Best way to sell a saddle?

[Palindrome]

For those struggling to find boxes, you can usually get crisp cardboard boxes at your local Sainsbos or similar. They are a bit flimsy but with a lot of good quality packing tape they do the job.

 

[sbloom]

I wouldn't recommend a supermarket cardboard box, you need double walled such as you get from a storage/removals place, even those can get mullered, trust me. Even my Mattes delivery, in a double walled box, has just arrived split.

And 23% commission....if anyone is involved with figures for a business, especially slow moving retail goods (ie not supermarkets etc refill each shelf daily/weekly) then that's not a big margin, this sort of retail is recommended to double or treble the cost of good for the retails price, to cover all overheads. The only difference with used saddles is there is no VAT to pay, but it's not an easy way to make money.

The market for FITTED used saddles has almost been ruined, not the direct sales market. Because of what I posted above retailers/fitters can't buy cheap enough (as sellers want the price they think they could get selling direct) or sell at a decent enough price (as again, people see what they're selling for on ebay etc and want to pay that or less). There is much less room for knowledgeable people to be able to come fit used saddles.

 

[flying_high]

I wouldn't recommend a supermarket cardboard box, you need double walled such as you get from a storage/removals place, even those can get mullered, trust me. Even my Mattes delivery, in a double walled box, has just arrived split.

And 23% commission....if anyone is involved with figures for a business, especially slow moving retail goods (ie not supermarkets etc refill each shelf daily/weekly) then that's not a big margin, this sort of retail is recommended to double or treble the cost of good for the retails price, to cover all overheads. The only difference with used saddles is there is no VAT to pay, but it's not an easy way to make money.

The market for FITTED used saddles has almost been ruined, not the direct sales market. Because of what I posted above retailers/fitters can't buy cheap enough (as sellers want the price they think they could get selling direct) or sell at a decent enough price (as again, people see what they're selling for on ebay etc and want to pay that or less). There is much less room for knowledgeable people to be able to come fit used saddles.

I am not sure I get this. I have my saddle checked roughly every three months, if there are physical / medical issues / changes going on. Less frequently if all is well and nothing is changing.

I can get a saddler out to check my existing saddle. I pay for the call out, the visit fee, and for their time and anything done. I need to book ahead in busy times of year, but I can always get my saddler to come with good planning.

If I chat to the saddler about what saddles might work well or better for my horse, and procure / borrow one or more of these, asking my saddler to check and fit a saddle I have bought second hand, is the same margin for them as asking them to check / adjust / fit my existing saddle. And in my experience saddlers will do this. There is more leg work for the owner, if you source your own saddles second hand, but I am not sure it takes profit margin away from saddlers. Mine is happy to come check and adjust, and fit, and charges accordingly.

 

[ITPersonnage]

I sold a couple of saddles through Saddles Direct after trying and failing with other routes (EBay, Preloved, local saddlers) and was very happy with the price I got. One was an Equipe close contact and one a Black Country dressage one.

 

[sbloom]

I didn't sat it took away margin, or even income, overall, I said it reduces the specific work many fitters used to do on a bigger scale, stocking and fitting second hand saddles. They used to be able to buy at a lower price and sell at a higher price, that was the allusion to margin. What has changed is that saddlers/fitters do a lot less of this work, so the customers overall probably pay the same, or certainly similar, but have to do the legwork themselves, as you have said. Some will be happy to do it, others would rather not and it's frequently mentioned in social media how the supply of used saddles stocked by saddlers and fitters has declined. It probably has more down sides for customers than for fitters.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

I've posted and recieved quite alot of saddles-never had one damaged, will only send via PF tracked and insured. I can always get boxes from work (decent ones) plus as much packaged as I need so lucly that way. I still find eBay the fastest although you do lose on fees.

 

[flying_high]

I didn't sat it took away margin, or even income, overall, I said it reduces the specific work many fitters used to do on a bigger scale, stocking and fitting second hand saddles. They used to be able to buy at a lower price and sell at a higher price, that was the allusion to margin. What has changed is that saddlers/fitters do a lot less of this work, so the customers overall probably pay the same, or certainly similar, but have to do the legwork themselves, as you have said. Some will be happy to do it, others would rather not and it's frequently mentioned in social media how the supply of used saddles stocked by saddlers and fitters has declined. It probably has more down sides for customers than for fitters.

The issue (and reason I started self supplying second hand saddles) is it is pretty rare (and was so 10-20 years ago too) that the saddler has the colour, seat size, width, make and model they think would best suit both horse and rider in their second hand stock.

If the saddler looks at a brown, slightly bigger / smaller saddle and says I think this would be perfect, in this width, this seat size, I can then scour the internet across many mediums and source one, and get saddler to fit it.

TBH this is leg work and carries, and if the saddle had the right thing in stock, I personally have no problem paying a few hundred extra to buy from saddler. What I wont typically do, is if saddler doesn't have exact requirements in second hand, I don't then buy new. I source second hand, so when I sell on, there is not a loss.

 

[flying_high]

I wouldn't recommend a supermarket cardboard box, you need double walled such as you get from a storage/removals place, even those can get mullered, trust me. Even my Mattes delivery, in a double walled box, has just arrived split.

And 23% commission....if anyone is involved with figures for a business, especially slow moving retail goods (ie not supermarkets etc refill each shelf daily/weekly) then that's not a big margin, this sort of retail is recommended to double or treble the cost of good for the retails price, to cover all overheads. The only difference with used saddles is there is no VAT to pay, but it's not an easy way to make money.

The market for FITTED used saddles has almost been ruined, not the direct sales market. Because of what I posted above retailers/fitters can't buy cheap enough (as sellers want the price they think they could get selling direct) or sell at a decent enough price (as again, people see what they're selling for on ebay etc and want to pay that or less). There is much less room for knowledgeable people to be able to come fit used saddles.

If I was a saddler being asked to sell second hand saddles, first I would charge 30% commission, and secondly, I would take the saddle to sell, but no money would change hands unless I sold the saddle, I wouldn't put any capital up front.

 

[sbloom]

We do exactly that, but customers want too much returned to them in most cases (ie they want what they see things selling for privately), so they sit for an age unsold, again the direct market has had an impact. Trade ins are another matter, you've already effectively paid for them. Hence fewer fitters now offer to take them.