Southern Saddlebred Sales Offers Its First-Ever Online Auction
Monday, November 11, 2013
Southern Saddlebred Sales is pleased to announce the first-ever online auction for American Saddlebreds, Hackneys and Roadsters on Tuesday, December 3rd at 8:00pm CST in partnership with Addis Live Online Auctions.
“It’s what’s now, and what’s next,” said Jackie Hale. “People buy everything online these days, including big ticket items such as automobiles, so why not horses?” Consigners are required to supply multiple photos and video clips of the horses offered for sale – but the horse never leaves the farm, making the sale very affordable for sellers. Buyers are expected to do their homework and further investigate the horses being offered, but with no travel expenses to the sale, the auction is also affordable for buyers.
Addis Equine Auctions has been in business for over 25 years. Bill Addis operated the Arabian sales at Tattersalls just like Ed Teater ran the Saddlebred sales. In 2010, Addis was seeing a decline in his public auctions, yet an increase in webcast viewing and phone bids, so he began offering online auctions. Since then they have sold over 1250 horses to 47 states, 7 Canadian Provinces and 7 different countries worldwide. They have a database of over 30,000 active subscribers plus access to the email addresses of another 440,000 horse enthusiasts around the globe – and that is a market that Southern Saddlebred Sales hopes to tap into.
“We’ve got to expand our base,” said James Hale. “We need to introduce horse people from other breeds and disciplines to the American Saddlebred.” The Hales hope that online auctions, promoted to the ASB industry as well as Arabian, Friesian, Morgan and pleasure horse markets around the world, might put more Saddlebreds in new homes.
“Bill Addis has been a friend of mine for 30+ years,” said Brian Chappell. “I’ve always had a great deal of respect for him both as a horseman and an auctioneer. Bill was sought out by the state of Kentucky to teach equine auctioneering for their continuing education program, so it comes as no surprise to me that he would pioneer the online auction business. I believe this is a great opportunity for the Saddlebred industry.” Don Harris echoed Chappell’s remarks, “Bill Addis is one sharp dude; he’s really on the ball. If I were younger and smarter, I’d be taking advantage of this sale. We need it in today’s business – its something we have got to try.”
Victoria Gillenwater has purchased a couple of Friesians via Addis Online Auctions and has been pleased with her experience. “I bought a broodmare and a young prospect from the same family of horses as my stallion, Zander fan Camelot. I did my homework, knew what I was buying, and am very happy with the outcome.” Jim Stachowski, one of the winningest trainers in the Arabian and Half-Arabian industry, has risen to the top of the Saddlebred world stage as well. He’s done business with Addis Live Online Auctions for years and he offered, “Just like any other auction, a decent horse will command a good price.” The Hale’s don’t expect to sell six-figure horses online – those will sell privately. “It’s the horses that no one is beating the door down to buy that need the broader marketplace that this sale can offer,” said James.
Here is how the auction works. There is a $250 Consignment Fee, payable at the time of entry, which covers the cost of setting up your horse’s auction page. You may establish a reserve and if the reserve is not met, there is a No Sale fee of $50 or 2% of the reserve price that you establish, whichever is greater. That is all it will cost you to enter a horse – no hauling expenses, hotels, or trainer’s fees to prepare and present the horse at a live auction.
Once a horse appears on the auction website it must go through the auction. Prospective buyers are encouraged to contact the seller, do their homework and check out the horses being offered. If the seller gets an offer on a horse prior to the sale, they may not sell the horse outside of the auction. In other words, there are NO OUTS. “This is the biggest difference between Addis’ online auctions and our traditional public auctions,” explained Jackie Hale. “But I think this policy is good business and long overdue. People are very disappointed when they attend a sale and a large percentage of the entries are out. Addis is not in the online classified ad business – they are in the business of selling horses – and if a horse is consigned then they should be given the opportunity to sell it.” Sellers may place a reserve, or minimum acceptable bid, on their horse. If they get an offer prior to the sale they should tell the buyer to contact Addis and register to bid. That offer then becomes the first bid. “If one person wants the horse, there may very well be others, so it only benefits the seller to let the horse go through the auction,” said Jackie. When the horse sells, the commission is 12% of the sale price.
Addis will advertise the horses online beginning November 15th and will send out weekly email blasts. Four days before the auction goes live they will send out daily email blast reminders. Buyers must pre-register to bid and provide their payment information. DV Auction has Addis set up with an online auction system where, on the evening of the sale, the buyer is able to watch the video of the horse being auctioned off and hear the auctioneer in real time. The buyer watches the video and clicks their mouse to bid. When someone bids it appears on Addis’ monitors, telling them who that bidder is and their location. The online auction can offer up to 30 horses in a two-hour evening session.
Entries are being accepted now and the Saddlebred Auction page will be live at www.AddisLiveOnlineAuctions.com beginning November 15th. Entries will be accepted right up until sale time, but those that enter early will benefit from the promotional efforts and mass emails. “The longer your horse is listed, the more marketing they will get, so enter early to take full advantage,” Jackie said.
For more information and assistance, contact Jackie Hale at 205-862-8851 or email her at southernsaddlebredsales@aol.com. Consignment forms are available by CLICKING HERE and at www.SouthernSaddlebredSales.com.
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