The Competition

Ebay

 Approximately 3,400 english saddles, the vast majority are used saddles.

Primarily individual sellers with some tack stores. Tack stores may have an ebay store.

Can filter by type i.e. dressage, jumping, brand, auction style, price. No filter for seat size or tree width.

Pros:

  • Ebay brand well known.
  • Wide selection of saddles
  • Can use Ebay’s suggested listing description or make a custom one
  • Unlimited photos with lightbox & zoom
  • Sale processed by PayPal. While PayPal has it’s own processing fee it provides an extra layer of protection for both sellers and buyers.
  • Shows recently viewed items, and item suggestions

Cons:

  • No protection against possible fraud i.e. selling a stolen saddle.
  • Individual sellers typically don’t offer returns or a trial period.
  • Expensive to operate as an ebay store because of final value fee for each saddle sold.
  • Difficult to tell whether seller is an Individual or Ebay Store. You have to click on the seller name. Then in the About section you can see and click if they have a store.
  • Limited notifications. You can get an email if an auction is about to end on an item you are watching.
  • Have to create each listing i.e. no way to upload what is on the website. Can be time consuming if a store is selling a large volume of saddles.

Horse Clicks

Approximately 2,300 saddles. Comprised of both individual sellers and stores. Primary focus of website is horse trailer sales and horses for sale then saddles. Can filter saddles by brand, seat size, geographic region and price. Stores have different options for listings when buying ad packages and get to have a store page showing all of their saddles. Their ads have their logo on the product detail page with a link to their storefront on HorseClicks.

Unlike Ebay and Amazon, HorseClicks does not process payments. Payments are processed by the individual sellers.

Pros

  • Good mobile experience
  • The homepage shows recently viewed as well as local to you
  • Can share a saddle you like on social media
  • Unlimited photos shown in a slideshow that has lightbox feature
  • Can receive an email alert for saddles that match your search
  • Has a chart of saddle features. A custom description can also be written.
  • Product page shows similar saddles.

Cons

  • To purchase a saddle you can either call or email the seller.
  • There is no link to the store’s actual website. You have to go to their HorseClicks storefront to find it and the link lands you on the homepage requiring more clicks and time to find the saddle and purchase.
  • Email contact is confusing.
  • One tab has checkboxes to receive email alerts, sign up for Horse Click’s newsletter or receive third party advertisements by email. Under the contact details page is another email form. I believe the former goes to Horse Clicks and is forwarded to the seller and the latter form goes to the tack store directly.
  • The featured ads on the homepage have all page categories randomly sorted in a rotating slideshow.
  • Promoted business is not targeted to the right audience i.e. a western tack page on the English saddles page.
  • Saddles are not the focus of the website, just one of several product categories and the homepage is disorganized with the recently viewed items below all of the featured ads.

Tack Trader They sell trailers, show clothes, tack, saddles real estate and equipment. Has approximately 700 saddles. Can filter by type only (dressage, all purpose, hunter jumper) or there is an advanced search page. All individual sellers – no stores. The majority of ads are text only ads and only a few use the gallery feature. Payments are processed by the individual sellers not Tack Trader. Can call or fill out contact form to purchase or ask questions. Pros

  • Widely known website.
  • Inexpensive
  • Can add custom description for saddle
  • Mobile version provides better experience than the desktop. You can at least pinch zoom to make photos bigger.

  Cons

  • Website is out of date.
  • Inability to filter search beyond saddle type.
  • To use the advanced search feature is very cumbersome and not user friendly.
  • Text only ads make judging saddle quality impossible unless buyer contacts seller for photos.
  • Basic information shown in chart but the column with names for the item detail is cut off.
  • Gallery images shown as a list with no lightbox. Photos may not show wear or damage to saddle.
  • Saddles may not be as described.
  • No protection from fraudulent sellers (stolen saddles, broken tree)

  Hybrid Stores – Manufacturer re-sale websites or a consignment website for individual sellers. These are not tack stores. Usedsaddles.com – Approximately 120 saddles. Pros Can filter by brand, type, seat size, tree size and price. Cons

  • Website is not mobile friendly
  • Item pictures are small
  • Overall poor user experience

Fineusedsaddles.com – Approximately 50 saddles. Pros

  • Can be notified if a saddle you are looking for comes in.
  • You can have a wishlist, tell a friend or contact with questions.
  • Good descriptions.
  • Photo gallery with zoom.
  • Have a recently added section on homepage.

  Cons

  • Not mobile friendly
  • Gallery doesn’t render well on mobile

  Highendusedsaddles.com – Approximately 50 saddles. Pros

  • Can add a saddle to waitlist if it is out on trial.
  • Has a page describing the various brands sold.
  • Very detailed descriptions and photo gallery.

Cons

  • Not mobile friendly
  • High commission

Frenchusedsaddles.com – Trade-ins or dealer demos only. Approximately 80 saddles. Operated by Antares Sellier although they sell other premium brands. Pros

  • Mobile friendly
  • Nice photo gallery with lightbox
  • Can email saddle to friend
  • Good descriptions
  • No real cons

Apart from Ebay and Amazon, websites were found via Google keyword search.