What turns you off from a potential buyer?

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MR_ND

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What are your things that you don't like and just turns you off, when you have a potential buyer contact you.

I HATE when people use chat speak and no commas, periods or punctuation. Granted my grammar and typing isn't perfect, but I try, I also HATE trying to decipher chat speak, sometimes when I get an email like that, I sit staring at the screen hoping it will decipher itself, then I start going through and trying to figure out what it means. I often wonder, if your typing and spelling is that lazy, does it carry over into other aspects of your life? Will you actually take care of the rabbit I might sell you or will you just be lazy about it like your grammar is?
I realize that some people can't help it, some people have a learning disability, my friend who is two years older than me can't spell very well, but at least she tries.
 
Not being able to pick up the animal themselves. If they cannot drive to go get the animal they want, how can they make sure that they will always have food and bedding?
 
Zass":1i6dxx94 said:
Not being able to pick up the animal themselves. If they cannot drive to go get the animal they want, how can they make sure that they will always have food and bedding?


yes, yes, YES!!!!!
 
I get very turned off when people try to push me...like wanting to do a sale at night. When my ads clearly state no sales after 6 pm. And when they try to change a package deal, I am willing to give some off a pair..but no one should try to get more off than offered. Or turn around and say "why can't I get one for the reduced price?" And if you call me when you are impaired (drunk or obviously stoned) there is no way I will ever do business with you. .... :explode:
 
"I am interested in your animal"

10mins later: "hello?"

30mins later "did you get my message?"

continue for the next 2 days

I do not live on facebook. My email stuff goes to the downstairs computer. I will get to you eventually. I actually told one person after multiple series of 5 messages between when I could answer them that they were being annoying and they flamed my facebook page. :roll:


Not being able to pick up the animal themselves. If they cannot drive to go get the animal they want, how can they make sure that they will always have food and bedding?

I find it pretty normal that not everyone can pick up the animal themselves or they don't want to. If someone else is going that way why make 2 people do it. Some people with homesteads also homeschool their children and can't leave but have certain supply pickup days. Some people work crazy schedules. Today my husband took off work because the only way someone could pick up several chinchillas was if they went with someone else who was shopping in our city and they live 2 hours away. Doesn't impact care of the animal at all in most cases. It's not like bedding and food need bought on a specific schedule. Keep track of what you've got and how fast you are using it and you can find someone to pick up more before you run out. We also had whole pallets delivered to the stable sometimes because we couldn't get to the feed store we wanted to use at hours they were open for several months at a time. People can make due even if they can't get to your place.
 
I don't like it when people try to talk down my prices. I don't think any rabbit is worth only $4...
 
akane":168zk2bq said:
Not being able to pick up the animal themselves. If they cannot drive to go get the animal they want, how can they make sure that they will always have food and bedding?

I find it pretty normal that not everyone can pick up the animal themselves or they don't want to. If someone else is going that way why make 2 people do it. Some people with homesteads also homeschool their children and can't leave but have certain supply pickup days. Some people work crazy schedules. Today my husband took off work because the only way someone could pick up several chinchillas was if they went with someone else who was shopping in our city and they live 2 hours away. Doesn't impact care of the animal at all in most cases. It's not like bedding and food need bought on a specific schedule. Keep track of what you've got and how fast you are using it and you can find someone to pick up more before you run out. We also had whole pallets delivered to the stable sometimes because we couldn't get to the feed store we wanted to use at hours they were open for several months at a time. People can make due even if they can't get to your place.


Your right, I wasn't thinking about a carpool situation or a scenario where people are compromised due to distance. :oops: I have a paid-for buck here that I've been holding onto for someone for about a month now. The buyer has been doing their best to find transportation, but it's been tricky because they live over 6 hours away. That kind of thing is understandable.
I should have been more clear.

The ones who rub me the wrong way are those who live relatively nearby, but want me to deliver the rabbit to them because they have no access to a moving vehicle no matter how flexible my schedule is or how long I'm willing to hold onto an animal for them.
:shrug: All I can think is that they really truly have no way to move around, or they really don't want the rabbit badly enough to go out of their way for it.
 
