TIMEWASTERS are absolutely driving me CRACKERS!!!

laura-c said:
I would advertise on horsemart, have always had success through there :) good luck.
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Me too! Also if you are asking a very small amount for him, your gonna get timewasters looking for something cheap....and if you've advertised as a 'quick sale' then people will take advantage of the situation in regards to price/loan/trial, i would up your price abit (imo he sounds around the £1500-2000 area to me)and not mention anything about quick sale needed!
 
Just realised your up north...so you probably cant ask that much for him...im in Buckinghamshire, where everything's expensive!!!
 
I would definitely advertise on Horsequest, Horsemart, Horse and Hound, etc, and maybe add £50 or so to the price to cover your advertising costs. As somebody mentioned, you might find someone who has competition horses but needs a quiet hack for mum/daughter/OH/etc. I'm in Essex, but if you want me to put up an ad in my tack shop PM me details. Good luck! :)
 
Oh you should try renting a stable out. I'm sure some people just come for a day out. Like move to the country equestrian special.
 
If you are getting loads of REAL timewasters (some of your responders I wouldn't class as timewasters tbh) then your advert most likely needs looking at closely and rewording. If you do a clear advert telling potential purchaser exactly what the horse is like and what he's suitable for then that usually reduces/eliminates timewasters.

If you'd rather have people phone you and you don't want emails then don't put an email in the advert, just put your telephone number. I never put my phone number on my ads, always email and I ask people to email first as it's a working farm and I just don't have time to stop and chatter to people for ages on a phone when I'm in the middle of working with the horses. I prefer email as then I can reply when I have a moment. Horses for courses though. I don't have many people contact me that I'd class as timewasters tbh but then most of my horses are sold unseen so I give out a load of detail/photos/videos of my horses to prospective buyers.
 
I know you are in a hurry.
But can't rush finding him a home.
This is when problems occur and horse could end up in the wrong home.

Some don't sound like time wasters.
They need to find out the details, think about it and compare with other horses.
You have done well to get that many responses in a few days.
 
Defo north to me (in Cornwall). Might I suggest putting ad on endurancegb website or egb local group website and newsletter. Maybe members who also want hacker or know someone who does.
 
From a purchasers point of view I bought my ponies from Horsemart adverts. If I do need another at any time that's my first port of call tbh.
 
See for me, I would have to really consider his arthritis aspect but would probably ring you to find out more about him. Once I had that and he sounded perfect, I would probably go away and have a real good think about him and weigh it all up

In that respect, you may see me as a timewaster

Anyway, If I was "horse shopping" I am more likely to look via horsemart :)
 
Price is very important as it sends a message, as does any hint that you are eager to get rid of the horse asap!

I once had this problem. It was actually a trained gundog. The first man came to see her and mumbled, "There's got to be something wrong with her at that price". There wasn't, she just didn't fit in with my breeding program as she as not the type I wanted!

So, I stuck a nought on the end of the price and re-advertised. The first enquirer bought without hesitation, saying "She is in the price range I expected to pay", and I learnt a valuable lesson!

The value TO YOU is not necessarily the value to someone else. Most of the people these days wanting to buy a horse seem to want "a safe happy hacker" which is what you seem to have for sale. Try increasing the price. (You can always reduce it later!).

My father was in sales and he taught me another useful lesson. He showed me two items, one was priced at a reasonable price, the other was priced at twice as much. He asked me to tell him how they were different. Apart from the packaging, they seemed identical. He agreed. The items WERE identical! He explained that that way they sold far more as they were aimed at different markets. The cheap looking one was sold in a bargain store, the one in expensive packaging was sold on the high street.

What I am saying is that you could try pricing your horse at the market for that particular type of horse. Up the price. State "Emails initially please", to cut out the nuisance callers. You could also state "Price negotiable". If they want to chat, cut it short by saying, "I'm sorry to be rude, but I have someone phoning me back to arrange a viewing".

But price something too cheaply and you will get a lot of people looking for a cheap deal and keeping you on the phone trying to find out what is wrong with the horse to make it so cheap. Price is not always the same thing as value. Sounding desperate to sell will not get over the right message either!
 
Hello op.
If you have a genuine happy hacker (looking for something for a novice to ride) I may be able to help if you want to pm me and I'll give you a ring back. I'm sorry that I don't know all the details of the horse for sale so if you could let me know where he's advertised I can have a look. Thanks.
 
I agree with Dryrot above - if I was looking for a genuinely safe happy hacker I wouldn't call about horses advertised at meat money. If the vet thinks he can have a useful and long career at hacking level with his issues then they wouldn't put me off if that level of riding was what I wanted to do.

You don't get on with this particular horse (no reason why we should like them all) and he's causing you stress/ hassle and that probably comes across in your ad/ description of him. Perhaps get some indepenent people to read his ad and see if they can suggest changes to make it more targeted at the right people.

I think ' oh he sounds lovely I'll get back to you' is probably just a nice way of saying ' you've made him sound like a right pain in the a*$e no way I'm even going to bother coming to view!!' - but most people don't like saying any negative about horses they've called up about.
 
