How do you protect yourself when selling a high end saddle? Locally, is it ok to ask for payment in guaranteed funds? How do you protect yourself from Paypal?
Cash and carry only or, if selling on Ebay, don’t leave the buyer feedback until they leave you a positive one.
How do you protect yourself from Paypal?
I’m guessing you meant to say Ebay? 
If so: Unfortunately Ebay does virtually nothing to protect sellers, and ‘feedback’ is not required to be left by buyers – it’s an option – so it won’t help you.
That being said: A saddle – since it’s a niche item – is a pretty safe thing to sell on Ebay. It’s not something that rip-off artists are looking to buy, and you don’t ship saddle to your buyer until they have paid for it via PayPal. Very safe in that respect.
But you have to be very detailed and honest about saddle condition right down to any minor scratches or other tiny imperfections – also take lots of pictures from every angle, top to bottom. Buyers are allowed to return an item for a full refund if ‘Item is Not as Described’ in any way they see fit. Even if you say NO RETURNS in your listing, the item can still be returned under certain conditions that usually support the buyer’s complaint and not the seller.
I have sold four fairly high end saddles (among many other things) on Ebay with great success. But the Ebay fees when combined with Paypal fees and shipping fees (yes Ebay even takes a % of that) add up to almost 13% of your sale price. So be prepared.
If you don’t want to go the Ebay route you could try to sell your saddle on HorseClicks or other sites that offer horse/tack related classifieds. But I would use PayPal to get paid. Or cash of course if buyer is near you.
In my experience there is a real market for high end used saddles. Good luck!
I’ve always preferred to sell on consignment with a dealer that handles higher end saddles. It’s worth the commission to not have to deal with buyers, tire kickers etc. However, it also means your saddle will be sent out on trial, maybe many times so it is getting “used” if that is something you are concerned about. If you go this route just be picky about who you consign with, some are better than others, some really advertise your saddle and get it out there for people to see. Other’s not so much and still other’s are slooowww to get you paid when it does sell.
I have sold a dozen or so saddles on eBay over the years, both low and high end. I have only had an issue twice and both times eBay backed me up.
First time I sold a $3k Albion and the buyer spent two weeks going back and forth about how it fit. I told her that I had not intended on offering returns on it, but if she wanted to, fine. Two weeks later she was still screwing around. eBay rep considered it buyer’s remorse and that it did not fall under buyer protection.
Second time I sold a Hulselbus. I was very clear when talking to the buyer about both what horse the saddle had been originally been built for and what my current horse was - a 17h dutch/tb cross with a decent set of withers. She bought it for a 13.2 h Connemara pony. She tried to insist that there was something wrong with it. No kidding it doesn’t fit your pony right without serious adjustment. She never seriously pursued a return.
If you’ve never sold a high end saddle yourself, I’d probably look to consignment. It also depends on your risk tolerance. You’ll not have to pay a commission if you sell it yourself, but all the sales gone wrong will be on you.
For those of you who have shipped saddles across country to a buyer, how did you package them and how much did it cos to shipt? I have a devoucoux that I am selling and still have the “barrel” that it came in. It seems big and heavy. I can’t imagine how much it would cost to ship it in that. I have someone interested on the other coast and not sure about this.
LookmaNohands:
For those of you who have shipped saddles across country to a buyer, how did you package them and how much did it cos to shipt? I have a devoucoux that I am selling and still have the “barrel” that it came in. It seems big and heavy. I can’t imagine how much it would cost to ship it in that. I have someone interested on the other coast and not sure about this.
I normally use just a corrugated box - wrap the saddle in bubble wrap or a heavy blanket and make sure its tight in the box. Movement in the box is what what causes damage. If I had the original barrel I’d probably use that. My guess is that you’re going to fall under “dimensional” weight anyway, so the actual weight probably won’t make a difference. Regular shipping services calculate both and charge you whichever is more - actual or dimensional. I’ve never spent more than $60 to ship a saddle, but I do have a corporate Fedex and UPS account.
Get your potential buyer’s zip code and you can go onto the three shipper’s sites and get price quotes without having an account - Fedex, UPS, USPS. And please, please, please - box it yourself and print a label online. DO NOT take it to be boxed/shipped at a UPS store. They are franchises and you’ll pay double what you need to for shipping. And they will be the ones you’ll have to deal with for god forbid any insurance claims rather than corporate. Then take it to actual UPS or Fedex or order a driver pickup. While the stores have to take pre-labeled boxes and give them to the driver, if you insure for over $1k the driver has to sign for the shipment for the insurance to be valid (at least for UPS). Most stores won’t allow for this.
Thank you rothmmp! Very helpful.
Next question: How to insure that the person buying the saddle that I am shipping across country will not want to return it if they decide they don’t like it or it doesn’t fit the horse. I have already said I do not want it back and she cannot return it. What have others done? I am not selling it on eBay but we are planning to use paypal.
I’m not sure how much this protects you but make sure to send the buyer an invoice via Paypal. Write the most descriptive info you can about the saddle and include “No returns” “Sold as is” on top of anything else valuable. For example, if there was a small rip on the seat that the buyer already knew about, I would also include that.
Make sure you have a lot of pictures available too so if the buyer gets the saddle and says “hey this isn’t as described” you have photo evidence of how the saddle looked before you sent it out and a description of said saddle.
I’m trying to sell my high end saddle now but it’s proving to be difficult. New, the saddle is $6500 which doesn’t include the upgrades that it has or any of the extras it comes with. It’s less than a year old and only has a little wear from the leathers and I’m getting the LOWEST of low best offers. I sold an Ovation over Facebook (wish I hadn’t 
I miss that saddle) and included no returns, etc. To be honest, I don’t think it worked out for the buyer in the long run but it was less than $1000 and she never reached out to me after the fact.
Good luck!
Next question: How to insure that the person buying the saddle that I am shipping across country will not want to return it if they decide they don’t like it or it doesn’t fit the horse. I have already said I do not want it back and she cannot return it. What have others done? I am not selling it on eBay but we are planning to use paypal.
Short answer - you can’t. If the buyer is well-versed in how to “work” the PayPal system, they will find something to call it SNAD or significantly not as described and force a return. Buyer’s remorse is not covered under PayPal as a reason to return it - but all they’d have to do is find some loose stitching or a wear mark that was not specifically outlined and PayPal would force a return.
Truly the only way to be absolutely sure that you will not get it back is a cash and carry transaction. Outside of that - be brutally honest and over-describe any perceived flaws. I also like river’s include the AS-IS, no returns on the invoice through PayPal. I don’t know that it would preclude a SNAD retuen, but it should help.
All this being said - The vast majority of buyers out there are completely honest and will give you absolutely no issues whatever. If you’ve had tons of communication with the buyer with lots of pictures and very clear about your no returns policy, you should be fine.
