How to price a second hand saddle

[TheOldTrout]

I have bought a new (well, second hand) saddle for my mare following a saddle fitter's advice that she had changed shape and needed a smaller size. I now need to sell the old one, but have never sold a saddle before in my life (mare is the only horse I have ever owned and she came with tack) and haven't got a clue how to work out the price. It's a 17 inch Wintec GP saddle, I don't really do ebay so was hoping to sell it locally on social media, in reasonable condition. I don't know how old it is, I've had it nearly 6 years.
Any advice gratefully received!

 

[sbloom]

Check completed bids on ebay. There are a ton of them around so it should be pretty easy to see what similar ones sold for.

 

[Barton Bounty]

Depending on the condition and model of it , it can vary from £100 upwards

 

[maya2008]

Look on marketplace and see what other similar saddles are going for.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Just look on selling sites to get a rough idea that's what I do.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

I'd go onto EBay and put the make of your saddle into the search facility.

Being Wintec, there are bound to be some coming up. Put a "Watch" on them and see how much they fetch.

That way you'll know how to price yours on a rough-guide basis.

But do bear in mind that if selling on EBay the seller will have to pay commission fees and therefore the sellers "fee" received will be less than the bidding price (sorry, am being very obvious here!), which I tend to work out as rule-of-thumb at around 10%.

With Ebay or any of the sites such as Preloved you would have to package-up the saddle yourself; and believe me that ain't easy! You need a huge box, plenty of packing/padding material, and plenty of time (plus patience!). This is unless you stipulate Buyer Collects - in which case you may get considerably less than you'd wanted for your item. IF you do post it and it gets lost in transit, Ebay are typically not helpful to the seller and therefore you would need to engage a courier that offers adequate insurance (don't go for the cheap and cheerful).

Alternative is to take your saddle to a second-hand tack shop. We have a very good one near us. You would typically pay say £20 for "listing" and then another lot of commission (think it's 20%) when the item is sold. Sounds a lot, and yes is a bit of an ouch-factor, BUT you wouldn't then get the faff of having to post the thing off and once it's sold, it's sold & gone. The one I've used has sold a few saddles for me in the past (treeless mainly); what you need to remember is to ask enough for your item to cover the commission & fees as much as you can. That said, you are unlikely however to get your full purchase price back.

The other thing is local social media & horsey groups. You could then stipulate buyers collect the item from you. You will get a LOT of timewasters believe me. Don't "save" it for anyone coz guaranteed they will waste your time. Better to get payment by PayPal BEFORE they come. And you need to be very strict about taking the saddle for a "trial". I've heard of an instance where someone took someone's really nice saddle for "trial" for a weekend; reason being that they basically hadn't got a saddle to put on theirs to go hunting in - their lovely saddle in pristine condition then was returned muddy, filthy, and horribly scratched......... so be aware. I sold a lovely little treeless saddle a few years ago now. It was of a particular make which is hand-made in Devon (my home county), and if you know how good these saddles are then you "know", if you see what I mean. Buyer rocked-up to the yard. Just what they needed she declared. No she didn't need to sit in the saddle, they had one already, this was for their other pony. I asked if she was sure as we could've put it across some straw bales for her to sit on. No thanks she says, I know it'll fit, got one like this already. She was going to put it on the pony that very evening and they were going to ride-out on it. Cash exchanged, everyone happy. Buyer rocks-off back home. Roll on at least six months if not more. Buyer gets back in touch with me. Oh that saddle you sold me doesn't fit she says, we've just put it on the pony and it is the wrong size, you sold us the wrong size! She said she'd been in touch with the makers of the saddle, who had apparently said sorry nowt to do with us we only deal in new saddles not secondhand. End of. So she thought I was gonna refund her!! Six months flippin' later. She then got antsy and said I'd deliberately sold her the wrong size. I said if she recalled correctly I invited her to sit in the saddle when she was here but declined; then she'd said she was gonna put it on the pony that very evening and if there was a problem I'd have been able to refund her then, but sorry nope not six months later! I honestly think she expected me to fork out the money to her! Honestly, some people!!

Sorry, I digress..........

 

[sbloom]

You don't need to put items on watch on ebay, in the search tick boxes you'll fid "completed bids".

 

[thefarsideofthefield]

Saddles Direct will give you a sensible valuation , on line , even if they're not interested in buying it .

 

[Kaylum]

Just check the inside as wintecs deterorate over time. We have had a few that have gone where the gullet fits. They certainly aren't the best saddles around and are quite cheap to buy second hand unless they are the xwide version.