Horse sales - is there any polite/effective way to ward off tire kickers?

[Impractical_Horsewoman]

I wonder if all the vagueness when someone is not interested in a horse–“maybe later” or not responding at all–is due to the fact that sellers occasionally take it very personally if someone says “no.”

All of the people in this thread seem, well, sane, but on some Facebook groups, I’ve seen sellers post horses that are completely the opposite of what the ISO ad is looking for (mare versus gelding, too green, too old, too tall or too small) and when the original poster says, “no thank you,” very politely, the commentator tries to argue, “my mare isn’t mareish/ this is the quietest five-year-old you’ll ever ride/ he takes up A LOT of leg.” Sometimes really combatively, as if they’re going to kidnap the person posting the ad and force them to try the horse!

[endlessclimb]

I just ignore that stuff. My obligation is to politely decline, that’s it.

[Libby2563]

Eh, it’s not dating—it’s a potential business transaction. Based on my experiences buying/selling I don’t think the current mores require a “thanks but no thanks” type of closure statement. I’m not a professional seller but the last two times I sold horses I got 50+ inquiries on each. You can’t get emotionally invested in any one buyer to the point that you expect them to keep replying or take it personally if they don’t. I don’t believe anyone is truly interested until I get a deposit or the vet’s confirmation that a PPE is scheduled. I certainly don’t expect everyone who messages me to eventually declare that they’re no longer interested. Frankly unless their message is moving the transaction forward it’s just a time-sink for me anyway. I have limited time and energy for selling and I’d rather save it for people who are still interested. To me it’s nothing personal on either end, though I know some people do take it that way.

[endlessclimb]

I recently helped find a horse for a younger gal. I posted an ISO ad. For every horse that I inquired further on, if it wasn’t the one I responded “thank you, but it’s not a match, good luck”. FWIW, every single seller responded back in a positive way. They didn’t ignore my message. I think that says they appreciated it, but I’m assuming.

@Libby2563

Frankly unless their message is moving the transaction forward it’s just a time-sink for me anyway.

Which is where the topic came up where some people thought that asking for video when they were not interested in actually buying the horse was ok. It’s not. If you’re not interested, read the ad and move on. Engaging the seller when you have zero intention of buying is BS.

[Libby2563]

@endlessclimb

Which is where the topic came up where some people thought that asking for video when they were not interested in actually buying the horse was ok. It’s not. If you’re not interested, read the ad and move on. Engaging the seller when you have zero intention of buying is BS.

Yep that’s fair. But I don’t think it’s fair to assume that everyone who inquires and then doesn’t buy the horse was never seriously interested / was a tire kicker. Not saying you think this but I’ve seen some seller rants about it. It’s entirely possible that the seller’s answers or follow-up photos/videos revealed that the horse (or seller!) was not a match, or a better horse came along in the meantime, or the buyer genuinely had a chance of circumstances. To lump everyone into the “tire kicker” category is unfair and is setting sellers up for resentment. Now the people who admit they ask for video etc when they wouldn’t buy the horse no matter what it shows…yeah, obnoxious! I also must have missed the thread where people here said that was okay though.

[endlessclimb]

What's good or bad about the horse buying process these days?

As a seller, I don’t mind this — I have a copy-paste spiel written that I can fire off in two seconds. You never know if someone’s trainer, friend, cousin, husband’s nephew’s spouse twice-removed might be shopping and word-of-mouth goes a long way.

From that thread:

@MadTrotter

And whatever, if for no other reason than to keep tabs on the market for when I am buying/selling. I don’t think a cut/paste is asking for the moon.

@fordtraktor

Agreed.

And it continues from there, not necessarily solely about asking for video to “keep tabs on the market”.

[Jaegermonster]

Don’t disrupt anything in your own life until you get a firm date and appointment time from someone.
“Later this week”. Is not an appointment…
That means we are looking at other horses and if we don’t like them we will get back with you.

[Djones]

I’ll be in touch means I’ll never call again. We’d like to see him/her later this week means you’ll probably never hear from me again.

You live your life and the truly interested person will make it work.

