How Much Should I Sell My Puppies For?

Typically, you should sell your puppies for around $500 to $3000. Now, the range is large because the price you choose depends on several factors.

One of the largest price determinants is the breed of dog you’re selling. Aside from that, you need to take into consideration components like vaccinations, vet examinations, food, and other care requirements.

These care costs will all need to be added into the price point you choose. Otherwise, you might lose money, rather than gain some profit or at least break even.

What Factors Affect the Price of Puppies?

You can’t choose any price and call it a day. Instead, looking at components such as health care and food is crucial to figuring out a profitable price.

Here are some of those factors below.

Dog Breed

Figuring out your puppies’ price mainly comes down to the breed you’re selling. In which case, you’ll need to research the market value of your breed.

Top purebred puppies are bound to cost more. Now, purebred puppies may generally fall between $500 to $2500.

If you’re unsure about the breed standard of your puppies, we recommend visiting the American Kennel Club’s (AKC) website to check for accurate breed descriptions. Make sure to also provide Pedigree papers.

These will essentially show the family tree of the puppies and ensure that they’re purebred. You can purchase a four-generation research Pedigree for $20.

As for mixed breeds, they tend to have a lower asking price than purebred options.

It’s worth considering that the market for puppy sales is generally non-stagnant. Aspects like movies that portray a certain breed can drive up sales for it.

For instance, take the movie franchise, “Lassie.” It could be one of the main reasons why Collies are among the top 50 popular breeds in the AKC.

Socialization With Puppies

How much the puppy has been socializing around humans can either drive up or down its value. That’s what may separate you as a puppy seller compared to other breeders that offer cheaper prices.

Puppies that have human contact are typically more friendly and exhibit better chances of being sold. Meanwhile, some puppies are born on farms and barely see humans except when it’s feeding time.

The latter usually end up shy and less marketable to potential buyers.

That being the case, if your puppies spend plenty of time around you, don’t be shy about kicking the price up a bit.

Vet Costs

Veterinarian costs usually take up a large portion of the selling price. Check out the list below of each examination cost per puppy you’ll need to take into account.

• Fecal Tests: $25 to $45
• Vaccinations: $75 to $100
• C-Section Birth Expense: $500 to $1600
• Deworming: $20 to $40

Food and Products Costs

Apart from medical costs, you also need to consider food and products costs that’ll last for the first eight weeks of your puppies’ lives. These should be added and taken into account as you decide how much to price your puppies for.

Check out some of the main items below. The prices are based on a six to ten puppy litter.

• Whelping Box: $45 to $75
• Whelping Pad: $20 to $35
• Food: $70 to $320
• Milk Replacement: $100

How Can You Sell Your Puppies?

Now that you’ve figured out how much to price your puppies, it’s time to sell them off. The process may take some time, which is why we advise having patience.

Check out our comprehensive step-by-step guide below.

Step 1: Advertise Puppies

The first step involves advertising your puppies for sale. The three main components that you’ll need to figure out are when, where, and how to publicize the puppies.

When?

Before you sell the puppies to potential buyers, you need to make sure that they’re at the right age. Nevertheless, we suggest you start advertising at least three weeks before they reach the suitable age for selling.

Speaking of which, puppies need to be around a minimum of eight weeks old to sell. That being so, you can start advertising them as soon as they’re five to six weeks old.

Where?

When it comes to where you’ll advertise them, the easiest option is to post a listing with your local canine organization.

Alternatively, you can start advertising them first to some personal networks such as friends, family, and coworkers. That way, you’ll be more trusting of the candidate chosen.

Another avenue of advertising you can pursue is creating a website to have a wide reach of buyers.

How?

There are several creative ways you can advertise the little pups. You’d be surprised what a cute shot of the litter can achieve.

Just make sure to include the puppies' information mentioned below before posting the listing. 

• Birthdate
• Breed
• Gender
• Your Phone Number
• Your Email

Step 2: Screen Potential Buyers

Now comes the most crucial part of the transaction, assessing the candidates. This will essentially determine your puppies’ forever homes, at least preferably.

Before you arrange to meet with a potential buyer, you need to prepare a set of questions to ask. These interview questions could go a little something like this:

• What are your work hours like?
• How long do you leave your home?
• Did you ever own a pet before?
• Are there other pets present in your home?
• Where would the dog stay most of the time?

These sorts of inquiries will give you enough information on how well the puppy will be taken care of. Additionally, make sure you discuss the costs and care requirements of the puppy to establish some expectations.

While answering these questions, try to monitor the candidate’s attitude. For example, if they seem enthusiastic and well-versed about the breed that means they did their research.

On the other hand, if the candidate doesn’t seem to be asking much about the puppies, that’s usually a bad sign. The last thing you want is for the puppies to end up in a pound.

Step 3: Complete Your Sale

Once you feel confident in your candidate of choice, it’s time to introduce them to the puppies. You can optionally offer them a reservation with a deposit of maybe around 10% of the price.

Try not to ship the puppy, instead, allow the new owner to come pick it up at your home. If they’re too far away, you can alternatively arrange a pick-up point in between.

Paul S.

Paul has been creating content for the dog niche for many years. The information he shares comes his first hand experience growing up in dog lovers household and then owning multiple dog breeds of his own as an adult. Paul enjoys doing the hard research to collect, analyze and present our dogtemperament.com readers with the best answers to their questions.