# What is a good price to sell baby bunnies at?



## qtkitty (Apr 17, 2005)

We have 4 baby Netherland Dwarf/ Holland Lop babies .. right now they are only 4 weeks, so they still have atleast another 2 weeks with us. The last time we had babies the petstore we got our bunnies from sold them for us. They wanted to pay $5 per bunny, but i got them talked up to $10 if any of them did not sell then i would come pick them up and refund the cost. Needless to say they sold for $29.95 a peice.

We have since moved and i will be selling these babies on my own. I was thinking of also giving a gallon bag of 19% pelleted food,some alfalfa horse pellets, and a big hunk of an Orchard Grass with each baby. Oh and a care sheet. I figure that will get the new owners off with a good start, since rabbit food in the grocery store is $5 for a teeny bag of "junk". 

I was thinking of $10 a bunny with their little going home package. What would be a good fair price for Netherland dwarf/Holland Lop mix babies?


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## bethlaf (May 26, 2004)

awsooooo waskally wabit breeder, the price you have is fair, but if you advertise rabbits between 10 and 20, you can sell the more desirable ones higher

at easter I sold NZW for 10 each and satins at 15, Someone would always want one of my "special" rabbits and they were always more expensive, the i wasnt reallt planning on selling her speech works well......... and I always have a few I would have kept for breeding if they didnt sell...............we even sold a breeding session or two for 10 bucks (pun intended)

You can always drop the price, but raising it is hard to do, BTW, my rabbits were sold with just a quart bag of food........ dont give away your profit, by dressing the deal up with food and instructions, why not build a couple small hutches and sell the whole deal for 25-45 dollars........ the profit margin just went way up.




Just some thoughts _Neal





qtkitty said:


> We have 4 baby Netherland Dwarf/ Holland Lop babies .. right now they are only 4 weeks, so they still have atleast another 2 weeks with us. The last time we had babies the petstore we got our bunnies from sold them for us. They wanted to pay $5 per bunny, but i got them talked up to $10 if any of them did not sell then i would come pick them up and refund the cost. Needless to say they sold for $29.95 a peice.
> 
> We have since moved and i will be selling these babies on my own. I was thinking of also giving a gallon bag of 19% pelleted food,some alfalfa horse pellets, and a big hunk of an Orchard Grass with each baby. Oh and a care sheet. I figure that will get the new owners off with a good start, since rabbit food in the grocery store is $5 for a teeny bag of "junk".
> 
> I was thinking of $10 a bunny with their little going home package. What would be a good fair price for Netherland dwarf/Holland Lop mix babies?


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## qtkitty (Apr 17, 2005)

bethlaf ~ That's a good idea. Or perhaps Selling the rabbits and a caresheet .. and offering a good starter deal of food and perhaps a hutch. 

THAT WOULD DEFINATELY WORK!! 

Then if i do not sell all the hutches i can use them myself. *G*

None of my bunnies are different all 4 have the same breeding. There are 2 black, 1 silver(grey), and one "orange" that looks like its daddy. I am not sure if their ears will be up or down, even at 6 weeks i couldn't tell last time. They do not keep their ears "up" like their mother so it is possible they could be lop ears. 

We have fairly mild winters here so we were thinking of building hutches and putting the adults outside, we are worried about the flies though. However it would mean they could have oversized hutches outside instead of The normal cages they have in the house.

The pet store in town had some homemade hutches, super simple builds. Looked like they took 10ft 2X4's cut in half for the legs and the top and bottom of the length of the cage cage builds, then a 6 ft 2X4 cut in half for the width of the top and bottom of the cage nailed that in so it made a box with stilts. One side of the width sides and half of the legnth had plywood on it. Then the rest had chicken wire and then they had a peice of plywood on top that over hanged maybe 2 inches on each side. They had a door on one side with a latch. The whole thing probubly took $50-75 to make ... i am pretty sure it was smaller then the figures i am giving yah though .. they were charging $399.


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## bethlaf (May 26, 2004)

I can build one like that for about $25....... LOL It only takes an Hour, Even yet simplify.........I wouldnt worry about the stand at all, just the box portion of the cage.......... Cut some 2x4, stain it put ti together add screen and Plywood top, or better yet Tin top, recycled tin painted with a can of rustolium paint and away you go...........


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## bethlaf (May 26, 2004)

theres lots of ways to add value to the kits you do sell, a care sheet would be nice, but list a professional rabbit org phone or website, ot indemnify yourself from lawsuit trouble, give the sandwich sized ziploc of food, thats all we do ,here , this is what he/she has been eating, tis brand X and we buy it at for $$ per bag ...
seems to help , offer to loan a cage if needed, with deposit, or they can just but one outright, most people who are buying bunnies from a farm have cages...

yes weve pimped our buck out , theres so many ways to make a profit with any venture , you just have to think creatively
Beth


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## qtkitty (Apr 17, 2005)

I will have to look around and ask Kevin's dad if they have any tin of metal laying around. 

