Hard time selling rabbits

[rockyhillrabbits]

I sold rabbits a couple years ago, had very little trouble selling. Back then I advertised on facebook and that's where 95% of my customers came from. Now neither me or my husband have Facebook but I do have a website that is regularly updated and I advertise on craigslist and statewide newspaper and local papers, plus a couple other sites. I have 2 litters of pedigreed Rex. Out of 9 babies I sold 2. I have 2 white does and 2 blue does left and have dropped my prices from $50 to $20! I also have a year old white buck who could be bred to the blues for $20. I had a guy call me today asking how much for all 5. I said $100. He asked if I could go any lower and I said "well, normally they sell for $50 each, so no, sorry." He said that was too expensive. I reminded him they were pedigreed Rex...standard, not Mini, which is hard to find anywhere here.

I do NOT want to go back to facebook. Too much irritating stress and I did try setting up a business page and seeing if I could post on groups from there but it will only let you post from your main page. I don't want to deal with all that. I'm going to just buy the ARBA membership and advertise there and the national Rex club. I know rabbit shows are a good way to network but we won't have any others even somewhat close to us until next spring.

I know money is tight for everyone but I still expected to be able to sell the babies. They are good quality, just not selling.

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

Do you go to rabbits shows? That's where I sell a lot of mine

 

[ladysown]

it's hard selling rabbits now for a number of reasons.
1. covid breeders are getting out of rabbits so selling out
2. the economy is tough
3. it's summer, and holidays, and people are FINALLY able to get away after two years being shut down
4. pet people who bought rabbits during covid are dumping their rabbits.

 

[user8584]

Every person who gardens or has a house should have rabbits to produce fertilizer for there needs. Every piece of land in the United States is deficient in nutrients and biological agents due to the use of pesticides, herbicide, and chemical fertilizer.
while many if not all on this forum think the primary use of rabbits is meat for food.The fertilizer from the rabbit builds healthy soil and will feed you better than killing the rabbit for food. That is the best market for your rabbits. The rabbits higher purpose is to build the soil. It is the perfect way to build organic soil to raise your food.
When your soil is healthy the food you grow in that soil is healthy
market the fertilizer to the gardeners in your area, and educate locally the benifit of rabbit manure .
farmers market is a good bet for educating the public.

 

[Preitler]

Well, keeping rabbits needs more than just a garden, once you have to relay on it. You can build soil more easyly by mulching (Tried the Ruth Stout method for the first time this year - I'm sold ), rabbits pretty much are just fast turbo composters when used for that, but you'll need the same resources. It definitly isn't the best market for rabbits, the reason why domestic rabbits exist is because they are an affordable protein source in hard times, it was the meat on the sunday table at my grandparents. Watching current trends that might become necessary soon again. Producing great fertilizer as a nice side effect.

There is the problem with commercial feeds, hay that is "ripend" with loads of antibiotics used as herbicides (glyphosate), and pelleted feed laced with antibiotics that primarily boost meat growth but are labeled as coccidiastatica - at which they are pretty useless since they create resistant strains quickly.

I totally agree about the insanity we do to our soil, pretty much making us utterly dependend on oil based products while ruining our future, or more likely, our descendants future. It's a short sighted insanity.

As for selling rabbits, after all classified ad newspapers were killed by the online version, and that private website simply stopped private people to sell animals with the pretext that most users with no clue would consider that as animal protection (you can still advertise there if commercial) things changed a lot, almost impossible to sell or rehome rabbits now, lots of rabbits dumped in woods and recreational centers. I have to eat all of my offspring, even the really good ones, can't keep them all. There are websites that poped up after that, but it's about 1% of the people looking at your ads there compared to the foul top dog in the market.

 

[rockyhillrabbits]

Do you go to rabbits shows? That's where I sell a lot of mine

I haven't yet, since getting back into them and the closest one is 45 minutes away and they won't hold another show until spring. I can't afford to travel to Kentucky or anywhere else who might be doing shows. If I still have some when the county fair comes around they may go there and I'll stick a For Sale sign on the cage lol.

 

[rockyhillrabbits]

Every person who gardens or has a house should have rabbits to produce fertilizer for there needs. Every piece of land in the United States is deficient in nutrients and biological agents due to the use of pesticides, herbicide, and chemical fertilizer.
while many if not all on this forum think the primary use of rabbits is meat for food.The fertilizer from the rabbit builds healthy soil and will feed you better than killing the rabbit for food. That is the best market for your rabbits. The rabbits higher purpose is to build the soil. It is the perfect way to build organic soil to raise your food.
When your soil is healthy the food you grow in that soil is healthy
market the fertilizer to the gardeners in your area, and educate locally the benifit of rabbit manure .
farmers market is a good bet for educating the public.

