Selling advice.

[05jackd]

I usually sell youngstock unbroken and generally avoid all the day trippers and frankly dangerous people who greatly overestimate their ability.

However, wishfully thinking that this little homebred would make the height I kept her and had her professionally broken. Sadly she just didn't grow enough and I have resigned myself that I will have to sell her. However - I am really stuck on how to go about it.

She measured in at 14.1hh a couple of months ago and has filled out since so I am confident she will make 14.2/14.3hh. Rising 5 year. She has not been rushed and has only been under saddle a few weeks but is confidently hacking out on her own and in company in walk, trot and canter. She is ridden by competent children as well as adults but on her advert it clearly states that she is not suitable for a novice due to her age and although well behaved she is a forward going pony who clearly likes a job. She would make a superb hunting/ endurance pony or indeed a competitive pony club pony with the right child.

So far I have had:
- about 18 people ask if she would be a confidence giver for their novice ( son/daughter)
- one woman who asked for a million videos and then said she wanted something at least 10 years old?
- a man that asking if she would jump 1.10m tracks.
- a lady that wanted to know if I would travel her 200 miles for her friend to try her

Am I doing something wrong? I feel like the advert and videos are very honest about her but it seems that I am attracting totally the wrong kind of people.

Is there a secret place where knowledgeable people look for young horses?

 

[milliepops]

i have withdrawn all the ads for the one i was hoping to sell because of a similar experience incl a few who came to see him, started talking about vets and deposits and then went quiet until i prodded them. a few highlights were "will you hold him for a month so my daughter can find him a field" and "does he come with anything", like... he could come with a full wardrobe if you were the right person but that's not a great opener.

i think it's just the way things are at the moment

 

[Cortez]

"People are idiots" just about covers your problem.

 

[ihatework]

Drop her details privately to the pony producers given she is 148 territory. If nice and priced right she should sell.

 

[Kaylum]

We have this when rehoming rescues. One goes we are coming to pick him up now. No your not. Block
12.2hh 13 years old suit small competent rider - Would this grow to 14.2hh we want to jump. Block.
Have you got any stallions. Block
Do you have any foals that our baby can grow up with? Block
About 10 messages a day of rubbish.
Same with rehoming dogs.

 

[maya2008]

No more fun trying to buy - I had a look, got pipped at the post what feels like a thousand times, saw at least one that was lame (well suspected it might be on the old videos sent but it was local so… turned up to find that it really was, much worse now!). And people’s estimates of heights are…interesting at times!

I just wanted something over 13.2hh for me to play with, preferably unbacked, feral not a problem. Going to go to the New Forest sales. I have decided that waiting 3 years is fine and my husband loves young things so will fall in love and let me keep it forever. He might even fall in love with an extra one - he’s a soft sucker for baby animals!

 

[05jackd]

i have withdrawn all the ads for the one i was hoping to sell because of a similar experience incl a few who came to see him, started talking about vets and deposits and then went quiet until i prodded them. a few highlights were "will you hold him for a month so my daughter can find him a field" and "does he come with anything", like... he could come with a full wardrobe if you were the right person but that's not a great opener.

i think it's just the way things are at the moment

At least it is not just me! We are up north which I think saves us from having too many people just coming for a day trip. I don't mind getting videos for people. I understand people don't want to travel for 3 hours to see something totally unsuitable but I find some people can be quite ignorant one person wanted videos of - everything from a child brushing her/ hacking/ loading/ school work/ traffic/ picking feet up / pole work / leading to the field / catching - I went and got these for them specifically and they did not even bother to reply. It is very frustrating.

 

[silv]

"People are idiots" just about covers your problem.

yep, 100% agreed

 

[ihatework]

At least it is not just me! We are up north which I think saves us from having too many people just coming for a day trip. I don't mind getting videos for people. I understand people don't want to travel for 3 hours to see something totally unsuitable but I find some people can be quite ignorant one person wanted videos of - everything from a child brushing her/ hacking/ loading/ school work/ traffic/ picking feet up / pole work / leading to the field / catching - I went and got these for them specifically and they did not even bother to reply. It is very frustrating.

Just to play devils advocate though, some effort has to be put into selling! You can’t expect to do nothing, or advertised on some manky free site, and be flooded with genuine buyers. So you now have those extra videos therefore time not wasted.

This isn’t directly aimed at you btw - but anyone selling a horse would be wise to invest time into producing good photos and video AND think about target advertising sites to optimise their market.

 

[ponynutz]

The man asking screams non-horsey dad approaching buying a pony like it's a car to me, lol!

Sorry this is the way it's gone. Hopefully you find the perfect home, sounds like a really sweet pony.

