Selling a saddle through a saddle fitter

F

Footlights

Well-Known Member
Joined
24 August 2010
Messages
620
Visit site
A certain well known saddler has my saddle to sell. When I dropped it off to them they said that it was a very popular saddle and it would sell in no time. That was 2-3 months ago.

Has anyone else sold via a saddler and how long did it take?

I emailed them to ask if they have had any interest in it but have not had a reply.

Am I being impatient? Or would you expect that from their 'sell in no time' comment it should have sold by now, or at least replied to me to let me know that it hasn't?

They are taking quite a large amount of commission from the sale, and to be honest I am starting to think I would be better off just putting it on ebay or something.
 
I always sold mine on ebay in 5 days - and for a lot more than I would have through a saddler I expect.
 
I think I need to check with them whether it is ok for me to advertise elsewhere. Now I need to think about how to word this diplomatically!
 
Just read your second post Footlights - I would just ask for it back and try to sell elsewhere. I did this with the one I sold on Ebay - the shop I left it with to sell for me on commission basis was taking so long and kept making excuses why it wasn't selling. We really needed the cash from the saddle, so put it on ebay and it sold quickly (although probably not for as much as the shop would have got). It is still your saddle so just get it back.
 
I've had no luck on ebay with my saddles - had a brand new ideal show saddle worth about £800 which didn't fit my boy - put it on ebay with a reserve thankfully and the highest bid was £150!. I sold it privately in the end after many months but now have a really nice cliff barnsby GP - tried twice to sell it on ebay and its easily worth £400 and it didn't get any bids either time. I'm contemplating sending it to saddles direct as its just sat in my house doing nothing!
 
I would definately call them and ask about your saddle. I had a friend who left her saddle with a reputable saddle fitter. The saddler managed to forget that she had sold it... I don't think it was malicious, she was just a very disorganised person who was very bad at book keeping. Anyway the upshot was my friend had to remind her to pass the money over...

I think in the old days when we all sold our saddles via the local saddlery shop, things were different.
 
Some saddles do take a while to shift, my preference would always be to sell through ebay as you'll get more for it than you would when selling through anyone else as they would need to take their cut too.
 
Well I just phoned them and had a chat. Have to admit the staff there are lovely and she said even the saddles that are easy to fit stay with them for a couple of months, but she would expect it to sell in the next few weeks. She was also happy for me to advertise it elsewhere.

Hopefully this will spur them on to sell it as if they don't they will be losing out on a lot of commission, for well, not really doing alot!

Think I will also put it on ebay and see what happens.
 
I'm too scared of having an experience like FinkleyAlex says if I put saddles on ebay. I recently went in and got my saddle back from a saddler after my friend told me she had rung and asked them if they had any 16.5" Ideal show saddles in and they said "no, sorry" and didn't bother saying "however, we do have a 17.5" in if you would consider anything a bit bigger".

Grrrrr. I am currently running a home for unwanted saddles at the moment :( perhaps I need to collect some more horses to fit them?
 
Suziq77 said:
I'm too scared of having an experience like FinkleyAlex says if I put saddles on ebay. I recently went in and got my saddle back from a saddler after my friend told me she had rung and asked them if they had any 16.5" Ideal show saddles in and they said "no, sorry" and didn't bother saying "however, we do have a 17.5" in if you would consider anything a bit bigger".

Grrrrr. I am currently running a home for unwanted saddles at the moment :( perhaps I need to collect some more horses to fit them?
Click to expand...

In fairness there is a world of difference between the two - someone knowing what size they want would be unlikely to have one a whole inch difference!

(I have a 17.5, no way could I come close to fitting in a 16.5 and an 18.5 would drown my mare - just as an example!).

You can't expect saddlers to list everything remotly similar to what the caller has asked for and you can't expect callers to listen to an interminable list of unsuitable saddles lol!
 
ThePony said:
In fairness there is a world of difference between the two - someone knowing what size they want would be unlikely to have one a whole inch difference!

(I have a 17.5, no way could I come close to fitting in a 16.5 and an 18.5 would drown my mare - just as an example!).

You can't expect saddlers to list everything remotly similar to what the caller has asked for and you can't expect callers to listen to an interminable list of unsuitable saddles lol!
Click to expand...

What I could have said was that the friend who called the shop has a showing yard and a number of horses so if they'd have been particularly interested in making a sale they could have tried a bit harder ;) Particularly as my saddle matches the brand and type that she asked for! However, you are correct that she doesn't want mine as she wants a 16.5" at this moment in time :)
 
My jeffries was with a fitter for 3 years and didn't sell so now it's in my garage. I have no use for it so it's just sitting.

