I’m looking at a horse this weekend that’s over 6 hours away, if I decided to buy the horse I’ll be using a horse shipper to transport him, how should I go about paying for him, do I leave a deposit and then pay the rest when horse transporter picks him up, I won’t be able to be there when the transporter picks him up
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I’ve used Venmo. $6k is probably over their sending limit but it might be okay depending on how much your deposit is?
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Usually the seller will specify how they expect to be paid, you can ask them.
As a seller, I require that the funds clear my bank account before the horse can be leave my property, whether paid by check or Paypal or whatever. So, if you decide to buy the horse at your visit and aren’t planning to do a PPE, as a seller I would have you sign the purchase agreement at that time and leave me a check or send a payment on Paypal (or Venmo, or pay with cash). Once the funds have cleared without issue, you could then schedule the transporter to pick up the horse.
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Typically you pay for the horse before it ships and pay pro rated board for the time it stays at sellers…this is negotiable but needs to be in writing before you seal the deal. Your insurance will pick up immediately and be in effect for the shipping.
Transporters do not get involved in any transactions and sellers want to be relieved of liability for what is now somebody else’s horse until it walks on to that van.
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Typically you pay for the horse and get a bill of sale before horse leaves seller’s property. That’s very easy to do in today’s electronic world. You can send money (depending on how large a sum it is) via PayPal, Venmo, bank wire transfer or cashier’s check. Once you’ve paid for the horse you should get it insured. You can usually get a policy over the phone with most livestock insurance companies by answering a few questions and/or sending electronic documentation. That way if anything happens to the horse between the time you paid for it and received it in person, you are covered. I have bought horses from overseas and out of state, and now with internet, email, etc. it follows a logical chain of events.
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When I made my most recent purchase, I thought I was going to wire the money from my bank to the sellers. Well, apparently that is harder to do than it used to be as only certain bank staff can authorize that and they aren’t always in your local branch. Then I was going to just send it electronically myself. Both my bank and the Zelle app couldn’t do the amount of purchase in one transfer. I probably should have just done it in two transactions, one one day and one the next, but I stubbornly wanted a record of my complete payment. I finally ended up using my debit card at the bank and having the bank create a bank check, which I felt safer mailing than a personal check. Of course, I had plenty of time for it to clear before shipping as I knew my shipping date was out about 3 weeks.
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I have always sent a wire for payment. I’ve either used Venmo or left a check for deposits. While I’ve never had one picked up when I wasn’t there, I’ve always paid prior to the pickup date.
As long as you allow time for it to clear and the seller approves, any method should be fine. Wires land same-day, personal checks can take a week or more. Cashier’s checks used to be treated as good as cash, but due to scammers getting more savvy, that’s no longer true.
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I’ve used bank checks in the past. The horse I bought last year, I left a deposit when I saw her, pending a PPE, and the seller took a personal check when they dropped her off. I was a bit surprised as she was the most expensive horse I’ve bought. The horse I bought before her I sent a bank check after he arrived, but we had mutual friends so I guess they figured I was good for it.
Most of the time I’ve done whatever the seller wants.
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I used a wire transfer
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for many years I have worked as an independent consultant on projects, always have been paid by wire transfers
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Except for the time I purchased long distance (mailed a check), I always hand the seller cash. I would leave a deposit and then go back and be there when the transporter arrived to pay cash and make sure the horse I bought was the horse that got loaded.
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Cash works.
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