would you buy a saddle off ebay??

Yes I've bought a few off Ebay. Suggest as others have said pick decent makes and ask questions about the condition, tree etc. Amazing how a saddle that's described as exc cond can have scuffs on the cantle etc which youlll only find out about if you ask the right questions.
 
Right now .. tonight .. NO i bloody wouldnt buy ANYTHING off fleabay :mad:

Two new rugs ive just missed out on ... Im sure its the sellers bumping it up??!!!!:mad:

How do i get them investigated? There must be a way ... Ok ignore me i am such a bad loser :o
 
Right now .. tonight .. NO i bloody wouldnt buy ANYTHING off fleabay :mad:

Two new rugs ive just missed out on ... Im sure its the sellers bumping it up??!!!!:mad:

How do i get them investigated? There must be a way ... Ok ignore me i am such a bad loser :o

I was told there's an Ebay 'app' you can get whereby bidders can get a highest bid in at the last possible moment. Not sure how true that is but I have lost out on quite a few things recently.
 
Yep i buy and sell on ebay.

If you know what your about and what your looking for then real bargains to be had :)

Im currently selling stuff on there (including a saddle) and the questions have all been relevant and pertinent to the items. I like ebay had some cracking bargains over the years :)
 
I've bought loads of decent named saddles off ebay, got most of them for round £100 mark and either sell on for small profit or keep if they fit any of mine. Most recent purchase is a £500 heather moffett and im sure if i bought it anywhere else it would have cost more like £800 or more!
 
I sell and buy on ebay (and other websites), and never had a problem.

I agree that you have to ask 100 questions as some sellers won't tell you unless asked directly and always ask for photos of the saddle from every angle.

It is a gamble but I think it's worth it as 9 times out of 10 you get a real bargain and if it doesn't fit you can always sell on.
 
You can snipe things in the last few seconds. I do it all the time. Sometimes manually with two windows open or if I'm not in, I use a sniping program :D



YOU ..... Im watching you missus :mad: ;)

Yes there is a programme you can use but i think you have to pay for it and im not that much of an ebay user!

Im obsessed with getting a heavyweight stable rug but to be honest ive just taken her under fleece off tonight and left a quilted rug on its so mild so maybe i will get away with just layering this year if we get a cold spell! :confused:
 
Yes - I couldn't find anything to fit my NFxCob youngster - whatever we did with the Wintec, it didn't fit. I found an Ideal on there and asked what sort of pony it had been used on and the seller said that it was used on an NF. I actually paid more than I would have liked for it, but it's a nice saddle and FITS!! Pony is very happy in it. I do have a saddler coming out in a couple of weeks to check it and take it way to reflock it as it does need a reflock, but I'm very happy with it.

I have always sold saddles on there and in fact the last two were bought by a saddlery to sell on in their shop - probably for at least 3 times what they bought it from me for, but that's business and I just didn't use them so no point in keeping them. I've currently got one on ebay which was used on my last horse and will never fit either of my current two and I am always confident that those I sell are in a condition which is usable. If it doesn't fit, then the seller can always resell it or use it to part-ex against a new one.

But for those who say that they will never buy from ebay, just be aware that the saddlers buy from there themselves to sell on to you!!
 
Before today I'd of said no, but my excellent saddle fitter advised me to look for an albion kontact saddle on eBay, he checked the fit against a new one and I like the saddle but he only sells them new but I can't really afford it new.

He said it should fit fine and if not for whatever reason it would be easy to resell anyway.
 
I bought a wintec isabella off ebay, got it checked by saddle, changed a gullet, v happy!

And am selling a saddle on ebay finishes this sunday so finger's X'd

:)
 
I bought my jump saddle off ebay to replace one that had been stolen so knew which fit / size. Got a real bargain, Albion kontact Fox-pitt jobby brand new with tags for only £900. It was a saddlery selling it so knew it was ok. My YO has bought a jump and a Dressage saddle, again she knew what size / fittings she needed first.

I had the Albion for a few years and eventually sold it on ebay for £680 after I decided I preferred to keep all four hooves on the ground. As long as it's a good make you'll be able to sell it on again if it doesn't fit.
 
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Yes. I bought a lovely bates dressage saddle at a bargain price. Had the saddle fitter out to fit it and it was perfect. I would buy from eBay again.
 
Yes but only if I had an idea that it would fit, like if I was fortunate enough to try one from somewhere and just needed to find one. Or if I could afford to buy, try, sell on, etc... And if it turned out to be broken I'd be gutted and not sell on.

You can get some great bargains on eBay but that's mainly because its a bit of a minefield and I would much rather know that it has been dealt with by a saddler.

I have been waiting for my saddle order for like 8 weeks now and kind of wish I had tried harder with the second hand route, but the saddle I ordered is adjustable so hopefully I will be happy with it and try to put the scary amount of money out of my mind!
 
Yes, I've bought about a dozen over the last few years. Most I've sold on at a profit because they don't fit. I ride one of my horses in a beautiful Simco western saddle that cost me £150 and was probably about $1200 new, and it's the most comfortable saddle, for both of us.
 
I bought my barnsby xtreme event saddle off there for just under £700 and was like new! It costs over £2000 new so very pleased! Had barnsby fitters come out and take it to their factory so it fit my horse correctly. Best purchase I have made!
 
All my saddles have come from ebay.

However I only buy with good pictures. Once you know what you're looking for you can gues fairly accurately the fit from good photo. Curve of tree, depth and width of panels at front/ back, width of gullet and head. Most saddles can be altered a width or so with a machine too so exact width is less important. And I never buy for more than I can easily sell it on for.

And whilst on the subject of saddle photos : what bloody use is a photo (or usually 6) from an angle at the front?! Or worse, above. Tells me naff all about the saddle and an utter waste of time. You need a square side on, a square photo from in front ( level with it) and maybe one from behind and one underneath.

A standard ebay picture. Yep, black saddle. Very helpful.
$(KGrHqR,!l!FBKQZs79tBQkOs0kk,g~~60_35.JPG



And don't get me started on the 'measures 9" across the D-ring' nonsense! :rolleyes:
 
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yes a wintec and a tekna - all sold for profit (the wintec i doubled my money on...)


tekna made abotu £20............






dont want to hi-jack but any reccomendatons on a cheap saddle to back a youngster with ?


i dont fancy trashing my lovely dressage saddle :o
 
No way would I ever buy a saddle off ebay. I am totally anal about having saddles properly fitted and checked regularily by a proper saddle fitter.

My lady came with tack when I bought her. Due to a medical condition, I am a little infirm around mounting and need to use a mounting block - especially with her as shes 16.2 and I'm only 5'2". Her saddle her previous owner told me had been bought off ebay. Long story short she was awful to mount. Would move away from the block so you couldn't actually get on her and it took me weeks to actually be able to get on her and ride (my sister and daughter rode her for me in the meantime as we had loaned her prior to buying so were aware of the problem and also observed it when we went to view her). My OH constructed a what I call "mounting tower" which we can wheel up to the side of her having first moved her across alongside a fence so she can't swing her back end away. It's actually rather fab with handrail and steps up high enough so I literally just step over her but I'm digressing!

The saddle I had checked during her first week with us having observed her behaviour and reaction to being tacked up and then again when suspecting it was wrong I tried her in a treeless we had and seeing the difference in her. The fit was horrendous. Totally wrong for her and causing pain.

Way too risky to buy from ebay in my opinion.
 
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