MiniHoofBeats
Well-Known Member
Just wondering, I see so many of you advertising and then next thing you know a big thank you goes out on the board!!!
What are your secrest, may I ask???
What are your secrest, may I ask???
What are your tricks
- Thread starter MiniHoofBeats
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Frankie
Well-Known Member
When it is that quick,,,,,,,,,,,,,,the "right" person, happen to see the ad at the right time.
Dona
Well-Known Member
Carolyn is right.....there ARE NO guarantees of a "quick sale"....no matter if the horses is $500 or $5000.Frankie said:
The "trick" is finding the right person at the right time. But then, that's not a "trick".....it's a chance happening.
After reading your post I went to your website and would like to offer my opinion on Sales Pages and Listings:
As a potential buyer, I prefer to see asking prices listed instead of having to Email for them. If the price is nowhere near what I can afford at the time that means I don't have to waste anyone's time. It's also nice to see prices listed as an indicator of what you can get for your money even if you aren't ready to buy yet.
That said, your website is very professional looking and nicely done in my opinion. I really like how you represent your horses with plenty of good-quality photos and information. If I were in the market, Loco would definitely be on my list of potentials but I'm left wondering about his price??
As for selling horses on the sale board I always found that my ads got the most exposure and response when posted first thing in the morning. Putting enough important, interesting and HONEST (not embellished) information in the ad to catch the eye but leaving enough to talk about later is also important. As always, (good) photos do sell! If possible, having a sales video ready to share with prospective buyers is also an excellent tool.
Finally, I'd recommend reading "Making Money with Horses" by Don Blazer. It's not a long or complicated read and there may be a few chapters that won't apply to everyone (ie. those on race horses and training) but I found the rest to be very informative. You may even be able to find a used copy at amazon.com...
As a potential buyer, I prefer to see asking prices listed instead of having to Email for them. If the price is nowhere near what I can afford at the time that means I don't have to waste anyone's time. It's also nice to see prices listed as an indicator of what you can get for your money even if you aren't ready to buy yet.
That said, your website is very professional looking and nicely done in my opinion. I really like how you represent your horses with plenty of good-quality photos and information. If I were in the market, Loco would definitely be on my list of potentials but I'm left wondering about his price??
As for selling horses on the sale board I always found that my ads got the most exposure and response when posted first thing in the morning. Putting enough important, interesting and HONEST (not embellished) information in the ad to catch the eye but leaving enough to talk about later is also important. As always, (good) photos do sell! If possible, having a sales video ready to share with prospective buyers is also an excellent tool.
Finally, I'd recommend reading "Making Money with Horses" by Don Blazer. It's not a long or complicated read and there may be a few chapters that won't apply to everyone (ie. those on race horses and training) but I found the rest to be very informative. You may even be able to find a used copy at amazon.com...
MiniHoofBeats
Well-Known Member
Thanks very much for your opinions and compliment on my website, it is designed and kept current by Mindy from Ladybug Miniatures!!!
I had prices on there but I took them off because I had sale prices on them, then decided i'm not sure what to price them at...but I'm just going to keep their asking price where it is and hope someone eventually comes along.
I do have video clips of both horses, though Loco's are in his winter woolies but I have him jumping and ground driving as a wooly mammoth and i'm sure that doesn't help much LOL!
Another question:
For video, what do you prefer to be included? Me personally I like seeing the horse walk, trot and canter, walk up to the camera and walk away from the camera. Is there anything else you as a buyer like to see?
Thanks so much for your help!
I had prices on there but I took them off because I had sale prices on them, then decided i'm not sure what to price them at...but I'm just going to keep their asking price where it is and hope someone eventually comes along.
I do have video clips of both horses, though Loco's are in his winter woolies but I have him jumping and ground driving as a wooly mammoth and i'm sure that doesn't help much LOL!
Another question:
For video, what do you prefer to be included? Me personally I like seeing the horse walk, trot and canter, walk up to the camera and walk away from the camera. Is there anything else you as a buyer like to see?
Thanks so much for your help!
hhpminis
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Your website is very nice, but just my own opinion, I dont like it when I go to a business site and get pop-ups. I leave right away and do not surf it as I would one without pop-ups.
I too am stumped when one sells so quick but I think as was mentioned, it is being in the right place at the right time. I have advertised horses for months and then all of a sudden I will get several people looking at the same time, and they sell.
????????????????????????
I too am stumped when one sells so quick but I think as was mentioned, it is being in the right place at the right time. I have advertised horses for months and then all of a sudden I will get several people looking at the same time, and they sell.
????????????????????????