Yeah i am worried though .. i get the 50lb bags of food from the local farm supply store with 3 dwarf bunnies ( 2.5-3 lb each) it is hard to use up all that food in 3 months. With babies now we will be able to do it in this 3. Usually i have to dump some out .. which i do not mind since it is still cheaper.. lets see its $8 for the 50lb and $5 in the store for 5lb .. so Yeah *lol* it pays to be wasteful.

I hope you do not mind .. but i am definately writing down some of your business skills .. and will use them later *G*


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## Rosarybeads (Oct 21, 2004)

qtkitty, I sold my *purebred* rabbits for 15/piece. I would highly doubt you could get that for your crosses. If you bred purebred, you may be able to get 20/bunny, both hollands and especially ND are very hard to come by compared to other breeds. I think you did well the first time, by offering a guarantee. That was a really good idea. If you have purebred, you could easily charge the 20 like that!


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## apirlawz (Dec 26, 2003)

bethlaf said:


> awsooooo waskally wabit breeder, the price you have is fair, but if you advertise rabbits between 10 and 20, you can sell the more desirable ones higher


I have to agree. When folks are picking out a pet rabbit, _*cute*_ is paramount. Unless they are 4H'ers, pedigrees really don't mean much to 9 year olds.

Way back when, I worked at a pet store as a teenager (not recommended!), we also sold rabbits for 29.99....and this was about 12 years ago! We knew absolutely nothing about lineage, we barely had a grasp on differentiating between the various breeds! But they did sell! With the hutch, food, hay, and bedding "starter packages" we sold, new rabbit owners more often than not paid in the $100 ballpark!

I would agree with bethlaf, offer a price range, or even offer them at the higher price initially. You can always lower the price once the cutest ones are gone. Besides, price is relative. Different people assign different values - Joe Blow wouldn't give you $5 for a champion, pedigreed buck, while Joe Schmo will give you $40 for the adorable mutt that his children fall in love with. 

As long as you send them on their way with a healthy kit, well informed about care, and with a nice care package, I don't think you should worry about charging what people are willing to pay...within reason, of course!


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## qtkitty (Apr 17, 2005)

Rosarybeads~ i would not mind selling netherlands .. expecially if i could breed Daisy dot .. but i do not know if she is of good conformation .. she is a sable siamese ... i think thats right ( i will have to see if i can get a pic up here of the adults) If i could get a nice male Netherland i would breed her .. She is a Sweet girl, she had 5 with the last litter (4 live one stillborn) .. and 4 with this birth , she nurses up to 4 times a day, and is a GREAT mother. Her sister had still borns last time and did not get pregnant this time which i am happy for. 

I hear that most dwarfs because of the dwarf gene do not have more then 1 or 2 viable kits in a litter, so Daisy Dot is special.


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## qtkitty (Apr 17, 2005)

apirlawz~ When i first got the girls .. i got a cage with them it was $50-60 i believe ... and a peice of crap .. well not really .. but i do NOT like it .. i got a teeny bale of Timothy hay from the pet store $10 .. and Rabbit food ( junk food) from the pet store $5 for i think 2lb.. i got chewing blocks for rabbits and i got a birds toy i checked for parts that they could break off and it was safe. .. I got sick of paying pet store prices .. and remembered we always got our rabbit food from southernstates when i was little by the lb .. so i went and asked if they sold feed by the lb ... they sold 5lb bags and up to 50lb .. 50 was the best value so i got it. I also got Orchard Grass there too. It still isnt the best price in the world .. but it is WAY better then what i WAS paying!!

Me personally i think they are all way cute .. they are all dwarf size so they will stay 2-3lb.. which is nice. Right now they are about the size of soft balls ( that includes their fur *lol*) by the time they are 6 weeks the last batch was Almost their mama's size, but of course i got the girls when they were 6 weeks and they were about the same size as their are now.


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## qtkitty (Apr 17, 2005)

Lets see i think i can get a picture to get on here.


This is Daisy Dot, Rosebud and Calalilly in order.


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## Rosarybeads (Oct 21, 2004)

Okay, talking show-wise:
The holland looks nice, she looks like the color red, with a bit of dark ticking, which technically she shouldn't have.  She could have a "fatter" face for a holland. She has nice ears for a holland too. 

Both dwarves look like sables, but I am less experienced in that color, so I will let someone else who has more experience say. But the one on the left has a nice, round head. The one on the right isn't bad either, but could be rounder. Both have long ears for dwarves, and would most likely be disqualified for that, but they may be in the "okay" range. Still, shorter is better on dwarves. That's from a show perspective.

From a pet perspective, you have some really cute, nice rabbits. The does, since they are a bit on the lankier and not as round size, would be great producers normally, as you can see in your dwarf, for 4 is very good indeed! They are beauties!   Gotta get back into bunnies, makes me miss them. 

