Selling cattle on here

Help Support Steer Planet:

Spencer10218

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 18, 2014
Messages
147
Today I drove 100 miles to look at a couple of "show" calves for sale. Turns out they weren't. It just baffles me that people can charge way over market price for regular feeder steers because they believe it's a show steer. Now you can show almost any steer but that doesn't make it a show calf. Just false advertisement and I know it's part of the business and it's just a chance you have to take, and everybody thinks there animal is worth more but I really thought people in this industry were more honest because most of them are country people with a good work ethic and were raised right. My point is I'm still looking for a calf and some people need to advertise there product correctly
 

Ms Ray

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 21, 2009
Messages
235
Location
california
were the steers advertised on here or is it just in general?

we went and looked at some steers that were in a online sale the other day many sold for 5ooo+ I would not have paid more than $1,500 for many of them, I'm glad we went and looked because my son was going to bid on some and he said I would of been pissed if I bought that.
 

5PCC

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 27, 2013
Messages
190
Location
Northeast Missouri
I saw some calves listed in an online sale this Fall that looked sickly. They were so thin and they were structurally the worst cattle that I have ever seen. I don't think that they would have sold well at the sale barn!
 

justintime

Well-known member
Joined
May 26, 2007
Messages
4,346
Location
Saskatchewan Canada
Sometimes pictures can be deceiving and it just doesn't happen on the net. It is not a new phenomenon as well. I remember driving over 1000 miles with the intention of trying to buy a bull I saw pictured in a sale catalog. This was almost 30 years ago. I remember trying to figure out how I could afford to buy the bull as I was thinking he would probably bring some serious money. When I walked up to the stall to see the bull, my heart hit the floor. It was one of those moments where I knew within a few seconds, that I would not be bidding on the bull.. at any price. The bull took a great side picture but it did not show how narrow made he was. I think he could have split a rain drop behind his shoulders.
I recently purchased a heifer that I would have never purchased if I had only gone by her picture on a person's website. In the picture they posted, she looked frail and pretty ordinary. Two different breeders phoned me about her, and both said she was a very good heifer. I have always trusted their judgment so I purchased her. Turns out she is multiple times better than I first thought she was and she is going to be a very good investment. Pictures can work either way.
In another case, I was like Spencer, in thinking some people were out of their minds, for asking what I thought was a ridiculous price for what I thought were some pretty ordinary calves. After driving to see them, I had absolutely no interest in trying to buy these calves. Within 1 week of me seeing them, they were completely sold out at very,very strong prices. To me, these calves were ordinary feeder calves. To several other people they were gems.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder sometimes, and as has been said before, whenever you are buying cattle, and lots of other things, it is definitely " buyer beware".
 

Spencer10218

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 18, 2014
Messages
147
Beauty is defiantly in the eye of the beholder. Maybe I was being a little to critical but I'm just looking for a county fair steer but it's nothing to have 10,000 dollar steers there. It might have been a show calf for there fair but not mine
 

shortyjock89

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 6, 2007
Messages
4,465
Location
IL
OLD WORLD SHORTIE said:
Lol buyer beware

I guess I just don't have a lot of sympathy for people going into stuff like potentially spending thousands of dollars on an animal completely blind.  I like to at least have an idea of what I'm coming to look at.  In this day and age of smartphones and internet sales, it's not too hard to snap a quick pic to send to a potential customer.
 

5PCC

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 27, 2013
Messages
190
Location
Northeast Missouri
5PCC said:
I saw some calves listed in an online sale this Fall that looked sickly. They were so thin and they were structurally the worst cattle that I have ever seen. I don't think that they would have sold well at the sale barn!

I guess that my point was... I am surprised what people call "Show Cattle" sometimes. However, I do agree that pictures and videos can be deceiving. They can make a calf, a person, etc look better or worse than they really are. I personally do not like buying cattle that I have not seen in person, but I know that a lot of people do it.
 

Bulldaddy

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 5, 2009
Messages
1,131
Location
Valley Mills, Texas
Unfortunately, there are folks in the cattle business who misrepresent what they are peddling.  Since you are still looking for a calf, why don't you place a classified ad on this board and see what happens.  Ask for a video of any calves you like before making a trip to see them.  Photos alone aren't enough.  Good luck!
 

dfm

Active member
Joined
Jan 31, 2011
Messages
43
I had to smile at the post remembering an experience from the past. Shortly after what turned out to be a popular bull was pictured on the cover of a widely distributed show magazine quite a few years ago, I was at a well known collection facility getting a bull collected.  Walking by the pens, this bull/steer looking thing walked up and his name was on the pen. I looked at the employee and said no way in an incredulous voice. He said "yep; that's him, how would you like to turn him out on your cows?" Many people used him off of that one picture and if you had strapped roping horns on him he would have fit right in the pen.
 

Tallcool1

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 21, 2012
Messages
969
Some people don't understand exactly HOW good they need to be in order to compete...even at a County Fair.

It isn't that these people are being dishonest.  Many times they believe that their steer really IS that good. 

I will often times call before I make the trip.  I will find out if any traders have been through.  Find out what calves they have sold in the past.  Ask who has bought calves from them.  Sometimes that will speak volumes about the level of cattle they are producing...and promoting.

