eBay used saddle WWYD?

[french_fry]

A month ago I bought a used saddle for a great price via eBay, no trial. I was fine with that due to the low price and knew that eBay buyer protection would ensure that I don’t get stuck with a saddle with a broken tree or something.

So the saddle comes and it’s as described. Really well kept up and lovely. I try it on my mare and I notice it is a little wide on her, which is unusual because she seriously fills out a medium tree. I had been worried that my previous saddle was a little too narrow on her so I came to the conclusion that I was so used to seeing something more narrow that I was overreacting to how wide it was. (Dumb!) I thought since she’s always been fine in a medium tree by this maker so I must just not be used to how it looks.

Long story short, a few weeks have gone by and after trying it on a ton of horses it has become clear that the saddle is a wide tree. I am 100% stupid for not measuring when I got it but it was listed as a medium and I just assumed it just ran a little bit bigger than my County. Even on my widest horse and padded up the pommel sits low enough that I can feel the tilt. In my defense, I’m a twice a week rider so it took me longer to notice than if I had been riding every day - I thought a lot of it was due to me being unaccustomed to the saddle.

Anyway, on top of all this I have lightly scratched the flaps with my cheese grater stirrup irons. It is a used saddle and the scratches mostly buff out but the flaps were in totally pristine condition when I got the item. The saddle is still in wonderful condition and again, the scratches are minor.

So…I’m outside of the 30 day resolution for eBay (and I’d feel too bad to try to get my money back on the saddle since I marked it up a little, anyway) and don’t feel right contacting the seller. It is going to be a lot harder to resell this saddle (my backup plan if it didn’t quite work for me) now that I know it’s a wide tree - the wides do not move.

WWYD? Suck it up and try to resell it? Contact the buyer and be honest about the situation and see if she’s willing to do anything? (She did, after all, misrepresent the saddle.) Get a serious wither pad?

[GoForAGallop]

You don’t know that she misrepresented the saddle, at least not intentionally. It very well could have been sold to her as well as a medium tree, and she just never noticed. Did you ask for a measurement of any sort?

Are there no markings anywhere indicating tree size? That’s the only way that you’re going to get an easy resolution, although 30+ days out even that is questionable.

What brand/model is it? Some trees are adjustable, which may solve your issue.

[tua37516]

Were there pictures of the serial number and the tree stamp on the listing?

Regardless I think that you would have had to notice the discrepancy pretty much upon receipt of the item in order for the Ebay seller to be responsible. Unfortunately this is an oversight on your part at this point. Is it a high quality brand? I would consign it and start over.

[french_fry]

I do know it is a wide tree after measuring.

I did not ask for measurements because (I thought) I was buying the exact saddle (model, size, etc.) I wanted.

I am just absolutely kicking myself that I didn’t turn around and send it back at the first hint of, “hmm, this seems wider than I remember this saddle fitting…”

It is not super high end but I will need to sell it before buying something else so it is just a big headache. Plus, as I mentioned, there is pretty much no market that I have seen for a wide tree in this make/model. The mediums go fast and the wides just sit and sit.

[horsepoor]

I would just resell it. You could contact the seller, I suppose, and hope they take it back, but I certainly wouldn’t feel obligated if I were the seller. Unless I totally misrepresented it (calling it a medium if it doesn’t have any markings to say otherwise does not count as misrepresentation to me; and even then, the timeframe is such I, as a seller, would not be inclined to take a return).

It does sound like you took a chance due to the lower price, and sometimes it pays off, and sometimes it doesn’t. Been there, done that!

[french_fry]

Yeah, I mean at the end of the day I guess I am getting the lesson I deserve for my stupidity. The first thing I do next time I buy any used tack/equipment is verify that it is exactly what I thought I was purchasing. I could have saved myself a lot of angst by pulling out my tape measure on day one.

[kelo]

Just sell it yourself.

I hear the frustration, but at this point it is unfair to try to return the saddle – ridden in for more than a month, scratched up, etc. – it is not the seller’s problem.

