I couldn’t find a topic on the forums already covering this: what is the etiquette on paying commission to a trainer when purchasing a horse that’s already in your barn? Both parties are clients of the same trainer, who received a commission when now-seller got the horse. I am the potential buyer and the trainer has not done anything in particular to help figure out if it’s a match, but I of course appreciate our business relationship and do not want to jeopardize it. I plan to talk to trainer about it if I end up getting serious about the purchase, but I want an idea of what’s typical going into the conversation. My instinct is that a full commission is not warranted but some sort of payment is. Appreciate any information!
IIWM, I’d talk to the trainer & see what, if any commission is expected.
No current personal experience to offer, last commission I paid was in 1989 & then it was 15% paid for a sale horse in the barn where I was training. Seller collected from trainer who added her commission to the price she got from me.
I.E. I paid X, Seller rec’d X less 15% from trainer acting as agent for the sale.
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Many trainers won’t charge commission in-barn, but I know some will split commission between the two parties (so, a 10% commission becomes 5% from seller, 5% from buyer), which I think can be fair.
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There is usually something in the contract that all leases/sales are on commission basis, but if both parties are in barn sometimes they split the commission.
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I am glad you are going to discuss it with your trainer. This, like so many horse things, is a barn specific thing. Like the others have said, some barns do not charge a commission for in barn sales to current clients. Some barns split a commission, some barns charge full commissions.
This is how it was handled at my barn (and the trainer did do a lot of work marketing the horse and then making sure it was a match with the in-barn sale). But you should definitely ask your trainer how they handle commissions on situations like this.
Yes. In my experience the split commission is fairly common.
