I’ve been looking at used Sharon Saare saddles and am shocked at the prices. I thought they were high-end saddles that would hold their value. Some of the ads even say that it’ll take 6 months or more to get one new and the price is a couple thousand dollars, but the ones I see selling on eBay go for less than $1,000. What am I missing?
[QUOTE=AllWeatherGal;6134351]
I’ve been looking at used Sharon Saare saddles and am shocked at the prices. I thought they were high-end saddles that would hold their value. Some of the ads even say that it’ll take 6 months or more to get one new and the price is a couple thousand dollars, but the ones I see selling on eBay go for less than $1,000. What am I missing?[/QUOTE]
Missing? Nothing. The market for most equine goods just SUX.
Last week I was driving along I-75 through Ocala. The number equine properties for sale was truly impressive. That about half were unoccupied (and some had been so for a long time) was even more impressive.
The economy is poor and not improving much (despite $3 Trillion USD in deficit spending). Don’t hold your breath that it will get better anytime soon.
Sharon Sarre saddles, at least the one’s I’ve seen, are of very high quality and should give long service.
G.
Also, people have a lot more choices in endurance saddles now. The Sharon Saare saddles were one of the earlier saddles made for this sport and now there are many more brands and types out there. You can find a variety of used and even new saddles for around a $1000 or less.
Bonnie
[QUOTE=chicamux;6136355]
Also, people have a lot more choices in endurance saddles now. The Sharon Saare saddles were one of the earlier saddles made for this sport and now there are many more brands and types out there. You can find a variety of used and even new saddles for around a $1000 or less.
Bonnie[/QUOTE]
I’m sure this is true. But beware of buying on cost, alone. The higher quality saddles are not only of better material they are also of better design (trees are of better quality and design; they better distribute weight; they have more d-rings in appropriate places, etc.). If you sore up your horses back with a poorly made saddle you’ll likely lost the cost advantage in the vet bills. Or farrier bills. Or horse replacement bills.
The Good News is that high quality saddles like the Sharon Saare can be had at lower prices. Not too long ago my wife bought at a used Stubben Siegfried VSD-DL in showroom condition for half its list price. The vendor was UsedSaddles.com. They were very nice to deal with.
When something gets popular they’ll be “knock offs” around the block. Some might be of good quality, but lots will be “cookie cutter copies” of dubious quality. The motto when shopping in this range is “caveat emptor.”
G.
My sister just sold her Sharon Saare on ebay - I think for about $750.00. Very nice saddle. If I could justify getting a 9th saddle I would have bought it from her in a heartbeat. Thank goodness that was only a temporary moment of insanity since it was about 2/3 of my hay bill.
Thanks for all your replies.
