Sellers Guide
This is a seller's guide to selling/re-homing animals in the safest and simplest way on the Internet. This guide is recommended for breeders, re-homing centres or members of the public trying to re-home their animal(s) to a new family.
The Pet Advert
Provide a detailed description.
Provide as much detailed information as possible in your pet advertisement about the animal(s) you are selling/re-homing to help it stand out from the crowd, and so as to help fully inform potential pet owners who are looking to fulfil specific criteria. If a visitor is looking for something specific, make sure they can see that your pet is suitable for them, rather than lose them to someone else who gave a fuller description. You can ensure your listing is thorough by filling in the sub-headers with information such as the type of food with which you feed your pet, the price of each animal, the date of when your animal will be ready to be re-homed and more.
Be sure to fill in the description box and try to answer questions that potential pet owners will most probably ask you.
For example:
- Is the animal a pedigree?
- Are the parents viewable?
- What is the nature of your animal?
- What's their medical history?
- Are you offering free trial pet insurance?
- Are you providing any accessories with the animal?
Contact details:
Do not put your email address in the description of your pet - our site will let visitors contact you through an email contact form at the bottom of your listing, which is safer than displaying your email address online. By adding your email address into your description it is viewable for spammers and anyone looking to build up an email mailing list.
Provide Good Photos
Good photos of your animal(s) on the pet advert are essential, as they will make your ad more attractive in search results and encourage potential pet owners to read your listing; subsequently leading them to contact you to arrange a meeting.
Be Honest
It's all very well writing the best description of a pet that anyone has ever read - but it's pointless if it's not all true. If you are misleading a potential buyer you are just wasting their time and yours as they will most likely find out the truth when they meet you/the animal and the sale/re-homing will not go ahead.
Remember to remove your ad afterwards.
Remember to delete your pet advert when you have re-homed/sold your animal(s), so as to remove your listing from the site and stop people contacting you.
The Transaction
Don't give out your personal details.
Do not, under any circumstances, give out your personal information like bank account details, credit card numbers, etc.
First Contact
First contact with the potential pet owner should be done by email or phone. Make sure you ask them questions as well as just answering theirs, to get a feel as to whether this person is right to deal with and a good potential owner for your pet.
Meet up locally
When you meet up with your potential buyer/re-homer in person, for safety ensure you are not alone (take a friend with you) and that you meet in a public place. Once you have met and you feel they are seriously interested in giving your pet a good home, take them to see your animal(s). If they like your animal(s) and you think they will be a good pet owner, arrange a date for them to return and pick up their new pet(s).
Insist on Cash
Make sure the new pet owner pays the full price for the animal(s) before taking them away. Cash is advisable as it is safe and simple; avoid wire services like Western Union or Money Gram as these are popular with scammers.
Do NOT use a Delivery Service
The new pet owner should collect the animal(s) in person - don't recommend or let them suggest a delivery (or even air) service. For the welfare of your pet, they should be collected in person as you do not know the conditions they will be put in otherwise. If the buyer/re-homer refuses to collect the pet(s) in person, you should wonder how much they care about the health and wellbeing of your animal(s) and not trade with them.