The one thing that I did once and regret was an out-of-town couple, H&H, you were passing through and wanted to see a pony, Boo. I already had a local person, M, coming the next day who was really excited. I felt bad for M so I told her that H&H just called and are coming through today to look at Boo. M said I want to see him too so I said you can come at the same time but that’s the best I can do. It happened that H&H were the better fit but M was more invested and excited and H&H felt pressured abd maybe kinda bad about it so M bought Boo on the spot. Months later she was unhappy with Boo and complained that I MADE her buy him. I just wish I’d let it be what it was. Maybe neither of them would have bought Boo but I created a pressure that didn’t feel right in the long run.

Once someone is actually scheduled I will ping them in some way, however they want to be reached, to make sure they are still on. I do this day of. No different than someone coming to buy a saddle or a couch.

No one reads ads, so just created an email that you can send out X 4000 times with all of the information. No need to re-write it 4000 times. MAYBE I add at the beginning a very specific answer like 'yes, I did show him at ABC in the rain last Spring! wasn’t that a crazy day? He did well for me despite the mud and we placed well (insert data). Then there’s the rest of the blob of email about that horse.

[Rel6]

Honestly, asking the interested party to call to set up the time would be one way to ward off tire kickers.

When I was shopping, I had one seller tell me she had so many tire-kickers she would only discuss details of the horse over the phone. I liked the horse a lot and called immediately, but if I had been less interested that would have turned me off.

Same thing with my current horse. As soon as the seller expressed availability to discuss on the phone, I called immediately because I knew he would go fast.

If someone can’t be bothered to pick up the phone and call, I would be skeptical they are going to bother to show up to try the horse…

[trubandloki]

@Rel6

If someone can’t be bothered to pick up the phone and call, I would be skeptical they are going to bother to show up to try the horse…

It is not that some people can not be bothered to pick up the phone and call…it is that some people find phone calls to be an anxiety inducing thing and in this day they thankfully do not have to make many phone calls anymore.

[Spudsmyguy]

@eightpondfarm

Agreed! And, bending over backwards to facilitate a looker…that could be the first step down that long road to slaughter. For me, it’s more than getting $. I’d think anyone who cares for their horse seeks the BEST possible buyer.

Also agree with this. I was selling a mustang mare who lived outside with just a small shelter and the potential buyer made an offer. I inquired about where she would be living and said it would be in a stall and since it was winter, the only turnout would be in the arena while they cleaned her stall. So what? 10 minutes a day for a horse that currently lived out 24/7/365? I turned them down, said she would go bonkers with that schedule. I’m glad I did too because she lives with the best family now whose adult rider absolutely loves her to the moon and back.

[Rel6]

You realize both can be true, right? And I would bet that the amount of people who would not call to set up a time to see a horse because they are not seriously interested far outweighs the amount of people who would not call because it is anxiety inducing. You’re comparing a large population of tire-kickers to a very specific population of “people who are both seriously interested in one specific horse and also have anxiety about phone calls.” It is also completely reasonable for a seller to want to talk to someone on the phone before giving them their address and allowing them to come sit on their horse.

[trubandloki]

@Rel6

You realize both can be true, right? And I would bet that the amount of people who would not call to set up a time to see a horse because they are not seriously interested far outweighs the amount of people who would not call because it is anxiety inducing. You’re comparing a large population of tire-kickers to a very specific population of “people who are both seriously interested in one specific horse and also have anxiety about phone calls.” It is also completely reasonable for a seller to want to talk to someone on the phone before giving them their address and allowing them to come sit on their horse.

I was not comparing anyone with anything. I was just stating how not being willing to call =/= always being a tire kicker.

If I was horse shopping and a horse I really liked had a phone only situation I would likely ask a friend to call for me.

[Scribbler]

I’ve never sold a horse but I have sold household goods on local forums and more recently giveaways on a Buy Nothing FB. Of course much less pressure and $$.

But I’d agree that I don’t give an address and I don’t think about the appointment until the buyer has said a date and time. Then I message the morning of to say “see you at xx pm! Let me know if you’re delayed!”

If the person was more than 15 minutes late I’d message to ask if they were having problems finding the house, etc.

