The Official Forum of the Ameraucana Breeders Club > Ameraucana Marketplace
Pricing your birds
Beth C:
Price really varies a lot by location. I'm in a military town and most of the people looking for birds around here are looking for short-term layers and are not interested in breeding.
A good starting point is the local classifieds to get a feel for the range they are selling in (around here a mutt hen currently laying will bring between $10-15, but a decent breeder bird won't bring much more). If you have a local poultry club, talk to some of the members, particularly ones who raise the same breed(s). Most will be more than willing to give advice, and some may want to trade stock. Also, if there are shows close enough to attend, there will almost always be people tailgating outside. This is not only a good place to sell your birds but you can quickly get a feel for what similar birds are bringing (just make sure you have your green card if you take birds to sell).
Personally, I try to keep my prices low because I want to promote the breed. But I think most people are willing to pay a little more to help out our youth members. My guy is constantly looking for ways to earn money to support his habit, er, hobby, and there aren't too many ways for an 8 yr old to generate income. ;)
Mike Gilbert:
My degree is in business, and I have always been for free markets. One of the first things I was taught is that value is determined by what a willing buyer and a willing seller agree upon, BOTH HAVING A REASONABLE KNOWLEDGE OF THE APPROPRIATE FACTS. The facts are that there is no shortage of almost all varieties of Ameraucana of good breeding quality. Therefore, there is no reason for anyone here to be gouging anyone else to the tune of $10-$12 per egg. That, my friend, is preying on the unknowing and it is a prime example of what gives business a bad name. And, in the end, the seller's reputation suffers. I am extremely pro-business and pro free market, but it is the opportunists and outright cheats that have driven this country to the brink of socialism.
Beth C:
This is a kid who is just getting started, I don't think it is her intention to cheat or gouge anyone, she is just excited about her birds. If anything, she may have been misled by some of the prices she has seen some adults charging, but that is not her fault. And I suspect the people buying her eggs at that price are well aware of what they are worth. I know whenever I do business with a young person I tend to buy high and sell low. Maybe that's wrong, maybe I'm giving them a false sense of what things are worth, but I want to do all I can to encourage them. One thing I've noticed at poultry shows is that, at 46, I'm usually one of the youngest (adults) in the room. There seems to be at least 2 (sometimes 3) full generations between the people running the shows/clubs and the enthusiastic kids I see out here competing. If we run them off, this hobby just might not survive long enough for another generation to come along and take it over...
Mike Gilbert:
Money is not going to keep anyone's loyalty for long. The kids will soon find out there is no big money to be made in the hobby. I think it is more important they know the truth from the get-go, and if they truly like this hobby they will be around for awhile. When I first developed a love for breeding chickens, I did not even know there was such a thing as a chicken show, or an organization to promote the fancy. Here I am, 60 years later, still doing what I love to do. Beth, you should see the makeup of our local poultry club. We have as many teens and younger as we do adults, and those teenage boys and girls do a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to setting up and tearing down a show. Nobody pays them to do it - except with words of encouragement and thanks. And maybe a few free birds from time to time. This hobby is not about the money.
Beth C:
Our local clubs have a fair number of really active youth and they are passionate about it (I have an 8 year old who literally carries his standard everywhere he goes, there is never a day he doesn't read it). But there is a big age gap between the youth and the adults. We have a lot of youth, but not so many young adults, and a handful of us in the middle (mostly parents of youth exhibitors), with the majority being 60+. We need to hang onto these kids and keep that passion alive, and, while I agree that money won't do that, the words of encouragement and thanks should be abundant and criticism should be GENTLE... ;)
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