Selling the 'worth their weight in gold' type horse????

charlimouse

charlimouse

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How do you get the initial interest??? My horse has been advertised for 2 weeks now and I have had no phone calls, let alone viewings :eek:! (She is the bay in my sig ;))

Advert wise there is only 1 jumping photo on as no others would load :confused:. Plus she is priced on the high side as she really is 'worth her weight in gold'. I.E. She hacks next to the main London to Scotland railway line, hunts all day, i've used her to teach PC XC from, and 'nanny' freshly broken youngsters. She also has a very tidy BE record with wins and many placings (at BE90 and 100), and has also done the Badminton Grassroots Champs. Straightforwards and forgiving enough to show a rider the ropes. Good breeding and at 10 years old is old enough to have 'been there got the t-shirt', but still has many years left in her!

Where am I going wrong? I'm thinking people see the price and are put off, but at the same time I did ask many different people's opinions before I advertised her, and they all told me she was worth what i'm wanting. I'm getting a bit sick of people thinking they can get a good horse for nothing :mad:!!!!!

Sorry rant over, just getting annoyed as everybody reckoned (including 2 4* eventers) I would have people queing up for her, but I haven't heard a sausage!!!!!
 
I am in exactly the same boat all be it with a fab show pony, not an eventer and all i've had is 2 emails that amounted to nothing. I have been steadily dropping his price and nothing. Am now considering putting him out on loan, I definitely agree people want an amazing horse for very little and the market appears to be saturated. I genuinely believe that had I been advertising him a yr or two ago he would have sold very quickly and probably would have been the case with your mare. All very depressing!
 
Have you tried Horse Quest. I was talking to someone the other day who has just sold her horse on there (for a very pricey amout I hasten to add!) and she said it's the best site at the moment.

I think on sites like Horsemart you seem to get lot's of kids looking at the adverts especially the one's of the horses jumping but not many people actually phoning. H&H adverts seem to have dropped of dramatically, perhaps due to the price!? :eek:

If I were you and you haven't already, advertise her on there :)
 
what have you put the advert title as? I think this can sometimes play a part in whether people read anymore or just skim away,

If you haven't already, & it's not the best time of year, but i'd really play on the hunting credentials, as a horse that hunts really well, and events but you could lead the children's ponies off & take them on fun rides etc, really appeals to a certain sort of mummy, (mine hasn't quite the BE record yet, but ticks all the other boxes....but isn't going anywhere for that very reason)

ETA..... just read your advert & it doesn't really shout worth her weight in gold.... and horses that are, really make a difference to people looking for them, i think you need to up the focus of that,
 
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I think the fact that you emphasis her as being suitable for a child is what is putting people off. There is more money in the windy middle aged market than kids, does she get upset if someone gets it wrong or will she help you out etc.
 
dieseldog said:
I think the fact that you emphasis her as being suitable for a child is what is putting people off. There is more money in the windy middle aged market than kids, does she get upset if someone gets it wrong or will she help you out etc.
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I hadn't thought of that. I teach alot of Pony Club and I know there are alot of parents willing to pay alot of money for their offspring's equines ;), so I suppose I am trying to tap into that market!

She is 100% genuine, it doesn't matter how wrong you are to a fence she will dig deep and help you out!
 
charlimouse said:
I hadn't thought of that. I teach alot of Pony Club and I know there are alot of parents willing to pay alot of money for their offspring's equines ;), so I suppose I am trying to tap into that market!

She is 100% genuine, it doesn't matter how wrong you are to a fence she will dig deep and help you out!
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Def target the yummy mummy market then!!

esp is she copes well with a disrupted training schedule, total lack of prep & children trying to feed her glitter!!
 
I actually think you could use some better hyperbole about the horse if she is that genuine. The great thing about advertising online is that you are not restricted so you can mention everything about her. I do think side on shots are better as you can get an idea of conformation and jumping technique as well as if they are nice looking. Front on shots are usually so dull as do not show enough.
 
racingdemon said:
Def target the yummy mummy market then!!

esp is she copes well with a disrupted training schedule, total lack of prep & children trying to feed her glitter!!
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She certainly copes with a disrupted training schedule. I am a very bad mummy, and I have been known to event her 2 weeks running and not actually ride her inbetween events :eek:!
 
LEC said:
I actually think you could use some better hyperbole about the horse if she is that genuine. The great thing about advertising online is that you are not restricted so you can mention everything about her. I do think side on shots are better as you can get an idea of conformation and jumping technique as well as if they are nice looking. Front on shots are usually so dull as do not show enough.
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Like I said in my original post I did want to put 4 photos up, but for some stupid reason my computer won't upload the other 3 (these included a side on jumping picture, a flatwork picture, and a standing up naked picture!), so I do have pictures I can easily email to people should they contact me in the first place :rolleyes:!

As far as the blurb goes I was working on the assumption that people would contact me to find out more. Maybe judging by the fact I have had no interest I should change that tactic :o?!
 
Can you try loading another photo? I don't think that picture would draw me to ring up about a horse tbh.

I'd also bring the bit about foundation points into the main text too, just in case people don't scroll down that far. Have you tried advertising anywhere locally? I wouldn't look on BE website for sale ads, I'd always go for horsemart I think - although I'm not exactly a diehard eventer :p
 
I think you're advertising in the wrong place. I don't think that the BE sales idea has really taken off yet and I certainly wouldn't have thought to have gone there to look for a horse.

