My trainer is helping me sell my horse. What is a typical commission for such a service?
What did you agree upon with her? What does her rate sheet say? Typical is kind of irrelevant if you agreed to something different. I usually see a flat rate of 10-20% for a trainer selling a horse for a current client.
We have no agreement. She’s pretty “fly by the seat of her pants”.
[QUOTE=jmprgrl;7133556]
We have no agreement. She’s pretty “fly by the seat of her pants”.[/QUOTE]
Thats usually just another way of saying “it’s gonna cost you” I would sit down with her 5 minutes ago and get everything straightened out.
I’d say standard is about 15%, but it can vary. Ask her in advance what her rate is, and then decide whether or not her help is worth it.
We charge 10-15% depending on how involved we are in the process. It is best to sit down a discuss this with her in advance or before the horse sells. Get a contract together to make sure you both are covered. Nothing can ruin a relationship quicker than disagreements centered around money.
Sparky, I totally understand your reservations. With her is actually more like, “whatever money I get is more than I would have otherwise”. I’ve known her for years and she found me the horse with no commission or finders fee. She often comes out and gives me free lessons and help when we hack together. I started this thread to give me an idea of what I should offer her, because she probably wouldn’t insist on a certain number and I would like her to be compensated fairly.
In my experience anything in the 10% to 15% is customary.
Thanks for the replies! 15% seems to be consistent. Does that change since she found me the horse?
My trainer that helped me find my new horse charged 10% which I believe is a normal rate 
Why don’t you ask her what she normally takes as commission on horse sales that she brokers?
the % should also be determined based on the level of involvement by the trainer - if they are going to be pretty much actively marketing the horse for you, talking w/ other trainers, and showing the horse to potential buyers then the commission should be on the higher side 15%+ . If you are going to be doing most to all of the legwork in marketing your horse and trainer is going to help show horse to buyers then a lower %… Is the horse going to be at trainers barn or your barn - if theirs again the higher %, if your barn lower%…
Also, depending on what price range the horse is in…some trainers have minimum commissions. For example, I don’t think you would find too many trainers really interested in selling a $2000 horse for a $200 commission.
I also completely agree that the commission should relate to how much responsibility the trainer takes for the entire process. If the trainer does EVERYTHING–advertise, schedule buyer visits, meet buyers, show to buyers, handle vetting and contract, etc, then 15% would be more fair than 10%.
10% is what I have paid in my area. But I haven’t had to sell a horse in over 4 years so it could have increased. If you are offering her a commission out of generosity I would say 10-15% is fair based on her involvement. Good luck!
