Horses for Sale on Behalf - Charges?

I take in horses for schooling and have a set price per day.

I've been asked to take one and sell it on behalf. Does anybody know what happens about the sale nowadays. It used to be that you charged the daily riding/care fee and were then paid a commission (per centage of the sale price) or a lump sum on sale of the horse.

There used to be another deal where the owner passed the horse on to somebody like me and retained a half share. I would pay all expenses and when the horse sold I would get 50%. Not keen on this one as it may not sell, or could go for too low a price, along with differing opinions about whether to pursue sale etc etc.

Anybody with experience recently?

Thanks.

I can follow this up with a friend when I can get him on the phone but I would definitely go for the former option. He does lots of things from breaking to schooling but also takes them out to competition if necessary. From memory his set up is broken down into owners paying all food,vet bills, farrier etc and then so much an hour for schooling (as that can change from horse to horse and day to day - all recorded for the clients) and if he finds a buyer for a client's horse (assuming they want to sell it!) he gets anything from 15% up. I'm sure he told me he got 50% from one sale.

I imagine you have to look into what you have to do with the horse on top of the other fees to be able to sell it. Some of his Warmblood breeders don't ride their own horses! I will try and find out for you but he is not answering the phone at the moment to clarify this.

OK Toast - managed to get hold of my friend tonight. The first thing I said was I knew nothing about the horse as to whether it was green or an experiened eventer etc but he just laughed. I don't know what you charge but he is cheap for where he is - but given that I asked him what he would do if asked to sell a horse, what would he charge? The answer was: $250 per week which would include grazing and feeding. It would be ridden 4 - 6 times a week (as in need). The owners would pay all extras such as shoeing, drenching etc. They would pay for advertising and if the horse arrived skinny, they would also have to pay extra for additional feed. For that scenario he would want 10% commission on the sale. He added that he does have 50% commission arrangements but this is for friends that are going to be a longer prospect and I suspect is only charging hours rather than a weekly charge. Forgot to clarify. I asked about the times he takes horses to competition and his answer was that he charges entry fees and mileage - but I know he loves competing so probably as much in it for him as the owner to see that the horse is doing what he expects of it! Hope that is of some help.

The only person I know who does this atm works it like this:
You want to sell 'nobby'. You have him ready to go for sale: shod and in good weight etc. You tell 'V' what you will accept for him. Say $4000. V takes him, markets him and sells him and puts her price on.. say $6000. Horse sells you get 4k she gets 2k.

Out of her cut she pays for any makeover work (clipping, tidying etc) photos and TM fees, a few rides maybe, feed while the horse is at her place.

V is very picky about what horses she sells... they have to be saleable! She assesses what it will cost her to sell each individual horse and prices accordingly. She wont take horses that won't sell quickly or if the owner has an unreasonable price in mind. However, V is very good at what she does horses sell rapidly for her in her target market.

So assess the horse. Will you have to make the horse saleable first?
Assess your own marketing skills. Can you sell? (as opposed to waiting for a buyer) What is the target market? When you have considered all this, then cost it out and work out what it has to pay you to make it worth your while.

Thanks for all that.

If I was to sell anything I usually do it myself. However, earlier in the year I did get someone to sell on my behalf a pony. Pony was in good condition, wormed, shod etc had been out to competitions and PC. The rider didn't want him anymore so instead of him sitting in the paddock occassionally being ridden by me sent him off to be sold.

The agreement we had was I did all the worming etc, I didn't pay grazing or feed because he was used for lessons and shown until he sold. We did agree on a fixed price e.g. I wanted $1000 they wanted $1000 so we sold him for $2000. This worked well and he went very quickly because he was still in work and being shown.

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