Okay, so we have a new litter of pure bred, champion sired golden retrievers. We are selling them for a really good price. Anyways, I took advantage of the free pet advertising you can find everywhere on the web. For example, I used eBay Classified, Oodle Classified, Philly Enquirer free Classified online, and about 4 more. I only got 1 response! I got so frustrated I took an add out in the local paper (I refused to pay for an ad online b/c I wasn't getting results) that also advertised online (when you placed the in-paper add). I got a lot of responses, almost immediately! I haven't had a litter in over 5 years, and the web has become much more powerful since then. I was excited to advertise online for free with this litter! I said to myself "Wow, I don't have to pay hundreds to advertise the pups now, I can just do it online for free and reach thousands of people!" Boy, was I wrong! Has anyone else experienced this?? Did I do something wrong??
I don't think you did anything wrong. I think people who are looking to buy puppies probably aren't looking online where you're advertising, though. Chances are, if they're looking to buy locally, they know they should check the paper.....not online where they have to sift through things that may be out of their range.
I'll have to agree with Jessi, because folks looking for local dogs are going to go for local sources such as the newspaper or something like Craiglist or even flyers.
You are a reputable breeder that has to advertise on free sites? Really? Two and two don't add up to four.
Free classifieds aren't usually going to get you the greatest results when it comes to placing puppies that aren't free (or scams) usually unless you have another purpose such as trying to make it work for your website. They aren't exactly known as a place to find a good breeder (the opposite really) so people looking for puppies from actual breeders and more importantly that AREN'T from backyard breeders and puppy mills aren't looking on free classifieds for their new puppy. What did your ads say? The information you provide and are able to provide can also be big factors to the responses you get. Sites like Puppyfind and Next Day Pets are good sources of new possible puppy parents with well written and informative posts and good information and are usually used with your website. The ads from these sites are also picked up by many of the free classifieds but aren't manually put there. Many breeders do use websites like puppyfind (not so much the free classifieds) even with long waiting lists and stellar reputations as breeders since it provides a way to get more people to your website, broadens the pool of perspective new puppy parents for interviews and wait lists and an avenue for educating and informing a broader audience. Less than reputable people and pet shops and brokers also use these sites so buyers should be informed and check the seller out thoroughly though. When it comes to advertising puppies online getting and maintaining a well put together website is one of the better ways to get a larger volume of traffic and improve your list of approved puppy homes over time though isn't free. Many breeder websites are put together by themselves on free website platforms and just don't get great results though. A good website with the things the people you want your puppies placed with are searching for can be a major way to get your name out there and start building your reputation (one way or the other) as a breeder. Other breeders, people you meet at dog shows, trials and events, clients, vets, groomers and trainers that recommend you is another way of free advertising and the best one. AKC and the breed parent clubs also have websites that list breeders.
I think the lack of response is probably due to two things. 1) In the past few years there has been a large movement against buying purebred puppies. People have realized how many awesome dog there out there that need to be adopted and that a lot of breeders do not have good practices. 2) The economy has taken a nose dive and most people just aren't willing to spend money on things like pure bred puppies.