I think it's great that you have video clips available as I, personally, would never buy a horse without seeing one first. Some people may be comfortable buying after seeing only good quality photos, but I always need to see more. In my opinion, a good video will include shots of the horse a) walking and trotting in hand on a loose lead directly towards and away from the camera as well as from the side in both directions, b) working at liberty and c) (if trained) set up for halter, driving, jumping, etc. I also like to see the bite on video, if possible.
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I don't have a lot of advice regarding selling fast but I did see you asked what people like to see on a video.
We bought an expensive (IMO anyway) mini without seeing him in person but we did get show photos, I did check references on the seller and we did get a video from the seller (who lived several states away) so there was no way we could go see the horse in person before deciding to buy him.
What I really liked and appreciated about the video wasn't just seeing the horse in it... it was still winter, he was pretty fuzzy and shaggy and really the video just showed him running around and playing outside in a large paddock. What sold me with the video, was that the entire time the seller video taped him she talked about him. His show history, his personality, his health, his feeding shedule, little quirks about how his feet should or shouldn't be trimmed, what sort of supplements he got each day....all the stuff you might talk about or hear if you got to see the horse and meet the seller in person. We watched it several times.
She did have his price and several show photos of him on her website and she did also have "references" listed on the website and I did send e-mails to several of the references which were other mini people that knew the seller or had bought a horse from her or had a horse trained by her. Every single person I contacted said good things about the seller and all of them knew the horse I was interested in.
It bugs me too, when there isn't a price on a website or on a horse. You could add a price and also put "OBO" or "negotiable to a show home" or "negotiable". The horse we bought had "FIRM" listed after his price and it was pretty clear the seller wasn't going to budge, so we knew that upfront that if we liked him (and here going to pry him out of her hands) that we had to pay the asking price.
We did decide he was worth the price and by the time we committed to buying him we knew everything there was to know and he is our favorite and best horse. (don't tell our other horses that though).
I also JUST went through getting photos and information about a horse that I just loved and really wanted and I didn't get a price right away - no price listed on the website and when I inquired about the horse I got all sorts of great photos and information but still no price. I felt bad for wasting the sellers time with all my questions because it turned out they wanted a lot more money than I expected for the horse and it was just way out of our price range. I wouldn't have bothered them had I known they wanted more than $10,000 for the horse though I assume they wanted me to know how great the horse was before they hit me with the price tag.
We bought an expensive (IMO anyway) mini without seeing him in person but we did get show photos, I did check references on the seller and we did get a video from the seller (who lived several states away) so there was no way we could go see the horse in person before deciding to buy him.
What I really liked and appreciated about the video wasn't just seeing the horse in it... it was still winter, he was pretty fuzzy and shaggy and really the video just showed him running around and playing outside in a large paddock. What sold me with the video, was that the entire time the seller video taped him she talked about him. His show history, his personality, his health, his feeding shedule, little quirks about how his feet should or shouldn't be trimmed, what sort of supplements he got each day....all the stuff you might talk about or hear if you got to see the horse and meet the seller in person. We watched it several times.
She did have his price and several show photos of him on her website and she did also have "references" listed on the website and I did send e-mails to several of the references which were other mini people that knew the seller or had bought a horse from her or had a horse trained by her. Every single person I contacted said good things about the seller and all of them knew the horse I was interested in.
It bugs me too, when there isn't a price on a website or on a horse. You could add a price and also put "OBO" or "negotiable to a show home" or "negotiable". The horse we bought had "FIRM" listed after his price and it was pretty clear the seller wasn't going to budge, so we knew that upfront that if we liked him (and here going to pry him out of her hands) that we had to pay the asking price.
We did decide he was worth the price and by the time we committed to buying him we knew everything there was to know and he is our favorite and best horse. (don't tell our other horses that though).
I also JUST went through getting photos and information about a horse that I just loved and really wanted and I didn't get a price right away - no price listed on the website and when I inquired about the horse I got all sorts of great photos and information but still no price. I felt bad for wasting the sellers time with all my questions because it turned out they wanted a lot more money than I expected for the horse and it was just way out of our price range. I wouldn't have bothered them had I known they wanted more than $10,000 for the horse though I assume they wanted me to know how great the horse was before they hit me with the price tag.
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K
kaykay
Guest
im with the others. i went to your site and saw it was a free site with popup ads so immediately clicked off of it.
I mean no disrespect but i will absolutely not look at free websites with ads. To me it says the person is not serious about their business if they wont pay for a hosting site of their own. Yahoo only charges 11.95 per month and its a great package.
I mean no disrespect but i will absolutely not look at free websites with ads. To me it says the person is not serious about their business if they wont pay for a hosting site of their own. Yahoo only charges 11.95 per month and its a great package.
MiniHoofBeats
Well-Known Member
Thank you envypoodles, I too use a pop-up blocker and they are so popular these days you hardly come by a computer that doesn't have a pop-up blocker pre-installed in the computer or included with your internet.
