Bridle Ideas

[sackospuds]

Hi Everyone!

I could do with your help please.

I'm about to start a M2M Bridle business, and I'm not sure what price banding people would be willing to pay for them, I know it's a piece of string question, and I don't want to be seen as advertising, so will have to keep it vague.

They are best quality English leather, hand stitched, shaped padded headpiece, noseband and browband. My service would be to post a fit kit and guide out, receive it back with measurements and photo's, then post out the made bridle.

What do you think? The bridle industry is all over the place with pricing, I don't want to over or under price them, at the moment I'm thinking between £300-600.

Thanks 😁

 

[Wheels]

What exactly do you mean by best quality English leather? Are we talking sedgwick or J&FJ Baker quality?

Are you including reins?

Your price range there is way over some very established businesses that already exist so what is different / special about your particular bridles?

 

[be positive]

That sounds expensive, my saddler will make exactly what the client wants, he will come out to measure, make suggestions and bring samples of leather, last time I asked it was not much over £100 without reins, I think you would have to offer something unique to get many orders in your price range, a Fairfax is around £400 and they are a "known" brand.

 

[sackospuds]

What exactly do you mean by best quality English leather? Are we talking sedgwick or J&FJ Baker quality

I am using Sedgwick leather, no I wouldn't include reins.

I have read all the research on bridle fitting, I have designed a shaped headpiece, and have designed a double articulation system on the noseband to get a better fit.

I have based my price range on the Fairfax/PS of Sweden prices. But mine are fully hand stitched in England, with English leather

 

[sackospuds]

That's why I'm asking, as I'm not sure what people would pay, I know Fairfax are about £400 but have seen lots of comments about quality of leather, mine is Sedgwick, and is fully hand stitched.
I'm offering the service postally so that I'm not restricted to a set region, so will make a comprehensive guide to measuring for a bridle, plus samples of all the leathers in the kit, and then make the bridle to the customers wishes.

I've based my price range on the upper end of off the peg bridles, but am open to suggestions, as I don't want to price myself out of the market, too high, or too low.
Thanks for your comments, it's good to get feedback

 

[Auslander]

For a M2M bridle from a new, and therefore unknown brand, I would expect a hands-on measuring service, and something very innovative in terms of fit, with published research available for the innovative element, before I would consider paying that sort of money. This is not in any way meant to be negative, or to cast nasturtiums on your brand - but you are up against a lot of well known, popular brands, with edgy design that has been thoroughly researched.
If I were you, I'd get some prototypes made up, and dished out to riders who have proved themselves to be really good brand ambassadors, so that they can help you to build your brand via their social media channels.

 

[Goldenstar]

If I want a bridle made I expect someone to come and measure up .
I would never mess about doing it myself .
I know two people locally to me who would do this .
BTW when I bought my Fairfax bridles a saddler visited me fitted the bridles to my horse let me try them and then ordered the bridles with the pieces in the sizes I needed .

 

[Wheels]

No I wouldn't pay £300 for that I'm afraid - there are a few nice M2M bridles, English leather and in English made around with nicely designed headpieces for £150 ish

I think you maybe need to Re look at your pricing

 

[Willow1306]

I used a very successful m2m bridle maker, paid the lower end of your price range and, even though parting with that much cash was eye-watering for me, I'm delighted with the product and the service that I received was exceptional. This manufacturer sends out a 'fitting bridle' for you to see the exact fit and measurements on your horse before making you a bespoke one. They used Sedgwick leather which is lovely.

I'd suggest that if you're just starting out, you might need to lower your price a bit whilst you build up a reputation.

 

[sackospuds]

Thank you for all the comments, really helpful.
I know it's a large banding and expensive, most of my bridles will be around £300-400, with a rolled double bridle at the £600 mark.
I would love to be able to go out and measure up myself, and have done in the past, but that all adds time away from making the bridles, which adds to the turn around time, it would also be impractical for me to travel outside of say a 3 county area, when advertising nationally, that just isn't feasible, so my fit-kit is a comprehensive pack with the different colours, and different styles of nose etc for people to try.
It has been suggested to do an introductory offer, to test the water, I also like the idea of getting a couple of bridles out to prominent rider's.
I hadn't thought about people not wanting to pay full price upfront, from a business point of view it's safer, but maybe I need to look at a deposit first, then full payment once the fit-kit has been returned, these kit's will be expensive to make, so I don't want to risk losing them, by not securing them with a payment of some sort.
This is all really helpful thank you 😀