Should I budge?

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PSFAngoras

PSFAngoras

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So I have my first litter of champ kits for sale, not the whole litter, just two of the buck kits. It was three, but I decided to hold one buck back after placing the ad.

Now, I have quite a bit of interest in the 24 hours they've been up surprisingly, but one party just wants a funny colored pet (maybe not realizing they'll silver out, though I did state so in the ad...) and the other two parties want 4-H rabbt's for their kids.

Both buck kits are well conformed, perhaps a bit light, but should theoretically place well in show still, certainly considering how little competition there is at our local county fair here. I'm asking $40 a head, which I feel is fair. That gets me a bag of food and between two bags the gas money to go get it. (I feed organic, so a bit pricey.)

So, one of the 4-H parents asked if the $40 was for all three rabbits shown, and the other parent asked if I would lower the price since they still have the other expenses of the hutch, food, etc to meet. Now, I'm not against helping people out, certainly children trying to get into agriculture, but I have expenses out on these rabbits as well and don't feel like I should undercut myself. After all, if they don't sell they will be food for the freezer, which is very important as well.

What do you think? I wouldn't mind lowering the price by $5 (the gas money basically) but I feel like the one parent is expecting it to be much lower as they still need a hutch etc. I'm kind of in the fence as I'd love to help the kids out, but if I can't get a bag of feed per rabbit sold I feel like they'll better serve my meat bill. I never run into this dilemma with my angoras as no parent wants them for 4-H and the people who do buy them accept that they are a bit more expensive due to the care involved.

What would you do?
 
Many do lower as you are thinking, I don't any more and won't budge on it. I may offer to take partial trade on other items or some kind of help in the rabbitry (if I really know their family or they've been highly recommended) but nothing less. The price is what the price is. I had a few bad experiences with 4h and FFA kids not taking care of their rabbit or selling them straight after I pretty well gave them to them to get money for a game or new pair of shoes type deal. I had some good ones too, but I can't stomach thinking its a possibility any more. I simply explain what I have in them and the parents plus my other out of pocket costs, the small fraction of what they are being asked to pay is much less than what I have in them. I also have the feeling if they can't afford it, they can't feed it or won't care enough about it to make sure the rabbit is doing well.
 
:yeahthat: I don't recommend kids starting off with a rarer breed like Champagnes, especially since they only come in black :) very few have the commitment or understanding to help improve the breed and there are plenty of NZ and Cali's they can cut their teeth on before venturing into the more exotic rabbits.

Also they are less likely to be competitive with those who have NZ and Cali's which might actually turn them off rabbits if they place lower due to the Champs slower growth rate.

You could also substitute the word "rabbit" with "dog" or "horse" - would you lower the price on your purebred/pedigreed/show quality Maltese or Arab because some young person wanted to get started in showing and/or their parents thought the cost of vaccination or stabling was too high ? :shock:

I certainly wouldn't - animals are an expensive hobby so I feel it's better to teach the kids to plan a head, save their pennies and then jump in :)
 
I have to agree with the previous posts. You have more than $40 in them by now. I remember when you got the breeders last May so...You've been feeding the kits and mom and dad all this time. Just tell them how much you have invested in them and stick to your guns.
 
I agree with everything everyone's already stated.

Offering a 4-h discount on a mini lop or mini rex is one thing.

Champagnes are probably not for people who don't even have cages or hutches yet.

Let them be serious enough to pay for it, $40 isn't too much.
 
I wouldn't budge, either. Your price is quite fair. You need to recover your investment.

The one that's kvetching about the price of the hutch and stuff is acting like she'll have that expense every time she buys a rabbit. She won't. It's not your fault she's just getting started, and has these other expenses. Later, when she's replacing a rabbit, she'll probably have another reason she can't pay $40.

And maybe she can't afford it all right now. If not, that's not a situation you want your rabbit going into. The care of the rabbit might suffer.
 
Miss M":1d7lfo7u said:
I wouldn't budge, either. Your price is quite fair. You need to recover your investment.

The one that's kvetching about the price of the hutch and stuff is acting like she'll have that expense every time she buys a rabbit. She won't. It's not your fault she's just getting started, and has these other expenses. Later, when she's replacing a rabbit, she'll probably have another reason she can't pay $40.

And maybe she can't afford it all right now. If not, that's not a situation you want your rabbit going into. The care of the rabbit might suffer.
Click to expand...

Absolutely....and rabbits are one of the cheaper animals to get into with 4H or FFA. Goats or pigs are hundreds of $$$. Stick to your guns.
 
If I don't need to make up any costs then I discount whatever is needed to find them a proper home. For good champagnes that you need money from $40 is probably the low end and if I had a market for them I wouldn't lower it for anyone.
 
Thank you all,

I didn't feel like lowering the price was the best way to go, but I wasn't sure as most ads around here state directly on them that there would be discounted prices for 4-H kids. Also, unfortunately, my area is notorious for people being cheap, so everyone expects rabbits to be about $15 max. Of all the pure bred rabbits I have sold there is only one couple in town willing to pay for them, and all of my other customers have driven from quite a ways away to come get rabbits.

