selling saddles on eBay?

Paddy Irish

Paddy Irish

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Is there a market for second hand saddles on eBay? I know it sounds odd but i probably wouldn't buy one unless i knew that the make and size would fit my boy , so my question is ..is there any point in listing it?
 
there is but ive listed mine twice and havent had offers, i only do it on free listing weekends though but worth a try, youve got to be in it to win it!!
 
They sell - I've sold a few on there that I've managed to collect over the years. Plenty of pictures helps and be as descriptive as possible :)
 
I think I might give it a whirl , great idea about the free listing days , i just need to find out how much it's going to cost in postage first!!


Sandylou i don't know the answer to your question but you could go in to eBay and search for others , it may give you an idea about prices , Sabre stuff is really good quality so i'm sure it would sell. My saddle is a Dever , it's in really good nick but not so well known as yours but i'll give it a go.
 
Most people have postage listed as between 20 and 25 quid but think that is using royal mail parcelforce couriers can be much more expensive - also dont forget to allow for purchase of packaging as you may need bubblewrap for a large item like a saddle.

Something i have always done in the past is make it clear that there is a collection in person option and if you are or are not happy to accept payment through paypal - reiterate this in your description as some people dont read the 'stuff' at the top. Good luck!:D
 
I have bought and sold quite a few saddles through ebay and I set a limit on what I want to pay in case it doesnt fit. I have had two saddles sent to me that were rubbish and returned one and accepted a partial refund on the other.I have also got a cracking saddle that fitted really well and looks great that I didnt pay a lot for. I think that you need to be as honest as possible and give loads of detail and you might get lucky. I have sold several and the new owners seemed happy so they can and do sell but your average type of saddle is unlikely to go for loads of cash
 
I've sold 3 saddles on ebay and had two bad experiences and one good experience!

1st saddle sold and the buyer lived near enough to come over to me and pick it up, to save on postage. She was a nice lady and liked the saddle.

The 2nd saddle I tried to sell was bid for and sold, but the buyer never paid up.

Then I had a horrible experience selling my third saddle. I posted it out, in perfect condition. My own saddler had seen the saddle shortly before I sold it, as we tried it on my new horse, but it was too narrow for him. Several people bid on it, and it sold. I spent a lot of time and effort packaging it up very securely in bubble wrap and then filling the box with polystyrene so it didnt move in the box. As soon as it had been received by the buyer they withdrew their paypal payment from my paypal account! I had to get ebay involved and the woman claimed it didn't fit, then claimed it was broken. My terms of selling said that I wouldn't refund if it didn't fit (and in my advert I had asked people to request more measurements and photos if required before bidding), but ebay terms are that damaged items have to be refunded. They had to return my saddle before paypal would release her money (which was being held in a holding account, so neither in her account, nor mine) It took nearly a month before they sent the saddle back to me, and when I opened the box it was obvious that the tree had been deliberately and malicously broken. It evidently didn't fit the buyers horse, but because my selling terms stated I wouldn't accept returns if it didnt fit - she opened it up and snapped the tree. It has obviously been deliberately broken, but the time and money taking the woman to court trying to prove something that she is denying would have been more time consuming and costly than simply me losing my saddle. I took the experience as a life lesson, and swore I'd never use ebay again....
 
Certainly is a market - why don't you try watching a couple of saddles similar to your own (sabre question answered here too) or look up ended auctions.

To do this you click on "advanced" next to the search in ebay and type in a description ie Sabre saddle and then click on ended auctions and hey presto it will tell you how much they went for.
 
Misinterpreted said:
I've sold 3 saddles on ebay and had two bad experiences and one good experience!

1st saddle sold and the buyer lived near enough to come over to me and pick it up, to save on postage. She was a nice lady and liked the saddle.

The 2nd saddle I tried to sell was bid for and sold, but the buyer never paid up.

