Babies aren't selling--any ideas?

[annatimmerman]

I think the problem may be that there isn't really a demand for mixed breed rabbits. Try breeding to a standard and the 4-H market will take care of any extras you have. I did this for years, and couldn't give away the "mutts". Ended up sending them to freezer camp and sticking to the purebreds. I have a wait list system and all of my babies go home around 9 weeks.

 

[Petlover500]

I have a grown mutt rabbit and 2 little mutt kits that still need homes... preferably before winter) And I don't want to have to sell them as meat

 

[jimmywalt]

http://cleveland.craigslist.org/grd/5257419978.html

This is my ad, complete with cute pictures. The flyers have the same pictures on them.

I usually sell them like "FREE BEER".......... lately it's slowing down a bit though (maybe I've saturated the market).

I think I see something in your CL ad that I would do differently............ Don't name the bunnies. People want to name them by themselves. With you naming them they look "used". I also wouldn't have so much color going on in the back ground. The bunnies are getting lost in the pictures to my eyes.

Here's my modification of your listing text............

Seven BEAUTIFUL baby bunnies. DOB 8/12/15. Love to be held and played with. Litter trained as well! They will stay small and only weigh about 5 lbs. Only $xx includes bunny care sheet and food. They are very friendly and super fluffy. Pick up in Cleveland. POOS.


Short and sweet. Less words are better. People don't have long attention spans. Never use the word "rabbit" (sounds old), instead use "bunny". Don't tell the colors, they can see them. $30 is steep for mixed breed. I sell purebred Hollands babies for $30. Mixed around here are $10 to $15 at best. Let them calculate 12 weeks, just give the DOB. No need for a birth certificate. This isn't a papered dog or Cabbage Patch doll from the 1980's. "Fluffy" is spelled that way. We give a bunny care sheet, but we also give a bag of food (quart zip lock) so they can transition them to their food. They see "food" and might be thinking a big bag, but that's not what they get. Include your "area" of Cleveland (or closest well known neighborhood) so that they know where they have to go to get the bunny. And consider your price with the competition (check what others are selling at on CL in both "Farm & Garden" and "Pets" sections. Last thing.... Use all the Facebook yard sale websites in our vicinity to sell in too. The FB is a GOLD MINE! On CL people have to be searching for the word "Bunny" or "Rabbit", on FB your ad "scrolls" past their face as they browse the yard sale sites looking to see what is for sale. You make them (or help them) make an impulse purchase. One more thing...... always put "POOS" (posted on other sites) - I swear this causes people to "think" they have to act fast so they don't miss out to someone else.

Can you tell I have a degree in marketing??? LOL

OH YES............ my best idea (for baby bunnies).... I take videos of them at about 4 or 5 weeks (with a good Nikon camera - not a cell phone!!!) and I upload the video to youtube. I include the youtube link in with my ad. They see the bunnies at 4 or 5 weeks old jumping around in our living room in a puppy run and fall in love. Yes the bunnies are older when they are sold, but it's that video that pulls them in (along with my hyped up ad).

__________ Thu Oct 29, 2015 7:43 pm __________

5 weeks? yikes!!
I don't understand why most people are not interested in older rabbits.... I actually like older rabbits They are usually more calm and not so hyperactive xD

Same reason people want "puppies" and not as much "dogs".

__________ Thu Oct 29, 2015 7:51 pm __________

Another idea......... Monday mornings at 9AM are great times to post. People are at work, surfing the net after getting their coffee and chatting with co-workers....... I seem to get a lot of emails or PM's around this time.

Also Friday's at noon (lunch time) work great too as they surf the internet at lunch. People have CA$H burning a hole in their pockets since it's pay day. Really, anytime after noon on Fridays are pretty good! People have already checked-out at work and just wasting time till 5PM rolls around. :lol: <br /><br /> __________ Thu Oct 29, 2015 8:00 pm __________ <br /><br /> Still not enough????????