I had a couple people who wanted just a couple rabbits solely for their poop. They wanted the poop for their garden, but they didn't want to spend more than $10 on a rabbit.
I'm wondering if I should just breed mutts and sell them for that price until the market picks back up, if it ever does.

 

[user8584]

Well, keeping rabbits needs more than just a garden, once you have to relay on it. You can build soil more easyly by mulching (Tried the Ruth Stout method for the first time this year - I'm sold ), rabbits pretty much are just fast turbo composters when used for that, but you'll need the same resources. It definitly isn't the best market for rabbits, the reason why domestic rabbits exist is because they are an affordable protein source in hard times, it was the meat on the sunday table at my grandparents. Watching current trends that might become necessary soon again. Producing great fertilizer as a nice side effect.

There is the problem with commercial feeds, hay that is "ripend" with loads of antibiotics used as herbicides (glyphosate), and pelleted feed laced with antibiotics that primarily boost meat growth but are labeled as coccidiastatica - at which they are pretty useless since they create resistant strains quickly.

I totally agree about the insanity we do to our soil, pretty much making us utterly dependend on oil based products while ruining our future, or more likely, our descendants future. It's a short sighted insanity.

As for selling rabbits, after all classified ad newspapers were killed by the online version, and that private website simply stopped private people to sell animals with the pretext that most users with no clue would consider that as animal protection (you can still advertise there if commercial) things changed a lot, almost impossible to sell or rehome rabbits now, lots of rabbits dumped in woods and recreational centers. I have to eat all of my offspring, even the really good ones, can't keep them all. There are websites that poped up after that, but it's about 1% of the people looking at your ads there compared to the foul top dog in the market.

You are welcome to your opinion. I see it different, and yes the rabbit is a food source in hard times but the value of the manure in the garden is worth more, because of the calories produced, vitamins and minerals .
Journey to Forever take a look at this.

 

[user8584]

I had a couple people who wanted just a couple rabbits solely for their poop. They wanted the poop for their garden, but they didn't want to spend more than $10 on a rabbit.
I'm wondering if I should just breed mutts and sell them for that price until the market picks back up, if it ever does.

What I was suggesting was to build a market, not wait for someone to come for a rabbit. Advertise the attributes of rabbit manure. Almost no one knows anymore about gardening, or preserving food. I paid the going price for Californian rabbits because I see more in the breed. ( large does have large kits Kind of thinking). Rabbit manure is under priced for its value in the garden.

 

[eco2pia]

I think you should just breed what you like. I mean, do you enjoy mutts? if so, cool, go for it. Do you enjoy the standard rex? then keep them. they cost no more to feed than a mutt, and you already have them. The perceived value is messing with your head here. Your rabbits are quality and so you don't want to sell them for $10. But the market in your area may only support $10. Is selling lower quality rabbits really the answer? If so you could, but I would not.

I have nice rabbits. I don't like showing. I am willing to pay around $40 for a good breeder in my breed. I sell my kits once in a blue moon, for $20, ususally to a neighbor kid who fell in love with one and wants a pet. The rest feed my family. Yeah they are nice, and the garden is nice, and sure, selling a few more would feel good, but really I just like having them for myself. I get that for some people this is a side hustle, but if the market is down you gotta go with what is or build a new market as @Big Mac says.

I suppose you may not be a meat breeder, and the freezer talk might bother you. If so, I truely apologize. I think the reality is that mostly breeders breed for meat, pet, or show. Meat and pet are lower priced animals, show is fewer animals sold. Either way it seems that rabbits are more of a hobby than a business for most of us. All businesses take a lot of work in my opinion.

 

[eco2pia]

An additional idea--I have known people who bred classically pet-only animals--dogs, cats. They generally show a lot, and if they have an older animal that doesn't sell or is a retired breeder/show animal, it is available at a discount. This never made sense to me from a business perspective, because they have invested more in that animal. But the market responded to that.

