Saddles Direct - Selling a saddle

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Carrots&Mints

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Hi All,

Has anyone every sold a saddle with Saddles Direct? I'm looking at their 'sell your saddle' service and was looking at the commission one, as not in a major rush to get a new saddle as pony having until new year off. Now, I cant find anything about the commission they charge anywhere. Has anyone got and good or bad reports about the company? Don't want to waste money trying to sell my saddle, however facebook/preloved/horsegossip are all proving pretty useless at selling?
 
Once you have sent in a valuation form with photos they will tell you how much you will get. The last saddle I sold with them was on their website for £550, I would have got £330 as a commission sale but I chose to take £300 for buy outright. Glad I did, as it hung around with them for a few months!
 
From a potential buyers point of view, I contacted them a while back about a saddle I was interested in - never heard a thing back off them. So I bought elsewhere.
 
That seems a hell of a lot of commission!! Even at Auctions your only talking 3-10%, that is extortionate!

Plus, if they aren't responding to potential buyers, then what is the point in paying the money/commission for them to do not get the custom?

On that note - does anyone else know of anywhere to sell a saddle? Its a decent Fylde saddle more or less brand new!
 
Carrots&Mints said:
Hi All,

Has anyone every sold a saddle with Saddles Direct? I'm looking at their 'sell your saddle' service and was looking at the commission one, as not in a major rush to get a new saddle as pony having until new year off. Now, I cant find anything about the commission they charge anywhere. Has anyone got and good or bad reports about the company? Don't want to waste money trying to sell my saddle, however facebook/preloved/horsegossip are all proving pretty useless at selling?
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Yes I sold my Kieffer there

£ 15 to send it to them to view and if they accept it you choose how you want it advertised then sit back and wait. MY Ideal saddle they did not accept as it was ruined by a saddler.
 
A lot will depend upon whether the saddle is a sought after size and make. The the commission or price offered will reflect that, and also taking on the risk of having it sitting about on inventory. When I have sold saddles through tack shops the commission was in the region of 20%, more if it was bought outright or taken px.

From the other side, looking for a saddle, there are plenty of lovely saddles about but the exact type and fit I am looking for are nearly impossible to find second-hand.
 
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I always use eBay. Never had a problem selling a saddle. I've sold around ten of them on eBay. I have found the best way of selling a mid or high priced saddle is 'Buy it now' with a best offer option. I even made a sizeable profit on the last saddle I bought and which was no good and I sold. With cheaper end saddles, then the auction format is best, starting very low.
 
I sold one through them. It went out on trial, first person bought it. However, it took ages for them to send the money over. I'm pretty chilled out about things usually, but really started to see my bottom with them.
 
Wagtail said:
I always use eBay. Never had a problem selling a saddle. I've sold around ten of them on eBay. I have found the best way of selling a mid or high priced saddle is 'Buy it now' with a best offer option. I even made a sizeable profit on the last saddle I bought and which was no good and I sold. With cheaper end saddles, then the auction format is best, starting very low.
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Wagtail - im wanting around the £600-£650 mark for this saddle would you put it on buy it now? I was always a bit cautious about ebay to sell such a high value item, in case someone makes false claims etc and you end up losing a saddle and the cash?
 
Asha said:
I sold one through them. It went out on trial, first person bought it. However, it took ages for them to send the money over. I'm pretty chilled out about things usually, but really started to see my bottom with them.
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Just been chatting to a friend and shes just said the same thing.
 
As it is nearly new would it be worth contacting the manufacturer or the saddler you bought it from to see if they can recommend a good market place. Some brands even have secondhand sections on their websites/through their agents (though it would have to be bone fide and with known provinence), no idea how much such a service would cost though.
 