Then I had a horrible experience selling my third saddle. I posted it out, in perfect condition. My own saddler had seen the saddle shortly before I sold it, as we tried it on my new horse, but it was too narrow for him. Several people bid on it, and it sold. I spent a lot of time and effort packaging it up very securely in bubble wrap and then filling the box with polystyrene so it didnt move in the box. As soon as it had been received by the buyer they withdrew their paypal payment from my paypal account! I had to get ebay involved and the woman claimed it didn't fit, then claimed it was broken. My terms of selling said that I wouldn't refund if it didn't fit (and in my advert I had asked people to request more measurements and photos if required before bidding), but ebay terms are that damaged items have to be refunded. They had to return my saddle before paypal would release her money (which was being held in a holding account, so neither in her account, nor mine) It took nearly a month before they sent the saddle back to me, and when I opened the box it was obvious that the tree had been deliberately and malicously broken. It evidently didn't fit the buyers horse, but because my selling terms stated I wouldn't accept returns if it didnt fit - she opened it up and snapped the tree. It has obviously been deliberately broken, but the time and money taking the woman to court trying to prove something that she is denying would have been more time consuming and costly than simply me losing my saddle. I took the experience as a life lesson, and swore I'd never use ebay again....
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OMG how awful :eek:, i guess the big mistake here is that you think that most people will be as honest and trustworthy as you , but i guess that's not in real life . I think , to be on the safe side i will advertise it locally first , I know it's only £300 to £400 quids worth but it's still enough to lose if you get seen off like you did..it makes me sad to think that someone who could do that to your saddle just because it didn't fit , are actually looking after animals!!:mad:
 
Never, ever, ever would I do it again. The buyer said her instructor had asaid it didn't fir - three months after the sale. She wanted her money back plus compensation for having to get an expert opinion. The sale had cost her £20!! I offered her the money back but she refused to return the saddle. Ebay were no help at all!
 
How on Earth can anyone buying a saddle unseen online then complain if it doesn't fit their horse. It's the buyers responsibility to ask as much as possible about the saddle and its size before buying but it's still taking a risk. IMO that's the risk you take when choosing to buy a 'bargain' online, rather than buying from a reputable shop and having a professional fitter out.
 
I could probably give the saddle to the qualified saddle fitter that i bought it from and get her to sell it for me , although she'll take a cut of the money ( which is fine but it'll be more than eBay probably ) I think it may be a better option , at least if someone buys it , i'll be happy that the saddle WILL actually fit their horse!

The only con for this option is that I feel bad that i'm not having a new saddle off her , but i guess if she makes a few quid from the sale she wont send me to coventry!
 
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Misinterpreted said:
I've sold 3 saddles on ebay and had two bad experiences and one good experience!

1st saddle sold and the buyer lived near enough to come over to me and pick it up, to save on postage. She was a nice lady and liked the saddle.

The 2nd saddle I tried to sell was bid for and sold, but the buyer never paid up.

Then I had a horrible experience selling my third saddle. I posted it out, in perfect condition. My own saddler had seen the saddle shortly before I sold it, as we tried it on my new horse, but it was too narrow for him. Several people bid on it, and it sold. I spent a lot of time and effort packaging it up very securely in bubble wrap and then filling the box with polystyrene so it didnt move in the box. As soon as it had been received by the buyer they withdrew their paypal payment from my paypal account! I had to get ebay involved and the woman claimed it didn't fit, then claimed it was broken. My terms of selling said that I wouldn't refund if it didn't fit (and in my advert I had asked people to request more measurements and photos if required before bidding), but ebay terms are that damaged items have to be refunded. They had to return my saddle before paypal would release her money (which was being held in a holding account, so neither in her account, nor mine) It took nearly a month before they sent the saddle back to me, and when I opened the box it was obvious that the tree had been deliberately and malicously broken. It evidently didn't fit the buyers horse, but because my selling terms stated I wouldn't accept returns if it didnt fit - she opened it up and snapped the tree. It has obviously been deliberately broken, but the time and money taking the woman to court trying to prove something that she is denying would have been more time consuming and costly than simply me losing my saddle. I took the experience as a life lesson, and swore I'd never use ebay again....
Click to expand...