If you get a male netherland, get a tiny, tiny one with short ears. Then you can have big, good producing does, with small bucks, and you can keep the little does that look like they take after mama.


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## apirlawz (Dec 26, 2003)

qtkitty said:


> .. I got sick of paying pet store prices ..


I hear ya...overpriced garbage! This will definitely give you the edge from a marketing point of veiw, because people aren't dumb. Especially since they get to talk to you, the breeder, and see how you raise and care for your rabbits. They'll see the quality in what you have to offer with your babies, and whatever other feed/instruction/accessories you send home with them! 



qtkitty said:


> .. Me personally i think they are all way cute .. they are all dwarf size so they will stay 2-3lb.. which is nice. Right now they are about the size of soft balls ( that includes their fur *lol*) by the time they are 6 weeks the last batch was Almost their mama's size, but of course i got the girls when they were 6 weeks and they were about the same size as their are now.


Yep, I would definitely go with the higher price...they really are adorable! I think finding a market might not be too hard. I hate thinking of "marketing" animals (saw this too much at the pet store... :no: ) based on fads, but good or bad, "mini" seems to be the thing right about now. The screening part might be important, - my worry would be Paris Hilton wannabes looking for furry accessories! Although, that still probably only applies to teacup poodles and chihuahuas...poor things! But, I digress, that's a whole 'nuther thread - literally!! 

From a show point of veiw, I have no idea!  I'm a market gardener raising NZs for meat production, so I can tell ya all about the marketing end of it, but not much beyond that. Except that, wow, they sure are adorable compared to my monster big NZs!! :haha: Does that help!?


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## qtkitty (Apr 17, 2005)

Rosarybeads~ Rosebud ( the Holland .. is a he) has filled out since that picture ... i got him from the pet store he was up on the highest shelf in the corner and you could only see the top of his head .. since he wasn't a cute baby anymore .. and he had a healed broken leg.. for $8 i was willing to pay for him. He has a perminately turned foot from it being broken and some bones fusing together.

Another time i was THIS close to getting a pure black show quality Holland Lop. At the same store it had been marked down from $60-$50-$40-.. all the way to $10. I thought that he/she was gorgious!!

Yeah i definately agree the netherlands have long ears .. i have heard of the big ugly doe .. and i don't know if that is what they are or if they are mixes themselves ( which is possible i guess.. although they were sold as netherlands) I don't really care because they are our pets and i love them anyways *lol*But for a show look i thought they were off. 

Rabbits are addicting definately. ( geeze that makes me sound like some weird collector)

Here are the newest pics i have of them :



















And one of the babies from the last litter at 6 weeks









apirlawz~~I can not believe that pet store market that stuff ... but i can just because i know how they work to draw the customer. Still agrivates the heck out of me though. 

OH YEAH ... screening is good . the first litter we had we advertised free in the paper to a good home.. some weird guy called and asked for all of them didnt care what they looked like or personalities or anything. I told him that they were all gone.. that just freaked me OUT. I will never ever advertise an animal for free in the paper again!

Of course to me i would LOVE to have a bunny that is the size that these kits are right now .. if anyone knows what 4 week old dwarfs look like .. they are about the size of a softball. Of course i say the same thing about kittens and puppies .. i think it is just me wanting them to stay my little babies forever. 

*lol* I know they are nice to cuddle with since they are small .. i had a giant bunny when i was younger .. after a certain size there was no comfortable way for me to pick him up to cuddle and love on him. He was spoiled rotten though.

I would definatly like to get into meat production as well.. of course that would be livestock and not pets... show/pet bunnies can be more "pet" bunnies


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## qtkitty (Apr 17, 2005)

apirlawz said:


> Sounds like he was a reptile owner looking for feeders. It's a legitimate market, but, man! I think I would have to mentally prepare myself for that first!! That, and it's a whole lot safer for the reptile to feed dead animals, anyway - less chance of injury.


I would not have minded if they were breed for meat or as livestock .. but these fellows are pets .. i just couldn't do that.


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## Rosarybeads (Oct 21, 2004)

Ohhhh, that second baby is a cutie. Maybe you should cross breed them! LOL  You're right, the holland is much more filled out, he looks nice. I think your dwarves are full blooded, I just think they aren't as nice show ones. I had quite a few like that, in the pet market. They still look like purebred though.

Sounds like a snake owner wanted the little ones... Aw...


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## qtkitty (Apr 17, 2005)

Which Second baby?

Yeah he took a long time to fill out like that.. i think his testosterone had not kicked in. He was a sad little guy when we first got him, now he is pretty happy go lucky and trusts us to hold him like a baby. I think thats how he broke his foot because someone dropped him when he was little. 

Kevin's Nephew got a black with brown belly Netherland at a fair for $60 purebreed with papers. It passed on in December, from improper care. I wish they had just called me up i could have helped them set him up right.


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