I notice that you are also telling which are "boy"/"girl". Don't do that! Let them fall in love with which ever one their eyes catch in the picture. Let them come to your place and immediately place one of the bunnies in their hands, then tell them how sweet it is and how it loves to be held, etc, etc, etc. If you do this............ they won't leave your house without a bunny!!!!! They came all they way out to your place, they are holding a bunny.......... they aren't leaving without one!

Why do you think that car dealerships are now letting people "test drive overnight (or for the weekend)"???? They know once you get in the car, smell the "new car smell" and drive around to show your friends............ that you aren't going to drop it off the next day. You WILL purchase it!!!!!

It's all in the MARKETING!!!!!!! Market those bunnies!!!!!! If I lived in a big place like Cleveland I could have those sold and gone in under 8 hours!!!!!!

 

[akane]

With pedigreed ND I would sell them at $20 and only ever expect half to find homes before they were too old for people to be interested. I've got a couple 2 year old bucks left that I've had listed and re-listed and re-listed in various ways for about 4months now. I get messages in bunches every few weekends but the people look at what a cage costs and disappear. I always wondered if we could figure out cheap enough suitable cages to send with them and only raise the price a small amount if we could sell many times more. Everyone wants a rabbit with full cage setup or an already altered rabbit if it's not young.

 

[macksmom98]

We have a local vendor that builds cages, and I was actually in talks to partner up and offer package deal with him. It would have helped both of us out, but unfortunately he dropped off the face of the earth.

I do agree a lot of it is in the marketing! And I like the idea about not naming them. It makes it seem as if someone already has ownership. And keeping the ad simple is also good. Definitely check the competitions prices, I assumed this had already been done and maybe it
has.....and for my area I still wouldn't list all 7 at once.

I also use online garage sales on fb, and haven't had sales yet BUT it does reach a lot of people. I also have a free fb page for our bunny business. It's a place to put pics, list fun facts, and show what you have for sale. Your friends can add their friends and it also reaches more people

 

[EnglishSpot]

I use the names simply because I've had many people say, "I like the black and white one." Er, there are five black and white ones. LOL. Thanks for the advice, I will change up my ad!!

 

[jimmywalt]

I use the names simply because I've had many people say, "I like the black and white one." Er, there are five black and white ones. LOL. Thanks for the advice, I will change up my ad!!

Great!

Maybe use "A", "B", "C" if you have to. The only problem then is if "B" is already sold and then you have to tell them that. Instead just leave the names/letters off the bunnies, invite the people over to see them, and immediately put one of the "available" bunnies in their arms............... SOLD!

 

[EnglishSpot]

The yard sale sites on FB (at least the ones I'm aware of locally) have "no pet" policies on them, so I can't post there. The flea markets have pretty much closed for the season. There is one I could go to, but I work this Saturday. Ugh.

Earlier in the year the market was holding up the price I had listed, considering that the pet stores are charging $50 for a rabbit who is clearly not the breed it's being listed under (I always have a good laugh). I've halved the price and made changes, the video is a good idea.

 

[jimmywalt]

The yard sale sites on FB (at least the ones I'm aware of locally) have "no pet" policies on them, so I can't post there. The flea markets have pretty much closed for the season. There is one I could go to, but I work this Saturday. Ugh.

Earlier in the year the market was holding up the price I had listed, considering that the pet stores are charging $50 for a rabbit who is clearly not the breed it's being listed under (I always have a good laugh). I've halved the price and made changes, the video is a good idea.

Don't forget that a reasonable price ($30 in my area) gives the sense of value. Sort of like women who love $200+ Coach purses (which will be a yard sales in about 5 years for $5 bucks!).

If you go too low on your price your item seems worthless (no value), and if too high no one will purchase.

 

[JJCRabbitry]

I sell a lot through my social networking page. As a few others have said above, good pictures do sell the bunnies. I have had problems in the past selling them, but I refuse to sell them at auctions/markets. I don't like the idea of where they might go. I find that if I pose them with Holiday items, like just recently I posted with Halloween items, that I get more attention. I sell both pets and pedigreed animals, and do fairly well with both. Good luck to you! :bunnyhop:

 

[ladysown]

you can just on your ad... say black/white buck 1 (bwM1) or black/white doe 2 (BwF2) that kinda of thing.