Nitty needs a new saddle so maybe I'll try and part ex it or something.
 
As the Pony has said, it can take a while to shift, I had a Saddlery shop in the 90's and had saddles for ages sometimes, if they don't fit the horse or ponies you are trying them on then no sale, simple as that!
Also, even though we are as CAREFUL as possible and I never let saddles out of the shop with out me, some saddlers/retailers do allow saddles to be taken to be fitted without them present and that's more wear and tear on the saddle, not everyone is as careful with other people's saddles unfortunately.
 
Sold mine in couple of weeks through preloved, lucky was able to take it to buyer to try. Had people ask me if they could take away to try before buying. Errr no!
 
I had one saddle in for 8 months at a saddlers, tbf i had tried to sell it on ebay before that to no avail. That sold for what it was worth, the shop took 10%

Now they have another one of mine it, its now finally out on trial after 11 months. Thankfully just in time because Bud's had to have a new one fitted today!
 
Selling a saddle through a saddlers is not always a quick answer because a saddler will usually take a selection out and the sale depends on a variety of things, it has to be what the buyer wants, fits the horse, rider, right price, colour etc. The popular makes and generally wider saddles will sell more quickly, or something unusual like a narrow cut back saddle for a narrow high withered horse. Ebay means people buy them blind and even if they have an idea of what size they want, the saddle may not fit as has been stuffed to fit a previous horse. Ebay is a quick way of selling thats for sure as people are willing to take the risk and get a bargain, and if its a decent brand it will sell quick. Its always best to give notice when collecting a saddle from a shop as it may be out being sold for you.
 
I tried to sell my saddle twice on eBay. But didn't make anywhere near my reserve! I did.buy a second hand beautiful saddle from my saddler. I was dat on the horse trying it and he rang the owner of the saddle there and then and we dicussed how much shed take for it. I then.sent her a cheque directly. X
 
i sold a saddle about 5 years ago through a saddler - saddle was with her for a year but i got more with her than i thought i would get privately.
Different saddlers have different commission rates so best to ask what they expect to give you out of the sale so you can stick to that as the price to sell.
 
I currently have a beautiful leather ideal showing saddle which i have been kind of selling for the past 5 years. I had it with a saddler for 2 years to which they made no effort to sell and i ended up going to the shop and asking for it back to which i had to identify my own saddle! I used it between times for a couple of ponies i was riding for schooling but now its just a lovely house ornament! It really is a quality leather showing saddle but rarely do people want a specific saddle now and usually just want a gp so looks like we are to be together for a little longer!
 
mturnbull said:
I currently have a beautiful leather ideal showing saddle which i have been kind of selling for the past 5 years. I had it with a saddler for 2 years to which they made no effort to sell and i ended up going to the shop and asking for it back to which i had to identify my own saddle! I used it between times for a couple of ponies i was riding for schooling but now its just a lovely house ornament! It really is a quality leather showing saddle but rarely do people want a specific saddle now and usually just want a gp so looks like we are to be together for a little longer!
Click to expand...

Hmm, as I suspected I may be living with mine for years to come - has anyone got a nice small hunter they want to donate to me so that I have a horse to wear the saddle please?
 
Suziq77 said:
Hmm, as I suspected I may be living with mine for years to come - has anyone got a nice small hunter they want to donate to me so that I have a horse to wear the saddle please?
Click to expand...

I have a show hack with a permanently big hock that can only take a 17 inch max?

No? Didn't think so :D

My jeffries was kept especially for my next hack, shame I broke her and now can't show her as I'm not riding in it just for fun. It's pretty blimming minimalistic, no good for the wild beast I currently have!
 
My experiences are that I can sell cheap old saddles easily on ebay, but I’ve not been able to sell a good quality, popular brand for a fair price, which is why I also gave one to my saddler to sell on my behalf.

She sold it as ex demo (I’d had it mtm for my TB and then a few weeks after I’d bought it, we discovered some problems with him, leading to him having to be retired, so it was only sat in a handful of times, and was still in new condition). I listed it on ebay several times, and I'd put its starting bid at £800, but no one was interested - i had a few ridiculously low offers and one was for £300!! which I declined.

Anyway, my saddler sold it for £1100, she takes 30% so I got £770, which although a bit disappointing, was better than the annoying ebayer buyers who all seemed to want something for nothing. It took just under 3 months for her to sell it, but I'd been trying for longer than that myself on ebay.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top