I hate that I have to actually tell people that if they are going to be late to give me a call and let me know.

I used to just tell people that if they couldn't make it for some reason, to just give me a call. That all changed when a hay customer, who was supposed to pick up hay at 11 am, showed up at 10:30 pm on Christmas Eve to get his 50 bales of hay. He said he didn't bother to call because he was able to make it the same day to get his hay. I was furious and told him to leave and not to bother ever coming back.
 
Quite frequently I used to tell people afternoon and then they'd say they'll be there at 10 or 11. It works slightly better to say after noon. It comes across less as a vague time period of day and more as truly after 12 lunch.
 
I hate when people ask if I will be home that day and I will tell them I should be home most of the day. Instead of saying okay, I will be there at such and such time they just randomly show up when they feel like it. For all they know I may not be home.
 
I hate it when you are driving to meet a buyer and they are late but keep insisting they are almost there. Twice when I went to meet someone, they were more than an hour late without so much as a thought for my time or schedule. Both times it was for pet rabbits. Generally, I've found pet buyers to be much flakier and less responsible than breeding/show folks. I realize not everyone is this way, but I think it is the nature of the beast as pet buyers have a lot less to lose than someone who needs a rabbit to keep their bloodline going or to add a color to the herd or whatever. I'm sure that was one of the (many) reasons I decided not to sell pets anymore to the general public.
 
I hate when the first question out of their mouths is..."How much are your ___________?" (Insert species and breed into the blank.)

I always want to reply using some smart a$$ comment but I restrain myself and usually reply, "Ah, ___________ are a wonderful breed. Please tell me a little about yourself and how you heard about ___________."
 
I do not HATE any potential buyer,
whether it is for Meat Pet or Show quality Rabbits.
What I do find most annoying is:
That they expect that you will be there whenever they decide to arrive
no matter what time you had decided upon. They suppose that you
have nothing more going on in your life than spending time awaiting their arrival!
After you have wasted you day waiting for them and they never showed,
and you finally give them a call, they say how sorry they were for not letting you
know, but something came up and they will be there next week.
This is when they may luck out if I am not able to sell the rabbits
post haste. I do not wait endlessly for any purchase.
Am I WRONG!?
Ottersatin. :eek:ldtimer:
 
I get plenty of all of the above, and always find it annoying when people complain about the price, but my No. 1 most hated comment is "I am interested in your French Angoras, my kid wants a cute fluffy bunny". I have turned down several people for this. Not only is their kid likely not responsible enough for the massive amount of grooming angoras need, but I doubt they want the burden when the kid looses interest in the rabbit. I tell them this in many more words, suggesting other breeds that may be more child friendly at the same time.

I have yet to have one parent reply to my response.

That being said I did attempt to turn down a buyer for a future champ doe since she was going to cross it back to a FA buck for meat rabbits for her husband and herself. I'm in no way against crosses, but I felt her needs would be better met by a different breed, and attempted to suggest more productive rabbits to cross back to a FA for better grow out rates. I got a very resilient email back about how the FA buck was only for wool and how she'd only use him until she had room to expand, and that she had chosen champs for the fact that they are a good meat pelt breed, and she wanted ethical meat and was currently a vegetarian because she couldn't afford the prices for ethical meat in the store. I was very impressed with her determination and reasoning, and we worked things out so she'll be getting a doe this spring. :)
 
Can you deliver it? sure.. it will cost $5-10 for my time and gas

Can you hold it? sure... if you pay a deposit

What if I don't trust you to hold with a deposit? Your choice, rabbit may or may not be here when you decide to come.

Can you drop the price? What's the best you can do? Everyone is paying X amount, give me a compelling reason why I should treat you differently? (sometimes they can OR they offer something as an incentive).

