How much can you bargain when buying?

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ghostie

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Having never bought a horse in my adult life I'm at a bit of a loss as to whether sellers expect you to offer lower than the asking price or not, and if so how much is taking the mickey?

For example, this weekend I'm going to look at an 8 y/o 15.1hh ISH mare. She is supposed to be very well schooled, no mention of competition history in the advert but judging from the pictures she's at least done local competitions, she is meant to be sweet natured and vice free and will pop a course of jumps.

Now they are asking for £4k and some tack may be available seperately. Three months ago she was adversited at £3.5k, but has been at schooling livery so may well have progressed since I suppose.

Now if I love her, is it reasonable to put in an offer lower than the asking price? In the current market I think £4k with no tack or rugs is quite high, but I'm definitely not the best judge.

Opinions very gratefully received!
 
I see this as a starting price, when my girl was advertised i got £500 off before i even set foot in the car to go see her as it was a good 2 hr journey and i wasnt going unless there was open negotiations to within a reasonable price.
Look at when feet need done, are jabs up to date etc and take all that into final price as well before you agree
 
marydoll said:
I see this as a starting price, when my girl was advertised i got £500 off before i even set foot in the car to go see her as it was a good 2 hr journey and i wasnt going unless there was open negotiations to within a reasonable price.
Look at when feet need done, are jabs up to date etc and take all that into final price as well before you agree
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Good point - thank you, I wouldn't have thought to factor cost of upcoming jabs/feet etc. into my offer price!
 
If she is what you want and believe that the two of you will work well together how much would you be willing to pay to have the horse that you want?

If what you are willing to spend is lower than their asking price then offer it worst they will do is refuse to sell to you. If it is higher than there asking price then buy the horse and ask when offering the full amount if they would consider throwing in the tack! You may have to pay a little bit extra for the saddle though.

If the horse is as described then I would have no problem in offering 10% lower than the asking price with the view to paying the full amount if they declined. so for a horse advertised at £4k I would offer £3.6k. If I clicked with the horse though and knew as far as I could that it was the right one I would have no problem paying the asking price to make sure it was accepted and I got the horse that I wanted.

Pricing horses is very subjective and what it is worth to one is not the same as what it is worth to another. The downside of emotions is we don't see the true value. The downside with dealers is that they are there to make a living so there prices may be slightly inflated.

Good luck with the viewing, try to go and view with a level head and don't let your emotions get in the way of evaluating the horse!
 
I would want to know a bit more about what she HAS done before going to view, it may seem that she has done local shows judging by the photos, but does she behave well, is she easy at the shows?
What do you want to do with her in the future?
There are so many questions to ask before going to see a horse that it is a good idea to write a list to go through on the phone, make notes and double check the answers given, it is important to do as much as you can, too many people will say anything to get a sale.
In answer to your question, most will take an offer, things will start moving as spring approaches and if it is the right horse do not lose it for the sake of a few hundred, you can easily spend that travelling around looking.
 
Keimanp said:
If she is what you want and believe that the two of you will work well together how much would you be willing to pay to have the horse that you want?

If what you are willing to spend is lower than their asking price then offer it worst they will do is refuse to sell to you. If it is higher than there asking price then buy the horse and ask when offering the full amount if they would consider throwing in the tack! You may have to pay a little bit extra for the saddle though.

If the horse is as described then I would have no problem in offering 10% lower than the asking price with the view to paying the full amount if they declined. so for a horse advertised at £4k I would offer £3.6k. If I clicked with the horse though and knew as far as I could that it was the right one I would have no problem paying the asking price to make sure it was accepted and I got the horse that I wanted.

Pricing horses is very subjective and what it is worth to one is not the same as what it is worth to another. The downside of emotions is we don't see the true value. The downside with dealers is that they are there to make a living so there prices may be slightly inflated.

Good luck with the viewing, try to go and view with a level head and don't let your emotions get in the way of evaluating the horse!
Click to expand...

Thank you. I think my problem is that I'm afraid of accidentally paying way over the odds for a horse just because I click with it. I have no problem with paying what a horse is worth, I just hate the idea of paying well over the odds for something because of my own stupidity, if you know what I mean? I know everyone says take an experienced friend/instructor with you, but it's really not viable as everyone I know is London based, and I'm off all round the country looking at horses and can't drag people with me all the time :(
 
I have just put this on another thread, the purchase price is only a small part of having a horse, ongoing expenses are the same whatever the value of the horse, so paying a little more than it may be worth is irrelevant if the horse does the job and suits you. A bargain horse can be very expensive if it is the wrong horse.
 
I always offer 20% below the asking price. Most sellers expect this and 20% seems to be the ballpark figure. There was a good article in a recent copy of H&H on buying / selling horses.
 
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