advice - saddle renovations?

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Flyermc

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Can anyone help?

Ive got a really nice western saddle for sale (we sadly lost the horse it was for last year) but it needs some TLC

Anyway its been for sale since around April on the normal sites with an honest ad about its condition and ive had a fair bit of interest, but no sale yet because im reluctant to post it. With it needing abit of TLC id prefer the buyer to see it first, mainly because of the horror stories ive heard about buyer keeping the saddle and still getting a refund.

The saddle is for sale for less than a 4th of the price we paid (its an American import) due to it needing some TLC, theirs not many for sale in the UK to compare prices, but 2nd hand ones in good condition on ebay are still 1k more than im advertising at, but obviously i dont know what they sell for.

Anyway it got me thinking that i might be better off paying for it to get renovated myself and then re-advertise, but ive no idea where to start! has anyone ever done this? does anyone know any good companies to contact (ideally around the Manchester area) that deal with western saddles.

Does anyone have any ideas on whats best to do?
 
Can't help with western saddlers near Manchester. But if you look on the ebay search page you'll see on the left hand side bar about 2/3 down there is a box you can tick for "show completed listings". If the price shows as green that means the item sold at that price. Otherwise it shows the price it was listed for - but didn't sell. A western saddle is quite a niche market in the UK - might you do better advertising through something specialist or at one of the western riding competition venues?
 
Hi, thanks for your reply.

There are other 2nd hand western saddles of this brand that have sold, but they all appear to have been happy to post and not the same spec. One has sold which is the same spec for over 1k more than mine is for sale, but they are in international shop, based in the US . I have been offered the full asking price if id ship to London, but im reluctant to do this, unless they've seem it in person (to many horror stories!!)

Ive had 3 people come to see it. 2 was buying other things, but saw the saddle and loved it, one then later text me for awhile over it, but had just bought her horse one and really didnt need 2. The other loved it, but didnt have the money. The 3rd person did a 2.5hr round trip, but was really unsure if it would fit her horse but will get back to me and ive had several really low 'best offers' plus 100's of questions over it, but then never get back to me.

Other than this horse having been ridden in western tack, i dont have anything to do with western riding/comps, but i have looked on FB and around for groups, but can only find US sites.

I was wondering really if i renovated it, id be happier to post it out. There's nothing 'major' wrong, its all cosmetic.
 
I looked into getting a Western saddle briefly. They dont seem to sell for very much. I suspect the one you saw in the American shop was sold in America which makes a big difference.

The problem you will have is not posting it. It reduces your possible customers down to any that can get to you, and its already a tiny pool of people that would be interested in a Western saddle anyway. Then it needs renovating, but I and I assume most other people wouldnt know where to start looking for someone to renovate one. I suspect even if you could find someone its not going to be cheap.

Unless you desperately need the money I would accept the best offer you can get if you want rid of it, or you need to hang on to it until someone comes along who is nearish, knows what it is and wants that exact one. It could be tomorrow or it could be in 10yrs.
 
What LW said. Western is a bit niche here in the UK. It took me almost two years to sell my old saddle, and that was despite being willing to post it.
 
i agree, i think the issue is that i dont really want to post it, unless i renovated it before hand. It worry's me because i sold a 2nd hand used rug last year, i took pictures of all of it (and this rug was in good condition!) but the buyer was unhappy and just bombarded me with awful messages for weeks and threaten me with trading standards even tho i was happy to have the rug returned to me and id refund them (crazy) it just worries me doing the same with a saddle that does need TLC!

We lost the horse it was for last year, so we dont need to get X an amount back for it (we dont need the money to be able to buy a replacement) and i dont have a timescale that it needs to be sold by, but id prefer that it went sooner rather than later, just because i live in a tiny house with baby number 2 on the way, so its 'in the way' abit.
 
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