My mom bought me a rabbit when I was a kid for $5, you want HOW much for a rabbit? ... to that I ask the following... did your rabbit come a health guarantee? was is pedigreed? Was it raised at today's current feed prices?

The people I tend not to deal with
1. you should give it me for free because (add story). I give a polite response of.. if you can't pay for it, how do I know you can care for it.
2. my kid killed the guinea pig I bought it, I figure a rabbit will be sturdier (i ask WHY they killed the former pet and then advise all the breeders I know not to sell to them if was some thing less than accidental).
3. okay with you if I use it to hunt my dogs? (ah no, but do you really want to spend $40 for a chew toy for your dogs? if you want to see if your dogs like rabbit I can sell you a dead one)
 
NO PET SALES...................EVER!!!

No drop-in and "chat" for an hour or so. I'm stingy with my time.
Don't bring unruly or rowdy kids. I tell em all the rules before they go in.
I've asked several to leave. A couple of times, I've "ordered" them to leave.

Don't attempt to "bargain/horse-trade/chisel" me on my price. My "friendly"
nice-guy attitude dissipates like a fart in the wind. I won't argue, I don't have
the time. The visit usually ends within the next 2 or 3 minutes. They leave
empty-handed and I go finish my nap.

The "only" sales I cultivate are for those folks wanting good stock, at a good
price, for meat production for their family, friends and neighbors. Possibly
selling processed fryers to the public. That's the main focus I have.

grumpy.
 
I go by "Grumpy's Rules".

I advertise on CL - I clearly let people know that I am selling MEAT rabbits. I screen folks pretty well (via email) before they get a phone number. And they don't get directions to the place unless I'm convinced they're serious buyers. I have no doubt that for every sale I make, I probably scare off two or three potential customers.

As for inquiries about pet rabbits - my stock response is "All rabbits sold by us are considered to be livestock and are offered as either breeding stock or food. The New Zealand breed of rabbit is a commercial breed and is not generally considered suitable as a pet." I don't do pets. Saves me from worrying about what's going to happen to that rabbit.

Like Grumpy, I have a set price. Customers know what my prices are the minute they look at my ad. If they saw my ad on CL, then they saw a dozen others, much cheaper, that they chose to skip over. I know what my rabbits are worth and they're already getting a bargain.

I live fairly close to Grumpy. Though we've never met, we talk on the phone and trade messages every now and then. Based on our conversations, it might well be that we're both cut from the same bolt of cloth. Neither of us "suffer fools gladly".
 
I have to reply on this thread............

I started another thread telling how we have sold over 60 rabbits between about April and November and giving hints........ to avoid a lot of what everyone has posted in THIS thread.

http://rabbittalk.com/how-we-have-successfully-sold-over-60-pet-bunnies-this-year-t23174.html

I do have to say this...............

If you sell "on demand" (i.e. "the bunnies are available NOW") then you will get the "idiots" that you are getting. That's what happened to us when we started.

I decided to change the rules and how we sell pet rabbits. We charge $25 or more for our purebred (no pedigree offered) bunnies AND we take deposits (i.e payments IN-FULL) 3 weeks before they are ready to go to their new homes. This has worked GREAT!

1. It gets rid of all the "impulse" buyers, because they are going to have to wait another 3 weeks for the bunny.
2. Payment of $25 or more keeps the "bottom feeders" and the "lets-make-a-deal" buyers away.
3. Payment immediately has always given us the serious buyers and has given them time to get a cage, food, etc and also learn things about having a bunny. Most come back at the time of pick-up and tell us all the things they have learned (and we are happy to listen and correct them if they have been misinformed).

When we started and sold "on demand" we got all the SAME people that have been talked about so far in this thread!

My favorite turn offs were -
Is a cage included?
Will you deliver? (anywhere from 50 to 150 miles away).
I don't get paid till 2 weeks from Friday - Can you hold the bunny till then?

With our new "pre-payment" (that's non-refundable!) and the 3 week wait.......... Now 99% of the idiots are no longer a problem!

:D
 
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