I would like to take a minute and thank you for visiting Horse Sale Central.com! I wanted to discuss the topic of shopping online. Horse Sale Central is all about placing Serious Buyers with Winning Horses! It seems like in today’s world you will fall into one of two categories when talking about shopping online. You have either surfed the internet from the beginning and purchased everything from toilet paper to baby formula online, or you have just started and you feel scared and not sure what to do.  You probably feel silly asking for help because everybody else talks about it and it sounds like it is an easy process.

Well, my hope is that maybe I can help bring a little advice to both categories! First, what you need to understand is shopping will take you down two paths? The first path involves purchasing something from a store like Amazon, Walmart, ect. The other path will bring you to an eCommerce site like horsesalecentral.com. When putting in your credit card information on the internet please be careful when and where you do business. Do some research on the company and make sure before you punch in those 16 digits you feel good about it.  The internet is the “Wild West”. Most crimes involving identity theft are not solved so be smart and keep your fingers crossed. Good advice right! Seriously, I would strongly suggest you take a little bit of money and go get some identity theft insurance if you are using the internet to shop. There are a lot of different firms out there. Go check them out and do something proactive to protect yourself.

I want to discuss trying to purchase or sell something using the internet. Most importantly trying to buy or sell horses, here at horsesalecentral.com.

Looking at the Buyer’s Point of View- You have decided to buy a horse. GREAT! Now do me a favor and be honest with yourself.  What are your true riding abilities and what kind of horse do you really need?  You might read this and laugh, but it’s true.  I have had a lot of people pull in my driveway looking for the next world beater, NFR caliber, 5 year old.  When what they needed was an old campaigner who was about 25. So please be honest with your ability and I promise you will be happier in the long run! Once you have come to those terms and you actually start looking for a horse, be selective.  Please don’t buy the first one you go ride. Horses are like pickups, go test drive a lot of them to make sure you know what the market is and what is out there.

Educate yourself. Start by asking good questions. What I mean is when you are calling on the phone, call and ask them to tell you about the horse. Let them speak! A lot of questions will be answered by them telling you exactly what the horse is. Ask direct questions and you will get you more direct answers. I sell a lot of horses and I would say about only about half the time do I have people ask why I am selling the horse. This should be asked every time, even if they tell you, ask again. Don’t be afraid to tell people exactly what you are looking for. If you go to look at a horse, and you have to drive a long way take the time to stay the night and ride them twice if you can.  I love it when people show up and take the extra time. I want my horses to go to good homes so I don’t mind spending the time needed. Expect to get what you pay for. When buying horses you either have to spend a dime or spend the time! This goes back to that being honest about what you need and can afford. Last words of advice. If your aren’t finding your winning horse don’t give up it takes time.  I am the king of shopping on a Beer Budget with Champagne Taste.  

Now looking at the Seller’s Point of View- Sellers it’s your turn.  Say it out loud “I am going to be HONEST”. Be honest with yourselves and with your buyers.  You will sleep better at night!  When we as humans want to sell something we want to get the most out of it as possible, or we want to at least  “break even”. When pricing the horse be honest in the description and accurate with the details! You follow this one rule and you will be able to sleep at night with confidence and maybe even sell another horse from a referral!  If you’re not sure what the horse is worth find people you trust and ask. Take the time and make an accurate video. Making videos are so easy and I think it’s the easiest and  fastest way to sell a horse in today’s market! Let’s be honest, we have created a whole business based on that idea! If the horse has known issues don’t be afraid to tell people. To other people some things are not that big of a deal as long as they know about it ahead of time.  

So let’s move to the next step- OK, you have created your AWESOME ad with your FANTASTIC video on HorseSaleCentral.com and now you have people calling you, texting you, emailing you, looking to talk to you about your horse. PLEASE PLEASE HAVE SOME COMMON SENSE HERE! If somebody is texting you saying “I have a PayPal account and  I want your horse. I am out of the country, here is the money to hold the horse and a delivery driver is on its way to pick it up etc”.  DON’T DO IT!!  Think about it for a moment. Would you spend thousands of dollars to buy something sight unseen? Then why would somebody else?

Good luck to all with buying and selling your winning horse!