I had good success doing that. I find the BEST time to list is Thursday evening. Usually generates interest by Friday morning. Posting Friday means no interest shown til Saturday.

 

[golden rabbitry]

I would highly recommend craigslist. I sold all my bunnies in one week and had twice the amount of buyers than bunnies.

 

[akane]

Many places craiglist doesn't work. Some flag heavily as breeder sells are technically not allowed and some are just flooded with numerous ads. It seems to change through the year. I would guess some people have nothing better to do around here part of the year and just flag cl ads until I have to quit using it for awhile. Other times there are a dozen listings for babies sitting there for weeks as they all compete with each other.

 

[macksmom98]

What works for me (and it can depend on what type you breed and your location), is to have a business facebook page. It allows me to share information about bunny care and things happening in the rabbitry, and to announce new litters or rabbits that are going into breeding retirement. People follow me and I get quite a few messages that come thru inquiring about what we have. I also list new litters. It can be tough to share a lot of info, in the case that something could happen. While you dont have to post details, it may be necessary to share sad news with individuals if they already have their eyes set on a specific bunny and something happens. We have also done farmers markets in the parking lot at Tractor Supply, and folks shopping were typically already AG minded and knew the basics of animal care. They could easily buy supplies and a cage in the store, and it seemed to be an ok location for selling bunnies on the spot. Many of these feed stores want to help local farmers and 4-h kids, and will allow you to organize your own event in coordination with them. These are just my 2 cents and whats worked for us. Hope you get them moving, I know how frustrating it can be to have no bunnies and lots of customers and lots of bunnies and no customers.

 

[golden rabbitry]

craigslist has always worked for me. are you selling pets? Craigslist caused me to have a waiting list with 8 people. Another great tip i used is crating a web site using wix and puttiong the link in your adds so people can view more than pics. I also feel it gives you a more perfetional name.
hears mine
https://adothe3rd.wixsite.com/golden-rabbitry

 

[AmberRae]

I am not sure if it has been mentioned but cute pics are so important. I sold a breeding pair of rex to a peron south of me. She advertises on the same websites as me and is $15 less a bunny than me and I have buyers that drive 45mins more north to buy my bunnies. Its alllllll about tue cute pucs

 

[hotzcatz]

Some feed stores have a bulletin board where you can post notices. If you have bunnies frequently available, a business card or posting there may let folks know where to get baby bunnies.

A web page is another good idea. Also, if you frequently sell rabbits, having a web page with the care and keeping details saves a lot of telling the same thing to person after person. There's several free web pages available should you not want to get your own domain.

We usually have a list of folks waiting for bunnies before they are born. There's the 'In the Nest Box' page where folks can see the planned upcoming litters as well as who had what. Then there's the 'Available' page for once the bunnies are old enough to go to their new homes.

It's also important to keep back the best ones for breeding, so don't allow folks to freely choose until you've decided which ones to keep.

Here's our 'In the Nestbox' page. http://hillsidefarmhawaii.com/pages/nestbox/nestbox.html It needs to be updated since there's three new baby bunnies from Tootsie & Sydney, but that was also covered on the farm news page. There's still a lot of stuff that needs to be migrated over from the previous (and free) website, but most web sites are generally sort of a work in progress.

Cute pictures really help, too. As well as some discussion about the bunnies. With online advertising, you don't have to pay per word, so a whole discussion as to how their life will be so much better with one of your bunnies in it will go a long way towards increasing sales.

 

[Marinea]

Tailoring your ad to your market helps, also. Most of my sales are to folks who want to start breeding their own meat rabbits. My ads talk about litter sizes, grow out rates and good mothers. I do include good pictures, and get calls asking about pets based on that.

I carry business cards with me when I am out and about. I have given out many at the feed store, Tractor Supply, or local flea markets.