The Wrangler sits down with equine sales professionals Tyesha Wilson of The Premier Horse and Crystal Andersen of Big Sky Horse Sales to talk about the ins and outs of digital advertising and sales in current equine industry environment.
The future of digital sales with Tyesha Wilson and The Premier Horse
Tyesha Wilson is no stranger to selling horses, and with the current digital climate of horse sales being hot and on the rise, her work with her advertising and marketing company, The Premier Horse is at the forefront of the digital sales landscape selling and advertising thousands of horses. The Texas based cowgirl has successfully sold horses as a way to supplement her income over the last decade. Using her experience in the trenches as a buyer and a seller herself, Wilson took all of her knowledge and created the digital sales platform, The Premier Horse. It has become a hot bed for sales in multiple equine disciplines and generated sales across the world in multiple countries.
“There’s a repeatable sales process to effectively selling horses, which most importantly includes properly marketing and advertising online,” Wilson explained, “there is an art to selling and buying, and doing it well. When I decided to create The Premier Horse I asked myself; what if I could create a company that could not only create strategically designed advertisements, but also in creating those advertisements limit seller’s liability selling horses on social media and allow them to advertise their horses more effectively.”
“You roughly have 2-3 seconds to grab someone’s attention while they are scrolling through social media and it has never been more important to have an advertisement that has all the information displayed in such a way to where they can quickly glance over it and have all the information that they need to decide if this is a horse that they are interested in pursuing.”
What started out as just creating digital sale advertisements has turned into much more at The Premier Horse. They offer full-service advertising and marketing for all your sales needs and have big plans in store to continue expanding what they can offer to the horse clients they serve.
When you advertise with The Premier Horse, a seller can purchase a listing, and then opt in for monthly promotional services which includes a digital advertisement for their horse. It is a seamless and uncomplicated process that allows sellers to effectively market their horses, with the help of the team at The Premier Horse and their extensive background in equine sales.
“When selling horses online make sure you have realistic expectations. Horses advertised through us sell, on average, within 49 days, which is roughly a month and a half,” Wilson stated of the sales process, “in short we are a lead generation company, that allows owners and sellers to use their digital advertisements to advertise their horses to our large audience, as well as share it with their audience anywhere else that they choose.”
Photos taken by Breelyn Cowan for The Premier Horse Stallion pictured Dupont First
Knowledge; the foundation for a successful sale.
“We want The Premier Horse to be a resource for our customers,” Wilson explained, “we are working on producing educational content that will allow anyone to learn how to effectively market, advertise, sell and buy horses in person and online. There are many factors that play into successfully selling horses online, but one in particular is having professionally produced or properly taken photos and videos. When selling or advertising horses, if you fail to prepare, prepare to fail. We want to teach everyone the most effective way to successfully sell or advertise their horses is by showcasing them to the best of their ability.”
Wilson agreed that the digital sales landscape is something the equine industry is just scratching the surface of what it’s capable of. “There is an extreme amount of opportunity in digital sales, especially where social media is concerned since a majority of customers are active on social platforms. I believe advertising on social media, email marketing, and classified listing sites will continue to be more and more effective and eventually will be the sole areas where people go to buy.”
Wilson talked extensively about the importance of raising the standard for photos and videos when it comes to selling or advertising your horses. “It is incredibly important to invest in proper photos and videos,” Wilson confirmed, “by doing so, you elevate you and your business to a professional level that gives you the ability to create quality marketing materials to see or advertise your horses.”
“We have a motto at The Premier Horse that the company was built on and we all know by heart; be so good they can’t ignore you,” Wilson affirmed, “it goes along with your business, selling horses, or anything else you do. Be so good you can’t be ignored!”
For more information on The Premier Horse and their services, you can reach them at www.thepremierhorsemarket.com
Crystal Andersen, Big Sky Horse Sales
Online auctions with Crystal Andersen and Big Sky Horse Sales.
Crystal Anderson grew up in the mountains of Wyoming, spending summers riding in the high country, and taking time after high school working for cutting and cow horse trainers. She was always helping sell and market horse for the people she worked for, but in 2020 a move to Montana found Andersen in a position to make a sustainable career out of it.
