No silly prices please...

indie1282

indie1282

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Why, when someone wants something do they feel it's right to put 'no silly prices please' ?? It really really annoys the hell out of me and its quite cheeky too. Examples below seen on FB just this morning:

Looking for someone to pick my horse up and take us to the beach, will need to wait for us for a few hours but no silly prices.

Wanted: Dressage schoolmaster. Must hack out, not buck/rear/nap and be safe enough for my novice OH to ride. No silly prices.

The list goes on and on...what is wrong with people?? I don't know what phrases annoy me the most - this one or 'the willing to pay'?

E.g please get in your lorry/hitch your trailer and pick up my horse,take us to a show,hang around then takes us back - oh I'm willing to pay a bit towards fuel.

Is it just be being grumpy?? :D
 
no, its horse owners unfortunately what they mean is-'please take me and my horse to the beach and hang around all day to subsidise my luxury hobby as clearly your time on a sunday is worth far less than me getting my jollies on for next to nothing'

'need some decent hay and would like it stacked and delivered-the effort and time and cash it took to grow, your time in loading, delivering and stacking it is secondary to the fact I can't really afford to feed my luxury hobby so please subsidise it'
 
Yes these are the people that want you to do it for £10 rather than hire a truck for £60 for half a day - which includes a nice truck that someone has paid a fortune for, insurance, fuel, maintenance, the time and experience of the driver etc along with their hourly wage.

Its the same when people expect you to sell a Shetland Pony for £50 because it id a shetland thus it has no value. But they also want you to deliver it 60miles away to their council estate garden with all it's tack for their 5yo daughters birthday - oh and don't forget to put a pretty pink ribbon round it's neck!
 
MotherOfChickens said:
no, its horse owners unfortunately what they mean is-'please take me and my horse to the beach and hang around all day to subsidise my luxury hobby as clearly your time on a sunday is worth far less than me getting my jollies on for next to nothing'

'need some decent hay and would like it stacked and delivered-the effort and time and cash it took to grow, your time in loading, delivering and stacking it is secondary to the fact I can't really afford to feed my luxury hobby so please subsidise it'
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Exactly this! I wouldn't dream of putting no silly prices or willing to pay. If I want to go somewhere with my horse I expect to pay the going rate to hire a box/trailer.
 
Moon River said:
I find it a really helpful phrase for quickly identifying people I never want to deal with :cool:, so in a way it saves a great deal of time
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Absolutely this!

Also, the old way used to be, please can anyone recommend a transporter.
Now it appears to be, I need transport on xyz date, so who can do this, no silly prices.

Blood... boil.... am grumpy old bat methinks.
 
The Fuzzy Furry said:
Now it appears to be, I need transport on xyz date, so who can do this, no silly prices.
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Yes, but then the post gets any number of replies offering to help, or asking ‘Are you sorted yet, hun?’.

I find the ‘happy to contribute towards fuel’ posts the most irritating ie they’re only offering to pay part of the fuel costs for their day out, the transport provider is expected to cough up for the rest.
 
There was a fabulous pony advertised online recently. A 14.2 in his prime with super competition results, safe hunted etc. £6000 and worth every penny of it.

Huge interest in the pony but one bright spark asked if the pony was available for permanent loan to another yard. So you expect me to give away £6000 ? the vendor asked. No just the pony said the bright spark, I can give it a good home...........
 
Oh this is a major source of irritation to me! Stupidly agreed twice to transport horses for friends. Each time it required more than 4 hours driving and about 5 hours of my time including loading and unloading. The 1st person gave me £40 and the 2nd £20! And I was left with the mucking out of the box! I am not doing it again. If I have 5 hours of time to waste I would rather spend it with my own horses. If I was a professional transporter I would think that £30/hour plus fuel is a reasonable rate. It's not a 9-5 job, can be somewhat seasonal, and people can be quite flaky sometimes.
By that logic, I would think £190 is more reasonable for 4 hrs driving and 5 hrs of my time. These were friends so I wouldn't have accepted £190, but £20 is an insult!

Don't mind me while I climb down from my soapbox...
 
It's even worse when family members ask you, I once gave a family member a lift to a sponsored ride, she managed to say thank you and offered me £10, I had to clean up after her horse as well, needless to say I won't be giving her a lift again especially as she has let her trailer rust away in her drive way.
 
