Price negotiation when buying a horse
Hi there, while I have done a lot of research and have consulted as many horse friends as possible, I thought it might be interesting to reach out to a new group of folks with possibly different perspectives.
I've been riding seriously on & off for about 10 years, and in the past year have been very consistently riding and am in a place financially to afford my first horse.
Some background: I live in horse country, TX (north Texas) so we have plenty of supply. You could easily pick up a nice ranch horse with plenty of years left for $1500. Show horses range from about $5k up for something pretty nice to very very nice, depending on what you want to do. My budget is about $5k, maybe $6 for the right fit.
I've been visiting horses with an entourage-a trainer friend and a vet tech friend, all with plenty of years of experience. We decided to see a range of things to understand how ads & prices online translate to touch & feel of the horse. My trainer friend said that price listing of a horse is just a suggestion, and that when it comes to negotiation, prices can be extremely volatile.
We all found a horse we love. Grey mare from a show barn, 6 y/o, just past green broke (and really started the right way), calm, willing. However, she has never shown. She doesn't have her "thing". They're selling her as an English prospect but her way of going is more Western. This actually works for me as I'm excited to explore multiple disciplines. She was a nice ride but very sensitive and has only been out of the arena a handful of times, which tells me she still has a lot to learn. She is stunning & tall—16.2hh. They are asking $8500.
I think they are overasking, and I'm prepared to make an offer much lower ($5500) with a long offer letter of why I would be a good fit along with potential incentives like first refusal (if i were to ever sell her). The trainer who showed her to us told me she thought we made a great team and that she would go to bat for me if I cared to make an offer. So, that's nice.
That all being said: what are your experiences with negotiating prices? What are your negotiation success and/or fail stories? I would love to hear your stories!
Submitted December 15, 2017 at 07:26AM by Wadyflamer
via reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/Horses/comments/7k001g/price_negotiation_when_buying_a_horse/?utm_source=ifttt
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