Excellent post DryRot. Having looked at the ad, I can see he is a very genuine lovely horse etc but it is exactly the type of ad to attract dreamers. The fact that he is steady and safe is a big plus. Ideal for say a mum with children on ponies to supervise.

Good luck :) Looking at your other post - you are far too nice! Acquire a bit of an edge to sort the wheat from the chaff. No harm in asking if people are serious about buying and how quickly they can complete the sale.
 
I agree with dry rot, add a nought to the end of his price and you might attract the type of buyer you're after. Good luck with selling him :)
 
9tails said:
Stop the messages, update your advert with "Please call for more information". If you get an email/text asking if he's still for sale, respond with "Yes, please call this number" and then delete any more emails/texts from that person. Do NOT get into email/text exchanges, genuine buyers will be on the phone wanting to see him.

Ignore the crazy lady now, she will eventually go away.
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As above.

As soon as someone places an advert for a horse & you have allowed the facility of email or text then you will be inundated with time wasters. I think they are living in a fantasy world & just mess sellers about when they never have any real thought of buying a horse. If someone really wants to buy a horse & your advert interests them then they will telephone you & speak to you personally. You may not get as many replies as if you allow texting etc but the quality & sincerity of the replies will be real & you will only get interested people.

Good Luck
 
Hello,

Advertised him on Horsemart yesterday. Think I may have sold him- to the most fantastic, ideal home too :)

Will keep you all posted
 
I don't think phone calls are really timewasters tbh - yes they can be annoying but I often get folk ringing me for advice and they have no intention of buying but out of giving advise I have sold a horse in the past as the lady remembered me 3yrs later and came back to buy a horse I had for sale at the time!
If you want real timewasters try breeding friesians!! - they seem to be a magnet for the weird folk who have seen a black horse in a blockbuster film with long flowing locks and does all the tricks and so they MUST now go out and buy a big black stallion to happy hack on, and it will be OK with mares as we don't want it to breed now - right!!! :O

I've had one lady visit me twice as she buys a youngster every year from various breeders and leaves them on a 80acre hillside in wales to run in a herd with the others she has bought every year, and then after 2 or 3 years of never touching them, not even to worm or do their feet, she wonders why they are wild and it MUST be something to do with the breeder breeding wild horses with bad temperaments so she had read friesians are quiet so that would mean all the difference!! She also wore a flourescent yellow jacket on a very windy day and all our babies were freaking out a bit at this bright yellow flappy woman - of course that means they are all wild too and I obviously have never handled my animals!!! **sigh**!! I told her polietely where to go, we lost her details, but I got a call 3 years later and the same woman came back to look at a mare this time, she was convinced the mare had sweet itch as a friends friesian had it therefore all friesians do and I must be covering it up some how - this was late summer and the horse was out 24/7 with not a scratch on her, she also saw one of my TB's itching her nose on a gate - windsucker of course and all my horses must do it therefore she offered my 2 grand less for the mare!!! - it was then I remembered who she was and again told her where to go, she still hadn't got near the now 8 wild horses she had on her hillside!!!:p

I've even had folk put a deposit down on a mare and foal, so I took her off the market, 9 weeks of faffing later and the summer gone, and her setting off twice and on her way supposedly to pick up mare and foal and me taking a day off work to clean up said mare and be tehre to load etc - she never turned up!!:o
Another came with her whole family, spent hours playing with foals etc and picking one out, she then got back in the car to nip to the bank to get a deposit said she'd be back in 15mins - never heard from them again - just a family jolly - the high heeled fashion boots in a muddy field should have made me suspicious!!!:D
Another couple came and meditated with the horse they came to view for 3 hrs, then another 1hr playing with him in the stable!
A 60yr old happy hacker wanted a black stallion as a birthday present having only just learnt to ride - I wouldn't sell him the colt he wanted without first gelding him after explaining why - he refused to buy a gelding as it wouldn't be manly to ride - I told him very firmly NO I wouldn't sell him anything!! - in fact we have had quite a few men after the big black stallion look - I've gelded everything I've sold!!!
We've had tyre kickers and 'pat from a distance as I'm scared of horses' folk, a tracksuit family 'wanting a baby pony to play football with their son' who was terrified of horses!!
People who've had major surgery after injury etc and told not to ride again looking at younsters!
My favourite is the exchange for farm machinery/car/other animal or horse, folk who having spent ages looking at our horses then going on to say they actually have no money and either offer to swap said horse for one of the above items or can they pay monthly for the next couple of years to then pick up said youngster when it's fully grown and ready to ride - the mention of livery to keep the horse for those years( tongue in cheek I hasten to add) is usually met with utter horror as why should they pay for that when they are buying it and having to pay £50 per month - I kid you not!!!!!:p
A pair of goths wanted a black shiny horse to match their outfits - the list is endless!!!:D ;)
 
If sellers were absolutely honest and straight in the advert and gave as much information as they could INCLUDING cons then 'timewasting' would decrease!

