I'm a very impatient person in general. If I want something, I want it to happen now. The good side is that I am willing to work hard to get it done and if something is important to me I don't procrastinate on it at all. The bad side is (well besides the obvious annoyance that being impatient is to everyone else) that it generally means shotgun responses and actions with little research or deep thought put into it.
I put my WISE up for sale and blasted on as many free websites as I could manage and paid $15 for Eventing Nation as well. I know it is a specialty item and expensive (although for the price it really is a steal) and I was ready to wait it out.
Then came the onslaught of scam replies. All basically the same underlying theme - someone buying it without access to bank account or credit card plus uses a shipping agent who will pick it up etc... I got annoyed. Each time I had a response I would get all excited and then BAM! it was fake :( I was tolerant of those that generated from Craigslist or other free sites. But when they started coming from the ad I paid for or the specialized endurance classified, I got very annoyed.
I did have one person inquire about it who was real. But then she started to jerk me around with it. Wanted a trial, then to discuss payment. Umm...no. You can pay me full price up front and buy it. Then you will have a 14 day period to return it for a refund pending return in condition it was sent. Then she wanted to offer $1000 less than I listed it for. I offered to drop it $500, but she said no. Then I (much to the hubby's disapproval) agreed to the low price but with no trial at all and no return. She said no. So I let it go.
I started to look for a solution. And found the Maryland Tack Exchange. A consignment shop in Maryland that deals in high end saddles. I contacted them based on a recommendation from a fellow blogger and they were willing to take on the saddle. Of course I lose 20% to them and they were reluctant to ask as much as I wanted, so in the end I lose out a bit. But I figured if it saved me the annoyance of scams and actually got it sold, then it might be worth it.
I clung onto the saddle for a couple weeks after contacting them with the hopes it would sell, but I had zero responses in those 2 weeks. Bummer. So, I packed everything all up and shipped it out.
You can see the ad here: WISE
They took some really nice pictures.
Well.....since then I have received 3 "real" emails asking if it is still available. AGH! Now I say real in quotations because my response to the inquiry is something like:
"Yes, the saddle is still available, however I have sent it to a consignment shop (I provide the link). They are able to allow a trial period and accept credit cards where I was not and this is more comfortable for the buyer in the end. Also, if you purchase it without the trial it is at a discounted price and less than I posted it for. You can feel free to ask me any questions about it and I will answer to the best of my ability."
I have not had any replies to this, so a part of me is curious if anyone was serious or if they were hoping to kill me on the price or was a scam. All the scams started off pretty realistic so you never know. Anyway. I am hoping one of those contacts the place and takes it on trial or buys it. I need it gone!!!
The good news so far is that I still have the demo Advantage to ride in for now and my new one isn't ready yet. I'm not pushing her to finish it since I have the demo and hope to sell the WISE to fund the Advantage.
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