Horseselect is very eventing targeted and most horses advertised are in Yorkshire/the North so I'd definitely consider that and also one of the big sites - probably Horsequest for a higher value horse. Changes the pics and big her up some more!
 
Gamebird said:
I think you're advertising in the wrong place. I don't think that the BE sales idea has really taken off yet and I certainly wouldn't have thought to have gone there to look for a horse.

Horseselect is very eventing targeted and most horses advertised are in Yorkshire/the North so I'd definitely consider that and also one of the big sites - probably Horsequest for a higher value horse. Changes the pics and big her up some more!
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D'oh, I have bought 2 horses in the past off Horseselect and it didn't even cross my mind :eek:! Charlimouse toddles off to Horseselect armed with some better pics (which will hopefully load :rolleyes:) and a bit more blurb!
 
I do agree that the BE site is not probably the best bet for selling a BE90/100 confidence giver and something like the PC classifieds and local RC sites might be worth a shot. Include links to bids if you can.
 
Sorry but imo vastly overpriced.
I know plenty of horses that hack without noticing traffic (including trains), hunt and event. The fact she is from your advert limited to be100 (I assume? And others who read will assume) and not winning at this level rules out the massive price tag. If she was winning at that level you could possibly just about afford that price tag, but only just about! For 12K I could get a straightforward safe novice eventer that wasn't going to go higher, and who does all the things you list!
Her dressage is also quite erattic? And her showjumping average. XC wise she is excellent looking on record.
I would advertise more like 8k, at the end of the day BE100 is within most horses scope to get round. She is more like a top end RC which I personally wouldn't pay more than 5K for, but if you really emphasis the safeness you might find someone wanting to pay 8K. Good luck.
 
FWIW ditto horseselect, which seems to be very north-weighted, and more pics. If you have them, I'd mention "videos available on request". If I was expecting to spend proper money on a horse, I'd want to be able to see vids and a range of pics before calling- as much not wasting your time as mine ;).

I guess the only other thing that struck me is - why no N? albeit that many people would not want to jump Ns in reality, lots of people in the market you're looking at (again IMHO..) would want to feel confident that the horse is scopey enough to cope with their mistakes, and therefore capable of N... does that make sense??! It's been a long weekend... good luck selling. It's still a slow market too...
 
You don't mention what she's like to handle (both home and at shows) and whether she's good with farrier,vet,clipping etc etc.

Is she a big or small 16.1hh? The PC slant would lead me to believe she's on the small side and so I wouldn't consider her if I were looking as I'm tall whereas without the PC angle I'd assume she's a "normal" 16.1 and thus give her consideration.

I also wouldn't mention her dr mark from the grass roots as it's not the greatest (don't mean any offence) but would say something along the lines of finished on her dressage as those who don't know much about the GR champs may not realise how stiff the competition is there if that makes sense.

You also don't make any mention as to her potential to go on beyond BE100, the advert reads as though that could be her limit. I'd also consider putting in a reason for sale.
 
Just wanted to say, friend is selling her horse who has gone double clear at blair, necarne and another 1* and is a novice schoolmaster - absolute gem of a horse, and has had no interest with him advertised at 8K...

Have you any more photos? a side view of them going xc might be better :)
 
MegaBeast said:
Is she a big or small 16.1hh? The PC slant would lead me to believe she's on the small side and so I wouldn't consider her if I were looking as I'm tall whereas without the PC angle I'd assume she's a "normal" 16.1 and thus give her consideration.
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I must be old fashioned but to me a horse is either 16.1 or it isn't :confused:
Back in the day a "big 14.2" was actually a horse :D that someone got away with! It is a sad reflection if someone has to explain that by 16.1 they mean 16.1 rather than 15.3 or 16.3:confused:
 
I feel your pain. The grumpy bay one, who got placed at virtually every event he did last year with a different rider, and has been placed at every event I have done bar 1 this year with me, failed to sell last year. So I had to learn to ride him. He would take anyone who could stay on round N XC, and his SJ is fantastic with someone with longer legs. I'm now super-glad he didn't sell, as I'm having a lot of fun with him, but he really would have made someone a lovely schoolmaster, and I just could not sell him.
 
No idea re price but here is a clearer pic -same fence as the one you have up I think but diff angle
PertempsStyle.jpg
 
photo_jo said:
No idea re price but here is a clearer pic -same fence as the one you have up I think but diff angle
PertempsStyle.jpg
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This photo shows that she is neat with her hind legs and isn't just dragging them through the fence. I do wonder if she is slightly overpriced for the current market but she is a lovely horse
 
re. the price. i'm rubbish at things like that but i honestly think that people will still ring even if they think it is expensive and try to bargain you down. when i sold my grey horse he was advertised at 10k and i had lots of calls from people who had 6 to spend- so i would probably keep the price- but have ONO to show that you are willing to be flexible. (FWIW i sold the grey horse for nearl full price and his eventing record was littered with Es :p)
 
Could you list all her top 6 placings ie 4th BE90 at X Event and Date just to highlight them and show how consistent she is, I would bring in the Riding Club stuff as has been mentioned above. And the other thing is that you don't say much about each discipline eg. bold XC, fantastic paces etc. If you have lots of videos and photos could you create a free website for her to link to from the adverts. I also had more enquiries about my TB when I didn't mention he was a TB so that might be worth a try as a lot of people are put off my a TB as they think it will be a 'typical' TB. Horseselect is a good site and I had more success with that than HQ as it's more Northern, the PC website is also a good place to try along with local PC sites.
 
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