Can you stand one more seller's rant?

[JoZ]

It is -11 here and there will be ice and no, there is not a "good surface" to trot them on in Mich in -11 degrees!!!

Basically I agree with everything that has been stated -- gut feelings, fruit loops, inattention to details. But the above made me do a double take. Not being snarky, but do you expect people to buy the two-year-old without seeing her do more than stand or walk? I have a crappy indoor arena (used to be cow barn, so basically it's just an oddly-configured covered open area) but if I didn't have that, I don't think I'd show horses in the winter. If I went to see a horse and there was NO PLACE to see the horse at w/t/c (free longeing for the 2yo, under saddle if appropriate for an older horse) I would be dang sorry I had made the trip.

[chaltagor]

I am selling some young horses and not breeding for the next few years (if ever again) due to a big change in personal circumstance. This does not mean that I am desperate and will give them away to anyone who shows up at my door. Which leads to my question...........is it ok to tell someone that they can't come look at your horse?

Did you actually think anyone would say no, you have to let the person come if they call? And then you'd be obligated to set up appointments with everyone that calls?

[Meredith Clark]

.....she calls lost after following the Mapquest directions. Aahhhhhhhhh!

I'm guilty of this. Not because I don't trust people to get me places but I have NO sense of direction and I always like to have a GPS or MapQuest as a back up. If anyone's ever been to Virginia Equine Imaging Vet Clinic they'll know never to use MapQuest!

[Keepthepeace]

I had one person email and DEMAND that I 'justify' my asking price on a horse I was selling because she said it was outrageous considering his show record. (I laughed.) I emailed back and told her as politely as I could that I didn't have to 'justify' my asking price at all, the price was the price and if she didn't like it she didn't have to buy him! Price is not set by show records alone but by talent, age, breeding etc.. (In fact I wouldn't have sold him to her after her snotty email if she had offered me TWICE the money for him!)
I had another email from someone in Florida that said they LOVED the horse but couldn't possibly buy him because of "annhidrosis". His being from Ontario, Canada where it is so FREEZING COLD all year round would give him the inhability to sweat, so therefore he wouldn't be able to survive in Florida where it is so hot. I tried to explain that we have summers of 90+ degrees and she told me that was 'rubbish'. I put a 'blocked senders' on her emails after that!

[Crosswinds Rescue]

You would be amazed the things people will say to us as a rescue...both insisting we take their horse and insisting we give them a horse, free, provide for all its medical care for the rest of its life, etc....it's pretty astounding.

We've heard similar to your "anhidrosis" discussion -- we've had people want to give us a Florida horse that doesn't sweat "because its so cold up there". I'm in the middle of central IL, and our average temp in August is 95 degrees with extreme humidity. An anhidrous horse would have a VERY tough time here....but they don't want to believe it!

AMC
cwer.org

[Iron Horse Farm]

Basically I agree with everything that has been stated -- gut feelings, fruit loops, inattention to details. But the above made me do a double take. Not being snarky, but do you expect people to buy the two-year-old without seeing her do more than stand or walk? I have a crappy indoor arena (used to be cow barn, so basically it's just an oddly-configured covered open area) but if I didn't have that, I don't think I'd show horses in the winter. If I went to see a horse and there was NO PLACE to see the horse at w/t/c (free longeing for the 2yo, under saddle if appropriate for an older horse) I would be dang sorry I had made the trip.

I didn't want to go into too much detail, but there are pastures to free lunge in and a nice stone driveway to trot them on.....just not in -11 with 60 mph wind gusts. I offered to make it this week when it is 39 and basically got the vibe that the caller thought that I was hiding something.

[Iron Horse Farm]

Did you actually think anyone would say no, you have to let the person come if they call? And then you'd be obligated to set up appointments with everyone that calls?

really....? Yes, the horse community is small and it is vey easy to be branded difficult, excentric or just plain weird. I am more than happy to let people come out to see my horses (even if it is just to talk horses with someone who actually knows something), I just hate feeling pressured. I am very non confrontational and this is very hard for me.

[slc2]

I think you sound on some accounts(but not all), very tense and defensive, about things that normally happen and are just a big part of selling horses. In some respects, I thinkk you just need to take a deep breath, and smile. I know how hard it can be. I'm really sorry for your situation. It's not easy what you're going thru. But you will not sell a lot of horses, plus you will go off your rocker unless you can just take a few deep breaths, relax and smile.

On a first call, a person doesn't always keep all the ads he's reading straight, and if he's looking at a lot of ads, he's bound to mix yours up with some others. There's this phenomenon with customer business, there's a 'descrimination point' or something they call it, where at that point, you start to have a separate identity in the buyer's mind. Til you get to that point, there is difficulty communicating to be expected.

It's not unusual for people to be somewhat overwhelmed and confusing the info they're getting as they are trying to make a lot of calls and getting a lot of calls back in a short time. I was doing that a few years ago, and I had a devil of a time keeping all the callers straight, even tho I was taking notes of all calls.

