I have a CWD that I bought in Nov. 2011. It never really fit either me or the horse, and I’d like to sell it. I only rode in it for 5 months The local tack shop takes a 50% commission, and I’d like to find something lower. Any suggestions? I gratefully await the benefit of COTH’s expertise.
Definitely contact Rachel at Iselltack.com if you want to consign, she takes 18% I believe and moves saddles fast. Nicole at MD Tack Exchange will buy the saddle outright, at about what you’d get from consigning, without the wait. Always worth contacting her as well.
I, personally, would try to sell it myself before paying commission to someone. You should easily be able to sell a CWD in online forums such as horseclicks.com and FB groups like English Tack Trader.
(I am greedy and like to keep as much of my money as I can!)
CWD will sell it for you, they have a waiting list (sort of) of people who are looking for used saddles. I think it is managed out of the California branch. When I bought mine, the fitter explained the process for obtaining used ones. I didn’t want to wait…my horse has an old back injury and I didn’t want to keep messing around with saddle fit, so I just bought new.
Good targeted marketing, and they might be able to get a higher price, since they actively have people looking. It’s convenient for the buyers too, especially if they want some modifications to the saddle.
Do you have a new saddle in mind? Because some take trade ins (CWD and Voltaire, I think, and probably others). Highendusedsaddles.com seems to move CWDs quite quickly and I’m sure her commission is far less than 50% (which is crazy high even among tack stores…I’d have laughed when told that!). I’ve used Fine Used Saddles to sell a previous saddle and would use her again in a heart beat. I Sell Tack does charge less and CWD probably fits into her specialty. You could see what Nicole at MD Tack Exchange will offer. With holiday shopping starting, this might be a good time to sell.
Patricia at fineusedsaddles.com just sold my saddle and I was very happy with the experience! She spiffed it up and made it look STUNNING on her website (I almost wanted it back). It took some time to get it sold, but I was willing to hold out for a higher price rather than list it a bit lower for a quick sale and Patricia took this into account.
If you call around to some of the places other posters have suggested they will let you know what they would list your saddle at and how much commission they would take so you can make an informed decision.
[QUOTE=MistyPony;7269433]
Patricia at fineusedsaddles.com just sold my saddle and I was very happy with the experience! She spiffed it up and made it look STUNNING on her website .[/QUOTE]
Another vote for FUS
She will likely get you a better price than if you list yourself, she will ensure that it is always shipped out properly, insured, maintained etc - though if your seat/flaps/panels are “unusual”, it may take longer (or sell immediately :lol:)
Trade in value on another new saddle will also depend on the configuration of the present saddle.
Most companies will take used saddle trade ins for new saddles only. So if you have something in mind, that may be a good way to go. Ebay takes a decent cut, as does any sort of consigning, which is why I am trying to avoid that route, since I won’t have any more money to add to my pool than what I get out of my saddle. I have listed my saddle on some facebook groups, as well as a couple of bulletin boards. 20-30% commission seems pretty standard. I Sell Tack is 20%, Fine Used Saddles is 20% and High End Used Saddles is 25%.
I don’t know if your saddle was purchased through CWD or not, but I know Voltaire at least is pretty willing to work with you if you buy one of their saddles directly through them. I got a good deal on my saddle since I bought it during WEF and they had a lot of used inventory. They will give me exactly what I paid for it if I buy a used saddle and $400 higher if I were to go with new. Unfortunately because of the good deal that I got, all the other used Voltaires they have are around the $3000 mark which is more than what I paid for mine. Like I said earlier I don’t have money to add to my saddle buying pool, so I’m just waiting for something to come along.
If you do not want to go the consigning route then list it EVERYWHERE! Every facebook group imaginable (within the rules of the group of course) horseclicks, equine.com, equinenow.com, etc etc etc. Take a million good picture of the saddle including serial numbers etc without any clutter in the background and snoop around and see what saddles similar to yours are selling. CWDs are in high demand and it should not be hard to sell yours for the right price 
Thanks for the info, everyone. I will dig out the order slip and contact the consignment places recommended. The last saddle I sold on consignment ended up with me receiving about half what the shop had told me that they had been selling for, so I’m not feeling too hopeful about trying consignment again. I also kind of hesitate to just sell it online myself, since we’ve heard of various bad outcomes on here when doing that (saddle damaged on trial, no payment, etc). To whomever contacted me by private message, I won’t be able to get the info to you until early next week.
Any suggestions where to list it if I end up doing it myself? We don’t have a lot of places locally (thanks for the ones you listed, wishfulthinking711).
there are some FB sites you can use to sell it (bits and barter etc, just search saddles or horse equipment for sale), and just posting it on your own FB page if you are connected to a lot of horse people can do it too. I just sold my kids Devoucoux that way. No trials unless you know the person and they are local, use Paypal or money order and don’t send the saddle until it’s in hand. I did have someone argue me on that and would only pay 50% up front and then the rest when she received it, which I did because I was having no luck selling the saddle, and it worked out fine.
