Why do sellers bite their nose off to spite their face?

Holly Hocks

Holly Hocks

Well-Known Member
Joined
1 March 2010
Messages
5,402
Location
England
Visit site
I went to see a pony last week - a grey connie x 4 year old mare - just broken. She was nice, but not as good as described in the advert and was advertised for £1300. She had potential and would have been ideal, but basically needed completely starting again. I travelled two hours each way to see this horse. So I liked her and was prepared to make an offer. So the horse was apparently there for breaking and schooling and I asked whether they were negotiable on price ( I was ready to pay £1000). They said that there was NO way they would negotiate on price. So I left it a few minutes and asked again whether there was any movement on the price. Again I was told definitely No. So I left, making it quite clear that I was prepared to make an offer.....
Look on internet tonight and it is advertised as "DUE TO TIMEWASTER!!" I hope she doesn't mean me as I never ever said that I was interested unless they were negotiable on price - she has my phone number and could ring me any time to tell me that she would take an offer, and it is now advertised for £960!!! That's less than I was going to offer in the first place!!! Why, oh why don't people THINK first! And no, I won't ring up and buy her out of principle now! This mare would have had a 5* home with me too. Shame really!
 
People are dumb!

However, don't cut off your nose to spite YOUR face, if you want her, call and buy her! Sod principles, if ey get in the way of a potential fab equine partnership!
 
Tr0uble said:
People are dumb!

However, don't cut off your nose to spite YOUR face, if you want her, call and buy her! Sod principles, if ey get in the way of a potential fab equine partnership!
Click to expand...

I know what you mean, but I'm just so annoyed by the phrase "readvertised due to timewaster!" - it had only been on the internet a few days, so it's hardly a new advert...its the same advert, just edited....
 
I would ring up and say you'll have her for that price. Sellers are silly sometimes but if you liked the horse you could just take the high ground and have her home by next week given that you've already trialled her :)
 
I can totally understand what you are saying but if you liked her and valued her at £1000 do as the other poster said and get a friend to offer £900 , you dont get to have your say but you get the mare for more than you think she is worth , sounds like a small victory to me.
 
Never heard that expression before XD I now have hideous images of people biting their noses off!

I once had something similar. A friend of mine was selling her lovely horse for £5k, but said if I bought her, she'd go down to £2k. I didn't have that kind of money and I still don't now, since my family won't buy me a horse (Fair enough!!!).
I told her this and she begged and begged me, but I wasn't about to take a horse on that I clearly couldn't afford!
I later heard she'd GIVEN the horse away, to someone she doesn't even know, right at the bottom of the country!! (We're in the middle)

I was so put out she wouldn't lower the price for a so-called 'great friend', but will give it away to some stranger! Huff ¬¬ I wouldn't have taken her anyway, but it's principle!

I think you should give them a call :) Might be the best thing you do! Though I do understand not calling out of principle!
 
Makes your blood boil doesn't it?

I viewed a mare about a year ago and quite liked her. I told the seller I liked her but wanted to think about it. The more I thought about it, I realised that what me and my daughter really wanted was a youngster, and so I phoned to tell her I had decided not to second view her horse, and I told her the reason. Within about 15 minutes of her phone call, she had changed her advert to 'readvertised due to timewaster'.

Needless to say the mare is still for sale a year down the line!
 
I just can't bring myself to do it..... might leave it a few days and then see how I feel.....she isn't going to sell overnight. To say she is green is an understatement, so definitely not the mother/daughter share she is advertised as, although the photo shows her beautifully hauled in at the front end (NOT)...
 
I have to say that you sound really nice and I have looked up your past posts too, but I do wonder if your body language made it clear what a mess they've made of starting her and they feel really stupid, put down, or mad about it?

Don't waste your journey HH, get someone to ring up and buy the mare for you and you'll have the last laugh. Is she near me? I'll go and buy her for you.
 
Readvertised due to time waster- I hate that phrase! Infact if i see it in an add it puts me off and i wont call even if i think the horse looks nice.