I think you need to relax, and just be a little tolerant of some sellers. For example, I know a gal who was furious that one potential customer wasn't answering her home phone. Turned out the girl had just broken her thigh bone, hubby had to go back to work, left the phone in the wrong place, and she was crawling across the floor trying to get the wall phone, with her new cast on, she needed 20 rings or so to reach phone. The seller finally got her and bawled her out and had to say...'I'm...so...sorry...'

I've been in situations where I was on the phone with a seller, and someone would come up and say something to me that just completely blew the conversation i was having with the seller. I'd be trying to manage some crisis at home, and go back to the seller and say, 'who are we talking about here?' Nowadays, a person is often 'multiplexing' and something is going to get confused.

As far as the person expecting the baby to be wtc at a very early age, I guess this is something you have to just decide about in your own way, but it has to be managed politely or you will have trouble selling, word gets around. I think the best thing to say is, 'at our farm, we start them at age X, that's just our schedule here' and try not to be drawn into an argument.

It's a very sad shame that a lot of people start horses at very early ages. You may not have any difficulty other than the seller's expectation, especially if by now, the horse is at a startable age, and the buyer won't even get a chance to start hinjm to early if he does buy him.

I think if you firmly believe that your horses shouldn't go to that sort of home, you just have to say, 'I'm sorry, the horse just got sold, thanks for the call', hang up, and just end it right there.

[Iron Horse Farm]

I think you sound on some accounts(but not all), very tense and defensive, about things that normally happen and are just a big part of selling horses. In some respects, I thinkk you just need to take a deep breath, and smile. I know how hard it can be. I'm really sorry for your situation. It's not easy what you're going thru. But you will not sell a lot of horses, plus you will go off your rocker unless you can just take a few deep breaths, relax and smile.

On a first call, a person doesn't always keep all the ads he's reading straight, and if he's looking at a lot of ads, he's bound to mix yours up with some others. There's this phenomenon with customer business, there's a 'descrimination point' or something they call it, where at that point, you start to have a separate identity in the buyer's mind. Til you get to that point, there is difficulty communicating to be expected.

It's not unusual for people to be somewhat overwhelmed and confusing the info they're getting as they are trying to make a lot of calls and getting a lot of calls back in a short time. I was doing that a few years ago, and I had a devil of a time keeping all the callers straight, even tho I was taking notes of all calls.

I think you need to relax, and just be a little tolerant of some sellers. For example, I know a gal who was furious that one potential customer wasn't answering her home phone. Turned out the girl had just broken her thigh bone, hubby had to go back to work, left the phone in the wrong place, and she was crawling across the floor trying to get the wall phone, with her new cast on, she needed 20 rings or so to reach phone. The seller finally got her and bawled her out and had to say...'I'm...so...sorry...'

I've been in situations where I was on the phone with a seller, and someone would come up and say something to me that just completely blew the conversation i was having with the seller. I'd be trying to manage some crisis at home, and go back to the seller and say, 'who are we talking about here?' Nowadays, a person is often 'multiplexing' and something is going to get confused.

As far as the person expecting the baby to be wtc at a very early age, I guess this is something you have to just decide about in your own way, but it has to be managed politely or you will have trouble selling, word gets around. I think the best thing to say is, 'at our farm, we start them at age X, that's just our schedule here' and try not to be drawn into an argument.

It's a very sad shame that a lot of people start horses at very early ages. You may not have any difficulty other than the seller's expectation, especially if by now, the horse is at a startable age, and the buyer won't even get a chance to start hinjm to early if he does buy him.

I think if you firmly believe that your horses shouldn't go to that sort of home, you just have to say, 'I'm sorry, the horse just got sold, thanks for the call', hang up, and just end it right there.

THanks for putting it in such an uncomplicated perspective!

I'm smiling now (several days later!)

[mjmvet]

You really sound like a thoughtful breeder. I wouldn't be too concerned that crazy-sounding people call. At the end of the day, its your horse. You don't have to show him to anyone you don't feel right about. You can also say, at any time during the interview, that you don't feel its going to work out, and ask them to leave. Best of luck,
M

[mvp]

Customer service

I think sellers need to steer even the wackiest buyer away politely. There is no room for perceptible scorn, as I see in some of these posts.

You have the right to price and market your horse however you wish.

They have the right to ask and hope for whatever miraculously broke, fancy and cheap horse they wish.

Neither side thinks it's out of line.

But here's the crucial difference and point: You as a seller of many horses will be talked about, so you need to protect your reputation as someone pleasant to business with. The buyer of one is not under the same pressure.

[Mozart]

I'm sorry to hear you won't be breeding for a while (you said if ever but you know you will again somday, right?)

I think you have to reserve judgment on the seemingly scattered buyers until you meet them. slc makes a good point about the multi tasking. I'm sure I frequently sound scattered on the phone, you know, lots of balls in the air. I have returned calls and then not even remembered who I was phoning or what I was calling about. I would not rule them out until you meet them and see what they are like around horses.

The parents calling about an unstarted 2 yr old for their kid....those you can immediately right off.

The people who expect the two year old to w/t/c under tack....I wouldn't start a two year old but maybe their background is with a breed (QH, TB) where that is standard procedure. Someone like that would have to demonstrate to me that they were prepared to hear about what was best for THIS PARTICULAR horse. If they are not interested in even listening ...I would write them off as well.