Long distance buying and payment

[HookedOnReefing]

I am buying a new horse and will be able to ride him etc in the next 2 weeks. However, I will not transport the horse my self and have sollicited bids on UShip.com.

My question, if I decide to purchase the horse, how do I go about protecting my self. I would be paying the seller before the transporters come to pick him up and drop him off at the farm here. Which means the seller has my $ and still possession of the horse until the transporters come over.

How have you gone about long distance buying?

[3horsemom]

i insured daughter's mare for the purchase price before wiring the money to the seller. i also had the mare shipped by a reputable shipping company (equine express) who had their own insurance as well. i looked into cheaper shipping but nothing was so cheap that it was worth the risk. ask every carrier for their proof of insurance. proof is the operative word.

[BuddyRoo]

For one thing...DO YOUR RESEARCH on shippers. Cheaper is not always better...not always worse...

May I suggest one? Azevedo Transportation. I've used them twice for long distance hauls for my 3 horses. One of whom had some special needs.

There's just nothing worse than ending up with some fly by night shipper who fails to show up at one end or the other or disappears with your horse for days.

Anyway...as for the $$. One way to do it is to essentially put it in escrow. Your bank should be able to help you with that. Or her bank. There are also online escrow type services but I have no first hand experience with those.

Another option that I have used in the past is to send the $$ to the shipper to deliver when they pick up the horse and collect the signed bill of sale and such. Again, I don't know that I'd do this with a shipper I did not have a relationship with.

[HydroPHILE]

Have you physically gone to look at this horse or had a friend in the area check the horse out for you? Be very careful using UShip.com. I have never used them for shipping horses, but our company solicited them for bids shipping our products. The "too good to be true" saying rings true there. The bidder that came in with an average price (not the lowest)had poor ratings from people on UShip.com.

When you do something like you're doing, the seller usually has the buyer sign a waiver that says once the horse leaves my property, I'm not responsible. That means, if the horse is injured during transport (or God forbid, killed), it was YOUR horse...not the seller's.

That's how it works in the horseworld. If you're going to take the chance on "long distance buying" then, at least what I've gathered, you send money, you get delivered horse. I don't think you can do any escrow, etc. as the horse leaves the property and the ownership of the seller when they step on the trailer, but I could be wrong. (And if you don't know what it is, escrow is when you put money in a holding pattern until the horse is received. Then the money is released to the seller. "Holding pattern" being an escrow service or bank.)

Others, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, or can offer other insight regarding insurance, etc.

[shawneeAcres]

DO NOT USE USHIP! Use a reputable shipper, try Griffinsburg LLC out of Virginia, http://griffinsburgequine.com/index.htm great rates and absolutely great with the horses, they have hauled MANY for me, as a matter of fact they are brining one to me today from Texas. Tell them Carrie Everhart gave you their info and they will treat you right!! (which they always do anyways!) When buying long distance I always do a bank wire of funds, or if someone buying from me I require that. Most people (and banks!) these days are wary of cashiers checks and rightly so.

[horsetales]

I have sold cross country. I have been advised that in this modern day a fax/signed PDF e-mail are considered legal documents. We sent the sale paperwork which they signed and returned and wired the money into my account. Hard copies along with the horses papers were Fed-Exed. They were then free to insure the horse and I cared for the horse until the transporter arrived. I second what others said, be sure you use a reputable transporter like Nationwide. I would hope the sellers level of care wouldn't change just because the horse sold. I do require payment in my account prior to the horse stepping off our property and I have had transporters show up at 1 am, so there was no way to release any money at that time.

[findeight]

Have always done an AFT (wire transfer) and paid board on the horse from the day of that transfer. That insures they get their money and the horse gets cared for.

Watch out for those low ball internet services that hook you up with the lowest bid for anything from hotels to horse transport, sometimes you get lucky and sometimes there is a reason they have to resort to blind bidding to sell their services.

Not horse transport but hotel...I had my AC blow out in the middle of a heat wave last year, took 4 days to get the replacement in. Lasted 3 days-went to the well known travel sites offering discount hotels-but they would not tell you which hotel, only a list of possibilities until they had your CC#-and no cancellation.

Suffice it to say one of the possibilties mentioned on the map at the lowest rate was the one that gives you a key to the meth lab out back:eek:.

[War Admiral]

There is certainly no reason you can't do escrow. It's what I would do.

Also be sure and get insurance in place BEFORE the horse leaves the seller's property. A lot of insurance companies won't insure if the horse is already in transit.

[dressagetraks]

Beware of UShip. I had a listing there for a while, and the feedback on the average bidder was so creepy that I just backed out.

