I have always sold my own saddles through eBay and some on facebook. With eBay’s changes and policies I just don’t trust not getting screwed over somehow. And it just seems like on Facebook it just doesn’t seem to get much traction. It is a brand from a smaller company but a very nice saddle and priced quite a bit under comparable saddles. So I don’t mind paying a commission to a consignment shop. Any recommendations for the best service?
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I dont know much about the internet/web ones, but the Good Apple Equine Consignment here in Ocala is wonderful, always has a good selection, and is always busy when I drop by.
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Highline Tack!
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Depending on the brand Highline or Fineline Tack (same tack shop but set up for different value saddles). The last time I looked they weren’t excepting saddles valued at under $2500, so check; otherwise, they are great to consign with.
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Thanks!
Timely thread. I’ve got 2 I need to find new homes for.
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I am actually getting a couple saddles on trial from them they do have an excellent selection. The only concern I had was they have very limited business hours and they never returned my call so I had to call a couple times and wait for somebody to answer the phone to get those saddle sent to me.
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I think they used to be great, recently…not so much. Customer service has been lacking, both on the buying and selling in for me. Of course, I’m seeing that across the board.
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I think their staffing is diminished due to pandemic issues so work is being done by fewer folks. They do some amount of traveling for fittings which impacts the time in the shop itself, too. My most recent transactions (one as buyer and one as seller) did have some wait time for responses compared to my dealings with them a few years ago (also both as seller and buyer transactions).
Stay away from Trumbull Mountain Tack. Horrible, awful experience getting paid.
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TMT has a consignment saddle listed on their site that I got on trial from another shop a year ago. That saddle was purchased from the other shop by someone else at the barn because although it didn’t quite work for my horse, it did suit hers. TMT STILL has that saddle listed on their site as “in stock”. (The serial number of the saddle I had through the other tack shop is the SAME as the one visible on the TMT listing. My barnmate has been riding in it for over a year now!)
There have been multiple reports here of poor service and/or consignment payment issues at TMT in recent years.
(I was a loyal customer of the original TMT shop. The current business is an entirely different entity. 
)
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Ditto
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I get the impression that Pelham is dealing with the same kinds of staffing challenges as many other retail and service businesses. So response time is slower and processing may be delayed at times. That’s a different kettle of fish from the kind of decline in customer service seen at the once highly respected TMT for instance. I did wait a few extra weeks for payment from a consigned saddle through Pelham early this year, but I was never worried that I wouldn’t get paid at all. With all the pandemic related disruptions across many small businesses, I’m cultivating extra patience with service providers as long as they are responding and actively working to provide the service.
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My experience(s) were before Covid. I wish I could blame it solely on that, but not in my case, sadly.
Well that’s disappointing.
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My experience with Pelham was also less than stellar. Sent them a saddle on consignment. I had a price in mind. They said that was way too low and suggested a different price. Well, sure, if you think you can get more for it, by all means let’s do that.
Almost a year goes by. Finally I call them and ask them to ship the saddle back to me. Their reply? We will ship it back, but you had it priced way too high which is why it didn’t sell.
Then I got back a dirty, dusty saddle when I’d sent it to them well cleaned and shiny.
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That is horrible! I hate to hear that.
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Pelham has always been one of the consignment saddle stores at the top of the heap. It is surprisng and sad that they have run into problems. It sounds like making regular calls to check on your saddle would be in order, especially if it has been there for several months. They did have a check box on the paperwork for accepting offers and minimum selling price.
Trumbull Mountain? My saddle fitter did some work for them after it was sold and ran into the same problems: She gave up trying to get the money she was owed. She got a small payment. The rest was paid 5 years later.
I moved to another barn 18 months ago. There has been a saddle fitter from Trumbull Mountain several times. Another boarder knows her – tall woman on the older side. I can’t decide whether or not to say anything. No one has complained yet. I haven’t been around enough to figure out whether she works for Trumbull Mountain or is independent and works out of the store.
I vote “Say something.” There are multiple threads here on TMT. I’m not sure how well the Search function works for finding them though. There are bad Yelp reviews and BBB complaints. The owner used to hang out on these forums all the time, but would not respond to any thread even when tagged. I believe the owner to be the TMT saddle fitter.
