Sales Livery?

[Tilly&Tess]

Hello all,

I was hoping for some information regarding sales livery. I am seriously considering selling one of my mares but absolutely cannot stand the thought of advertising her myself and then going through the stress of viewings. I thought a good solution might be sales livery but having no experience with the process I wondered if anyone could give me some information regarding the in's and out's of it all - and whether you found it to be a success or not, perhaps?

I don't massively feel ready to contact any yards as yet and thought asking in here might be a good place to get my head around it all and decide if it's an option I wish to pursue.

Thanks in advance

 

[Luci07]

Done it and it worked for me. Also helped put distance between myself and said horse. Normal process is a livery fee plus commission. However, only go to someone well recommended. I was royally stitched up (Surrey) by a dealer who had my horse on sales livery to hunt and sell on. Took said horse on with the promise he had a list of clients. Yes he hunted my horse, but didnt bother to advertise, was INCREDIBLY hard to get hold of..as in, I couldn't..then dropped a £2k livery bill before I could take my horse back and sell him myself. Horse sold to second person who saw him and flew through his vetting but I have never held back from passing on my bad experience. In terms of good, Southerly Roberts does a great job and sold on my friends mare quite quickly. Kept her upto date, told her what she was doing and put said mare through her paces before advertising as well as taking the horse out competing.

 

[alainax]

I've done it previously and it suited me perfectly.

They took a livery fee per week and a commission. I didn't pay them a penny it all came off the final sale price of the horse. Horse was transported to them, and they done everything. After a few weeks I got a bank transfer.

I couldn't ride the horse, but they could. So they could show him off at his best. It was a very stress free process.

 

[Shay]

I've got a horse on sales livery at the moment. You do have to be careful to go to someone who is recommended and who has experience selling in the field you need. There is no point putting your all rounder to a dealer specializing in competitive animals and vice versa. Do go and visit whilst they are there and don't be afraid to call time if the livery goes on longer than you expected. It can work really well - you don't have to advertise or show the horse (which is really hard IMO!) or keep it clean etc. But you do loose that contact with the buyer. And it isn't a "get out of jail free" you have to keep an eye. You are after all paying for a service!

 

[Irish gal]

It's very important to get someone recommended to you. The big danger here is being strung along in order to get more livery fees. The best way to avoid this is to agree in advance a time frame, say six weeks. That way you can cap the livery charges but again make sure it's someone reputable.