I do not sell much online, but I am going to order a custom saddle and I guess I am going to have to sell some of my current collection to help with that. I have Venmo, but I recall that some saddle sellers have had bad luck with PayPal. Feed back appreciated.
Paypal goods and services at least offers some degree of protection for both parties, although it usually seems to be more important for the buyer. If the item never shows up or is misrepresented, you can file a dispute. As a seller, I have sold thousands of dollars worth of tack using Paypal and not had any issues. However, that was many smaller transactions and nothing quite as expensive as a nice saddle, although some were hundreds of dollars.
I have heard of the rare case where a buyer claimed something was damaged or incorrect, even though it wasn’t, and Paypal sided with the buyer. I don’t think it’s that common - of course you are going to hear about the occasional issue that somebody had, but nobody is out there running around randomly talking about their hundreds of successful transactions.
As a buyer, I would never send money via Paypal friends and family (unless the person was an actual trusted friend) or Venmo. There is absolutely no protection or recourse there if the item doesn’t show up.
From a seller’s perspective to minimize issues - list items with tons of clear, well-lit photos. Include photos and descriptions of any flaws. Have photos that show you measuring the seat, gullet, etc. I keep all photos, a screenshot of the listing, shipment tracking info, and any correspondence (which should always be in writing) with potential buyers until the dispute period has passed.
6 Likes
I’ve bought and sold gear including ~5/6 saddles online from and as a private seller. Back in the day I remember listing stuff in a regional horse website’s classifieds- waiting for a check to come in the mail, deposit it & then send tack I was selling to the buyer. I can’t imagine doing that these days! With one exception where I met a saddle buyer locally at a police station “safe spot” and we transferred saddle for $ through friends/family, for any online transaction I would always go with PayPal goods/services. If I’m the seller I always set up an invoice to include a description that matched my online listing, serial number (for saddles), reference the post in which group, that buyer had a chance to ask questions/request additional photos, and that it’s being sold as-is. Idk if any of that would make an ounce of difference in a dispute, but I do it anyway.
So many people get taken advantage of with Facebook’s pay, venmo, and PayPal friends/family payment. It stinks having to loose some $ for fees & it isn’t 100% perfect, but PayPal goods/services at least offers some buyer/seller protection.
I also usually do a name search from a buyer or seller that I’m corresponding with, to make sure they have a Facebook history (not just a profile made a week before with a bunch of stollen pictures) & that no one reported them as a scammer in any of the tack sale groups I’m part of.
2 Likes
Have you considered putting them on consignment? Are they a popular brand and/or in good condition? There are a few consignment shops that have low consignment rates, it might be worth selling thru one and letting them do the work.
2 Likes
If you decide to consign it definitely pays to shop around. Schleese charges 35% for consignors, I’ve found some sellers as low as 18%. I don’t mess with selling saddles myself if it’s over 3k, just not worth losing money or being scammed.
I no longer use Ebay either because of their crazy buyer protection. Saddle sold and the buyer tried to resell it at a profit for a month on Ebay. Then at 29 days of not selling, they said it arrived from me damaged. I had to pay back everything including shipping both ways. Never again!! People will always find creative ways to be dishonest.
Sold 2 saddles last year, plus plenty of other stuff, using Paypal. I have the buyer pay the additional 3% fee for G&S. If the buyer balks at that I’ll do Venmo or F&F but explain to them that there is no buyer protection going that route. One saddle went to a F&F purchaser, one to a G&S. Both were successful transactions in that the buyer received what they paid for in the condition it was shipped. But unsuccessful in that alas, neither saddle fit the horse purchased for, and the saddles were both up for sale again the next week.
I also always ship with full insured value, again at buyer’s expense.
Def some good ideas
I only paid $2000 a few years ago, so I don’t think it is worth losing 20 - 30 + % of that to consignment . It is an Ansur, and I don’t think it would sell well in that situation.
BTW- I did allow trials on both saddles, buyer paid insured shipping both ways. But… the trial price was $500 higher than the no trial price. The one saddle was a very particular fit and the buyer who has a horse that needs that shape was unlikely to want to buy without a trial because that buyer had probably tried a lot of things that didn’t work. I thought that offering a trial on that one would expand my buyer pool. However, I was not signing up for that headache unless it was worth my while, and those buyers were required to go through G&S because I wanted to have the ability to use third party arbitration if there were a problem with the condition on return. I also took video before shipping, including a voiceover that included all the condition notes described in the ad, and had the buyer acknowledge receipt of that via email before I shipped the thing so we were going to be in agreement on what blemishes originated with me (the tooth marks on the cantle) and what, if anything, happened outside my control. I had a very smooth trial experience with that saddle and multiple people trying it. I mention this because your saddle is not exactly a CWD with pro panels where someone knows what they’re getting just from some numbers on a flap.
