Saddle Consignment Question - Time between Sale and Payment

[CWNSF]

For those of you who have consigned saddles at larger shops to be sold, what has been the typical length of time between the saddle selling and you receiving the money from the consignment shop?

I’m trying to figure out if I’m justified for being a little peeved about my experience. When the saddle sold, I was told I would receive a check within 3-4 weeks. That time goes by so I call the shop. The person who answers the phone doesn’t have any information about the sale so takes my info so someone can call me back. They call me back the next day, and say that the person who bought the saddle is on a payment plan which won’t be completed until November and once the payment plan is complete, I will receive my money.

I’m annoyed because I wasn’t told this when I consigned the saddle, this information is not on the website, and when the saddle sold, the shop told me 3-4 weeks. They did not tell me then that the saddle was on a payment plan so don’t expect money until November Now, I have to wait until November to get my money, and who knows, will it be 3-4 weeks from when they get the last payment plan until I get my check from the shop? What if the person never finishes the payment plan- will I just not get any money? Please let me know if this is normal though and I’m just being unreasonable in my expectation of how I thought the transaction would go.

Thank you!

[furlong47]

I’ve never encountered a store that would let something sell on a payment plan unless it’s similar to layaway - I hope they keep the saddle in their possession until the payments are complete. That may be why the delay in paying you - if the person defaults they would put the saddle back on sale.

In my experience most consignment places either pay out right away, or at month end, or let you build credit to spend or cash out when you are ready. My local one doesn’t tell me when something sells at all - just log it in the book and when I go in to shop I just ask how much credit I have. Or I can call or message her and ask.

[TheJenners]

I would not accept that either!

The one time I used a consignment to sell a high end French saddle, I had to nag and nag and nag before I got paid, and I wasn’t even told when it sold, I had to find that out myself.

[RockingJ]

I would think the shop should pay you in full - they sold the saddle. How they want to handle payments on their end should not affect you.

However, I can’t say I’ve every heard of anyone having an awesome experience when consigning a saddle! I sold a saddle on consignment. It was probably a year from when I first dropped the saddle off to when I got paid. I had to check on the saddle periodically, and they never called me when it actually sold. One day I stopped in person, and they were like, oh, yeah, I’ve been meaning to get in touch with you. I honestly don’t know if they would have followed up if I never stopped in!

[trubandloki]

I would be annoyed but the more I think about it, it makes sense.

The saddle is not actually sold yet. I assume they still have it (the person making payments better not be able to pick it up until it is fully paid for). It is no different than if no one was paying for it until the date it is paid in full.

[Posting_Trot]

I’ve sold two saddles on consignment. Both times it took a long time to sell the saddle, as in over a year in one case and 10 months in the other. Then, in both cases (and this was two different shops), the check was only sent to me on the 15th of the following month. That was about 4 weeks later in both cases.

I would be peeved in your case. Unless they told you in advance that they often sell saddles on a payment plan, and then detailed how they handled paying you in that case, I think they’ve misled you.

Does the fact that the shop isn’t paying you until the final payment comes in on the saddle mean that you’re absorbing the risk if the person does not ultimately make that payment? That would truly tick me off.

You probably signed a consignment contract with them (I hope). What does it say about payment plans, if anything?

[js]

I have sold several saddles via consignment, depending on what time of the month they sold, it could take more than month to get paid as some shops only cut checks on certain days of the month (like the first week or last week etc.) I would be highly PO’d if they had sold one of my consignment saddles on a payment plan without contacting me first and my agreeing to it; that sounds fishy. If they have payment plans available for consignment saddles they should state in your consignment contract and also how payment will be sent to you.

Do you have a copy of the consignment contract?

Is this a tack shop that has been discussed here before?

[CWNSF]

@js

I have sold several saddles via consignment, depending on what time of the month they sold, it could take more than month to get paid as some shops only cut checks on certain days of the month (like the first week or last week etc.) I would be highly PO’d if they had sold one of my consignment saddles on a payment plan without contacting me first and my agreeing to it; that sounds fishy. If they have payment plans available for consignment saddles they should state in your consignment contract and also how payment will be sent to you.

Do you have a copy of the consignment contract?

Is this a tack shop that has been discussed here before?

Thanks for replying everybody and validating what I’m feeling. To answer some questions:

• I don’t have a copy of the contract on me (my bad!). When I signed it at the shop they were going to scan it and send it to me, but it never happened and tbh, I had bigger things going on in my life to worry about

-I don’t think this particular shop has been talked about on here before (it’s not Trumbull Mountain or Pelham which are the two I know have been talked about here).

-FWIW, saddle ended up selling for $600, not a 2-4k used saddle where I would think there might be a payment plan option.

I really want to support this local shop and like them because they do sponsor up-and-coming riders that I enjoy following but this experience has not met the expectations I had for it. I’m thinking about going in to the shop this weekend just to get a copy of the contract so I can see if it does have any info about payment plans (I don’t remember reading any) but at the same time, I get that they are small and may not actually have the $$ until they have it.

Thanks for letting me vent guys and sharing your experiences!

[173north]

This is odd.

Ask them for the contract (they don’t even have to scan it, they can just take phone photos and email them!) and if the saddle is still in their possession. Maybe they don’t consider it “sold” until the last payment is made, and cut checks then, but it was taken off the sales floor so someone not fully briefed on the situation told you it had sold.

If it’s with the customer only partially paid… yikes. Either way someone owes you a phone call to explain.

When I sell a consignment saddle I notify the owner within a few business days and they are sent a check within two weeks.