Answer:
Brokerage commissions have tended to be all over the board over the years, and that's fine. We've spent a great deal of time on this matter, and talked it over with many people within the equine brokerage community, and also with many horse owners who have bought and sold horses and paid many commissions over the years. This is what we believe is the fairest way to ensure that brokers and trainers are fairly paid for the valuable work that they do whenever they handle the purchase or sale of a horse:
Showhorses.com
Suggested Horse Broker Commission
Sale or Lease
| 10% |
of the first $50,000 |
paid to seller's broker by seller |
and |
10% of the first $50,000, paid to buyer's broker by buyer |
| 5% |
of the remainder |
paid to seller's broker by seller |
and |
5% of the remainder, paid to buyer's broker by buyer |
| Referral (by an industry person) |
20% of the side |
| Referral (by a non-industry person) |
10% of the side |
The broker is expected to market the horse aggressively and pay all costs associated with that marketing effort, including posting information on the broker's website and as many other appropriate websites as possible, initiating a telephone campaign to contact other brokers and trainers to notify them of the availability of the horse, creating photos and videos of the horse in order to email information to interested purchasers, and transporting the horse to interested purchasers for inspection and sale, either at the expense of the interested purchaser, or at broker's own expense. All boarding, care, and other costs associated with the horse while in broker's custody will remain the expense of the owner. The owner will only be responsible for costs incurred by broker on owner's behalf, when those costs have been explicitly approved by the owner, in advance.
Also, with regard to the lease of a horse, this is what we've determined to be the fairest way to arrive at the lease value of a horse:
Showhorses.com
Suggested Lease Amount
| Lease Amount |
Should be 25% of the value of the horse, per year, paid in advance, the
lessee pays insurance and any boarding, care, and other costs,
which are not to be credited against the purchase price if the lessee ends up buying the horse |
Tell us what you think!