[Bristol_Bay]

You don’t say whether or not the saddle was stamped one way or the other. Tree sizes can vary widely in any event. My horse uses a MW gullet plate in the Pessoa close contact saddle, but a MN Count was too wide. So I don’t know if you have any proof that the seller misrepresented the size.

You could ask the seller if there were any other bidders (it may not be too late for her to contact them) but you need to list it yourself. Just take really good pictures of all the flaws, and show the measuring tape across the front. You can also email the manufacturer with the serial number for all the tree info.

I learned my lesson a long time ago with the leather grater, er, cheese grater stirrups. The guy who grooms for me said he has torn up his hand a few times pulling them down for other riders. I sold mine on eBay!

[mvp]

[QUOTE=french fry;7552874]
I do know it is a wide tree after measuring.[/QUOTE]

Really? So you didn’t go by markings or serial numbers but took some kind of measurement to establish that it’s a Wide rather than a Medium?

Given the pretty idiosyncratic ways that different manufacturers distinguish their tree sizes, your statement surprises me. The exception, I suppose, would be someone who took that dubious-but-universal “dot-to-dot” measurement and found it to be, say, an official 5.75-6 inches. Yeah, I’d call that Wide In Any Man’s Book.

But a shorter dimension or a different kind of measurement? I see how someone like the seller or the OP could miss it. Since you have done some damage to the flaps, I don’t think you can justifiably return it to the seller.

But take heart, OP, somewhere out there, there is someone who wants this saddle and has a wider horse. That girl used to be me all the time.

[Hinderella]

What mvp said, more or less. Unless the saddle is stamped with a measurement that would be considered wide by that saddle’s manufacturer, you really can’t accuse the seller of mis-representing it. Saddles are measured at different points by different makers. Some saddles have long points, others short points, and they will all fit differently. My pony was comfortable in my Stubben 31 (MW, by their standards), and yet I need the narrow adjustment for her on my Pessoa XCH. So unless the saddle is clearly marked as a wide and was sold to you otherwise, just take it as part of the cost of doing long distance business. You can find great buys on eBay, but you must assume the risk that the saddle may not fit your horse.
If the saddle is wool flocked and/or high quality, you may be able to have it adjusted. Otherwise, re-sell it with the disclaimer that it was too wide for your horse. But don’t call it wide unless it is so marked, or you could have a buyer who wants to return it to you if it’s not wide enough for their horse

[french_fry]

I realize I may be being sensitive, but I straight up said in my OP that I would feel wrong trying to get the seller to take the saddle back at this point. I’m not trying to scam or take advantage of anyone! I just wanted to open up the option of talking to the seller since I’m new to buying saddles and perhaps more knowledgeable people on this BB would recognize this as a very cut and dry case of the seller misrepresenting the saddle. Alas, based on the feedback I’ve gotten this is clearly not that situation. I have no intention of trying to make the seller take back a saddle that I freely admit I have marked up a bit.

I literally have access to a medium tree in this same saddle (different year, I had no idea that would make a huge difference) at my barn and this saddle is significantly wider, both to look at and when measured dot-to-dot. Yes, I am stupid for not doing this from the get-go!

I am the first to admit that I’m a novice saddle buyer and am not familiar with different makes, models, measurements etc. but I thought there was a standard medium width for the same/make model of saddle.

I will suck it up and sell it as is and provide measurements of whatever the buyer requests so I can ensure the future buyer knows what he/she is getting into.

[GoForAGallop]

I’ll ask a second time: can you please share at least the brand of what you bought? The whole issue may be fixable with a $100 adjustment…

[french_fry]

GoForAGallop,

I am paranoid that I’ve already shared too many details here and the former owner of the saddle may happen to be a COTHer. :eek: Stranger things have happened.

I would PM you but the saddle is not an ideal fit for me after all (this is totally unrelated to me not wanting the saddle - a forward flap would be perfect and this is a regular flap) so while if it the tree was a perfect width I’d just go with it since I love the saddle otherwise, I’m not really interesting in putting more money into it. I’d rather try to sell it, which is what I think I’ll do.