My new mare is crossing the country as we speak. I have not seen nor ridden her yet, although I have video. I'm really looking forward to trying her out in person. People I trust have seen and ridden her. I am paying for shipping to me. The purchase price on the horse is not deposited yet, but we do have a contract. It does specifically state that if anything happens to her in the meantime, I am the one left on the hook.

I should add that these people are known very well to my trainer, so it's not like total strangers involved. There was an established relationship in the first place.

[Nancy!]

As a seller I would not let the horse leave the property until it was paid for in full. I would be worried that if the horse was hurt in transit that I wouldn't get my money. I would also not use u-ship as I would be worried that you would end up with an unreliable transport company.

There are many horror stories on this bulletin board and many recommendations for good companies. Look into who will do the best job. It isn't a box of supplies you are having shipped, it is a live being that you are investing heart and money into.

Good luck,
Nancy!

[idtogo]

I bought a horse in montana (and I live in massachusetts,) this past fall. I paid the breeder directly before the horse was shipped. As soon as she was paid, she sent me his registration papers and I had him insured. I then used a reputable shipper that was recommended by the breeder, as she has sold horses to the east coast in the past. It went super smoothly and I love the new horse!

[HookedOnReefing]

Thanks for all the great replies!!!

I have send emails to Nationwide, Equine Express and GriffinsburgEquine for my transportation needs. Got an email back from Nationwide saying that they can't do it as they do East-West routes and my pickup and delivery isn't close on a route they service. Haven't heard back from the others yet.

On Ubid I found the following shipper. To me promising as they have a 100% positive feedback, but only 4 transactions. Husband-Wife team and he is an aimal vet tech with 6 yrs exp. and has a BA in animal science. Here is there profile: http://www.uship.com/profile/Keenapp/

I will definitely do a pre-purchase exam with X-ray's and bloodwork as I don't know the seller or the horse. I've only seen pictures and video. Will locate a vet on my own and make sure it's not the same vet as the seller uses.

As far as paperwork is concerned, what should I need or ask for? I know I need a current negative Coggins Certificate, a Health Certificate, Registration Papers signed over to me and probably some sort of Purchase Agreement. Is the Health Certificate something that is normally taken care of by the seller? What else?

[horsetales]

Thanks for all the great replies!!!

I have send emails to Nationwide, Equine Express and GriffinsburgEquine for my transportation needs. Got an email back from Nationwide saying that they can't do it as they do East-West routes and my pickup and delivery isn't close on a route they service. Haven't heard back from the others yet.

On Ubid I found the following shipper. To me promising as they have a 100% positive feedback, but only 4 transactions. Husband-Wife team and he is an aimal vet tech with 6 yrs exp. and has a BA in animal science. Here is there profile: http://www.uship.com/profile/Keenapp/

I will definitely do a pre-purchase exam with X-ray's and bloodwork as I don't know the seller or the horse. I've only seen pictures and video. Will locate a vet on my own and make sure it's not the same vet as the seller uses.

As far as paperwork is concerned, what should I need or ask for? I know I need a current negative Coggins Certificate, a Health Certificate, Registration Papers signed over to me and probably some sort of Purchase Agreement. Is the Health Certificate something that is normally taken care of by the seller? What else?

Good luck finding a shipper. The coggins should be paid for by the seller and accompany the horse. The health cert is normally the buyers responsibilty and can be obtained during the PPE - usually a very nominal fee. Ours vet charges around $10 with the PPE. You should have a copy of a bill of sale and you may need this in hand before you insure the horse if insuring. For us the BOS, reg. papers and signed ownership transfer slips are sent to the buyer via Fed EX as soon as money is recieved.

[Giddy-up]

I bought my yearling in AZ & I live in IL.

I had flown out to see him & met the breeder (seller).

Once I got back home, made the decision to buy. Spoke with the breeder who offered me several area vet's number & she told me who she used. Called the vet & arranged a PPE. Passed the PPE & he was mine so I sent a check to the breeder (he had to be paid in full before leaving her property). Breeder sent me a bill of sale plus his registration papers. I also insured the horse right away for his purchase value. I decided to leave the horse at her farm for 2 months so I paid for board & farrier plus if he would have any vet stuff happen (he didn't). In that time I found a shipper (again the breeder recommended some & I investigated). I had gotten a coggins when I did the PPE, but I also needed a health cert (or something) for him to travel. I paid for all that too. Horse arrived happy & healthy. Things couldn't have gone smoother & I would deal with the same breeder, vet & shipper in a heartbeat.

[Karma]

I did a bill of sale by fax, paid by PayPal and then the seller faxed copies of the papers- the originals went with the shipper.

I originally looked for a shipper on Uship, but found someone on another online shipper site, can't remember what that was now. I paid the shipper half by Walmart money transfer and the other half in cash when the horse was delivered.

This was the weirdest way of buying a horse yet. She was shipped from MN to NJ.