Annetta
Well-Known Member
Let me start by saying that I almost never have horses for sale; I raise a few foals here & there for my own purposes but for the most part they are for me & they stay here. So, I don't do the website thing & generally don't have to figure out how to word catchy ads.
But, I talk to people, surf a lot of ads, & I see what people are buying and selling.
First, a question: Time after time people here say that if there are no prices listed, they don't bother to inquire. If posted prices are so important, why do are some breeders I know selling horses left, right & center without ever posting a price on their websites? Obviously there are plenty of people out there that buy even when prices are 'private treaty' or not posted at all.
Now an observation: (And let me say this doesn't apply to everyone, because obviously there are some people that know how to pick a good horse, some people have extremely good quality horses for sale, and some of the horses being bought/sold are top quality.) So often, though, this is what I see:
People will buy a horse that is "nothing" if: 1) horse is being sold by a big name farm 2)horse has a fancy pedigree 3)seller can give a really good sales pitch. Any 1 of these may apply, often all 3 apply. I've been looking at some ads & websites (not saying where, I've been all over!) & there are some darned ugly horses being touted as top notch individuals. Some of them have big price tags, and some of them have sold too. I look at some of the photos & shake my head. Sure, maybe in some cases the photos don't do justice to the horse, but I can say for sure that some of the photos are GOOD photos of POOR quality horses. Sales pitch is often impressive though, & I guess maybe people fall for that?
Sometimes I wonder if they've posted the wrong photos, & the fancy sales pitch belongs to a different horse?
I don't personally go in for fancy sales pitches. If you give me a big long song & dance about how fantastic a horse is, he'd better look the part. Otherwise I just say you gotta be kidding, & go on my way. Big names don't impress me; I've seen on here that some believe big name farms are "consistant in quality" and so people prefer to buy from them. My oh my, I've seen very poor horses come from big name farms; if that is the consistant quality then it's worse than I thought.
Now for my pet peeve: Ads that say a specific horse has outgrown his A papers, so the horse sells without the A papers. Okay so far. Then the seller goes on to say that the horse can be hardshipped AMHR. How many people are still falling for that, a year after AMHR closed the registry to non-papered horses? Is it a deliberate attempt to mislead, or do so many sellers still not know this?
heh heh, now if I were in a position to buy I did come across one interesting horse on a sale site yesterday; a nice black appaloosa mare--nice age, nice looking, great color, decent breeding. But, I'm not needing another mare, or another horse at all so I am resisting temptation. I am strong!
:
But, I talk to people, surf a lot of ads, & I see what people are buying and selling.
First, a question: Time after time people here say that if there are no prices listed, they don't bother to inquire. If posted prices are so important, why do are some breeders I know selling horses left, right & center without ever posting a price on their websites? Obviously there are plenty of people out there that buy even when prices are 'private treaty' or not posted at all.
Now an observation: (And let me say this doesn't apply to everyone, because obviously there are some people that know how to pick a good horse, some people have extremely good quality horses for sale, and some of the horses being bought/sold are top quality.) So often, though, this is what I see:
People will buy a horse that is "nothing" if: 1) horse is being sold by a big name farm 2)horse has a fancy pedigree 3)seller can give a really good sales pitch. Any 1 of these may apply, often all 3 apply. I've been looking at some ads & websites (not saying where, I've been all over!) & there are some darned ugly horses being touted as top notch individuals. Some of them have big price tags, and some of them have sold too. I look at some of the photos & shake my head. Sure, maybe in some cases the photos don't do justice to the horse, but I can say for sure that some of the photos are GOOD photos of POOR quality horses. Sales pitch is often impressive though, & I guess maybe people fall for that?
Sometimes I wonder if they've posted the wrong photos, & the fancy sales pitch belongs to a different horse?
I don't personally go in for fancy sales pitches. If you give me a big long song & dance about how fantastic a horse is, he'd better look the part. Otherwise I just say you gotta be kidding, & go on my way. Big names don't impress me; I've seen on here that some believe big name farms are "consistant in quality" and so people prefer to buy from them. My oh my, I've seen very poor horses come from big name farms; if that is the consistant quality then it's worse than I thought.
Now for my pet peeve: Ads that say a specific horse has outgrown his A papers, so the horse sells without the A papers. Okay so far. Then the seller goes on to say that the horse can be hardshipped AMHR. How many people are still falling for that, a year after AMHR closed the registry to non-papered horses? Is it a deliberate attempt to mislead, or do so many sellers still not know this?
heh heh, now if I were in a position to buy I did come across one interesting horse on a sale site yesterday; a nice black appaloosa mare--nice age, nice looking, great color, decent breeding. But, I'm not needing another mare, or another horse at all so I am resisting temptation. I am strong!