There is the other side of this conversation that can't be overlooked as well.  Maybe WE aren't as good at picking cattle as we think we are!  Last year one of our suppliers tried 4 different times to sell me a steer.  I absolutely hated this steer.  Bad top, bad hair, cresty necked, and bad attitude.  Long story short the steer goes to Denver as a prospect, wins his division, and collects a couple banners throughout the year.  I refused this steer 4 times, and could have owned him for $2,500.

Green cattle can be hard to look at sometimes.

 

shortyjock89

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 6, 2007
Messages
4,465
Location
IL
The selection thing is interesting to me.  I think that if I have to be talked in to liking a calf or have to work really hard to want to own it, then it's not the right animal for me.  Regardless of how that animal does in the show ring, it's just as important to like what you see when you're the one working on, feeding, and paying for this creature's every need throughout the year. 

Just as an example, I'm still looking for an elite heifer for this next year.  We went to all the usual places, and found a few that we thought were alright.  But there wasn't one that really hit me hard enough anywhere near our price range that I wanted to take home.  Last year, the one we bought was stunning to me from day one, and she was cheap.  I think there's a feeling that I and many other people get when you see one that will work for them.  Something just "clicks." 
 

Spencer10218

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 18, 2014
Messages
147
I feel like I have to just love the steer upon immediate sight. Not even love just know that I can do something with this calf. The steer that we  ought earlier this year was super green and it was a split second decision but I knew that he was a good buy. I also notice that when I'm working with the calf everyday that I start picking out little flaws so it helps me work them out or on show day fitting the calf a certain way to achieve my goals in the ring. So there is some gap on what I want and what ican work with but when you compete against calves that should be in a cooler waiting on state fair I'm going to be picky I know it's not my year to take grand but I want to walk away with a banner and enjoy my calf while doing it
 

DLD

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 15, 2007
Messages
1,539
Location
sw Oklahoma
Tallcool1 said:
Some people don't understand exactly HOW good they need to be in order to compete...even at a County Fair.

It isn't that these people are being dishonest.  Many times they believe that their steer really IS that good. 

I will often times call before I make the trip.  I will find out if any traders have been through.  Find out what calves they have sold in the past.  Ask who has bought calves from them.  Sometimes that will speak volumes about the level of cattle they are producing...and promoting.

There is the other side of this conversation that can't be overlooked as well.  Maybe WE aren't as good at picking cattle as we think we are!  Last year one of our suppliers tried 4 different times to sell me a steer.  I absolutely hated this steer.  Bad top, bad hair, cresty necked, and bad attitude.  Long story short the steer goes to Denver as a prospect, wins his division, and collects a couple banners throughout the year.  I refused this steer 4 times, and could have owned him for $2,500.

Green cattle can be hard to look at sometimes.

I agree with this for sure - especially in the case of (but not necessarily limited to) people that just don't get out much. The overall quality has increased so much everywhere in the past few years, that it's so very easy to get behind and have no idea that you are.  You just can't consistently raise show calves if you don't ever get out and see what's working and what's not outside of your own pasture.

And I'm sure we all miss one sometimes, too. 



Olson Family Shorthorns said:
The selection thing is interesting to me.  I think that if I have to be talked in to liking a calf or have to work really hard to want to own it, then it's not the right animal for me.  Regardless of how that animal does in the show ring, it's just as important to like what you see when you're the one working on, feeding, and paying for this creature's every need throughout the year. 

Just as an example, I'm still looking for an elite heifer for this next year.  We went to all the usual places, and found a few that we thought were alright.  But there wasn't one that really hit me hard enough anywhere near our price range that I wanted to take home.  Last year, the one we bought was stunning to me from day one, and she was cheap.  I think there's a feeling that I and many other people get when you see one that will work for them.  Something just "clicks." 

I absolutely agree with this, too.  I will not buy one I have to talk myself into.
 

Tallcool1

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 21, 2012
Messages
969
Olson Family Shorthorns said:
The selection thing is interesting to me.  I think that if I have to be talked in to liking a calf or have to work really hard to want to own it, then it's not the right animal for me.  Regardless of how that animal does in the show ring, it's just as important to like what you see when you're the one working on, feeding, and paying for this creature's every need throughout the year.

I think there's a feeling that I and many other people get when you see one that will work for them.  Something just "clicks."

Point well taken. 

 

Pleasant Grove Farms

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 19, 2011
Messages
199
I really don't think all ppl intend to misrepresent; I think they just don't know.....
they think if their "show" calves are sired by Monopoly or Heatwave, that they are a show calf
and they've heard how much those "show calves" bring and they believe that they have produced
a show calf.  They don't realize that many of the calves sired by those sires are just calves.....

 

Ms Ray

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 21, 2009
Messages
235
Location
california
we are having a hard time finding one this year we like (love) in our budget.  I agree I don't want to have be talked into buying a calf, when we walk up at least one of us must gravitate towards that calf for us to get it.  I have had people sending me pictures saying I have a good one for a county fair but when when we see pictures they are nothing that can compete in our area
 
Top