How much is a 'sensible offer' and when does it become unreasonable?

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__am.elia

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Hi,
So I have totally fallen in love with a horse (I'm looking to buy at the moment), but he is quite out of my budget - the horse itself is £4000 but then an extra £900 for transport (coming from Spain, which is what I've always wanted) so he would be £4900 in total, but my budget was more around the £3500 mark :(

The owner is willing to accept offers, but I wouldn't want to go too low and offend them? I was thinking of offering £4000 for the horse including transport so I'm hoping that would be ok? Would you risk going lower or is that too unreasonable? I would be able to afford the £4000 but I'm conscious that I need to pay for my car insurance soon so I need lots of savings left over for that + lots of extra money for the new horse obviously...

Any advice welcome!

Thank you in advance,
Amelia
 
milliepops

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ester said:
I think 25% off is a lot.
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agreed. I mean if you don't ask, you don't get, but I would not expect the seller to accept that offer.
My OH makes what I consider to be outrageously low offers for things but sometimes he gets lucky.
 
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be positive

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I think it depends a bit on whether they are transporting or that is a separate cost, if the sellers are also doing the transport and bringing several over they may be more flexible, if it is separate then there is probably less room to negotiate as that £900 is fixed elsewhere.
 
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__am.elia

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be positive said:
I think it depends a bit on whether they are transporting or that is a separate cost, if the sellers are also doing the transport and bringing several over they may be more flexible, if it is separate then there is probably less room to negotiate as that £900 is fixed elsewhere.
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The seller wouldn't be transporting the horse over personally, but they arrange it for you with a separate company that they work with :)
 
twiggy2

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You can ask, they can say yes or no, you may get lucky.
If not and your looking at horses in a higher price bracket you need to save more.
For what it's worth when I sold my mare I did not accept offers and would not discuss further once someone had made an offer, I knew my price was fair and my horse was priced fairly.
I got the full asking price for both the horse and tack within a few weeks and it was a January sale so not the best time of year to be selling.
 
milliepops

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if that's absolutely all you can afford then why does it matter if they are offended? the worst that can happen is they say no, and you don't get the horse.
If you were able to offer more but were putting in a low offer on the off chance then the consequences of offending the seller would mean you might miss out on a horse you *could* have bought if you'd just paid the asking price, so risk of offending them is something to consider. But as you can't pay the asking price anyway, you sort of have nothing to lose by asking?

Don't know if that makes sense, it does in my head!
 
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__am.elia

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milliepops said:
if that's absolutely all you can afford then why does it matter if they are offended? the worst that can happen is they say no, and you don't get the horse.
If you were able to offer more but were putting in a low offer on the off chance then the consequences of offending the seller would mean you might miss out on a horse you *could* have bought if you'd just paid the asking price, so risk of offending them is something to consider. But as you can't pay the asking price anyway, you sort of have nothing to lose by asking?

Don't know if that makes sense, it does in my head!
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Yes that makes sense, thank you :)
 
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__am.elia

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Forgot to add that the horse has actually been up for sale for quite a while (a few months) due to time wasters (and I'm really trying not to be another one, hence this thread!) so would that make it a bit more justifiable to offer £4000 or lower? I just think offering £3500 is far too low, and £4000 is affordable but still a bit of a stretch for me :)
 
Roxylola

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You've nothing to lose really. I'd be upfront though and just say you love him but you absolutely cannot afford any more than £4000 inc transport. It is a low offer, but you might get lucky. It's not as offensive as saying you think the horse is only worth £3100 if you see what I mean
 
Leo Walker

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Make the offer. Let them know its not a reflection on the value of the horse, more that its all you can afford at this time. Then leave the offer on the table and see if they go for it. I'd expect them to come back and meet you in the middle.

I'm happy to make ridiculous offers for things. If people don't like it they can say no. Sometimes they say yes, more often there's a bit of discussion and we arrive at a mutually agreeable figure
 
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Roxylola said:
You've nothing to lose really. I'd be upfront though and just say you love him but you absolutely cannot afford any more than £4000 inc transport. It is a low offer, but you might get lucky. It's not as offensive as saying you think the horse is only worth £3100 if you see what I mean
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Yep I get you - thanks :)
 
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__am.elia

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Leo Walker said:
Make the offer. Let them know its not a reflection on the value of the horse, more that its all you can afford at this time. Then leave the offer on the table and see if they go for it. I'd expect them to come back and meet you in the middle.

I'm happy to make ridiculous offers for things. If people don't like it they can say no. Sometimes they say yes, more often there's a bit of discussion and we arrive at a mutually agreeable figure
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Do you mean the £4000 offer?
 
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__am.elia

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milliepops said:
agreed. I mean if you don't ask, you don't get, but I would not expect the seller to accept that offer.
My OH makes what I consider to be outrageously low offers for things but sometimes he gets lucky.
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Neither would I - hence the potential offer of £4000 :) but I couldn't realistically go any higher and even £4000 is a bit of a stretch, because I am a uni student and will be funding the new horse completely indepdently.
 
scruffyponies

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It's really not about who gets offended, or what is a fair price for the horse. You have a certain amount of money. You can only offer what you have.

Depending on their situation, the seller will decide which they'd rather have; the money or the horse.
If they are in urgent need of cash, or need to offload a few horses quick, you could be lucky.
 
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__am.elia

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scruffyponies said:
It's really not about who gets offended, or what is a fair price for the horse. You have a certain amount of money. You can only offer what you have.

Depending on their situation, the seller will decide which they'd rather have; the money or the horse.
If they are in urgent need of cash, or need to offload a few horses quick, you could be lucky.
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That's true. Would you suggest sticking to the £4000 offer or going lower? Only as £4000 is still a bit of a stretch for me realistically.
 
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