Lost count of the amount of ponies I have rung about and quizzed the owner purely to find out what is wrong with the pony because lets face it, they ALL have something wrong somewhere - not badly wrong but quirks. Your dearly loved quirk might be the buyers no no. Melanomas, 'the odd cheeky buck', can't be left alone on the lorry, very strong to handle on the ground...if all these had been mentioned in the ad then a lot of time and energy could have been diverted elsewhere. It works both ways!
 
Ok so now you've (hopefully) got yours sold can I have some advice to sell mine.
Horsequest ref 74244 (she was previously on Horsemart for a month)
I get maybe 1 enquiry per week but so far no viewings (so I know it's not the pony putting them off)
I'm toying with dropping the price by about £400 but saying tack available by separate negotiation so she catches the eye of people with a lower budget.
Do you think this would work?

ETA she's also in local tack shops and facebook.
 
More photos, more details! Has she done any local shows or competitions or pony club things? Is she suitable for a child/teen to handle alone? Why are you selling her.

I know lots of people in the SW who are looking for 14.2s.
 
little_critter said:
Ok so now you've (hopefully) got yours sold can I have some advice to sell mine.
Horsequest ref 74244 (she was previously on Horsemart for a month)
I get maybe 1 enquiry per week but so far no viewings (so I know it's not the pony putting them off)
I'm toying with dropping the price by about £400 but saying tack available by separate negotiation so she catches the eye of people with a lower budget.
Do you think this would work?

ETA she's also in local tack shops and facebook.
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Lovely little horse. I always want to see nice conformation shots when viewing an advert. I'd also put more recent shots up.
 
Thanks - my Horsemart ad had confo shots but Horsequest charges £5 per extra photo so I was being stingy! I'll add some on.
Amymay - that is a recent shot...was taken specially for the advert.
Yes she has competed (think ad says RC level SJ, Dressage & XC)

I'll add details back in - she is dead easy to do in all ways, was my first pony and taught me the ropes.
For sale because she doesn't seem to enjoy working in the school but I want to do more dressage (although this may be simply we don't 'click' as she went beautifully and willingly for my instructor)
I generally get enquiries asking if she's ok for nervous riders or people wanting ploddy hacks.
She is great to hack but not a total plod so I think if you were nervous she might worry you (but would always bring you back safe and sound)
 
ok so you say she does RC level dressage but the truth is that she doesn't enjoy it or like working in the school? I'd take the dressage bit out then as its misleading.
 
billylula said:
ok so you say she does RC level dressage but the truth is that she doesn't enjoy it or like working in the school? I'd take the dressage bit out then as its misleading.
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The problem I have is that I believe the problem is me, not her. As I said she went beautifully for my intructor (and she was push button too).
I don't want to say 'won't work in the school' because she may well be fine for someone else.

If I advertised as just a happy hacker do you reckon I could still get £2k?
My ideal purchaser would either be small adult looking to hack, funride, HT or a whizzy teenager to put some fun back in her work.
 
I haven't read the whole thread, but wanted to put across another perspective. Apologies if I am repeating things.

I have been looking for a new horse since 8th March when I sent my very broken, dangerous, aggressive (through pain) thoroughbred off to play with the unicorns.

I have posted on here about my searches. My fairly stringent criteria. And my three failed vet checks in a row. I am well aware of the seller thinking 'timewaster' so I have been very up front and told them my recent horse owning history, stating clearly 'I don't want to waste your time, but I'd like to chat first' and going on to what I am looking for. I've heard the frustration in the seller's voice when I may have rambled on too long. But it has been important to get it all out because there are key points that will emerge in the response that will make me think 'oh, maybe not'. And after reflection, I have on occasion phoned again to double check things. And if I get exactly the same story and an evasion of my questions, I will wonder what has been covered up. And probably walk away. I don't know you personally - it's a business transaction in the end.

A friend of a friend responded to a wanted ad that I had put on FB. She told me she had exactly the horse for me. We spent a while chatting, where she repeatedly told me how important her reputation was to me - there was very little coming through about the horse, other than she felt he would be perfect for me. But because she was a friend of a friend, I went to see the horse. First off, it was a full up TB - and I categorically stated several times I didn't want a TB. Second, it was so thin I wanted to throw up. I could count every knobble on its spine, see every rib, and its eyes were so sunken I don't think it had had any water for a week. And frankly, it was scared stiff of people. There was no way I was going to get on it, but I did let her trot it up and show me its movement on the lunge. Because I felt guilty for turning up and making arrangements to see it. I left stating I didn't want a baby or a TB. It was not as she had described at all. And looking at the state of her other horses, I spent the next few hours wondering how soon I could call WHW without her pinning it on me and me losing a friendship.

Imagine my horror when I saw a photo of it (clearly photoshopped) on FB the next day saying 'RE-ADVERTISED DUE TO TIMEWASTERS'.

I guess that's a very long winded way of saying not everyone who in your eyes is wasting time is actually doing so for the sake of a jolly. You may have said something - it could even have been quite trivial or in your eyes, quite inconsequential, that made them think twice and do as so regularly advised on here - walked away.
 
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