How did you sell your saddle?

Shooting Star said:
Ditto about saddles direct, I have tried them in the past but they are selective about which brands and sizes they need to in keep stock at any given time, which is fair enough as they work by actually buying your saddle from you and from memory they don't take older saddles.

They offered me an option to sell it on their classifieds ... But it was literally just that, they wouldnt take it into their store and sell it via the normal route so it was really no better than using ebay of preloved.
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They say on their website that they won't take saddles that are over 10 years old, or narrow fitting.

Mine was an Albion K2 dressage, and they gave me 3 options, one where they would sell it for me, a part ex price, or an outright purchase (which was the least value), but I wanted the money as I've got my new saddle to pay for, so went for the outright purchase.
 
I have used eBay a lot in the past, but will only sell cash on collection now since they made it compulsory to accept paypal as a payment method for items which are posted. I detest paypal, as a seller its the worst payment method you can accept, unless the payment comes through the "send money to friends" tab. But everyone on eBay wants a bargain and the fees are high, plus most people are looking for postage rather than collection so it takes ages to sell something. I decided it wasn't worth it in the end.

I've had good success with a local tack shop selling second hand saddles on commission, but I find it only really works when the tack shop doesn't sell their own second hand or new saddles. It takes too long to find a buyer if they do. The downside is they often pile saddles up on a rack or line up along the floor which can result in scuffs and damage. Also the buyers cant really see what they've got. I would only sell this way now if there weren't many saddles there so a far greater chance of someone buying mine.

The best is word of mouth or Preloved. I don't entertain timewasters. People come to my home or yard at a convenient time to me so if they dont turn up its no bother. I wont put myself out for people in any way, won't go to their yards for trying on etc. If they want that they can pay saddler prices. People either come and buy or not. I will post items for Preloved sales, but don't accept paypal. I offer no guarantees and dont accept returns, but will not sell anything I know or suspect is damaged in the tree and any other damage will be declared or shown in photos. Preloved is free so it doesn't matter how long it takes to get a sale. You can avoid getting into drawn out message conversations with tinewasters by ensuring all necessary details are in the advert and not replying to any messages unless they ask how to pay or if they can view it.

What sells best is well known brands, in the more expensive range. Or anything cheap in popular sizes. Cob saddles in wide or extra wide sell for more and quicker, as do high wither saddles in medium or wide fittings. Wintec and Thorowgood saddles with adjustable gullets are wanted too. Hardly anybody wants narrow saddles, saddles with split seats or cantles, or older saddles without kneepads on the saddle flaps. GP saddles sell better than anything else.

TBH unless you desperately need the space or money you'd be better keeping the saddle. Prices are low for second hand now. People only want to pay about 150-200 for a decent english leather branded saddle, unless its something like Ideal or Albion. About 80-100 for lesser known english leather brands. About 100 for adjustable Wintec or Thorowgood. Anything else and people want it for between 20-50 pounds. If you paid several hundred or thousand and find it comfortable, I'd keep it in case it fits a future horse.
 
I have just sent the details of my two saddles to Saddles Direct. Plan B is eBay, although I have never sold anything on there (been a buyer for 10+ years).
 
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