 

[user8584]

I sold rabbits a couple years ago, had very little trouble selling. Back then I advertised on facebook and that's where 95% of my customers came from. Now neither me or my husband have Facebook but I do have a website that is regularly updated and I advertise on craigslist and statewide newspaper and local papers, plus a couple other sites. I have 2 litters of pedigreed Rex. Out of 9 babies I sold 2. I have 2 white does and 2 blue does left and have dropped my prices from $50 to $20! I also have a year old white buck who could be bred to the blues for $20. I had a guy call me today asking how much for all 5. I said $100. He asked if I could go any lower and I said "well, normally they sell for $50 each, so no, sorry." He said that was too expensive. I reminded him they were pedigreed Rex...standard, not Mini, which is hard to find anywhere here.

I do NOT want to go back to facebook. Too much irritating stress and I did try setting up a business page and seeing if I could post on groups from there but it will only let you post from your main page. I don't want to deal with all that. I'm going to just buy the ARBA membership and advertise there and the national Rex club. I know rabbit shows are a good way to network but we won't have any others even somewhat close to us until next spring.

I know money is tight for everyone but I still expected to be able to sell the babies. They are good quality, just not selling.

truly a stimulating conversation I hope it helped you with your dilemma, peace and blessings.

 

[hotzcatz]

Folks are still selling rabbits on FB, they're just not using the word "sale" or "selling". It's all euphemisms such as 'looking to hop to a new zip code' or some such. Then all the sales details are done via FB messenger. Not my favorite way of selling anything.

If you have a separate website for your rabbits, then you can make a note of it on FB and CL and have the folks find them there.

Perhaps as Big Mac mentioned, they could be sold in the gardening section as 'garden companions' where they turn weeds into fertilizer? Not sure how FB or CL would respond to that.

Do your local feed stores or veterinaries have bulletin boards where you can post a notice?

If it weren't for that wretched rabbit virus, I'd have been interested in getting some standard Rex. But, I'm no longer planning on bringing in any rabbits and now there's a thirty day quarantine to bring them into the state.

I don't know if the rabbit virus is keeping folks from buying rabbits?

 

[user8584]

On consideration of selling rabbits, your rabbits have a value set by the market area, and that depends on you. How big of an area are you marketing to. There are only so many people in a given area of population that desire a rabbit, unless you instill that desire in them. Most of the population are not enlightened about the care and feeding of a rabbit, understand their place in nature.
it may be in your area 10.00$ is the going price for rabbits. The question is can you make a profit at $10.00, or how do I make a profit at $10.00? I will say that the rabbit market has seen its ups and downs over my lifetime, and it is always more popular in hard times or times of choosing what to eat based on cost.
If you must make a profit, then what and how you feed your rabbits is the real question, “if you raise animals for profit you are not in the animal business, you are in the feed business “

 

[Blue bunny barn]

If you want to make the effort, another marketing avenue is pet food. Ground or whole. For dogs or cats or ???

 

[HTAcres]

There is a Tamuk breeder in the Austin area that got rabbits solely for the manure because he sells tomatoes (by the bushels) to local farmers' markets. Incidentally, he got very into breeding larger animals and intensifying colors and now he has waiting lists for his growouts from other breeders ($50 each).

I am still on FB mainly for the rabbit groups where, as someone mentioned, you can still post carefully. I would imagine about half my sales come from there and then I added myself to several lists on the internet. While I use Craigslist, I don't list my rabbits on there right now because it tends to attract the $10 a rabbit folks. Unless I specifically want to help someone, rabbits don't leave here for under $20 as they are worth that to me in my freezer which is not full.

I consider sales helping to buy feed to raise rabbits to put meat in our freezer. I am currently spending more time on lowering costs by growing forage to feed them.

 

[HTAcres]

Another Tamuk breeder I know near an urban area sells a lot of young dispatched kits for reptile food. I'm sorry I can't remember what she gets for them but it is an active and consistent market if you are near enough folks.

 

[rockyhillrabbits]

The funny thing is, before I got back into rabbits, I had people emailing me looking for Rex and Flemish Giants and I had none at that time. Now that I have Rex I can't seem to find buyers lol. Nobody wants to drive farther than an hour or pay more than $10 for a rabbit and I have a hard time understanding that because I went 11 hours one way and paid $175 for ONE pedigreed Rex buck in Texas lol.
I am just going to become a member of ARBA and the Rex club so I can advertise there and I'll attend shows when I can and just keep updating my site. The Rex does I have now from the first two litters may be bred to the cute little English lop buck I have and advertise those babies for meat. Or I'll have hubby butcher and we'll eat smoked rabbit.
I'm going to try advertising more about the benefits of rabbit poop to grow my customer base.