Buying unseen and using a transporter - financial security?

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Abacus

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I wonder if anyone has done this. I am trying to buy a pony (privately) who is well up in the North; I am a long way down south. It's not worth a day of travelling up there to fetch him; cheaper all round to get a transporter to pick him up. I haven't seen him but have seen videos and a lot of photos.

My concern is over the financial security of transferring the money. They have asked for a deposit which is fair enough. However - what can I do to make sure I can claim the money back if the seller is not as genuine as they seem? They don't have Paypal and have only offered a bank transfer as a method of payment. I could potentially ask the transport company, if they are very kind and don't mind going to the bank, if I could transfer the funds to them, to pay the balance in cash on my behalf when they collect him.

Any other ideas?
 
you could ask in the regional thread here if someone could go and see him for you and be there to make sure all is well when the transporter arrives? I dont think any transporter will take cash and pay for the pony. while most people are honest all sellers could potentially sell a pony with problems and even if you go and see it try it and pay cash on collection it does not mean there would not be an if or a but when you get it home. all I can suggest is that the sellers give you a detailed purchase contract including passport number saying that the pony is good in traffic stable or whatever you want on it before you send the money
 
I really would not buy a horse without seeing it, some people I know did this some years ago and the horse was dangerous with its teeth and back legs, it attacked anyone that tried to enter the stable and it also brought strangles onto the yard, so none of us could hack out for 3 months, probably not what you want to hear but there are so many dishonest people around.
 
Are you worried in case you pay for the pony and the transporters come back empty handed? If the vendors have online banking, could the transporters call you to say the pony is loaded, and then you do the bank transfer, the vendors check it's gone through, and the transporters leave with the pony? We have done this before, not with an unseen horse, but the same process.
Or are you worried that the pony will not be as described? Can't see a way around this one unless you go yourselves and try it, your only redress then will be goodwill on their part or the small claims court. I'd be too nervous to buy unseen personally, but I know lots of people do.
 
If they are genuine they won't mind setting up PayPal. Takes no time at all and if you chose the option to pay a friend then there are no fees involved for them. I would ask them to set one up or I would walk away, and I'm usually very trusting.
 
If you don't trust them enough to actually send a horse, why on earth would you trust them enough to tell the truth about the horse?

That does not make sense to me at all.


ETA, not meaning to be off hand. I do think that either you trust them, in which case it is a non issue, or you don't. To me the biggest trust thing is not if the send the horse, but what the horse will be like when he arrives. It is much harder to lie about putting it on the lorry, easy to gloss over issues with soundness and temperament. It is a huge trust thing.
 
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I have done this exact thing, bought a pony unseen and just sent a transporter to collect and dolloped the money into the seller's account by transfer! However and this is a big HOWEVER... the pony was an unbroken youngster I wasn't bothered what it was like as I was confident of the breed, the breeder, the bloodlines, etc. so had a fair idea of what I was getting. Its also a small community within the breed so did a bit of internet stalking and chatted to connections to check up on whether/not they appeared genuine. The transporter phoned me to say he was there to collect the pony and had checked the passport matched the pony and the balance of the money was then transferred.

If you are already thinking about what to do if you need to send the pony back then you really, really do need to go and see it. You won't have a leg to stand on otherwise. When I bought in this way I was very clear that it was my risk and provided the pony had a pulse and 4 legs that was as much as I was bothered about, oh and the pony was cheap and I could afford to stand a potential financial loss if needs be.

On the plus side I've now had this pony for years and he's all grown up and is an absolute cracker. But it is a big risk both for you and the seller.
 
Sorry if I was unclear. I accept that buying unseen I have no guarantee about the horse, although the videos I have seen appear genuine (showing both good and bad). It is an 11hh lead rein pony, and the price is such that it's not actually worth taking a day off work to see/collect him. If he is not as described then I took the risk and I guess I will live with that.

My question was only about the financial security - i.e. I transfer the money and the pony is not at the yard address I have - etc.
 
then I would ask the transporter to call you when they are at the yard and looking at the pony and passport that correspond with a photo that you send them. then you have some choices and can either do an immediate transfer to them so they can see the money in their account (check with your bank first that the funds will not be held for security and that it will show immediately) or you use a holding account at their bank so they know you have paid and that you can authorise for them to transfer
Abacus said:
Sorry if I was unclear. I accept that buying unseen I have no guarantee about the horse, although the videos I have seen appear genuine (showing both good and bad). It is an 11hh lead rein pony, and the price is such that it's not actually worth taking a day off work to see/collect him. If he is not as described then I took the risk and I guess I will live with that.

My question was only about the financial security - i.e. I transfer the money and the pony is not at the yard address I have - etc.
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The other option is to send a bankers draft with the transporters, they cannot be altered or bounce so everyone is safe, they get a safe cheque on collection, you get it back if the pony is not there, the transporters should not mind taking it as there is little risk, unlike cash, of any mistakes being made, transfers are usually quick but are not always instant and the transporter may not have time to hang about if it takes a while to go through which could leave you with a problem.
 
Your telling me there are seriously no 11h lead rein ponies for sale cheap as chips near you? You must live on the moon!

I'm taking a guess as its 11h and a lead rein pony its for a child .... If it were me I would either go and see it or find something local before I put my child or a kid on it (and I hate kids so that must tell you something!)
 
