Selling saddles

soloequestrian

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I have three saddles to sell. They are advertised on Gumtree at the moment and in two weeks I haven't had a single enquiry. I saw a post on here about selling saddles on Facebook - does that work well? How do you go about doing it? I am on FB but total numpty about how to use it to my advantage!
 

SpotsandBays

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I tried on Facebook to no luck. I’ve sold one but other is still listed (via eBay). I basically forgot they were on there until I had an offer through!
 

Meredith

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I have sold saddles on ebay, Preloved and Facebook.
I always pack the saddle before advertising so I know exactly how much postage to charge. The weight and the dimensions are critical to keeping weight and therefore costs down. I used inflated balloons as padding once! I usually send by Hermes and haven’t had any problems so far.
Make sure you research the prices of similar saddles. Be realistic in your pricing as there is no point in overpricing as you will never sell.
Unless the saddle is collected and paid for with cash I always use PayPal.
With ebay and PayPal the commission plus postage adds up to a lot so take that into account when setting a price.
With Preloved you might only pay Paypal and postage. I only posted the saddle after speaking to the buyer and receiving payment.
With Facebook I used local horse groups and I have been more cautious using private messages and always waiting for full payment.
The time taken to sell has varied between a couple of weeks to a year. I just kept renewing the ad. with slight alterations especially to the main photo to make it look new.
Unfortunately it can take ages for someone to want to buy your particular saddle. It is a case of being patient I’m afraid.
I hope this is helpful. Good luck with your selling.
 

poiuytrewq

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I’ve come to the conclusion it’s pure luck, I have sold on all the above but found unless you let them go for peanuts it’s a case of holding out!
 

SpotsandBays

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I’ve come to the conclusion it’s pure luck, I have sold on all the above but found unless you let them go for peanuts it’s a case of holding out!
Seems people either want it cheap, or it has to be some synthetic adjustable wintec type thing that people are after! Or both!
 

mandyroberts

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I have sold saddles on ebay, Preloved and Facebook.
I always pack the saddle before advertising so I know exactly how much postage to charge. The weight and the dimensions are critical to keeping weight and therefore costs down. I used inflated balloons as padding once! I usually send by Hermes and haven’t had any problems so far.
Make sure you research the prices of similar saddles. Be realistic in your pricing as there is no point in overpricing as you will never sell.
Unless the saddle is collected and paid for with cash I always use PayPal.
With ebay and PayPal the commission plus postage adds up to a lot so take that into account when setting a price.
With Preloved you might only pay Paypal and postage. I only posted the saddle after speaking to the buyer and receiving payment.
With Facebook I used local horse groups and I have been more cautious using private messages and always waiting for full payment.
The time taken to sell has varied between a couple of weeks to a year. I just kept renewing the ad. with slight alterations especially to the main photo to make it look new.
Unfortunately it can take ages for someone to want to buy your particular saddle. It is a case of being patient I’m afraid.
I hope this is helpful. Good luck with your selling.

Wish I had the advice re posting before I sold mine......

Re price - I did want to sell fairly quickly so I made mine slightly cheaper than others the same. It was a K&M so plenty to compare against and a healthy second hand market.
The only thing I would add to the above advice is if there is a group for selling whatever brand of saddle you have its a good place to advertise on FB
 

sportsmansB

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I had one to sell
Couldn't be bothered with all the hassle of facebook numpties and posting it
Traded it in for one that fitted new horse at saddlers
Old saddle was more expensive than new one
Got store credit for the difference
Spent store credit (lovely new bridle / breastplate / girths etc)
Prob cost me about £800 between worse price for trade in and a load of stuff I didn't actually need - but I felt like the luckiest person alive with all my new stuff
This is why I am destined never to be rich
The saddler however, he will be rich
 

SamBean

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I have bought one from ebay and have sold a couple on Facebook. Selling another one in the next week or so so will be putting it on Facebook though wont be asking much for it due to getting mtm.
 

southerncomfort

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I've sold a few via Ebay.

The main thing is to make sure you charge enough to cover P&P.

Also, take photos of the saddle from every possible angle, plus photos of it packaged up to protect yourself against claims of item not as described or inadequate packaging.
 

soloequestrian

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Thanks for all the comments - I've sold quite a few saddles in the past and never had a problem but at the moment the market just seems dead, hence asking for advice about FB which I've never used as a selling mechanism before.
 

sbloom

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A note on angle of photos - take a good side on one almost showing what the saddle looks like on the horse, then take one of the front showing the width. This width shot needs to be taken level with the pommel, and include at least half way down the front of the flaps. If you want to put a measure across at D ring level but it's absolutely useless, people shouldn't be buying their own saddles IMO if they don't know the width (eg XW, 5 fit etc) ow at least what the tree arch shape should look like to suit their horse. The include one of the girth straps showing wear, and close ups of any damage. Those are the ones a commercial buyer will want - oblique shots, shots of the seat etc will be more for the casual buyer and I'm sure they'll find them useful. Make sure they're all in focus :D, plenty aren't!
 

gemisastar

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Over the years I have bought and sold a lot of saddles and hands down eBay is where they sell best, if reasonably priced and honestly described. Lots of good photos taken in good light and a good description. Postage can cost up to £25 depending who you use and is a pain. I think they key is being honest about what it's worth - just because you paid £800 doesn't mean it will be worth anywhere near that now, people do want a bargain and it is a competitive market.
 

asmp

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We've sold a couple of saddles recently. One was collected in person and the other one was sent to Scotland. However, the buyer sorted out the postage - we gave the weight of the box (using string and luggage scales), and she sent us a prepaid label. Parcel taken to local Co-op. All very easy. They were both sold via Facebook.
 

gemisastar

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There is a group called saddles for sale UK only which you can join and post on, you can also advertise in the marketplace, there are other groups for selling saddles also but that one has a lot of members
 

southerncomfort

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You can post on dedicated saddle sales pages or your local equestrian sale pages. When you post an ad you will normally be given the option of also posting it on FB Marketplace.

Be prepared for a a lot of time wasters!
 

Meredith

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We've sold a couple of saddles recently. One was collected in person and the other one was sent to Scotland. However, the buyer sorted out the postage - we gave the weight of the box (using string and luggage scales), and she sent us a prepaid label. Parcel taken to local Co-op. All very easy. They were both sold via Facebook.

I am not 100% sure about this but somewhere in the back of my mind there is a memory of a warning about the buyer arranging and paying postage themselves. Insurance perhaps? Maybe if the item is lost the seller has no claim because they did not pay the postage and so any insurance would be paid to the buyer.
 

sbloom

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Thanks, but HOW do you advertise/sell via Facebook?? I'm feeling totally thick here, but I can't seem to find the right place to put them!

Did you look for a specialist Balance group? I run a group called Used Native Pony and Cob Saddles for Sale in the UK, but we're quite tight on what can be listed, definitely recommend reading the rules of each group, it's a nightmare for getting any old cr*p listed on the group (had a car listed today!).
 

soloequestrian

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I've got two Balance and one Heather Moffett. They're all in the £200-350 price range so I don't want to spend money advertising them. I haven't found any specialist sites but I am really rubbish at using FaceBook (don't really like it very much, that might be why!).
 
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