Setting reserve vs. buy-back

[Pav]

For a seller, what are the fundamanetal differences between setting a reserve price versus buying back a horse at a public auction? Are there financial implications for doing one versus the other?

[madelyn]

When the seller sets a reserve, the auction house charges its commission on that reserve if the horse RNA's. And the seller can't usually jump in and let the horse go for a few hundred below the reserve if that's "all there is." If the seller, instead, bids the horse up to something fairly acceptable and the horse ends up a couple of hundred below what the seller would have set as a reserve, the seller can choose then and there to take that offer.
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[rocinante]

Probably the best advice would be to set a reserve equal to 2/3 of what you are looking to get in the ring. You can bid up the rest of the way based on how much action there is on your horse. If there is only one bidder involved it gives the seller a chance to let the horse go.

[BenB]

It depends mostly from you have in mind and what you are offering.
A broodmare (in foal) is something completely different than a yearling.
If you like to run in auction races, the horse has to get sold or bought back just for participation (for a yearling)
In case of a broodmare I should set up an decent reserve call it a bottom
price, I would not buy her back.

[Nijinsky]

I found this on the net.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/SN005

Price Protection

In an auction, a horse is usually sold to the highest bider, though there are some methods of protection that are designed to allow consignors to refuse a final bid price. Keeneland, Fasig-Tipton, OBS, and other sales companies offer reserve prices. This allows a consignor to set a reserve price and any bids above that set price will allow that horse to be sold. For example, if a consignor wants to accept no less than $25,000 for a horse, he will set the reserve at $24,999. The auctioneer and bid spotters will work the price to $24,000. At this point, the minimum bid is $1,000, so the next bid will take the horse past the reserve and allow the horse to be sold. Of course, the bidding could continue far beyond $25,000.
It is also common practice for the owner or consignor to bid on his own horse himself. The conditions of sale clearly allow for this. This is another way that a consignor can protect the price of his horse in the ring. The consignor simply bids against potential buyers to raise the price to the desired level. This offers an advantage in that the consignor can help control the pace of the bidding. Another advantage is that interest can be gauged by the consignor and improvises can be made. This may be a disadvantage because some people view consigned bidding as unethical, even though the rules clearly permit it. The method to use is clearly up to the owner/consignor. One word of caution is that if you bid on your own horse and are the final bidder, you will owe commission to the sales company, so be careful. You might still own the horse you intended to sell and owe a commission at the same time.

Many experts in the industry agree that in most cases the hammer price (the final selling price) of an individual Thoroughbred is usually the fair market value of that animal. The reason is that all the major players are present in the sales setting and are usually very astute at determining the true price (accurate appraisal) of that animal. If you elect to buy back your horse, do so knowing that the price you have rejected is quite possibly the fair market value on that individual
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I try not to listen to the voices in my head.
But sometimes they have such good ideas