"how Much For A Whippet?"

[chelynnah]

Join our free community today.

Connect with other like-minded dog lovers!

Login or Register

[SIZE=12pt]With some of the other ££$$ topics being discussed recently I thought this might be somewhere to discuss one of the other things brought up in 'that' thread.[/SIZE]

When looking for a pup what do you all think is the appropriate time or the appropriate way to inquire about a price for a puppy. Some of the things that have been bandied about are:

If you have to ask you can't afford it

If price is the important thing then how can you afford the vet

It's offensive!

They should know a ballpark and if they like the puppy it shouldn't matter

There were more but I can't think of them off the top of my head. Just some thoughts from the buyer's point of view (since I've not been on the breeders side yet :- " )

When we first started looking we had NO idea how much a puppy would cost. We wanted to be able to afford it, so we needed to know a 'ballpark' so we knew how long we would need to save up for. If I don't ask someone (ie a breeder) what kind of prices we can expect to pay HOW on earth can I start saving up? At the time I was expecting somewhere around £800 (prices in the US at the time could be about $800, and in buying things often the price in US$ is equal to the price in UK£). When we found out that it was actually more reasonable than that we realised we could actually afford a pup then, rather than waiting 6-8-12 months. BUT we would have been willing to wait until we had the money - but we needed to know HOW MUCH money was needed.

As Lesley said on another thread - I may not have the CASH to pay for the Vet in an emergency, but I have Mr. Visa LOL! So asking how much doesn't mean I can't afford the dog or the vet bills, it means I need to know how much I need to put up at this minute.

Even knowing a 'ballpark' doesn't necessarily mean that the puppy you fall in love with is anywhere near that ballpark. I'm told these days a price for a whippet can range from £250 to £550 on AVERAGE. But I also know that there are some out there asking twice as much as that! What if I go talk to a breeder, never talk about the money thing, until I've already fallen in love with the dog and when the time comes to pay It's £800! Well that's wayyyy over the ballpark. What if I've saved up the £550 cash and am banking on having £100 of that for initial vet expenses. If the pup turns out to be £550 then I need to find some other way to pay for the vet expenses OR disappoint the breeder and become a 'timewaster' because I can't afford the pup.

At some point when people start researching whippets the question has to be asked, and at some point when looking at 'your' puppies the question has to be asked. I would rather ask the question near the beginning than to fall in love with a puppy I can't afford. Now *I* would try to be tactful about how to ask (ie - when I started looking I told the breeder I was asking that I was looking to purchase a whippet sometime in the next year and wanted to know how much I should be looking at so we could save up). But some people just aren't good with money stuff and talking about money and what may come across to a breeder as rude (after all your HEART is in these puppies), may just be awkwardness in talking about money.

I had a bunch more thoughts in my head when I started this thread. I'm not trying to start a flaming war here so please don't jump all over me - I think it's an interesting discussion and may assist people who are looking for a whippet in thinking about how they approach this part of the discussion.

Wendy

 

[Millie]

Some good points there !

Luckly most of my puppy enquiries come through my web site where the price of my puppies is clearly stated.

 

[Janimal]

Well I always ASK when ringing up a breeder too(or emailing) because in my opinion I need to know just in case some are more expensive than others.

When I was looking for Oscar the prices ranged from £200 to £500 and ended up paying midway between this price. Which in my opinion was enough to pay when I wasnt going to show. But if you are showing well I suppose you maybe would be prepared to pay more.

I must add I am more than happy with the puppy I got - money cannot replace him now and I wouldnt sell him for the world.

But hope I am never in a position to rehome him either.

 

[*Lesley*]

I totally agree with what you are saying Wendy and when we decided we wanted a whippet I had no idea what the price of one was, when I rang the breeder for my first one I was told what colour, parentage, ect (which at the time if I'm honest didn't really matter to me) I just wanted a whippet, also it's not only the price of the pup that has to be considered but all the intial things such as vaccinations, insurance, microchips and accessories at the end of the day how does a person know if they can afford to buy a pup if money is such a secretive affair, I am sure many people have been put of buying things in shops because there is no price tag so the thought is 'it must be too expensive' unless you have unlimited funds it's fair to say that you NEED to talk money, and the thing is once you have paid your money and registered your pup it belongs to you,hope fully for a lot of years to come unfortunatley it doesn't always work out that way some of the comments on the other thread make it sound like you should mention money especially when rehoming why? is the pup second hand :unsure:

 

[Nicola]

I tend to do the research before I finally pluck up the courage to ring a breeder. By this stage I've looked at various websites, read books, gone to dog shows.

