Tack Auctions and GDF!

Well I'm going to bring up the inevitable way to save money... go to an auction.

Auctions are not a very "happy" place, its very hard to go to one knowing that there are horses there that may end up in not so wonderful situations... but there is good news!  The tack and the horses are sold separately so just go for the tack and not the horses.  I know that at the three auction houses I've been to... Camelot Auction in NJ, Harkers Auction in NJ and RSD Auction in MD have it set up so you can come into the buildings without ever looking at any of the horses if its too much of a heartache for you to bare.

Tack is always sold first (at least at the auctions I know of) so find out when the auction starts and go then. Auctions are almost always "hit or miss" as far as deals go and it depends on a lot of factors and honestly one of the biggest factors is the weather.  If you go on a day where its freezing cold in the middle of February or too hot to stand in August... you can bet there will be less people there, and less people generally means better deals.  So if the weather is crummy and there is an auction that night, get in your car and go!  Also if its around a holiday people tend to go away, and there tend to be less people too.  The other obvious hit or miss is if they have what you are looking for!  ... and if anyone else there wants the same thing ;)

A lot of times the only tack at the auction is what the house is selling, and that is stuff the auction owns that they sell there every week (or every other week or so... depending on the auction).  Its always a good idea to find out when other tack dealers might be coming... sometimes tack shops and tack dealers bring things in they need to get rid of and THAT can be a goldmine.  Sometimes they have regulars that come in once a month on the same week, and sometimes its a crapshoot as to when they show up.  But it never hurts to ask around if a known dealer is coming on a certain week.

If you've never been to an auction, you might make a few rookie mistakes.  I've seen auctions where people who have no idea what they are doing drive bids up WAY above retail price just because they see something they want.  They automatically think they are getting a deal because they bought it at the auction!  Wrongo.   I like to recommend that you go to an auction without the intent to purchase just to get a "feel" for it before you go to buy.  Its very easy to overbid for something so if you see something you want don't wait to bid, just do it.  Alternately, if there is a lot of a particular item... don't bid, chances are there are not enough people bidding that actually want the whole stock of that item, and then you can jump in for the extras if the price is right.  If you need more than one of that particular item, when they run out of people who want "singles" they sell them in bulk for less.  Its a good way to get a bunch of halters, flysprays, buckets.... whatever... for very cheap.

Before you bid on anything you need to ask yourself a few questions... one being, do you absolutely NEED that color?  Color is the reason A LOT of items are overbid on.  For example, little Suzy comes the auction with her mommy for the first time and sees a pretty pink halter that she just HAS to have for her pony.  Her mom has absolutely no clue how much that halter is worth or how the bidding thing works, all that she knows is she has to be the highest bidder in order to get the color halter her little Suzy wants.... apparently a pink obsessed teenager, also new to the auction, has her eye on the same halter.  The pink obsessed teenager and little Suzy's mom are now in a bidding war over that stupid pink halter.  Keep in mind, a lot of what the house sells is bottom of the line, cheap-o tack.  So the winning bidder of the pink halter (probably Suzy's mom because the teenager ran out of money) just paid $23.50 for a halter that retails for $12.  This is an incredibly common occurrence, so this brings me to my next question, do you have any idea what the stuff you are bidding on is worth?  If you don't know then don't bid, or you will end up overbidding like Suzy's mommy.  Go to a tack shop first and look around at the prices of things, specifically the things you intend to bid on.  Look at the brands of each thing and the prices listed for those brands.  Often times you have no idea what brand of halter you are bidding on, so go to the store and look at how the cheap halters are constructed versus the higher priced halters so you can get an idea of what to look for.  Keeping in mind, of course, that most of what is sold at the auction is probably of the lower end quality-wise.

Know your products, know the prices and know when NOT to bid... then you will be golden.  Don't be bummed if you don't get what you were after.  It happens, and it happens more often than not.  So you just be patient and try to get it the next time.

Often times these tack auctions will have a special all day sale, usually once a year.  RSD in Thurmount, MD had theirs on New Years Day, so I went with a couple of friends.  The auction started early in the morning selling what was mostly house owned tack that goes through the auction every week.  I didn't buy ANYTHING because the overbidding was rampant due to the large volume of novice bidders.  Its a bummer because I had my eye on a few saddles for resale, but they all ended up going too high.  As the auction went on the horses started going through the main area and the rest of the tack for sale was the used tack that people brought in, which was in a corral outside.  MOST of this tack was donated to horse rescues who needed the money from the auction more than they did 250 english saddle pads, or halters, or coolers, or brushes, or boots... any of those things.  They sold what I refer to as "mystery packs" of bundled "like items".  So one bundle would have 4-5 random square saddle pads and there would be 30 or so bundles total that you could bid on.  I had my eye on one bundle of pads because i could see it contained a black dressage pad (something I came into the auction wanting) at the top of the pile.  I won the bundle for $14... and for $14  I got my barely used black Roma dressage pad, a well used green quilted AP pad with fleece padding, the worlds ugliest navajo patterned AP pad... and to my surprise and delight.. a black "Back On Track" dressage pad hiding behind my Roma pad!!!  Yes it is used, but these pads are $80-$90 NEW so I think I got a good deal.  I have to say that made my day... and its little surprises like that, that make bidding on bundles of "worthless junk" completely worthwhile :)  The deals on these things were pretty good because it was later in the day and most of the morning tack bidders went home, and now we were outside in the cold air, occasionally getting rained on.  I'd say there was about half as many people bidding on stuff  as there was in the morning, and the colder, darker and rainier it got... the fewer people stayed.  I think when I left there was just a handful of people left bidding and stuff was going for honestly... next to free.  See what I mean by weather influences the deals?

So anyway, if you have an auction house near you, and you've never been... now you have the information you need to go and get successful deals on tack!

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Since its also Friday, I'm posting a quick GDF for you all.... Rick's Saddle Shop is having their winter clearance sale and they have some good deals even on-line (in store they are better so get to the Ricks near you this weekend!!!)

They have Charles Owen GR8's for sale for $150!  So go check if they have your size....

and also white AP saddle pads for just $9.99!

If you are near the Ricks in Englishtown or the Ricks in PA... check out their closeout section for an additional 50% everything there!  I scored two brand new Herm Sprenger bits for $15 each... beat that!

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Oh and relevant to last weeks post... guess who just won ANOTHER Facebook competition... ME!!!

Not to brag or anything ;) but I was lucky enough to win a BRAND NEW Tekna AP SADDLE from the awesome folks at Action Rider Tack!  So please go like them on facebook and check out all useful info and sales on products that they post on their wall.  They do a prize drawing weekly... so YOU could be the next winner!  Just like, comment or post on their wall during that week and you will be entered into the drawing.  How easy is that???

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!  Have a good weekend :)