Want to learn how to sell puppies in any economy? Here are the five steps that get you operating back in the black and out of the red for the rest of your life as a breeder.
Things are pretty grim right now for breeders. If you have a look at statistics on what’s happening with the market at the moment:
This is the number of people who are searching on the search term “puppies for sale” worldwide, and it’s the same in pretty much every Western country at the moment. This is over the last five years. The big bump in searches was the COVID puppy rush. You can see that the level of interest in buying a puppy online is currently down to about half what it was pre-COVID.
In addition I think we saw a lot of people entering as breeders into the market during the puppy rush thinking, “This is easy money.” Little did they know what it takes to be a good breeder, hey? So there’s been an oversupply of puppies and the demand is way down, making it much harder to sell puppies for almost everyone.
Is that likely to change anytime soon? I don’t think so because we’ve got inflation doesn’t look like it’s going to abate in the short term at any rate. Interest rates and the cost of living have risen and people are tightening their belts across the world, including the Western world, in Australia, in UK, in USA, in Canada. Basically, people are saying to themselves, “Well, we can’t really afford to get a dog right now.” As a result it’s much, much harder to sell puppies right now.
There is Still a Top End of the Puppy Market
But at the same time, there’s still people buying at the top end of the market. They’re not as affected by the economic conditions. So while the bottom of the market and the middle of the market are absolutely crowded with people trying to sell pups, at the top of the market there are still opportunities for breeders.
And for tips on how to sell leftover puppies for more, read this.
How To Sell Puppies In Any Economy – The 5 Steps
What I want to share with you today is how to grab those opportunities to position yourself up to the top of the puppy market. So let’s get into it.
Step 1: Build A Website that Works
So the foundation of how to sell puppies in any economy no matter what is happening to the economy is to have a website that works.
There’s no point just having a website up there just as a glorified business card. Why? Because the way that top buyers find your website and therefore find you is because they’re actively doing research into the breeds that they’re interested in buying, and you want them to be able to find you by looking at information on your website that you have written about your breeds.
This is what I see many breeders do wrong: They just have pretty pictures of their puppies, pretty pictures of their dogs, and they don’t actually talk about their breed. As a result there’s no way that people can actually find them by searching for information.
The thing is about top-end buyers, they do their research. So if you want to get the attention of the top people who are both willing to pay for the right puppy from the right breeder and wait for the right puppy, then you really do have to have your website working correctly.
You must please Google
Now what that actually involves is first you’ve got to have the website set up in a way that Google likes.
- Now Google is all about giving visitors to websites a good experience, and what we mean by that is for a start it should look good on all sorts of devices, mobile phones, iPads, that sort of thing.
- It should also be fast loading because if it takes more than a couple of seconds to load, people will just bounce straight out of it and they won’t have any patience.
- It’s got to be a safe place for them to go.
- It’s got to respect privacy of the people who visit there.
- It’s got to be of relevant content that matches the search query, which is how people have found it.
- These are all important things from Google’s point of view. Also, they’re looking for websites where other people are talking about the website on their websites for example, and that gives authority to the website.
So all of these things Google takes into account.
Talk about your breed
And then you must talk about your breed on your website. This is important. Don’t just have pretty pictures. Google is not a pretty pictures engine. It’s an information engine. So provide information, ideally that matches the sort of information that your top customers are looking for about your breed.
WARNING: The Website Developer Pitfall
A trap I see many breeders fall into is thinking that paying thousands of dollars to a developer to create their website is going to fix everything for them. Unfortunately it normally doesn’t. You will usually just end up with a pretty website that sits there and there’s crickets…
The same is true of the breeder website platforms I have checked out… They cost a bomb to run and do very little to help sell your puppies.
You can create a pretty website quite cheaply yourself on Wix or Weebly or GoDaddy Website Builder, and it’s really not going to do any worse than one you’ve paid a developer a couple of grand to create for you.
The reason why is because developers are good at making websites look nice but they’re typically not good at making those websites rank on Google because those are two quite different skill sets!
Unfortunately, you can’t really outsource the part that’s going to make the biggest difference, which is talking about your breed, because only you can talk about your breed. That means you must face a learning curve to figure out how to set that information up so that Google actually likes what you said, can see what you’re talking about, and make sure what you’re talking about is what your customers want to hear and are interested in getting information about.
So the first step for how to sell puppies on time every time is create a website that works. Be warned – it will take a while for that to work for you too. It’s not an overnight success story.
Step 2 of How to Sell Puppies: Provide Social Proof
The second thing you need is social proof. Now most customers look for social proof before they buy, especially elite puppy buyers. Even if you have a website that is absolutely fabulous, with everything perfect, you could be a scammer who’s very good at making websites.