More often than not its the sellers that are time wasters! I will not go to view any horse now (unless just down the road) without at least seeing a video of it first. Learnt my lesson from travelling for hours to view a potential dressage superstar only to be greeted by a horse that dishes, cant go in an outline etc etc! Grr, makes me so mad they waste your time. I am currently looking for my next dressage horse, current one has hit his wall and i dont think he will progress much more, anyway went to view a lovely KWPN only to find it had a massive scar on its leg! No mention of that in advert! Granted it didnt effect its performance but for the price they were asking i didnt want it and was bloomin annoyed they didnt mention it.

I understand how you feel, it is rude of them to have put that - if it is about you, it may be about someone else, who knows. Leave it a few days and call if you really liked her. But....there are A LOT of horses for sale at the mo!
 
MiCsarah said:
Is this the mare you showed us a while ago? If so she was gorgeous!
Click to expand...

It is the grey connie x - 14.2hh. She was nice - VERY nappy, but still young, so I think it was more a case of her being young and not long-reined enough...something which would be done for weeks and weeks out on the roads if I got her!
 
You may not have been the time 'wasiter' they are referring to (if I'm looking at the right advert).

If you liked her I'd just go and make them an offer, 'don't bite your nose off to spite your face' ;). It would be a pity if you missed out, I think she's lovely.
 
I would give it a miss HH, she is over priced even if she hadnt been "started" by iudiots. You have all that to put right. If I were you I would go down the route of unbroken. Far better chance of a decent horse/pony at the end, at least you will know what you are dealing with. Oh to hell with it............ get another TB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D
 
lionman said:
I would give it a miss HH, she is over priced even if she hadnt been "started" by iudiots. You have all that to put right. If I were you I would go down the route of unbroken. Far better chance of a decent horse/pony at the end, at least you will know what you are dealing with. Oh to hell with it............ get another TB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D
Click to expand...

NOOOOOOoooooooo!!!! NO more TBs!!! ( I would put a smiley face here, but don't know how to!) x
 
lionman said:
I would give it a miss HH, she is over priced even if she hadnt been "started" by iudiots. You have all that to put right. If I were you I would go down the route of unbroken. Far better chance of a decent horse/pony at the end, at least you will know what you are dealing with. Oh to hell with it............ get another TB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D
Click to expand...

Actually you are right. Everyone I have told the full story to via PMs has told me to be wary. (don't want to post the fully story on the forum for obvious reasons). There must be a reason that a lovely looking grey connie x is still for sale as the same pony was advertised last month under a different section and an inch smaller- so it's been for sale a while...I just wish that Dales X had still been for sale!!! I was totally in love with that one, and it was the right price! xx
 
If sellers stated "Price is firm/negotiable/best offer" etc to start with then everyone knows where they stand from the word go and situations like this don't arise.

I don't haggle when I am selling, I might throw in local transport as an extra though.
I am in no hurry to sell, the horses only get more expensive as time and training goes on. I expect, and get, upwards of $2000 for my yearlings.

My prices are always 'Firm' from the start and I make that crystal clear before I even arrange viewings. I breed, and sell, useful registered stock at realistic prices, people who come to 'tire kick' and haggle are only wasting my time.

Did you decide to leave this one alone in the end then?
 
Last edited:
That phrase "Readvertised due to timewaster" is the most off-putting thing someone can put in an ad IMHO. It ought to mean that someone has agreed to buy, the ad has been removed then the purchaser has changed their mind. These days it means someone tried the horse and didn't buy, upsetting the seller so much they put an underhanded insult in the ad.

Nevertheless, if you like the horse, you should buy her at the new price. It sounds like she was dropped to below your offer to pee you off. Silly sellers. What's wrong with a bit of negotiating and friendly banter between the parties instead of sticking your nose in the air and saying "no offers"
 
If you like this mare buy her, don't let pride stand in your way. If not move on and spend your time looking for the right one.
 
