Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Price check on aisle 2 please.






Like New 2003 Sundowner Sunlite 727 Horse Trailer , 2 Horses - - $2497 (NC)
Trailer Information:
Horses: 2
Pull Type: B
DROP FEED DOORS, VENTS OVER EACH HORSE, REMOVABLE REAR TACK, PADDED DIVIDER, WINDOWS BEHIND EACH HORSE, FRONT TACK, LOAD LIGHTS AND SPARE.
 
~~~~~~~~~~
 
Normally I do not put contact information for the trailers for sale.  This one is an exception because it is one of the things to look for when you are trying to determine if it is a scammer.
 
Having been looking at horse trailers for quite some time now, there are a couple of things that pop out immediately that show that this is a scammer:
  • Price - the odd number - scammers like to put odd prices on their stuff.  Legitimate sellers would have put $2,500 (yes, there are exceptions, but they are usually on the 'cheap' trailers - see Sept 29 posting)
  • Price - the actual number.  If it sounds too good to be true - IT IS.  Do some research - here is a similar trailer on HTW for $11,200 http://www.horsetrailerworld.com/home/trailerdetail.asp?ID=230966
  • The strange contact information.  They never put a phone number and the email is always with a free service like yahoo or gmail or hotmail.
Additional things to look for:
  • The seller will try to assure you it is a safe deal by telling you that they are using eBay as an agent - don't fall for it.  The trailer is never available to see (but you get the eBay 7 day return guarantee if you don't like it after they deliver it to your house for FREE!!) and they always want a money order up front.  Others want you to use an escrow account - all the while claiming it is for your protection.
  • The military sympathy scam - they  tell you they have to sell it because they are being sent back to Iraq/Afghanistan.
  • The ad is listed all over the country.
  • Look closely at the pictures - somewhere out there someone is legitimately trying to sell their trailer for a fair price - their ad and pictures got hijacked.
 
Do your homework.  Check out this thread on Horse Trailer World: http://www.horsetrailerworld.com/forum/thread-view.asp?threadid=7153&posts=42
 
It has good information on what to look for.
 

Yeah - I'd like to get a 2010 4H 10' LQ with slideouts for $5,787 too, but it is not going to happen!! 
 
 
 
Thanks to Retento

5 comments:

  1. Thanks for the heads-up. I'm not in the trailer market as yet, but I appreciate you sharing your expertise.

    ReplyDelete
  2. And the hits just keep on coming... damn! Trailers now too? Something like that, anything of a particular value- I want to see it, touch it, feel it and go over it in person before making the deal. Even then you can still be pegged but it really reduces the odds.

    Also ask to see the title before sealing the deal. Don't buy if it is a replacement title on a 'totaled' trailer. There are cars on the road like this. You just paid market value for a totally worthless junker, YAY!

    Also consider if there is still a lein owed on it or contact the bank to see how much it is. If they are selling for a little more (a couple hundred bucks maybe) than owed, no biggie since none of us want to be out a trailer and left with nothing to show for it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kind of an aside, but I have found most of the "two horse" slants are really a "two pony" slant, or a "spacious one horse" model. I don't know if it's my imagination, but I hate seeing $11,000 used trailers with no sizable tack and not enough space for the horses to boot. Am I missing something? Am I too judgmental? I am asking in earnest. Perhaps there is some advantage I'm missing.
    I am Boyfriend

    ReplyDelete
  4. Interesting, I found 2 ads on my local CL very similar to good to be true prices. One has the same style contact info

    http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/spo/1540279896.html

    http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/grd/1540399570.html

    ReplyDelete
  5. Bif - I have found that the slant models are best if they have a rear tack and are at least 7' wide. Any narrower and your horse is squished in there. You can put a lot of stuff into the rear tack and free up space in the DR area.

    ReplyDelete