@ dood and Zass, champs are actually not as rare around here than say SF or chins of any kind, but it is true that they are no where near commonplace as NZ or CA. I hadn't even thought that they would be out of place at the local fairs with the high number of the other two breeds. Thank you for bringing that up
 
Hmm...you don't have just champs though, you have ORGANIC champs.

They should cost more, because the very flesh they are made of costs more to produce. If that's not what people are looking for...then they should shop somewhere else.

Sort of like, the bottom dollar on meat rabbits is higher than the bottom dollar on pet rabbits. (Meat rabbits are rarely "free", pet rabbits often are)

I don't lower the price on my meat rabbits because others have pet bunnies posted cheap or free.

The bottom dollar on organic meat rabbits is going to be higher than the bottom dollar on non-organic meat rabbits.
 
The lack of people willing to pay is the problem I have here. Without spreading my name through shows I have no market. I ask minimum price and still end up putting most in the freezer. It's just not possible to get anywhere near what I put into them. The standard chins might do better if I get listed on some sites. The hedgehogs are paying for all the other animals.
 
I used to sell pet rabbits. Years of dealing with crazies, of finding out some of my rabbits were poorly cared for, of the growing number of children that are just plain *bad* with BAD parents --- like the time a mini van pulled up with SCREAMING children, and the the enemies one can make when one tells (politely, but firmly) a person No Bunny For You/Your Delinquent Kid... No More.

I was a 4H kid. I used to give animals to 4Hers for free (something that was done for me when I was a kid, much appreciated) but that didn't work out well for the rabbits in the end. 4Hers aren't what they used to be.

Whatever you decide, I hope it works for you and that you get what you put into your Champs withOUT the hassle. Everbunny here has your back :)
 
Not that it's needed, but just one more voice agreeing with the others - I wouldn't budge. From what I've seen on other postings and advertisements, your price is both fair and reasonable.

I don't discount for 4H - mostly because 90% of the time I come away with the feeling that it's the parents trying to buy a ribbon. (But that's an entirely different topic.)

If they don't appreciate the quality you're offering, then they don't deserve it. Best of luck to you!
 
I agree with everyone else if you take and list all of your expenses for what your buck and doe cost and their food to get them to size and age to breed and raising the litter and your time. You have more invested than what you are asking and as far as all the other expence for caging ect they will have to get that anyway. I do sponser FAA and 4H every year when I buy one of their animals or do an add on at the fair. This year I bought 5 rabbits from someone in 4H this year my Cal rabbits were their and took Grand Chap meat pen and brought $1500.00 for the pen and the buyer gave them back to her.. This girl has won Grand Champ and reserve Grand Champ for the last 10 years at the fairs and she breeds all her own rabbits pays for all of her own expences for the rabbits.
 
I find that if you give something away, rarely is it appreciated. People are more inclined to appreciate something for which they have paid hard money. The lady who complained of the expense of cages, hutches, and food should realize you have those expenses as well. Your $40 price is already too cheap and the problem with selling cheap is there are always folks who are even cheaper. :lol:
 
I'm with everyone else. Don't budge.......... but let me add a bit more info.

We sell "pet" rabbits and it seems a lot of people will say "Does that include the cage?" (for a $20 rabbit). Or they give you the sad story that they still need a cage, food, dish, water bottle, etc............ Well that's not my problem!

They need to THINK ABOUT the total cost involved! If they can't afford a cheap used cage somewhere, then how are they going to afford food and hay that they need to have for the bunny every day?

Yes it hurts to pass up a $20 bill when a bunny doesn't sell, but would it be fair to the bunny to go to that house? Probably not.

I love to get a deal when I purchase something, but heck, strike a deal on a cage (buy a used one) and quit asking me (us) to lower the price of the bunny. We know what we have into caring for them (food/water/time).

Don't budge! $40 for a 4-H bunny is a STEAL of a deal!

Some parents are just cheap or poor and shouldn't have a bunny!
 
I price my Mini Rex's and Mini Lop's at $30 for bucks and $40 for does ( which isnt that bad because I don't usually get more than one doe per litter (unfortunately theyre almost all bucks), and now since I'm starting to show, if I show a rabbit I'm selling, if they win anything, I'll be tacking on a couple bucks ($5 for 3rd in anything, $10 for 2nd in anything, and $15 for BOW (Best of Whatever)) because they won something
 
I paid $50 for each of my Hollands... $40 for each Californian (no longer own those)... Free thrianta & Rex.. 3 geese for 1 SF mutt.. And I was fine paying those prices as I paid for what I got. The Hollands are good quality as were the Californians. The free buns were crap (but made wonderful pets). The SF buck is great but a mix still.

Don't budge on your price. you have good quality rabbits and need to recoup the costs. If they can't pay for a hutch or food they can't afford the rabbit. I'd love to get a NZ but I can't pay for a hutch and so I can't afford a NZ.

Best of luck.. Champagnes are beautiful and if they really want them they'll be able to get them.
 
I will typically take $5 off if someone is in 4-H/FFA for our Lionheads just to get more kids involved in the breed. Around my area it seems that 99% of the kids are keeping their rabbits after fair (beyond meat pens/fryers since those mainly go up for auction).
 

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