Just asking opinions here. I am able to make up my own mind…but…! I’ve had a “prospective” buyer following and staying in contact about a lovely coming 2 year old colt. (No details provided as they are irrelevant…she WANTs the horse!) We have been talking and messaging for almost a year…she always has an excuse why she can’t buy, …yet…but I haven’t taken him off the market either. She now finds herself in a buying position and has asked the aweful question…“what’s the least you’d take?” My answer was…“make a reasonable offer, but I am not dropping my asking price.” I have offered a payment plan and cheap boarding until she is ready to start working with him…he is the NICEST, QUIETEST 2 yr. old I have ever met! His price is $7,500…how low would a buyer expect to offer?? I’m just wanting to brace myself for a really rude offer!! Thanks.
There is no telling how low a buyer would go. What would be considered appropriate between professionals and what some ambivalent lookie-loo without enough cash in pocket would offer are two completely different things.
Are you really asking how low should you go to sell this horse? That’s a different question, and it depends on (a) how easy you think it will be to sell him at asking price and (b) how much you need him off your payroll immediately. If the answer is “fairly easy, and it doesn’t matter,” then don’t drop your price. If the answer is “fairly difficult, and I need him gone,” make your own decision as to what you can afford.
Merely saying again and again you “want” a horse doesn’t mean anything if you can’t afford the horse (if wishes were horses, then beggars would ride, after all). There are lots of horse I might WANT!!! for $3000 but no one is going to sell them to me for that.
There are lots of financial red flags here. I would not sell to this buyer because I’d bet that the chances of him/her being able to support this horse long term are low. Really low.
You can find a better home for this guy!
Absolutely agree! As I was reading through the description about the buyer that HAS to have your horse and has strung this along for almost a year, I immediately said to myself, “How much do you want to bet they now make a low ball offer?” I have been through many buyers like this over the last 25 years. They are the buyers that just can’t seem to figure out the difference between a want and a need…the main obstacle being funds, or lack of funds.
I absolutely agree with Dressagelvr. If it were me, I would move on as there are HUGE financial red flags here. If the buyer is now truly in a “buying position”, then they should be prepared to potentially pay full asking price for the colt, not try and squeeze every last drop out of you. Whether you negotiate a lower selling price or not is irrelevant. If they are not prepared to pay full asking price for the colt, they are not a serious buyer. In my experience, the serious buyer will make an offer. The tire kickers and the less than ideal homes will ask what the least is you will take. Dressagelvr is right. There is a better home out there for your boy.
FWIW, as a buyer, the lowest I would offer on a $7500 horse would be $6k. That’s 20% off. I’d feel any less than that would be offensive to the seller and wouldn’t even try.
But totally agree with the above that this person is a bad bet. I hope you’ll come back and tell us what she winds up offering!
Maybe it’s just me, but I didn’t see an obvious financial red flag. Maybe she had another horse that she sold/euthanized and now she can afford/has space for another one.
But I agree it’s super rude to ask for the lowest amount you’d take, especially if you’ve already offered her a payment plan and cheap boarding. It sounds like he’d be pretty easy to sell. I’d probably wait her out. If she really wants him that bad, she’ll cough up the full asking price.
Needing a payment plan for a 4 figure horse is not a good sign that a buyer will be able to take proper care of it.
I would be a concerned…
I like this plan! Will post a longer answer when I get finished reading all the posts!
The answer to “what’s the lowest offer you would take” is, “What’s the highest you will pay?”
Honestly, the whole “worrying about the care the horse will receive if they can’t afford a four figure horse outright” rubs me the wrong way. I get it. Horses are expensive. Even the cheapest ones cost an arm an a leg in care. But, that being said, there are plenty of people out there that actually HAVE the funds to properly care for their animals that do an absolute crap job of it. Money does not always equal quality of care.
Thats all…I’m stepping off my soap box 
Lack of funds pretty well ensures the inability to properly care for the horse.