I know what you all mean, I hate the ones where you click to enter and you have 3 extra windows opening, but tripod websites I didn't think were free? I paid to have this website put together, as free as it may be it's not free to me, I like my designers service and I like her work!
The best I can say as far as if you click off a persons site strictly because of pop-ups, please get a pop up blocker program and give those people a chance. In my situation, I don't have enough money to purchase a .com site or the time to maintain it, but I feel I have great horses that deserve a chance to be looked at so I tried my best to get a professional website out there.
Thanks everyone for your input on what you like to see in video's!!! Unfortunately for me my camera doesn't record sound =( I should look into getting a new camcorder lol. But i will be sure to include the rest =)
I took your advice on putting my horses prices back up, those should be updated soon!
I know what you all mean, I hate the ones where you click to enter and you have 3 extra windows opening, but tripod websites I didn't think were free? I paid to have this website put together, as free as it may be it's not free to me, I like my designers service and I like her work!
The best I can say as far as if you click off a persons site strictly because of pop-ups, please get a pop up blocker program and give those people a chance. In my situation, I don't have enough money to purchase a .com site or the time to maintain it, but I feel I have great horses that deserve a chance to be looked at so I tried my best to get a professional website out there.
Thanks everyone for your input on what you like to see in video's!!! Unfortunately for me my camera doesn't record sound =( I should look into getting a new camcorder lol. But i will be sure to include the rest =)
I took your advice on putting my horses prices back up, those should be updated soon!
M
mountain_waif
Guest
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kaykay
Guest
like i said i meant no disrespect!! I do have a pop up blocker but thats not the point. If you are paying for hosting service for a site that runs ads you are being taken!! this has nothing to do with your webdesigner! the design is very nice!! most people dont understand that there is a difference in who yoru HOST is and who your designer is. Your web host is who gives you space to put your site on. Usually the only web hosts that put ads on your site are free ones.
This is my thinking. If you are putting together a site and put horses on there for sale then you are running a business. If you are doing business on the internet all people can go by is how your website is presented. If its a site with ads for things not even related to horses then it just doesnt look professional.
Now if your happy with it and you are getting the results you want then dont listen to a word im saying
Kay
This is my thinking. If you are putting together a site and put horses on there for sale then you are running a business. If you are doing business on the internet all people can go by is how your website is presented. If its a site with ads for things not even related to horses then it just doesnt look professional.
Now if your happy with it and you are getting the results you want then dont listen to a word im saying
Kay
luvmycritters
Well-Known Member
I havent read any of the other replys to this topic, exept your's Nikki. I agree with you about posting the asking prices on horses. I would also like to know the price before enquiring on a horse. When I dont see a listed price I assume that the horse is probably way out of my range and in fact have never enguired on a "for sale" - with no price listed. I just dont want to waste anyones time... Lori
Jill
Aspiring Cowgirl
Is Loco a fairly recent purchase? I feel like it's not been that long that I saw him for sale through his breeder (?).
If so, maybe using new pictures would help. Some people may be writing him off thinking "oh, I've already looked into that one...". And, I know, this is not the greatest time of year to take sales pictures.
Also, have you used other sales sites, like dreamhorse.com and equine.com?
If so, maybe using new pictures would help. Some people may be writing him off thinking "oh, I've already looked into that one...". And, I know, this is not the greatest time of year to take sales pictures.
Also, have you used other sales sites, like dreamhorse.com and equine.com?
HJF
Well-Known Member
I personally think that it depends on when the right person comes along. I think you have nice photos of your horses too!!
Loco sure is a nice gelding! I PMed you.
When Iam shopping I like to see the price right up front, wont even bother asking if there isnt one listed. Also the the basic details on the horse, age, registrys, size Proven broodmare, stallion, show record. It just gets the basic details covered. I hate trying to pry the details out of someone, Also prompt replys. I want as a potential customer to get good honest up front service and I always do the same for my customers. Just think what you look for while shopping and the questions you would ask. Good luck with your sales!!
MiniHoofBeats
Well-Known Member
Thanks you guys for more help =) If both sale horses are still around come springtime I am going to attempt to get recent professional photo's of them! I don't feel they are much different from their professional photo's (in springtime and show condition of course) but I do see how current photo's would be better!
Jill
Aspiring Cowgirl
For me, I wouldn't ever buy a horse based on professional photos. They are awesome to have and I treasure the ones I do have of my horses, but I wouldn't make a purchase without "casual" at home, with regular camera and average photographer picturers. I have seen some horses that are drop dead gorgeous in professional shots and very average in person or in candid pictures. I'd do it like you are, with the professional ones being what is out there as advertising, but would have other non-pro shots available on request.