 

[05jackd]

Just to play devils advocate though, some effort has to be put into selling! You can’t expect to do nothing, or advertised on some manky free site, and be flooded with genuine buyers. So you now have those extra videos therefore time not wasted.

This isn’t directly aimed at you btw - but anyone selling a horse would be wise to invest time into producing good photos and video AND think about target advertising sites to optimise their market.

I agree - I don't mind getting videos of anything for a genuinely interested person. I have often travelled 300 miles to see a horse but I need to be sure before I travel that they are what I'm looking for. But I do begrudge the lack of politeness in not even bothering to reply.

I also forgot to mention the 2 calls at midnight last night from a withheld number. I didn't answer as I was asleep (like a normal person at that hour) but the Voicemail message that I think was meant to say 'ring me about your pony' was a little bizarre.

 

[Snow Falcon]

Selling and buying can be the pits. Not suitable for novices, needs experienced rider draws out all sorts.....

I've been honest in adverts and still had "I'm looking for a first pony for my child". Nope.

Then I've had sensible people view, pay deposit then pull out.

Buying is no better, lame ones, smaller than advertised ones, one verging laminitic.

 

[milliepops]

advert states "unbacked"...
Q: "do you have ridden videos?"

erm......

 

[Wishfilly]

I guess, in a way, part of the problem is that to buy a sane/safe 14.2 with some jumping ability, suitable for a novice etc you probably need a budget of at least £10k now (maybe not quite that but there or there abouts, especially once you include vetting etc). But then you get people with a budget of £5k, or less, who still want to buy that sort of pony and so they're having to look at things which are completely unsuitable for what they want? And especially with non-horsey parents, they don't really necessarily understand the risks they are taking?

I mean, it is stupid, because obviously the answer is to go away and save up enough money to afford to buy what you need!

On the other side of it, you also have people trying to offload their unsound (and undiagnosed) 15yo for £6k- so I can definitely understand why people want videos etc, but obviously if you do see something wrong, then it's polite to say why you're no longer interested at least.

I don't really have a point here- but hopefully the perfect home is out there and your pony will eventually find it!

 

[vhf]

I usually sell youngstock unbroken and generally avoid all the day trippers and frankly dangerous people who greatly overestimate their ability.
Am I doing something wrong? I feel like the advert and videos are very honest about her but it seems that I am attracting totally the wrong kind of people. ?

This is the main reason I stopped selling. It's not even a post-Covid phenomenon. One that helped finish me off was advertised as extremely nervous 15hh, unbacked, needing a very experienced home... nearly every enquiry was along the lines of 'will he suit my 9yo who's having lessons at a riding school?' or 'how high can he jump'?

People frequently don't read adverts properly, more frequently over-estimate their ability, and rarely understand the difference between 'what I need' and 'what I want'. They also don't know what they don't know, so a mother asking for her daughter currently having lessons doesn't know that she needs a pony with mileage and not a green 5yo, she probably thinks they are all much the same! I mean, the Ford fiesta you have your driving lessons in is much the same as the one on the dealership forecourt, you just want one in a nice colour with plenty of miles left on the clock... (sorry, yes, I got cynical with it all!)

 

[Wishfilly]

I *almost* wonder if putting the price up (but taking an offer for the right home?) or maybe putting her on as POA might help discourage some of the day dreamers?

 

[Goldenstar]

It’s worth considering sales livery

 

[The Irish Draft 2022]

Unfortunately I think it’s due to the lack of novice safe horses on the market. I am constantly seeing wanted ads on Facebook of people looking for novice safe horses . Nobody seems to sell them anymore and I think sellers probably have gotten stricter. ( this is not amid at you op)

 

[05jackd]

Unfortunately I think it’s due to the lack of novice safe horses on the market. I am constantly seeing wanted ads on Facebook of people looking for novice safe horses . Nobody seems to sell them anymore and I think sellers probably have gotten stricter. ( this is not amid at you op)

I think you have a point here. I see so many ' dodgey dealer posts' where I believe the pony just hasn't been allowed to settle and no allowance has been made for the fact its a living animal and buyers are calling sellers all sorts of names. (to be clear I am not talking about those that have clearly been sold with undisclosed vices but rather the pony that may have put a little buck in because its been locked in a stable for 2 days.)

So I imagine a lot of people would be wary of selling a 100% bombproof novice suitable horse. Just because confident child A has no problems it doesn't mean that child B who is just off the lead rein will have the same result - particularly when most peoples attitude seems to be send it back and take them to court!

 

[Flame_]

If she's genuine endurance potential, particularly if she's an arab or PBA, put her on the endurance facebook groups.

 

[vhf]

I also forgot to mention the 2 calls at midnight last night from a withheld number. I didn't answer as I was asleep (like a normal person at that hour) but the Voicemail message that I think was meant to say 'ring me about your pony' was a little bizarre.

