I have a super amateur friendly young imported gelding, 4 coming 5. He has lovely movement and is super quiet and sensible. I’m trying to find the best place to market this guy. He’s not cheap, as he is one of those very rare horses with an incredible temperament, great balance and rideablity. He has been off the property several times always perfect off property as well. Where does one suggest to market this guy? I know there are several online sites and FB of course. He also jumps great. Thanks in advance!
1 Like
I didn’t purchase my horse from Warmblood-Sales but if I was buying or selling that’s the place. The presentation is tasteful and it seems to have more serious visitors and sellers.
Good luck finding a wonderful match for your gelding!
6 Likes
Thank you!
Facebook is so difficult as far as searches and standing out. Another advantage to a classified ad on warm bloods for sale is since Facebook has so many rules about selling horses, whenever people ask for price and a video you just simply respond with a link to your warmbloods ad.
1 Like
Not to mention that Facebook expressly forbids the sales of animals but people continue to try to flout that rule.
2 Likes
The West Coast Dressage horses Facebook page is a going concern. No one puts a price. The descriptions, videos, and photos are terrific. They use carrot emojis to indicate price range or write something like “mid-fives.” It has never been taken down by FB.
Facebook is definitely the most active thing going on right now. You need to post the ad in active groups, of which there are many. It also helps to keep an eye out for “ISO” posts – my last purchase was from where I posted an ISO and someone responded with a horse they weren’t actively marketing. He turned out to be perfect for my needs.
A general post outside FB groups is unlikely to get any traction, when shopping people go to those groups. This is for high end horses as well – I know several bought and sold in 6 figures from FB leads.
2 Likes
I am definitely advertising him on both FB and Warmblood sales as one person recommended that you can send them the link to Warmblood sales where all your information is thoughtfully laid out and the price. We are having a lot of interest through our connections and word of mouth as well as he is such a nice horse.
1 Like
You’d be surprised by what can happen from a general Facebook post, but it’s all about who you’re connected to. That’s how I sold my 2nd level Amateur horse in August for mid fives.
I put a general post on my page that was then shared by a handful of my local-ish dressage friends. Someone drove 3 hours up to see him at 10 am the next day and then immediately scheduled a vetting. 1 general post up for all of 2 hours and he was effectively off the market. Never even got the chance to put him in the groups or on warmblood-sales.
However it was also a super honest and fairly detailed ad so the buyer was a perfect fit for him making it an easy sale. I see a lot of very generic ads in some of the Facebook groups, often missing things like videos, temperament or training level, and those horses seem to hang around forever.
That is so cool! Yes, I don’t get why people don’t include video. It’s such a basic thing to want to see the horse, you know, actually moving.
There are some sellers too who have a big enough following and sell enough horses that they are their own “group” for all intents and purposes.
Sellers who complain about tire kickers but don’t post video easily accessible have NOTHING to complain about, IMO! Pics often don’t tell much of the story, so I can often tell in a few seconds whether the horse that looked good in that snapshot is off the table for me based on video, but you have to post a video for me to know that.
3 Likes
Also, why can’t they just put the price? Why is it high 5’s…just put the damned price.
Because Facebook does not allow sales of horses so not actually typing a price makes the ad not trigger some algorithm that would have it removed.
4 Likes
I get that. But they do it other places too.
My biggest peeves about ads:
- No location. Especially bad when it is something like boarding.
- Minimal info and pictures with no video.
- Not even a price range. Let a buyer know if they are in the ballpark.
And these minimal information ads often have owners who complain about being bothered by non-serious buyers!
4 Likes
Yes! I have seen some with pictures that look nice and when you look at the video - Oyyy! Moves like a pony, downhill, etc., not like the select pictures in the ad. This country is so large - I can’t imagine traveling a long way to look at a horse for sale based off of pictures. If a seller can’t make an effort to get a video available, I wonder if the horse isn’t that nice or maybe the seller isn’t going to make an effort with the rest of the sale. I recognize that some horses might be in a dressage dense area, and it might not be necessary if the horse has a show record but I sure would not make arrangements to go look at some random horse miles away based on a picture.
Also if you have to DM to get the location??? What’s with that? Or doesn’t mention size of the horse in the ad? Or anything about the bloodlines? Or even breed? Now if the video is nice enough, maybe breed won’t matter but there can be health issues involved in some breeds and I think it is good for potential buyers to be aware if they need to do additional vetting procedures.
No video leads me automatically to believe the horse probably isn’t a good mover. If you’ve got it, flaunt it! Or at least show it.
I agree with WB sales and FB. FB tends to generate a lot of tire kickers IME. It also makes a night and day difference when the ad is well written with professional quality pics and video. Also might be worth noting that the market is very soft according to what I can see and several I routinely speak to who professionally breed and sell a lot of horses. Lots of horses just sitting on the market right now. So, if you don’t sell immediately, don’t get discouraged because many others are experiencing the same.
3 Likes
Yes, there are tire kickers and buyers who don’t have the budget. We had one woman come try him, knew the price. Loved the horse, didn’t want to get off of him, he’s a lovely and balanced ride for a youngster then…I don’t have that much $. Kind of frustrating, but it is the first person who came to try him. We had two dressage trainers watch him go and said what a super nice horse he is and is priced lower than what they would have expected. Connections are being made and everyone who sees him loves him, there is no deadline to sell him, I own him, he’s super easy in all respects and a joy to have in the barn.
1 Like
