — their optional paid promotion — comes on top and is entirely up to you. Selling locally costs nothing but takes more of your time and involves more haggling.

Whichever route you pick: take proper photos in daylight, weigh your cymbals, and describe the flaws yourself. Honest listings sell faster, and they’re the reason nobody opens a dispute against you.

Final thoughts

Buying used drums online isn’t risky. Buying used drums online carelessly is risky, and the difference between the two is about fifteen minutes of asking questions.

Use Reverb’s Price Guide to work out what something is worth, buy through a platform that protects you when the gear is going in the post, and save the cash-in-hand local deals for the big heavy things you can go and play first. Then spend some of what you saved on new heads and get it tuned properly.

Not sure what to be hunting for in the first place? Tell the Gear Guru your budget and the sound you’re chasing, or go and see what the pros are actually playing over in the Rig Vault — plenty of those setups are far more affordable second hand than you would think.