I’ve sold a few saddles on ebay and CL but this was before FB. Never had a trial and no one asked for one. I really lucked out on my purchases as they always fit one of the horses we had at that time. Never really had too much problem selling them either. I remember one saddle in particular; a handmade western that was all hand tooled, beautiful saddle, not show but a trail saddle and it looked so good on my mustang gelding.
On eBay, if the item is returned for “buyers remorse” reasons, which is anything other than misrepresented, you are at the mercy of the seller who can refuse to accept the return. I escalated my claim through Paypal because the item actually was not as described. In addition to being 2" smaller in the seat, there was undisclosed damage.
eBay said, sorry, can’t help you. Once you choose a reason to return an item you can’t change it.
Paypal customer support was more understanding and they forced the seller to return my $$. I was out the shipping fees to return it, but considering I had $900+ on the line, I was happy to get the rest of the money back.
Agree that it is fairly low risk when you know exactly what make/model you want.
As someone a victim of a barn robbery… If there is a id number or serial number on the saddle. Check with the saddle maker to see if that saddle has been reported stolen . Our barn recovered a Scheese this way, taken from barn in washington and sold one year later on facebook / ebay out of california.
Yep this happened to me too recently! I bought an air filter for my tractor that didn’t fit and when I examined the box, it was a very slightly different model number than described (two numbers were transposed). I selected “too small” or “didn’t fit” because I initiated the return on my phone and for some reason the “item not as represented” option wasn’t visible. I had no idea that selecting another perfectly accurate return reason would limit my refund options. The seller ignored me and eBay said they couldn’t help. It surprised me because eBay is usually buyer-friendly to a fault.* Thankfully I learned my lesson on a $14 filter instead of a $1400 saddle.
• Why to a fault? A few years ago I listed a very large cabinet-style rolling tack trunk on eBay FOR LOCAL PICKUP ONLY. That was in the item listing terms and I also put it in the description in caps, just like that, to be safe. Some dummy halfway across the country bought and immediately paid for it in the middle of the night, and was so surprised and upset to learn the next day that shipping would cost $1000–for which I think you could have bought two or three of the trunk brand new.
It took literally weeks of excruciating phone calls to eBay and PayPal before I could refund her money without me paying any seller fees for her idiocy. After that experience I personally wouldn’t sell large, expensive, or easily damaged items on eBay. Thankfully I don’t buy/sell saddles often at all. I think I’ve owned seven in 28 years of riding and I still have four of them. The last saddle I sold, I listed on Craigslist for $1200 and within a few weeks I was lucky enough to have a cash buyer, no trial.
(Here’s to popping my new forum cherry!)
You only have their money until they file a dispute with paypal, who will then take the money from you until they decide who can have it. They do not look favorably on the situation of you having an item valued less - they do not like partial refunds where the buyer doesn’t have the item. Thus this situation very rarely protects the seller in terms of compensation for the damage.
I sell all the time on eBay (it’s my main business). If a seller refunds a buyer in full for a return, the seller should get credited for the seller fees on eBay. I’ve always gotten my fees back for a return, not as described or buyer remorse returns. Most buyers these days know that if they choose “not as described” ebay will force the buyer to refund them in full including original shipping (with or without a return) and force the seller to pay for the return shipping.
My payments actually come through eBay (this is new, I don’t like it, but that is a whole 'nother complaint), so I get most of my payment fees back as well for a refund, but if you are being paid through PP, you’re not going to get that approximately 3% fee back.
I resell on eBay among other platforms but my account hasn’t yet been cut over to Managed Payments and I haven’t read through all the documentation yet… good to know that this little bugaboo has been somewhat resolved. From what I’ve heard it sounds like the one good thing about Managed Payments. 
Yeah, eBay is not big on sharing details until you’re enrolled…,
I was cut over to Managed Payments this summer. I have many complaints, including but not limited to - I don’t get to decide to leave some funds in the account to cover potential returns and my big complaint - eBay holds my funds immediately if someone opens a return request. I’ve been doing this for 20 years - I’ve never not refunded someone, but with the extended time to return an item, plus shipper delays, it can tie up funds for a month. Apparently I am not trustworthy anymore according to eBay.
Plus I have already had two experiences with a return opened, with the intention of getting a partial refund from me (again, don’t get me started…) and with MP you don’t have the ability to offer a partial refund the way we’ve had forever with PP. I have to contact CS to issue the agreed upon partial to close the return, but this then turns into the dreaded “closed without seller resolution” which of course it is not, but I then have to call AGAIN to get the defect removed. It’s a huge headache, and heaven forbid it gets screwed up over account review days and I lose my TRS status.
Many private sellers need the money from selling one saddle to buy another, so it is a PITA to have that saddle out on trial for 2 weeks, waiting to see if the buyer is going to keep it or send it back. In the meantime, the seller has nothing to ride in. And then there is the fact that most of us have regular day jobs and it takes time out of our day to deal with shipping back and forth, whereas a retailer is doing that as part of their job, and rolling that work into the price of the saddles.
I’ve sent saddles out with a trial a couple times, and it seems they always get sent back. After sending the same saddle out 2x, when a third person asked for a trial, just offered 10% off the price for a straight sale and she took it. The saddles I’ve bought/sold over FB were in the $1000 range, and so it just was not worth all the work and hassle.
As others have said, if you need/want a trial, buy a saddle from a reputable retail establishment or saddle fitter. With online sales, there is too much risk on the seller’s end, especially given the lower price point, to make trials worth it.
This is why I only buy/sell used saddles to/from people I know very well and trust. So much easier when everyone is on the same page from the first step.