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Oooooh there are several people on my yard who do this constantly on Facebook.
The GOOD news is they haven't yet found the magical cheap transport.

I don't mind taking a second when I go places, but I ask for a minimum of £30 contribution to fuel, hay, bedding, etc ... let's call it a "donation". Once or twice people have said it's too much, so I've said that's fine and gone alone. They've then got angry at me and said things like "if you don't need the business, blah blah." Errrr, no, I don't. It's not business. £30 is cheap for starters. Secondly, I only charge that because I don't reeeeeeally want to take anyone else but a few quid never hurt so there's my compromise.
 
Ha... this made me remember the time I agreed to rake a fellow livery to a farm ride event.. it was only 30 min away, but as we were loading up, she said , do I mind calling for her friend and her horse...ok. Was it on the way.. no 30 min other way.. so a 30 min trip was 90 min.. wait for them to have a jolly, 3 hours, and 90 min home.. they didn’t even clean out the lorry for me.. one horse scraped up some of the rubber mat, and they offered me £10 for fuel... 🧐
 
Saw this one that is almost as bad (paraphrased to protect the identity of the poster):

"wanted 3.5t box for loan for next 3/4 months.
Have looked into hire but it would be too expensive"
 
I really badly want to reply when I see these. Unfortuantely everyone who does, gets shot down and told that its not the posters fault that they don't have loads of money and 10 of their friends got similar for free / £500 / why shouldn't they... Especially when they are looking for the ultimate schoolmaster (but must be 8-10yo) and must have no vices and pass a vet and be able to hack on the buckle and SJ @ 1.10 and win at novice dressage. For £1500.
 
My answer would likely be "Yes of course I can transport or sell you something my prices start £10,000 after all quality costs money and any thing less would be a silly price
 
conniegirl said:
Saw this one that is almost as bad (paraphrased to protect the identity of the poster):

"wanted 3.5t box for loan for next 3/4 months.
Have looked into hire but it would be too expensive"
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They've posted it again and have rejected people suggestions of hire as she doesn't want to pay £150+ to do 1 class at a show!
 
Ooo, I can feel a FB post coming on...

"Wanted: House in great condition and approximately ten acres in the Yorkshire Dales, horse proof fencing, water in every field, stables, barn and storage, large garden for large dog, easy access to amazing bridlepaths, vet, farrier and feed store within five miles. No silly prices."

Anyone got anything? No, thought not...
 
I replied to someone who had posted looking specifically for an Earlys of Witney exercise blanket, in new/excellent condition. I have one, which has been used a few times since new, and said I would like £50 for it (They are around £200 new) Sent several photo's which show how immaculate/fluffy etc is it is
She replied "£50? Are you having a laugh?"
 
I was told by several people that a 3.5t lorry was a waste of time because I couldn’t take 2. I have one horse so why do I need to take 2?! We use it also as part of our business, not for travelling horses, which requires the partition to be removed, it weighs a ton so we never put it back in as fine for our horse on her own. One bright spark said “I should have got you to take me to the beach before you took the partition out” Err, I don’t want to take you or anyone to the beach, as my husband said “ if they want a £20,000 lorry they can buy & maintain their own” but then you are labelled as “selfish” 🙄
 
I have always made it clear that I do not transport any horses other than my own to shows. I invested a lot of money in buying my lorry, I went without continental holidays, nights out etc so I had enough to buy one. Having said that it is also known on the yard that if a horse is ill & the vet says it needs to go in to the surgery I will certainly take them.
Other things that irritate me is when I put an order in for hay, I normally order 6 large bales. Others tag their orders onto mine which is understandable as any order less that 5 incurs a delivery price. But after the order is placed, I'm the idiot who is their to receive the order, no one else attends & one even has the 'neck' to give me £5 less for her bale as she needed to put fuel in her car & can she owe me? Let's see how she does in Tesco offering them £5 less for her groceries?
Why do so many owners believe that everyone else should subsidise their horse ownership. As has been said it's a luxury 'hobby' if you can't afford it don't do it.
 
Moon River said:
I find it a really helpful phrase for quickly identifying people I never want to deal with :cool:, so in a way it saves a great deal of time
Click to expand...

Thank you, this has helped me no end in managing my rage at the phase - I'm banking it along side "you can't win an argument with stupid" in my coping with social media toolbox.
 
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