Would you be wary of those who buy without a viewing?

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shadowboy

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Backgroun: I have a 13.3hh cob for sale as i am moving from a house with land to Worcester (no land0 so will have to sell one of my youngsters as liverying 2 babies who arent in work is too expensive- as the move is in 3 weeks I put him up for a rediculously low £300 - i know this attracts dealers but the current climate and impending move meant I had little choice.

No joke but i have had about 30 emails/calls in less than 24 hours (odd as had one call when he was advertised at £500) anyway of those 30- 25 of them want to buy him without viewing- they have all phoned and said they 100% want him and will collect him this weekend - and dont want to bother seeing him

I dont like this really as i want to make sure they are the correct home- but maybe im being short sighted- would you sell unseen?
 
It's tricky as you obv need to sell sharpish, but I would rather vet the buyer myself. Is there no way you could have him on livery for a short time while selling him so you can ask a higher price and so be above meat money?
 
i personally wouldn't sell unseen, i'd at least like to meet the people and find out a bit more about them face to face before deciding.
until you have the money in your hand and they have the horse you can pick and choose, i'd like to make sure i'm choosing the right person for my horse, you can't do that over the phone or internet!
 
I have a foal for sale that was sold with the first phone call - must say though it was the only phone call.

They do not want to see her in the flesh either. I suppose it is different with a foal because they have no mileage and you cannot ride them but anyway it is a nice home and I have "met" the kids on facebook.

I have the deposit cashed in the bank too.... Oh and she was not cheap either! £1,200.
 
More than likely dealers. Looking to make a quick buck as he is priced very low. Nice cobs are about the only thing holding a half decent price at the moment :rolleyes:
 
I'm in Shropshire and have a deposit on a Welsh D colt in Southampton. He won't be coming to me until the end of November and I will actually get to see him, mum and dad in the flesh at the end of October but he's officially reserved for me from photographs and emails/telcons with the breeders.

I had a friend in Wiltshire who rang a cob dealer somewhere up north a few years ago and told them he wanted a coloured mare. They said that they had three and he replied "Just send me the prettiest!!!" He was very lucky because she did turn out to be a lovely mare and was actually quite pretty!!!
 
I'd love to livery him somewhere- but at home they live out- my teaching job means when they go into livery it has to be part livery- hence the cost- im looking at £40 per week each. With a new mortgage, removal costs and everything else i just dont have the funds- I want the best for him which is why I've tried to put the others off by telling them someone is viewing him tonight- but I need the sale too. Gutted all round- poor fella. Im sure some of them are lovely, and ive tried to ask a few questions over the phone but people can make up all sorts.
 
I sold my little NF colt to a lady in Scotland unseen. The cost of getting him up there was about 4 times what she actually paid for him, so that kind of pointed out he really was what she was looking for!
 
joeanne said:
I sold my little NF colt to a lady in Scotland unseen. The cost of getting him up there was about 4 times what she actually paid for him, so that kind of pointed out he really was what she was looking for!
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most of the callers wanting an unseen sale live in Wales- we are on the border with Wales- so a three hour journey tops
 
No, not necessarily.

Distance has an awful lot to do with it.

I sold a mare and foal, unseen, in the summer to someone about 800 miles away, they sent me photos, references, practically their entire life history, I had no qualms about selling to them. I do know that they really were there because I arranged the haulier for them, and it wasn't cheap. maybe they were dealers, I wouldn't know, but then someone from the next County that I met face to face could also seem genuine and still be a dealer.

I frequently buy unseen, I don't promise a forever home, because I am not offering one and no-one has ever asked if I was.
 
I'm "friends" with the breeder of "my" colt on FB too so we can both see each other's profile and photo history... that's quite a handy insight into someone's life and personality too....
 
I've bought youngstock unseen-well I've seen a photo-in the past. The reason I have done this is:
They are unbroken so pointless going to view as can't see it ridden.
They have very good blood lines and at the time the breeding was important to me.
I personally would not buy anything that was broken unseen but young stock is a bit different.
 
I bought a horse unseen. It was a very low price but a long distance. It was a youngster so untouched. I have still got him and he is with me for life. I looked at it this way, he wasn't expensive by any means so i wasn't going to loose much....however turns out it it was the best thing i ever did as he is such a wonderful boy :d
 
woopsiid said:
i've bought youngstock unseen-well i've seen a photo-in the past. The reason i have done this is:
They are unbroken so pointless going to view as can't see it ridden.
They have very good blood lines and at the time the breeding was important to me.
I personally would not buy anything that was broken unseen but young stock is a bit different.
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agreed :d
 
I've bought unseen several times and also sold three horses to a lady in Scotland and the first she saw of them (apart from numerous email pics) was when they landed on her doorstep. I have since had lots of emails and pictures of the foals two of them have produced and the third is waiting to go (all being well!) to a certain team member who rode her young horse in the team to help them to Bronze this weekend.
Don't tar all unseen buyers with the same brush but I have to admit, the low price is more likely to bring out numpties and dealers who will be hard to sort from the genuine home buyer. Good luck.
 