Honestly, I have been looking for a lead rein pony for months if not longer, and keep being told they cost at least £2k. I know several people who have paid this much. I have seen a lot of videos of him being ridden, and not all recent; plenty from last summer etc. If he's a nutcase when he arrives my children won't go on him of course; he can be a lawnmower and I will learn my lesson and save up my £2k :)

Thanks for the bankers draft idea. I'll look into that.
 
Antw23uk said:
Your telling me there are seriously no 11h lead rein ponies for sale cheap as chips near you? You must live on the moon!

I'm taking a guess as its 11h and a lead rein pony its for a child .... If it were me I would either go and see it or find something local before I put my child or a kid on it (and I hate kids so that must tell you something!)
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A good lead rein pony is difficult enough to find let alone one as cheap as chips, most are moved on through word of mouth and never even get on the open market, it is easy enough to find a small barely broken pony that you would not risk your child on, even if you hate kids you would not want to see what some ponies can do, it is far easier to find a horse and judging by the many threads on here that show how difficult that is buying any equine is getting harder, the more there seems to be on the market the less decent ones there are to choose from.
 
charterline said:
PayPal or a cheque?
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What protection does a cheque give you! If I was the seller I would certainly not take one as trust is a two way street.

Sorry OP if you are having doubts and its too much to lose if its wrong you either dont do it or find the time to look at it
 
I bought a pony in ireland unseen and used a well known transporter (with cream and blue liveried oakley) who when I explained my concern, allowed me to transfer the money to them and then they paid it for me in cash once they had seen pony walk and trot for me.
 
As a seller I would not accept a chq in these circumtances I would want the money in my bank before the transporter left or to be given cash by the transporter .
However there's no way I would part with one of mine in these circumtances .
 
Redders said:
If they are genuine they won't mind setting up PayPal. Takes no time at all and if you chose the option to pay a friend then there are no fees involved for them. I would ask them to set one up or I would walk away, and I'm usually very trusting.
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I have used Paypal twice to pay for a pony but not a ridden one. I think most transporters are used to collecting and I know mine if he was closer to me would have taken the money for me with him.
Depending where you are you can get a shared load or on a regular route so its about £150-£250, which I think is worth it after driving six hours on a stud trip.
 
Goldenstar said:
As a seller I would not accept a chq in these circumtances I would want the money in my bank before the transporter left or to be given cash by the transporter .
However there's no way I would part with one of mine in these circumtances .
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I completely agree - I don't expect her to take a cheque. Nor would I sell a horse of mine this way.

I will say though that we have spent AGES talking, messaging and exchanging information. I have sent multiple photos of the yard, my kids with ponies, me with horses. She can see my facebook page and although I am not a prolific facebook user she can see that I have a couple of nice-looking horses in good condition, and have had the same ones for years. She can see that I have a network of horse-related friends, some of them reasonably well known, and all of them part of a wide local network. In a way this is probably more informative than someone that turns up and appears plausible in person.
 
Kaylum said:
Isn't there anyone you could ask to go see it for you we should have a database of people.
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This is a COMPLETELY amazing idea. I can see tons of flaws - like how are we sure, just because someone is on here, that they can be trusted? But it's worth exploring.

Incidentally I build databases for a living, so I could SO do this :)

Another thread to follow shortly...
 
I can't believe seller would sell the pony without meeting you first ? No way would I let my beloved horse go to someone I'd never even seen but that's just me.

But with your dilemma I would ask seller to set up a PayPal account that way you have some kind of recourse.

Just a thought what if said pony is sound when getting on transporter but is not when getting off for whatever reason - how will you have proof that the problem happened en route and therefore was no fault of the seller if you hadn't seen him beforehand? Just playing devils advocate here.
 
Ah. Stockton-on-tees. That's south.

If the pony was in the Highlands, we could probably find out the DNA profile of the seller's grandmother with a couple of phone calls. There is currently a thread on the Highland Pony page on Facebook with postings by people who have successfully bought unseen and it is impressively long. On the same page are a few photos of a 4yo Highland pony I sold sight unseen to clients in Wales being ridden by their four year old son. They paid by bank transfer and are now considering a second pony.

The further north you go, the smaller the horse world and, if anyone steps out of line, we all hear about it.
 
I have done this several times, but usually through someone I know so some degree of trust there. I would either use a bankers draft or wait until transporter was there, get them to give you a quick phone call and if all ok electronically transfer the money. I can do this on my phone and it takes seconds as long as you have set the seller up as a payee securely before hand
 
Dry Rot said:
Ah. Stockton-on-tees. That's south.

If the pony was in the Highlands, we could probably find out the DNA profile of the seller's grandmother with a couple of phone calls. There is currently a thread on the Highland Pony page on Facebook with postings by people who have successfully bought unseen and it is impressively long. On the same page are a few photos of a 4yo Highland pony I sold sight unseen to clients in Wales being ridden by their four year old son. They paid by bank transfer and are now considering a second pony.

The further north you go, the smaller the horse world and, if anyone steps out of line, we all hear about it.
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Oh for a like button. For me that's seriously NORTH. But I don't go north of Watford, so who am I to know. :)
 
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