• Search for an outlet for your substandard culls. Find a zoo or other resource that will use the rabbits for animal food. Learn to butch and prepare rabbit for your own table. Find someone else who will ethically butcher the rabbits for human consumption. Beware of outlets that are easy for you but land the rabbit in a potentially bad situation.
  
• Be picky about which rabbits you keep in your herd to be sold as pets. Honestly assess your potential market. Any rabbit that doesn't have the personality to be a pet should be culled.
  
• Never think that you are going to pay for your entire hobby with rabbit sales. Very, very few people in this country are able to do that, and generally only after years of hard work. (Some people think they are making a profit, but they are confusing cash flow with profit.) Even fewer make a net profit that can be used to pay other bills on a consistent basis.
  
• Don't outbreed your ability to house and care for your rabbits. I know I've been guilty of that one in the past! Desperately needing cage space can lead to desperate sales.

The second major consideration is to never, ever pressure anyone to purchase rabbits from you. I have a friend who once was a salesperson. He said that he found that high pressure sales were always the least satisfactory sales. Those people were always the ones to want to return products, complain about the quality, and take up more of your time in the long run.

Some people say that I try to talk them out of buying my rabbits. I feel that they should know what I know about the rabbit. But people still buy them. No rabbit is perfect. Folks will buy a rabbit for the positive qualities it has as long as they feel they can provide the balance for the rabbit's faults in their own herd. To admit a rabbit's fault is not the same thing as killing a sale.

By the way, if the buyer only wants a perfect rabbit, run from that sale. That's nothing but dissatisfaction waiting to happen.

People who purchase rabbits under a high pressure sales situation will also gladly show everyone the rabbit they bought for too much money and tell them where they got it. "Can you believe that I paid $150 for THIS?" I've heard that so many times. I'd much rather hear that people say, "I got this rabbit from Laurie and it was well worth the price."

Never assume that a buyer is under an obligation to purchase from you because they took up your time. You may want to limit the work you will do upfront for a sale before you get a commitment from the buyer. But if you take 40 photographs of the rabbit, send in a pedigree, describe it to the nth degree, answer 20 emails, offer to meet them 100 miles from your house, and so forth, then do so knowing that there's only a chance that the purchaser will buy.

The way to avoid so much upfront work is to have a website and meet folks at shows you are attending anyway. That helps you avoid having to answer the same questions over and over or meet people in a half dozen places. Pass up on sales that are going to require you to turn somersaults or guarantee perfection. You aren't desperate to sell that rabbit to that person anyway, remember?

It should go without saying, but be honest and complete in your descriptions of the rabbit and answer questions frankly. Unfortunately, that's not a uniform practice among breeders.

A relative had an eBay business. When he first started, he'd try to take the most optimal pictures of products he could. But after a while, he found that it was much better to take close-ups of any flaws on the products. He found that people still bought the glassware and China. They were just much happier with the sale.

So you have a rabbit that is narrow, but has an adorable head and crown. Just say so. There's someone out there who has plenty of width but needs that head and crown. If there's not, you are not going to have a satisfying sale anyway.

Sure, sometimes a fault or disqualification will get by the seller and buyer alike. Be clear about your refund policies. Stand by your sales. If you sell a buck and it is disqualified for a split penis two weeks later, you know he had that when you sold him. Sure, get verifications. A split has to be more than half way for an aperture split to be a disqualification. Maybe it's just a large apperture. But if it is verified, offer an exchange or refund.

If giving refunds is a financial challenge to you, then get into the habit of laying aside sale money for a period of time before you spend it. Protecting your reputation is a wise investment. If you think that giving the refund will give you fianancial problems, how will losing future sales affect you financially?

If you accept deposits on rabbits, they should be fully refundable should the rabbit not be found suitable to the buyer upon physical inspection. No one should ever have to lose money based on your photographs and your say alone. What you think is a great shoulder may not be the same thing to the buyer. Rabbits are complicated. There's no way to know a rabbit without touching it.

As a seller, you do have the right not to deal with certain buyers. I remember a person who backed out on a sell saying that she had no cage space. Then she purchased two rabbits she saw for the first time at the very show she was to pick up the rabbits from me. Honestly goes both ways. I don't have to deal with people that I don't think are honest either.

Price rabbits fairly and never, ever take advantage of the ignorance of newcomers. Yes, it is expensive to produce a nice rabbit. And it's harder to produce nice rabbits in dwarf breeds because of smaller litters and peanuts. Exceptional rabbits only come along once in a while. Why would I want to sell an exception rabbit for very little money?

[My personal philosophy is to sell reasonably because I'm not a rabbit seller, I'm a rabbit breeder. I just want to sell what I don't need and get back to breeding. Remember, I'm not going to pay for my hobby with sales anyway. But there are a few rabbits that I'd rather just keep if I can't get a good price on it.]

Every breeder produces many more good rabbits than great rabbits. Parts rabbits. Brood does. These rabbits are worthy of being sold, too. But they shouldn't have a top dollar price tag just because newcomers will assume that everything from a good barn is equally good.

Rabbits sales aren't rocket science. Keep the pressure off of yourself so that you aren't tempted to do desperate things for sales. Treat people like you want to be treated. Remember that this is a hobby. Never press an unfair advantage. Stand by your sales. That's about it.

Laurie

¶ 10:02 AM