Mostly it's scammers that will offer to buy unseen - send a cheque, send someone else to pick up pony, cheque later bounces. For this reason alone I'd never sell a horse unless the buyer came to view it first.

Even if they weren't a scammer I'd never sell a horse to someone who hadn't seen it first.
 
I have brought loads of horses unseen, all been brought via internet and first time i have seen them is when collecting and 2 the first time i see them was when the seller dropped them off at my yard.
They are all still with me and have a very good home.
But saying that i would be scared of selling to someone who just wanted to buy with out seeing first
 
Also, i sold a horse once to a woman i had met and thought was the best person for my horse......thought she would have an amazing life......turned out no! Horse was not happy and she was not who i thought, i even had gone to her place to see where she was being kept.....so cant always vet someone in person either :d
 
night_mare said:
Even if they weren't a scammer I'd never sell a horse to someone who hadn't seen it first.
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So, what if someone fell in love with your horse (sounded perfect, had done all the emailing, swapping photos, even gone so far to supply referees, chatting on the phone etc, but couldn't get to view it) really wanted your horse, would you not sell it to them?

Isn't that rather cutting off your nose to spite your face?
 
Be vary wary - it may be people out to buy a cheap horse to sell on and make some money on (dealer or not). We try our hardest to find our horses good homes but we have no control over who the new owner sells them too.

I have done it myself - seen a nice looking horse and thought 'that owner doesn't know what they have', bought it, smartened it up and entered it in a few local shows/competitions. Then quickly sold at a profit. I however am choosy about who I sell my projects to - many aren't.

If you want the best home for your horse then you need to vet the purchasers (as much as they need to vet the horse ;) ).
 
Hi

Are you able to PM me a link to your add (or post it on here if its not to much of a rule breaker). I am based in Worcester and looking for a bit of a playmate for P so you would be able to keep in touch if you wanted to?
 
It COULD be totally innocent. I know someone who bought a horse from down south blind because it had the same name as her mum, who died this year, and she thought it was fate!

However, I went to York horse sales in spring, and was surprised to see how much cobs were going for - gypsy cobs, unbroken and straight from the field, were fetching over a thousand, whereas riding school types were going for £150.. , so I would guess that these buyers may well be dealers that will throw him back in a sale...
 
I bought a horse unseen from Ireland once and it was one of the best things I've ever done. He came highly recommended from a very good contact though, otherwise would never have done anything quite as foolhardy as that.

When we bought our native youngster the seller had been inundated with calls of people just wanting her to send him on a transport to them without them coming to see him because of his breeding lines. Fortunately like you she actually cared about the home he was going to and wanted people to come and see him so that she could see how they were with him. And whether she thought they were the right people for him.
 
night_mare said:
Mostly it's scammers that will offer to buy unseen - send a cheque, send someone else to pick up pony, cheque later bounces. For this reason alone I'd never sell a horse unless the buyer came to view it first.

Even if they weren't a scammer I'd never sell a horse to someone who hadn't seen it first.
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That's a bit harsh. Not all non-visiting buyers are like that and anyone with any sense doesn't accept a cheque anyway in those circumstances, it's always cash.
 
I bought my boy without viewing him in the flesh!!
Found the horse I wanted but he was roughly 5 hours from me so viewing was very difficult what with working full time. Especially as there were people queing to buy him so I couldn't hang about!

He's a well bred Warmblood that I bought from a reputable breeder mind you. And he was a pretty much unhandled 2 year 8 month old. So I could look up his breeding and siblings etc. And going to see him would have just been for his movement and temperment.

Anyway, took the chance, bought him, and couldn't have got a more perfect horse for myself. The breeder took a chance with me I guess, not knowing much about the home he was going to, but then we spoke on the phone nearly everyday up until his arrival and then nearly everyday once I'd got him for a while and we still speak now and she gets plenty of photos. She's very happy knowing he's in such a good home.
But in your situation I would say it's more of a risk because it's rather a different situation to mine! And having a yearling I have been considering selling myself, I know I wouldn't let her go to just anyone. It would have to be a 5* home!!
 
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