To counter that possibility, you’ve got to have social proof in the form of maybe videos on YouTube or on social media like Facebook or Instagram, for example. These should show behind-the-scenes proof that you are a real breeder, with live videos of puppies, for example, that prove that you’re real.
Also, buyers often want to make sure they’re not dealing with someone who’s a puppy mill. So show behind the scenes of how your dogs live: that they’re kept as part of the family, given exercise and love, and not locked away in pens all the time like a puppy mill operation.
People want to deal with boutique breeders providing puppies that are at the high quality end of the pet market. Elite buyers really do care where their pups come from and they want to make sure the pups are coming from a good place where they’re parents are well looked after and enjoy a good life.
So that’s the second function of your social media. First one is proof you’re not a scam. Second one is showing you’re not a puppy mill.
Third function of your social proof is to show you have happy customers and that your puppies grow up to be fabulous pets.
So encourage your customers to share and give you feedback, to let you know how their dog’s going, and when they do, ask them if it’s okay to share that up on your social media. That way someone who comes to your social media, for example, Facebook, can see you’re not a scammer, can see that you’re not a puppy mill and can see that you’ve got happy customers and lovely dogs that make fabulous canine companions. So that is the importance of social media.
Social media is NOT the best way how to sell puppies
When you are learning how to sell puppies, do be aware that your social channel, say Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or whatever, is not the best place to attract buying customers. What social media posting does at best is interrupt people scrolling through their feed. They’re probably not even thinking about getting a puppy until they come across your post. They might look at it and go, “Oh, how cute is that little puppy? It’s gorgeous. I wonder how much it is?”
So the only inquiry you’re likely to get from people who find you through social media is “How much is it”, and often they won’t even bother coming back to you after you tell them because they weren’t really seriously looking for a puppy when they came across your pictures and videos.
The best advice on where to sell puppies is through your properly set up website. Someone who finds you from your website are actively looking for a puppy online. When they come across your website, then they’re going to be interested in finding out more because they are genuine buyers, not tyre kickers.
That’s another reason why your website’s so important. How do I know this? Well, I have breeder students in my paid Elite Breeder Formula program, and one of the ladies who joined our program has one and a half million followers on Instagram! Yet she still can’t connect with the right people to buy puppies from her. So if that doesn’t say anything, then I don’t know what does.
Step 3: Have Effective Customer Communication
The third biggest thing you can take away from this and action you need to take is to have effective customer communication. This is something that most breeders mess up!
The first time someone contacts you could be the very last time that you ever hear from them so make it count!
Don’t just flick people straight to a form to fill out!
Put yourself in their position: Imagine that you’re looking for a fabulous breeder who produces top quality puppies. You might approach 20 different breeders and get sent to 19 application forms to fill out! And then one breeder actually bothers, first, to get back to you and explains the benefits of getting a puppy from them. Who would get YOUR attention?
Another big mistake I believe is made by most breeders is they want to talk on the phone.
If you are wondering how to sell puppies without having to talk on the phone a lot, this will be great news.
What I suggest you do instead is have a template of what to email or message people, rather than talking much on the phone.
When you’re talking on the phone, the problem with that is that you might forget to say something really important. Or the person who’s inquiring might forget something really important that you said. Or the listener won’t be able to remember all that you said to share very well with their family members. Plus you won’t have a record of what was said either because it was all on the phone.
If someone calls me interested in a puppy, I very quickly [within five minutes] will try to get their email address. I do this by saying, “I’ve got a whole heap of information which will answer most of your questions. If you would like me to send that to you now, give me your email address and then if you have any more questions, you can get back to me.” That’s how I handle it and it works very well.
What should you say?
In your communication, you should be outlining the things you do with your puppies to turn them into superior pets. Actually explain the benefits of each of those things because buyers don’t know what ENS is. Buyers don’t know what puppy culture is. For example you could explain this way “I do Early Neurological Stimulation with my puppies because it helps them to grow up to be emotionally resilient dogs likely to have good behavior in all sorts of circumstances and not be prone to behavioral issues or separation anxiety.” Or “I get my potty training started on all my puppies because I want to make sure that it’s as easy as possible for my buyers to potty-train their pups into their home environment.” So everything you do, try to phrase it in terms of what’s in it for the buyer.
Step 4 of How to Sell Puppies: Keep a PAID Waiting List
The fourth thing that I see most breeders mess up is they don’t keep a paid waiting list. I know a lot of breeders say, “Oh, you should never take a deposit until puppies are born.”
But that means that you’d be breeding without having a strong waiting list to breed to! In today’s economy, who wants to take the risk that you won’t have buyers ready for when those puppies are ready to go home?
Thing is people won’t take being on your waiting list seriously unless they actually give you some money. They’ll even forget totally that they’re even on your waiting list. So that’s a good reason to take a big deposit, and we recommend a $500 commitment.