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Carrots&Mints said:
Wagtail - im wanting around the £600-£650 mark for this saddle would you put it on buy it now? I was always a bit cautious about ebay to sell such a high value item, in case someone makes false claims etc and you end up losing a saddle and the cash?
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Yes, buy it now or best offer would be the best way to sell it on ebay. Remember that ebay will take 10% of the final value fee (including postage costs) so I tend to sell more expensive saddles on free postage as they get ranked higher in the listings and you don't pay any more to ebay than you would with added postage. Paypal take 4% I think. So the first thing I do is search for similar saddles and see what they sold for (advanced search - completed listings) to see if you are in the right price range. Then I put the saddle on for higher than I really want for it and invite best offers. Ebay will protect you against sellers who are fraudulent so long as you send the saddle with a tracked courier and include the tracking details (you can go through ebay's own shutl service or choose your own). I had a buyer who tried to get a refund as claaimed the saddle had not arrived. Then when I proved it had arrived with the tracking details, ebay closed her request in my favour. She then tried to say the tree was broken but got nowhere with that either. But that's the only time I had trouble. To be extra careful, make sure you photograph the saddle from all angles and also in it's packaging. I also insure it for its full vvalue in case it is damaged or lost in transit. Good luck.

ETA The last saddle I sold on eBay was over £1000.
 
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Carrots&Mints said:
That seems a hell of a lot of commission!! Even at Auctions your only talking 3-10%, that is extortionate!

Plus, if they aren't responding to potential buyers, then what is the point in paying the money/commission for them to do not get the custom?

On that note - does anyone else know of anywhere to sell a saddle? Its a decent Fylde saddle more or less brand new!
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look on the Facebook used native pony saddles you see loads of show fylde saddles for sale on there, also horse gossip is full of showing people they have a section on the forum for tack sales.
 
Pinkvboots said:
look on the Facebook used native pony saddles you see loads of show fylde saddles for sale on there, also horse gossip is full of showing people they have a section on the forum for tack sales.
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Please see original post :) - I've just added it to the native pony saddle group on FB and its already on horsegossip x
 
Asha said:
I sold one through them. It went out on trial, first person bought it. However, it took ages for them to send the money over. I'm pretty chilled out about things usually, but really started to see my bottom with them.
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Was this recently? I've just been told by someone who has business dealings with them that the experienced lady who set it up has now taken a back seat, leaving 'young girls' in charge.
I was thinking of taking a few saddles over to them to sell, but this thread doesn't fill me with confidence.
 
Tiddlypom said:
Was this recently? I've just been told by someone who has business dealings with them that the experienced lady who set it up has now taken a back seat, leaving 'young girls' in charge.
I was thinking of taking a few saddles over to them to sell, but this thread doesn't fill me with confidence.
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No, it was about 3 years ago. I wouldn't be in a rush to use them again. they claimed they held money back in case the customer wanted to return it. But surely that was the whole point of the initial trial ?
 
I've used them. I emailed photos of saddles to them and they got back to me with various options. They said I would get £1200 for my Keiffer (commission sale) sent it into them and once they’ve checked it over they agree to sell it. It was on the website for £1500. I was in no rush but it did take a while to sell, the good bit for me is they take them out to fittings etc. After a while I asked them wether it would be beneficial to drop the price (I didn’t pay that much for it when I bought it as it was a demo saddle) but they advised that they were really busy and to hold on a bit longer. A few weeks later I got the ‘your saddle has sold’ email and money was received within the stated 30 days.
My wide ideal was given the option of a buy it now as it’s a popular saddle. Think the advice was, sell yourself via website at £450 (with all your own costs) they sell it for me on commission for £430 or buy it off me for £400. I decided they could buy it, sent it in, saddle was checked and accepted and I got the money within the month.
Both these sales were 2015/16 so not sure if things were changed but I’ve been very happy with all my dealings with them in the past.
 
Asha said:
No, it was about 3 years ago. I wouldn't be in a rush to use them again. they claimed they held money back in case the customer wanted to return it. But surely that was the whole point of the initial trial ?
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One of the reasons for the delay in payment is the distance selling regulations. Unfortunately the initial trial does not count for this. Following the trial if the buyer chooses to keep the saddle they have 14 days from purchase in which to change their mind and return it. This was explained to me by Saddles Direct.

I've used them a couple of times to sell, yes the payment is slow, even beyond the 14 days, and the commission is on the high side. For me though it's less hassle than dealing with time wasters and they do have a very wide audience. I've had a saddle on preloved for months with very little interest.
 
I sold my Albion K2, I took it in and was offered £350 for it, which I took.

Think it was advertised at £550 - but don't know how long it took to sell, it was an XXW.
 
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