How terrible! I have sold four saddles on ebay and got good prices for them. The sales went without a hitch. But I suppose I was lucky. I could have got a buyer like yours. Unbelievable what people will do. How can they live with themselves?:confused:
 
I've sold four saddles on Ebay, including one which went to Portugal. I do take LOADS of photos of the saddle and photograph each and every scratch, mark or blemish on it. I would rather pay a little extra at the point of listing and have everything up there in glorious technicolour. I also make sure that I ask for questions and I also state no returns in the text.

The other thing that I do is I photograph, stage by stage, the packing up of the saddle, for shipping. I also photograph the saddle next to that days national newspaper, so that there can be no dispute about the authenticity of the photos.

I have never had any issues over the state of the saddles on arrival with the purchaser. I do, however, email them the photos that I have taken at point of packing up, so they know how thorough I am. If it gets damaged in transit, then it is damaged in transit...

It does sound really odd, I know - but I would rather spend 10 minutes emailing digital photos, than weeks getting stressed over an Ebay sale - been there and done that with some motorcycling trousers. It was a nightmare!

Lesson learnt!
 
I've tried selling them on ebay with no success. I wouldn't buy one myself through ebay so am not really surprised when they don't sell. I think it's better to take them to a good local saddlery that sells secondhand ones as well as new, so that their fitters take them out for people to try. Once you've paid the 10% Ebay fee and 5% Paypal, it's not much different to the comission for a saddler, and in my experience they can usually sell them for a better price than you will get from Ebay as buyers are not having to take a chance on them fitting.
 
I have bought and sold saddles on e-bay ...only problem I had was an Ideal saddle which was listed as a Wide fitting- which I was specifically looking for....came with a M stamped on the stirrup bar ( which in my book indicated medium) and surprisingly wasn't wide enough. Ebay were useless and found on the side of the seller!! I did sell it on ( as a medium) and broke even though.

I just bought an Ideal Ramsay from a lady on Preloved - no problems, all good- saddler out on monday to fit and adjust.

I'm in 2 minds as to sell my XW Ideal WH on ebay or stick it on Preloved....best thing about e-bay is not having to take phonecalls....
 
I sold one recently for twice what I paid but I have one currently that I have listed at 3/4 what the saddler valued it at and although more than 10 people watch it each time (listed 3 times) no one has bid!!
 
I listed my three saddles on ebay this summer but none reached the reserve price. It seems that only cheap saddles sell on ebay and Im not selling mine for stupid money.
 
Think most people on ebay looking for saddles are looking for a real bargain. I'm currently watching one on there as I'm desperate for one, but dont want to (and cant!) pay out loads when mare is changing shape every 6 weeks at the moment!
 
I've sold two pretty high value saddles on preloved with no hassle at all :) I've also sold some on ebay fine :) I use a local courier - cost about a tenner!
 
I have sold four saddles on ebay and bought two. I sold two Isabel Werth dressage saddles, one Bates and one Wintec, one Wintec GP and a Mayhew Side saddle. They all went for good prices, but I did, as others have wisely mentioned, take loads of pictures from every angle possible. I also wrapped them well in bubble wrap and included the polystyrene stuff that gets everywhere. i found Parcel Force reasonable and reliable as well.

purchasing was ok too - I bought on separate occasions for different horses a Barnsby dressage saddle, narrow fit which was brilliant (an older style but never used) and Morris and Nolan GP, nicely worn in.

I have been lucky, but I would always go for a decent brand, (maybe one that you know their style fits your horse) and always check the feeback scores!
 
I've just sold a Passier dressage saddle to Paris and an Albion K2 to Finland with for very good prices.

My local saddler takes 30% commission - a complete rip off IMO. I've bought from Saddles Direct in the past and was considering selling through them (private sales section) with the Passier if I didn't get what I wanted on ebay.

I use ParcelMonkey for organising the courier - they're agents for different couriers and can negotiate good prices. It was brilliant and cost about half what Royal Mail quoted.
 
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