By the time I get to the ringing the breeder stage, it is with a pup in mind and I roughly know the price (or at least i think i do). However, each time I have spoken to a breeder (only twice to-date) I do usually get them to confirm the price once I've determined if a pup is still available, asked would they consider me as a potential owner and given some details about myself, and asked a few other relevant questions first.

I don't think a breeder should should be put off by this question though, as long as it isn't the first consideration when buying a pup. However, as I say, I do try and find this out beforehand, but as you say, some pups will be more expensive than others because of the show potential etc, so some sort of price confirmation really needs to be discussed with the breeder.

 

[*Lesley*]

But you've already decided you want a whippet that's why your ringing the breeder, you will have already considered if you are able to have one both finacially and physically what else would the breeder be able to tell you apart from the price and their address that would make a difference to your decision,chances are you would know the relevant info if you were looking for a certain breeding because you would be going to a certain place for it, like you said nicola you already did research before hand, what relevant questions do you ask? if you don't mind me asking.

That is an honest question BTW not a dig at Nicola

 

[chelynnah]

But you've already decided you want a whippet that's why your ringing the breeder, you will have already considered if you are able to have one both finacially and physically what else would the breeder be able to tell you apart from the price and their address that would make a difference to your decision,chances are you would know the relevant info if you were looking for a certain breeding because you would be going to a certain place for it, like you said nicola you already did research before hand, what relevant questions do you ask? if you don't mind me asking.

That is an honest question BTW not a dig at Nicola

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

​

Hi Lesley

Health of the parents, and the lines behind them. More information about the breeders themselves and perhaps their breeding practices. How many litters they've bred, what their dogs do. How they keep their dogs. If you're looking for a 'companion' rather than performance what the number of pups available as companions is. If you're looking for a show/performance whippet then you would want more information on the lines behind them. You want to know you're dealing with someone ethical and above board (the way they want to know that you are). If colour is something you prefer (whole nother can of worms there) then ask about the colour. The number of dogs/bitches. How many litters has the dam had before. How are pups from previous litters by dam or sire doing in their performance area (whether that be show/course/couch potato). You could go into more specifics - what age to they generally let pups go - will they be vaccinated. How do they feed the pups. There's TONS of questions you can ask depending on your situation and what you're looking for in a pup.

I found with my first enqiry that I didn't need to ask a lot of questions, nor did the breeder. We just talked for an hour or two!! And through our general conversation we learned the things we wanted to know. Plus we already had a general feel for each other from being on a whippet email list together over the previous few months even if we hadn't communicated directly much during that time.

Wendy

 

[*Lesley*]

Thanks wendy, unfortunatley none of that would make a difference if you didn't have enough money to buy it though, do you see my point

 

[chelynnah]

Thanks wendy, unfortunatley none of that would make a difference if you didn't have enough money to buy it though, do you see my point

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

​

Oh definitely! But if I didn't like the answers to any of the questions, then asking the price is irrelevant. If the breeders give me the creeps, then I don't WANT to know the price :blink:

So it kind of swings both ways. If you're shopping something catches your eye, then you check the price - you don't go in to buy what you can afford with nothing in mind other than price (well generally LOL) you find what you like then you check the price and see if you can afford it....

I know it sounds like I'm swinging both ways on the conversation - but my position is a bit in the middle. I think that price should be gotten out of the way earlier rather than later BUT not the first thing you ask. I want to know if I'm actually even interested in purchasing a pup from that breeder, then if so approach about price. The impression I was getting was that some felt price shouldn't be an issue if you like the pup. I would get price out of the way before going the extra step of looking at and falling in love with the pup - so somewhere in the 'early' middle of discussions.

Did that make any sense at all (w00t)

Wendy

ps - yes I know you can punch a lot of holes in the 'shopping analogy' the way I've worded it, but I hope you get the meaning

 

[*Lesley*]

It was more the swinging both ways bit I was suprised about Wendy :lol:

 

[~elizabeth~]

Re. money, I bet its ALWAYS the OH that asks about the price, just as you're chatting nicely to the breeder. Sort of thing my father will always do at the most inappropriate moment. :- "

When I was trying to find my current siamese cat we went all round the country for months looking for a litter that a) had no serious genetic defects b) had no temperament defects c) hadn't been reared by a neurotic nutter. Only found one breeder I was happy with, Doris Lang in Almondsbury :thumbsup: ; one lady wouldn't show us the whole litter, only the kitten in question for 5 mins. I asked to see the mother, reluctantly she went upstairs to get her and came back with a hissing demon, which immediately ran off at speed when it saw us. The woman then had a nervous-breakdown herself, talking about all her favorite cats who'd passed on. I'm afraid we left her in tears and didn't take the kitten. She was a lovely type, but quite expensive as they were show quality, but the temperament issues (feline and human) were what really put us off.

