Behind the Sale - by Dan Liebman

re: Behind the Sale by Dan Liebman

Robert Lees — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 16:59:04 GMT

Yes the sales companies do an excellent job of conducting the sales, however before we fall off the edge of the cliff while hanging on to the pom pom's that you have put in our hands in.... place of parachutes let's examine a few of the cheers?

First most of the people you refer to feel little to nothing in severe market turn downs!

1) The people that prepare the food "sell it to their customers at the sale for significant profit margin" they don't give it away! Lets see--- no suffering here!

2) The lawyers that you refer to -continue to send out bills that for the most part are excessive for what they do despite poor economics or sale ROI's! Hmmmmm they don't appear to be suffering much?

3) The consignors take 5% commission for managing an entry to the sale over a "two day period". The yearling entry comes totally prepped and for the most part show ready after many months or so of preperation by the the farm that raised it out, leaving little to do but walk it in & out of it's stall for two days by sales staff! Not bad for two days hay & feed and a little brushing & wiping! Remuneration could be deemed a little excessive considering the economic downturn at the sales? hmmmmm not much suffering here?

4)Advertising companies... again out goes the bill in comes the cheque.

5) Vanning companies? Well lets see the owners or the farms handling their stock aren't going to walk them to the sale grounds so.......out goes the bill in comes the check?

Lets see ....... oh yes my favorite's!

6) The veterinary process?....... Pardon me if a long lull has just taken place, but I just passed out from fright when I started thinking about these costs once again absorbed by the owner over the past year? Once again out goes the invoice in comes the cheque! I am not going to dwell on this, but it should be said that once a horse has been scoped for a sale the only time it should be re-scoped is after the fall of the hammer where the choice & responsibility lays with the new owner. Surely the sales companies could implement policy to get this under control, after all you can't expect support from the veterinary community on this....they are the masters of the invoice out cheque in practice and would not do anything to endanger or inhibit their income generation.

So lets see we have taken a quick look at some of the support mechanisms that you referred to except perhaps one? Lets call it number seven?

7) The owner or breeder/owner. First they initiate the cost of breeding or purchasing a weanling then they absorb all costs to bring it to yearling sale status then they are given an invoice for sale entry, usually one thousand dollars, then the standard sale veterinary invoices, then the consignor 5% invoicing for his two days work and any other related shared fees etc. then they are given another 5% commission fee by the sales company for their efforts for two days, and after all is said and done the owner is rewarded with well lets see "whatever's left".

The point here is that everyone is feeding off one individual "The Owner" and if the consignors & sales companies wish to continue thier feast then maybe it's time they became pro-active in supporting the hand that feeds them! Like a reduction in commission fees from 5% to say 3% a reduction in sale entry fees from 1000 dollars to say 600 dollars? If they continue to suck the life out of the industry they will indeed get what they asked for an industry that is reduced to only a handful of players..."The sport of kings Indeed"

re: Behind the Sale by Dan Liebman

STEVE STONE — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 05:06:53 GMT

Hello Dan...Another interesting and informative op-ed piece..Your last line in the final paragraph sums it all up.."and the people behind it"..Unquestionably speaking it takes indefatigable efforts of an entire staff inorder to bring any product to market..These efforts must be choreographed precisely in order to reach snyergy as the end user is only concerned and interested in the final product..not the machinations that goes into producing it...Just the product...This occurance transcends all fields..including the myriad thoroughbred sales both nationally and globally and as you noted correctly..whether the sale is or are successful or unsuccessful..... the same effort has to be woven into the presentation.. The disadvantage in thoroughbred auctions is that its just that..an auction..where bidding dictates the price of the commodity(unless an reserve is established prior) vis-a-vis fixed price points in an non-bidding scenario where the back room construction of the items costs are factored into the final products and price points are established...If you take all of what you noted in your op-ed piece...the sales company would have to establish an immediate minimum of X dollars in order to recover the expenses involved just to bring the auction to market..In this economic environment..it would be an impossible task..even when the markets do indeed rebound..at somepoint in the future...the

"behind the scenes" efforts are all part of the overall presentation and just have to be absorbed..Part of the process of doing business...Thank you again Dan for your kind window..Regards..Steve Stone..East Hanover..New Jersey..

re: Behind the Sale by Dan Liebman

Thor — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 21:56:12 GMT

Unwanted Horses-Wait until the December Mixed Sale in Maryland next week. Check out the entries. Nine foals and 3 to race, no winners. She is actually in foal to a stallion that is unknown in any market. NO BID, not RNA(1000).

re: Behind the Sale by Dan Liebman

Bellwether — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 06:21:49 GMT

UNWANTED HORSES & HUMANS???...they seem to stick together on the backside...Long Live The King!!!