I checked my FB PM’s and the first contact was 10-11-17…the colt was 5 months old. Not getting personal on the buyer’s business…but she is quite comfortable financially ( I find those people to be the “cheapest”) but devoted her horse $$'s to her daughter’s show career last year. Now she has a parent needed extended care. Boarding in her area is close to $1,000/month.
I can see where her budget is cramped…but she admits that this colt is special. At his age…as I told her…he does not need to be in a “show stable” but doing what he is doing now…stalled twice daily and when the weather is bad…and ALWAYS has access to a 34x36 loafing shed…spending his free time in a 10-12 acre pasture grazing, running and playing with other youngsters. He is, without a doubt, the sweetest, kindest colt (intact) I’ve ever had. You can do anything to him and he NEVER complains/rebels/NO studdish behavior!!. The “horsewoman” who shot a video of him last fall declared him to be the nicest yearling she had ever seen. I have 3 horses sold and waiting for transport so “dumping” him is not necessary. I HATE it when a long time shopper asks “what the least you’ll take” !! Make an offer if you will but please don’t ask my bottom dollar!! Thanks for the input…guess I just have to wait to see what she offers!! Or maybe she won’t even do that!! After 17 months of her stalling…I should be getting MORE than the asking price!! Fat chance of that!! I’ll keep you posted. Thanks.
Have you held the horse all this time specifically for her? After 17 months have you had any other offers?
The flip side of the coin is “if he’s been on the market for a year at that price, without an actual buyer, is the asking price really fair market value?”
NO!!! Our weather has been aweful this year…tons of rain and mud following a hay crop from hell summer - drought, army worms, excessive temps…costs are off the charts. Few people are shopping due to feed costs and ground conditions preventing looking/shopping. I have started to get some calls, but this woman keeps dangling her intentions. I will sell to any good home/buyer unless I have a serious deposit and contract!
Have you had him advertised all along and no one else has made a serious inquiry? That suggests your price is high.
Definitely not. The amount of money somebody is willing to spend on an animal also often bears zero relationship to the amount spent purchasing that animal. I’ve seen people literally drop thousands of dollars in the first couple of days of taking responsibility for a “free” animal found in dire straights, I’ve had people say “I could get a new Imported Moravian Swagdog for half that estimated vet bill,” and go and do just that.
However, the much, much, more common problem is that people “save up” for the purchase price of that Swagdog since they’ve “always wanted one”, or arrange an installment plan, or “go in with” a group of friends or family (not a properly structured syndicate or co-ownership). Then when confronted with an unexpected vet bill, transport fee, first/last boarding, equipment purchase (I barely missed spending more for a properly fitted saddle than I did for the horse, personally), they exclaim, “I can’t afford THAT, I just spent X (hundred, thousand) buying this animal!!”
Will her boarding facility take a stallion? Many do not, no matter how well-mannered and easy the horse is.
sure there are. Horse ownership is a lot like starting a small business, though. Most fail within the first year because they don’t have sufficient cash reserves to ride it out. Dressage trainer I worked for had a big Fresian/percheron X mare come in for training. Guy had bought the horse for $5k as a trail horse and she proved too young and strong for his modest riding skills. She was very willing and responded well to training, although she was too big to be a anything but a low level prospect. The trick was that her size made her best suited to large, older adult novices. Exactly the sort of rider that was unlikely to have the skills to be successful handling her on the ground.
The trainer was busting her butt marketing this horse. The owner wanted $12k at first. Someone offered $7k and he turned it down. Meanwhile, he wouldn’t let the trainer ride the horse 2x a week anymore because it was too expensive. The horse got harder and harder to settle before showings. He ran out of many and had the poor mare sent to auction. She sold for $1k.
Why reply to her anymore unless she’s giving you actionable information? She sounds like the female version of the men who used to come into the music store I managed. They’d play a bunch of guitars and high end amps and regal us with stories about all the gear they had a home that was better. (I have a Fender Strat signed by the ghost of Elvis!!) My response devolved into leaning over the counter to sweetly tell them, “Cool story!” Don’t let her waste your time. She’s probably talking to 5 other breeders at the same time.