Thing is though, if you don’t have a puppy for them in the timeframe you’ve stated in your correspondence to them, then they’re entitled [or they should be entitled] to all of their deposit back. So just don’t go off spending it all! Keep some aside. And if you don’t have a puppy for them, you can always give them their deposit back [after giving them a reasonable wait time that they can expect to wait]. That removes the barrier to them joining your list. If it’s all refundable, then there’s no barrier.
Another mistake I see: Some breeders will take deposits and then say, “You’ll never see a dollar of that again. No matter what happens, the sky might fall, but you’ll never see it again”.
That isn’t fair, and it puts people off joining your waiting list, even if the deposit is only $200. Many breeders say, “Well, if I don’t have a puppy for you, we’ll put that over as a credit on another puppy.” The buyers’ situation might change so they are unable to have a dog any more e,g, their marriage might break up, or they are sent to another country to live or whatever. And too many breeders will respond “We don’t care. You’ll always have this $200 credit here though.”
That’s really not fair, probably not even legal.
So be fair, be legal and compliant to your local rules and have a refundable deposit.
Regarding the expected waiting time you give them at the start, I find that most people, if there’s only a delay of a couple of months, will stay on your list. They don’t want to start all over again looking for another breeder. Once they find you, they’re happy to stick with you [if you are good of course]. What’s a couple of months compared to the next 12 or 15 years of owning the dog, right?
Step 5: Be the BEST
Which brings me down to the fifth step that is absolutely imperative if you want to operate in the black in today’s economy and that is be the best. Strive to be the best you can be.
What does the best mean?
The best means making sure that you are breeding what the top end buyers are looking for. People at the top end of the market are looking for:
- A puppy that is likely to live a long and healthy life, and
- A puppy that will be fun to own with behavior they’re going to enjoy living with.
Those are the two most important things elite buyers are looking for.
For example, we have two different US listings here: 
People can buy a chocolate Labrador puppy for $400 right now on Puppyfind. As to where to sell puppies, this marketplace is right at the bottom. It’s one of the places where people seeking bargains go. And its absolutely crowded with sellers!
But at the same time, we’ve got people buying from PuppySpot in the USA virtually the same puppy – a chocolate Labrador – for seven or even eight times as much money!
Why are they willing to pay that extra money? And the answer lies in the 10-year health guarantee that is offered by PuppySpot puppies.
Now, I’m not telling you PuppySpot is where to sell puppies, and I’m not saying its not either, [I’ve been told PuppySpot takes more than half the money to cover the ten-year health guarantee].
What the takeaway is from this example is that a strong health guarantee will get you a better price, and we haven’t even started talking yet about all the other things you can be doing to add value to your pups.
A strong health guarantee is definitely one of them, but for example, on Puppyspot it doesn’t say anything about potty training being started, or other things the breeder can do to enhance the experience of owning a puppy such as personality matching, ENS, puppy culture, crate conditioning, chew toy conditioning. All those things that you could be doing with your pups, are not even mentioned.
So imagine if the person who’s willing to pay a high price for a puppy could find you on your website and they see the social proof that you’re a great breeder and that you’re real, you’re not a scammer, you’ve got happy customers, you effectively communicate the benefits, and you’re adding real benefits on the social side as well, like getting the potty training and stuff started….. Do you think that they’re more likely to go with you than a puppy from this website here? I think they are! And this is the essence of how to sell puppies. Make it a no-brainer for the discerning buyer to say YES!
We have a lot of influence over our puppies. We’ve got them for their whole early childhood. The first eight to nine weeks of a puppy’s life is its early childhood. What we do and we don’t do makes a massive difference to how puppies show up, and that’s no news to most of you guys. With very small interventions, we can help our puppies turn out to be the best they can be. We can avoid inbreeding. We can do all our health testing. We can offer a health guarantee that’s very strong and fair on us and fair on the buyer, and make our puppies irresistible, worth paying for, and worth waiting for.
The 5 Steps of How to Sell Puppies
Now, so those are the five steps to selling puppies to get you out of the red and into the black no matter what is happening with the economy:
- Have a website that works.
- Make sure you have some social proof through some sort of social channel or two.
- Make sure that you communicate the value effectively with your communication. Don’t waste communication inquiries from your buyers.
- Have a paid waiting list so that you can breed with confidence and make your puppies worth it.
- Breed for the buyer. Manage your puppies for the buyer.
Like to know more about how to sell puppies and optimize your success as a breeder?
I have a free one-hour online masterclass for breeders that you can watch anytime. Learn more about how to sell puppies successfully by grabbing your free seat on the Masterclass here.
Watch the masterclass. You’ll get a lot more information on how to sell puppies successfully than what I was able to share here, and I look forward to talking with some of you personally about your breeding business afterwards if you would like to. So thanks and I’ll catch you next time.
Be First to Comment