From a shopper’s perspective it’s very easy to get quickly overwhelmed with options for anything, and to get confused over what phone number goes with what price and what item. For any purchase. As a shopper I do like to message following the CL format of “I’m inquiring about Thing X Descriptor at $xxx.” Your 2014 white long box crew cab F150 for sale in Surrey for $10,000. That puts the item and price at the top of the message interaction, and lets the seller correct any errors. Also helps if seller has more than one thing for sale concurrently.

[beowulf]

Jumping on the gripe wagon for a second to make a general comment about the theme of sellers complaining about buyers on social media:

If you (a seller) are finding people routinely pass on your horse, take a very close look at your product. Is it really what you are advertising it as?

I see grievances about buyers posted on the regular, especially from one well known reseller. The first few times, out of curiosity, I read the (very long winded rant) post in full and then looked at the video of the acclaimed maligned horse. The seller used language like the horse being sound sound sound, amateur friendly, honest, and that buyers are sleeping on him and she is so tired of buyers only wanting the flashy big ones, and that this horse can go and do the job they want the next day, etc…

But it only took me watching the video for 10s to see an unsound, barely restarted horse who was bracing heavily against the hands of a rider who is very good at disguising a lack of training, for me to understand why so many buyers had ‘wasted’ this seller’s time.

Personally I get more aggravated with the sellers than buyers. They use language that is borderline deceitful and the horse is rarely – if ever – 100% as advertised.

[endlessclimb]

I wish I could like this post again and again. “Sound” means drastically different things to a seller, and a buyer… so it seems.

[Impractical_Horsewoman]

I just hate it when people refuse to email or text, because I want something to refer to if they don’t show up (and also to confirm for my own records). I have one handyman whom I like who just uses a flip phone, and though I use him because he’s a lovely man and does excellent work at a very reasonable price, there’s always an element of “what time did we agree to” because lots of people are very vague over the phone. Giving good phone messages is a skill, and few people have it anymore. I’ve worked as a receptionist, pre-smartphones, so I know!

[Spudsmyguy]

What I’ve found, when people are unwilling to pick up a phone and call, they’ll text one question, it get’s answered, then they text one other question, it gets answered. Instead of calling and having all their questions answered at once, they’ll do this piecemeal thing and it gets really annoying, really fast. The art of actually talking to someone on the phone seems to have gone the way of the dodo bird.

I went to look at a early teenage TB mare that was a solid citizen and the picture showed her cantering around 3’ jumps. What I found was an underweight, out of condition, lame, with horrendous feet mare that may or may not have been pregnant. Same with another horse, picture showed a beautiful chestnut mare with shiny coat, dapples, doing trails. In reality a severely malnourished horse that was questionable about soundness. I came close to calling the Humane Society on this owner, all the horses were underfed and came to the fence looking for food when we arrived.

[MadTrotter]

Just for perspective, as you’ve @‘d me as evidence of some defense of wasting sellers’ time…I’ve spent more time reading this thread than I ever have communicating with sellers of horses I didn’t end up buying /shrug

On edit: the #1 reason I message sellers is because there is no price. Not even a “low-mid “ Maybe I would buy this horse at $15 but not at $25k. It’s a sales tactic, it’s been over a year since anyone ever had a horse sales ad taken down from Facebook. If you don’t post the price, and you keep asking for people to PM you, don’t complain about having to, yanno, answer the PMs.

[Paint_Party]

@beowulf

If you (a seller) are finding people routinely pass on your horse, take a very close look at your product. Is it really what you are advertising it as?

Ooh boy, this could be its own entire thread topic.

I know of two horses right now that are attractive, sound, sane and have quite a bit of professional training on them but neither are selling. Both sellers have sent out multiple videos, but ultimately no one ends up committing to see the horse or have it vetted. To me, it’s obvious why: the descriptions in the ads are, shall we say, a bit misleading. It’s like I read the ads and wonder, “What horse is this supposed to be?”

Anyone with knowledge and a keen eye above novice level can watch the videos and determine that the horse they’re watching is not embodying the glorious traits described.