Doris was probably charging less than most people, but even if it had been expensive we'd have gone with it as we were happy with all the variables, and they were really nice, genuine people.

Current dog; just saw 'Laguna line' ones advertised in the paper, turned up on spec for a look. The dam was a lovely black bitch, really affectionate and calm and I'd always liked the look of Lagunas in books so I just went for him. It was the first litter Mrs Ely had bred, although apparently she's gone on to produce a nice line of racing-type whippets from his sister (must get in back in touch, don't tell the OH :- " )

So, you can end up with the perfect one just by luck or by extremely hard work!

Elizabeth

 

[Joanna]

Of course you must ask the price. An initial telephone enquiry will establish how may puppies, sexes, how many booked, parentage,colour, can parents be seen, KC registration, worming and vaccination details, location, can Mum be seen with pups and finally price. If you are happy with all of those details, arrange to view and don't commit to buy until you are happy too. I don't breed, but if some-body showed an interest and asked all of the relevant questions, and enquiry about price would be fine.........

 

[kerry0378]

Well the prices do vary depending what you want ie show/race/breed/pet a mixture of all. Charlie cost me £300 and Daisy a wee bit more than that and like you both times i had to save up, after all money doesnt grow on trees (mores the pity). So for me i tend to just bulldoze straight to the point because though you should completely fall for the dog you need to know the bottom line. Personally i would rather someone came straight to the point because at the end of the day you need to be practical and too many pups of all breeds go to impractical people who only after getting one realise how expensive (and distructive) a pup can be

 

[Jan Doherty]

I have no problem asking the price of a puppy. I was recently looking at another Toy breed and was appalled at the price being asked. I actually said to the person(in the nicest possible way) that I wouldnt pay that sort of money for a dog, any dog in fact. I could well afford the price of the dog I just wasnt prepared to pay it and wasnt afraid to say so. We still speak and no offence was taken and I get told all about the wins the dog has had but that wouldnt change my mind.

 

[Janimal]

Another thing with the 'price thing' is if you are paying a lot for the puppy and have to travel a long way to collect it - this would push the price up so to speak.

So I would probably not mind paying for the pup if I didnt have to go too far to pick it up (in my last case had Oscar brought to me). But the same would apply if I was having another puppy - I wouldnt pay £500 say for arguments sake - then have to travel all the way from County Durham to say The Isle of Wight or London in our case.

But I do know people are prepared to travel hundreds of miles to get a dog, and pay a lot more money than some.

 

[*Lesley*]

Another thing with the 'price thing' is if you are paying a lot for the puppy and have to travel a long way to collect it - this would push the price up so to speak.
So I would probably not mind paying for the pup if I didnt have to go too far to pick it up (in my last  case had Oscar brought to me).  But the same would apply if I was having another puppy - I wouldnt pay £500 say for arguments sake - then have to travel all the way from County Durham to say The Isle of Wight or London in our case.

But I do know people are prepared to travel hundreds of miles to get a dog, and pay a lot more money than some.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

​

Love your new Avatar pic Janis :thumbsup: :wub: :wub:

 

[LasVegasNo1]

Love your new Avatar pic Janis :thumbsup:   :wub:   :wub:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

​

I was going to mention that earlier too, but when I just read your post your avatar had changed back! (w00t)

 

[Vicky]

I agree with what some are saying - first phone call to breeder, asking for price, definate no no - however i would say to ask the price at some point before you go to look at the pup..... My friend didn't ask until she went to pick her pup up and got charged £650 - imo once the breeder know's you're dead keen you're left wide open to being ripped off. I know with my last few jobs, as soon as someone said they were desperate, we'd wack an extra £50 on the charge. By not asking a price some breeder's might think that money isn't an issue and charge more.

 

[~elizabeth~]

ask the price at some point before you go to look at the pup.....  My friend didn't ask until she went to pick her pup up and got charged £650 - imo once the breeder know's you're dead keen you're left wide open to being ripped off. 

Yes, I would be worried that by saying 'yes' before you'd agreed a price you'd be leaving yourself open to being ripped off. A sharp seller will see you've made an emotional committment and might take advantage and raise the price. Okay, not all breeders are that sharp by any means, and if they are perhaps it would be better to look elsewhere, but buying a puppy is an emotional thing and you can't always do it by strict logic!

Elizabeth

 

[chelynnah]

Hi Vicky

But why not ask in the first phone call if it was toward the end of the call and phrased well. Why is that wrong? Why spend money back and forth on phone calls and such and developing a relationship with the person only to find out later that they can't afford that particular pup and have now wasted time when they could have gone elsewhere and gotten a pup more within their budget, or else realised that they need to go back and start saving up a bit more?

Lesley - LOL - 'swing both ways' on this issue silly :b

Wendy