Ahh, I had a similar one, but picked it up in the end and it was clearly a young traveller lad, somewhat tipsy. I was selling a TB eventer, he wanted a shetland, the conversation was bizarre! Since it wasn't a shetland and not even broken to harness, would I take £500? But at least he was polite, if a bit slurred.

 

[Wishfilly]

Unfortunately I think it’s due to the lack of novice safe horses on the market. I am constantly seeing wanted ads on Facebook of people looking for novice safe horses . Nobody seems to sell them anymore and I think sellers probably have gotten stricter. ( this is not amid at you op)

I think people do sell them but they are rightly charging a premium for e.g. a 10yo cob who can carry a decent amount of weight, is rock solid in traffic, will do a prelim dressage test and take a novice safely around a fun ride- obviously a lot of time and work goes into making such a horse, so they should be worth money but people are not willing to pay that. I also think a lot of people don't want to take on an older horse that has been there/done that as a first horse/pony for kids (and people are perhaps more reluctant to pass them on).

A lot of people seem to want younger horses/ponies, but not take into account that especially with covid, they will have seen less of life and therefore may not be suitable for a true novice (this was my impression when buying about 18 months ago anyway).

I do also think that there are/were some people buying horses at that time who had no business doing so because riding schools were shut which has made some sellers/dealers very wary.

 

[ponynutz]

Unfortunately I think it’s due to the lack of novice safe horses on the market. I am constantly seeing wanted ads on Facebook of people looking for novice safe horses . Nobody seems to sell them anymore and I think sellers probably have gotten stricter. ( this is not amid at you op)

Think a lot of these horses are sold through word of mouth now too. A lot of the very safe novice ponies at Pony Club were always snatched up pretty quickly in this way if I remember rightly. So, yes, even the ones that are on the market are hard to find.

 

[canteron]

Ask for video of potential buyer riding before going further.
Weeds out the uncommitted pretty quickly.

 

[CMcC]

When I rang seller about the last pony I bought, I told her a bit about myself, my set up and asked her a few questions. Her response was, “Your the only half way normal person that has rung about her.” I was a bit put out at the time, sounds from the above posts it was actually a compliment.

 

[Ample Prosecco]

When selling Toby and Dolly I said comments wouldn’t be responded to and PM or ring. I ignored everyone who asked a stupid question or one that was answered in the text of the ad. Which was most of them! I had about 15 mins of video in the ad and ignored requests for more. I asked for video of the rider for Dolly. I then shortlisted the responders and rang them back. That was when it was definitely a sellers market but it was still a useful way of getting rid of totally unsuitable buyers.

 

[Bonnie Allie]

Can I share an amazing experience I had with a seller who was realistic, intelligent and genuine about finding the right home for their horse?

Needed a new mount for 13yr old son who had outgrown his pony. I was clear with sellers my son whilst keen, not overly talented and had come from a 12.2hh schoolmaster that did everything for him, so being a boy his confidence in his ability was well ahead of his competence.

Found a cracker of a mount. Chat with seller seemed to be a match. Sent Video of son riding, video of our property, reference contacts for sons experience and ourselves.

Seller then felt their mount was a little to inexperienced for my son, however through their contacts knew of another couple that would be coming to market soon. Through some good networking by the seller we found the perfect mount. The new sellers appreciated that we were pre-qualified buyers.

So despite being the buyers, we had to sell ourselves to the owners of these horses to even be considered.

I would run this process again if need be but it does rely on a seller that is not purely transactional.

 

[bubsqueaks]

Ive just sold mine & found the most useful thing was asking people to send me videos of their child/themselves riding using the Covid excuse too - saved so much timewasting as well as ensuring the advert spelt out all the facts & had videos & photos on it too - I used the pony club classified website which is £24.00 per month - mine was 14.2hh mother/daughter share & found it a far better place than horsequest tbh.

 

[Red-1]

Ask for video of potential buyer riding before going further.
Weeds out the uncommitted pretty quickly.

I had to send one when buying baby horse last year. he was a 4yo, in Ireland. I was happy enough to send a vid and photos.

I have found that it is best to avoid FB ads. Horsequest seems to attract serious buyers, who actually know one end of a horse from another. Sold my last one through Horsequest first day, had a stack of people wanting to view, all reasonable prospects.

 

[Bernster]

Found my last via horse quest. Sent a video of me riding my previous 2 to the seller. If it’s a serious buyer they shouldn’t mind that it’s a reassemble request.

 

[Wishfilly]

BTW, I found my pony via Horsemart- I found the search function more useable that horsequest! I'd say advertising on specialist sites (particularly those which mean a buyer has to at least text you) might weed out a few of the day dreamers?