Enfys said:
If sellers stated "Price is firm/negotiable/best offer" etc to start with then everyone knows where they stand from the word go and situations like this don't arise.

I don't haggle when I am selling, I might throw in local transport as an extra though.
I am in no hurry to sell, the horses only get more expensive as time and training goes on. I expect, and get, upwards of $2000 for my yearlings.

My prices are always 'Firm' from the start and I make that crystal clear before I even arrange viewings. I breed, and sell, useful registered stock at realistic prices, people who come to 'tire kick' and haggle are only wasting my time.

Did you decide to leave this one alone in the end then?
Click to expand...

Enfys - I think your horses might be in a different league than this one (in that yours will more than likely be a lot higher quality!), and there is a bit more to the story than I feel I should put on the forum. I can understand you not wanting to be in a rush to sell, but this person clearly is. It was originally on a £1450, was at £1300 when I went to see her, last Saturday and now on at £960 just five days later. I am leaving her alone, for now......
 
Boxers said:
I viewed a mare about a year ago and quite liked her. I told the seller I liked her but wanted to think about it. The more I thought about it, I realised that what me and my daughter really wanted was a youngster, and so I phoned to tell her I had decided not to second view her horse, and I told her the reason. Within about 15 minutes of her phone call, she had changed her advert to 'readvertised due to timewaster'.

Needless to say the mare is still for sale a year down the line!
Click to expand...
Well, with due respect, you could be termed a timewaster, as you went to view a older horse and then told them you wanted a youngster, I have put "no more timewasters" in my advert, as most people have turned out not to have any money, and really that is the first requirement when buying a horse.
 
if you really want the horse and want to do the 'deal' yourself then buy it for the price they are selling it, load the horse, get all paperwork and then just as you are leaving smuggly tell them you were going to offer £1000 when you visited.
 
Whenever I see "readvertised due to time waster" in an ad, it puts me off viewing the horse as it makes me think the seller has a closed mind when it comes to people viewing their horse. I think it's rare the very first viewer buys the horse anyway.

What about sellers wasting buyer's time? I can't tell you the amount of times I've viewed horses that are nothing like they had been described after having travelled a long way. I remember going to view one horse for a friend who sounded perfect (and I had asked extensive questions over the phone) then when we got there the owner refused to ride it first. When I asked why, she told us she was selling it because it reared. Needless to say we did not try the horse and I gave her the number of a dealer/producer I knew and advised her to send it there to be schooled and sold on.

If I were you I'd ring the owner and offer the new lowest price and ask them to deliver at their cost too! he he
 
Tonibird83 said:
Whenever I see "readvertised due to time waster" in an ad, it puts me off viewing the horse as it makes me think the seller has a closed mind when it comes to people viewing their horse. I think it's rare the very first viewer buys the horse anyway.
Click to expand...

Agree with this. Buying a horse can be a long process and for most people, a big investment which they have to get right. If I was selling a horse and someone tried it out a few times and then decided it wasn't for them, that would be fair enough. I would rather my horse went to someone took the decision of buying the horse seriously. I wouldn't consider them a 'timewaster'. Also, when selling a horse, I always expect to negotiate, I thought that's what happened in the horse world, it's not Marks & Spencers!
 
badgerdog said:
Agree with this. Buying a horse can be a long process and for most people, a big investment which they have to get right. If I was selling a horse and someone tried it out a few times and then decided it wasn't for them, that would be fair enough. I would rather my horse went to someone took the decision of buying the horse seriously. I wouldn't consider them a 'timewaster'. Also, when selling a horse, I always expect to negotiate, I thought that's what happened in the horse world, it's not Marks & Spencers!
Click to expand...
You may expect to negotiate, but if I put up a price it is the price I want for the horse, otherwise I would advertise it for less.
Timewasters are those who ask all sorts of Qs then don't bother to come and see it, after making an appointment. Or they come and see it then explain they don't have enough money, and can you wait till they have saved up, but in the meantime can they take the horse away?
Would anyone sell a car on those terms, I don't think so.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top