[BostonHJ]

Is there any chance the tree has spread? I am selling a saddle that is structurally sound but has spread a bit in the front, so have a picture of the dot-to-dot measurement listed so there is no surprise. That said, I also tried a saddle that had spread. The tree seemed intact and it was stamped a medium, but it was super wide. It turned out there were loose rivets and that is why it was almost an inch wider than one would expect. The seller could believe it to be a medium and it could even be stamped a medium.

[GoForAGallop]

[QUOTE=french fry;7552976]
GoForAGallop,

I am paranoid that I’ve already shared too many details here and the former owner of the saddle may happen to be a COTHer. :eek: Stranger things have happened.

I would PM you but the saddle is not an ideal fit for me after all (this is totally unrelated to me not wanting the saddle - a forward flap would be perfect and this is a regular flap) so while if it the tree was a perfect width I’d just go with it since I love the saddle otherwise, I’m not really interesting in putting more money into it. I’d rather try to sell it, which is what I think I’ll do.[/QUOTE]

:lol: I suspect former owner would just not pipe up.

Regardless of whether you keep the saddle or not, if the wide-tree versions of this saddle really are sitting for MONTHS compared to the mediums flying off the shelves, and you want to just get it sold, look into having the tree bumped down a size. Almost any spring tree should be able to be adjusted (not regularly, but once or twice), and the people to call would be Smith Worthington, in CT.

For around ~$150 including shipping, you’ll have a medium tree saddle, which may (up to you to do the market research) mean you sell it in a week vs in three months.

[french_fry]

That’s actually a great idea. It may be worth doing it either way and maybe I’d end up wanting to keep it…

Thanks so much for the advice! I really hesitated to post this thread because I know I sound like a clueless idiot, but I have gotten some really worthwhile advice nonetheless.

[mvp]

[QUOTE=french fry;7552937]
I straight up said in my OP that I would feel wrong trying to get the seller to take the saddle back at this point. I’m not trying to scam or take advantage of anyone! I just wanted to open up the option of talking to the seller since I’m new to buying saddles and perhaps more knowledgeable people on this BB would recognize this as a very cut and dry case of the seller misrepresenting the saddle. [/QUOTE]

Not trying to pick on you, but what you say does beg a question: What do you want to talk to the seller about, if not taking back the saddle or similar? What action do you want from the seller, exactly? If you don’t want him to do anything, why the need to talk about the transaction? I don’t get it. Maybe that’s why we misunderstood.

[french_fry]

As I mentioned, I am very new to this buying used saddles game (I have only ever bought one new and had it fitted to horse/rider in my privileged days as a junior!) and it seemed to me that the saddle could have been misrepresented. If that was the general consensus I would have likely tried at least contacting the seller. Since there is apparently a much wider variation in the definition of “medium” in the same make/model of saddle than I anticipated, I am not going to bang down someone’s door a month later trying to make them take it back.

[RugBug]

I pretty much echo what everyone else has said. You made the mistake in not getting any measurements to help you decide, so you are going to have to deal with the consequences. You simply cannot take the statement “medium tree” to mean any sort of standard measurement.

As an example: I have a 31cm Zaldi Star. I also tried a 31cm Stubben. You’d think they’d be close, but one worked the other was way too wide.

Oh, and being the curious sort that I am, I did a little search and know what you purchased. IMO, you’re going to have a harder time selling because it’s a flatter saddle than many people like these days. It’s a quality brand, just not a popular one at this time. And depending on the age and condition, you are looking at a couple hundred to just over the 4 figure mar

[Lucassb]

I’d actually suggest contacting the seller just to see if there were other bidders who might be interested - you never know. Since you marked up the flaps, I agree that it would not be reasonable to ask the seller to take it back, as you clearly recognize. But they might be glad to pass along the names of other bidders, if you ask nicely.

I confess I too am curious about the make/model that you bought. Perhaps you could share via PM?