“By the time I got to Montana I had a fair amount of experience marketing my own horses online” Andersen explained “I was asked to market a few client horses for a good friend and that’s when I really dove more into the photography, video editing and resource outlets. After visiting with more horse people in the area I realized people didn’t have the time, knowledge or some simply didn’t care to market horses themselves online. And this is how Big Sky Horse Sales came to be.”
“We officially started in 2021, I built the website and all my social platforms and started with private treaty listings where buyers could inquire about horses for sale privately. In 2022 we made a big move and started doing the online auctions too. That is what makes the Big Sky Horse Sales platform different; we offer both!”
The advantages and disadvantages of online sales.
“Live auctions or private treaty sales are great because you can go see the horse in person, and so some people prefer those methods of sales,” Andersen explained “with the online auctions we do our best to cover both buyer and sellers during the process.”
Big Sky Horse Sales requires a significant number of videos, pictures and general content on their sale horses so that buyers can make then best educated decisions when bidding and buying online.
“While people like the fun and camaraderie of in person horse auctions, the benefit of online auctions is the convince of being able to big and purchase horses from literally anywhere! It also takes away some of the expense of traveling for both sellers and buyers for a live auction, versus doing it all digitally on an online platform.”
“I think we will always have live sales; you can’t beat the excitement and nostalgia of being in the crowd when bidding is happening and horses are in a ring,” Andersen confirmed, “but the way the equine industry is growing, I definitely think that online sales whether auctions or private treaty, will be a big platform for selling horses. My hope is there continues to be a blended balance of both, because I believe they are both necessary for the equine industry to thrive.”
Ground rules for buyers, sellers and buying online.
“I think it’s important for people to remember that anytime you go to a sale, whether it’s online or in person, you are assuming some risk. And when the real or digital gavel falls, that horse is yours! That being said, at Big Sky Horse Sales we are very thorough with vetting our consigners and sale horses,” Andersen explained.
“I require full disclosure on everything about the horse; from weaving, to cribbing, to previous vet history. And 7 to 10 days before the sale I require a pre auction exam for every horse consigned that is readily available for the buyers to view.”
Andersen also believes having everything on paper and available to both buyers and sellers is majority important; including the contract and terms Big Sky Horse Sales has for both buyers and sellers being readily available for anyone to read and access.
“I also believe it is very important for buyers and sellers to communicate respectfully with one another during the online auction process. I strongly recommend potential buyers contact the consignors prior to the sale to visit with them about the horses they are interested in. This also starts a relationship between the buyer and seller making the transportation, transfer of paperwork and so on easier and done in a more timely manner after the fall of the hammer.”
For more information on Big Sky Horse Sales and their services, whether it be private treaty sales to custom built online auctions to serve your equine business, you can reach them at http://www.bigskyhorsesales.com
Horse Auction Terms
- Consignment fee: the fee to consign and market the horse for the auction it is in.
- Commission: the percentage the auction company takes out of the final sale amount of the horse.
- Pass out fee: the fee the consignor owes the auction company if the horse does not sale.
- Reserve: the minimum amount a consignor will take for their horse.
- No sale/re-purchase: when the consigner “buys the horse back” or the reserve is not met.
- Max Bid: during an online sale, one person per horse can set a maximum bid that will automatically bid against other buyers to a certain amount.
- Catalogs: Either a physically printed catalog at an in person sale, or a digital catalog accessed at the auction company’s website for buyers to view.
Buying and Selling digitally; a check list!
Buyers
- Ask for complete pictures; profiles from both sides, front, back and feet visible.
- Ask for vet records.
- Ask for videos; walk, trot, lope, both directions.
- Stay within budget; make sure you realistically know what you want to spend, so that you don’t waste your time or a potential seller’s time.
Sellers
- Have professional pictures; profiles from both sides, front, back and feet visible. Make sure your horse is stood up correctly for conformation photos.
- Have videos; ideally walk, trot, lope both directions. For older horses, clear competition videos.
- Have your paperwork prepared head of time; registration papers, transfers, coggins paperwork, health certificates and bills of sale when necessary.
- Clear communication: be prepared to answer questions through the sales process, and communicating once the horse is sold.
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