I bought my male for $1200 and my female for $1500 with the hopes of starting out as a breeder. I know I am a novice so I priced my puppies at much less than their puppies would normally go for. I asked $900. I did that mainly to ensure people would not arbitrarily decided to buy one without putting enough thought into it. Cheap puppies can sometimes wind up in shelters because people do not value them enough to take care of them. I also wanted to ensure puppy mill folks would not buy them. They can be tricky and appear to be good people wanting a pet. But they are not likely to buy a $900 puppy for their purposes. They look for the cheaper ones. I also wanted to make sure whoever bought them could afford good health care for their puppies. I am confident each of the people adopting my puppies will be able to provide for them should an emergency arise.
I think Yorkies prices went so high for several reasons but at least one of those reasons is to weed out buyers who maybe should not have a Yorkie. There are plenty of pets that are priced lower. I could not have one when I was young and on a strict budget. They are a luxury! AKC yorkies usually sell for more than the off-shoot registeries. The puppies usually look closer to standard than others too.
If your puppies are quality -- please think about getting the litter registered. You can still sell them as pets only by designating limited registration on the individual puppy applications that will come with your litter registration. Even though you did not intend to breed your dogs, they still deserve to be registered if both parents are. I think it is important to register our puppies when they are from quality AKC stock. It is a history of the breed, among other things.
Sorry you went through such a hassle when you were just trying to give people a chance to own a wonderful Yorkie puppy for less money. But it pays to keep their prices higher, IMO. Besides.....the money we spend totals up fast! Think of all the vet visits for momma, then for the puppies, their wormings, shots, health certificates, cost to register the litter, cost to feed, toys, play yard, carrier to fit all the puppies, all those puppy pads, treats, chewed up shoes and flip flops that now need to be replaced
, money to place an ad, puppy pack to go with new owners, ....... and if worst ever happens and you lose a momma dog -- well there is a huge cost to buy another (but never be able to replace her!). I need to sell 4 of my puppies to just break even! And that means no pay for all those hours of taking care of them -- well okay, maybe I should be paying for the joy of playing with them every day too!
But you get the idea. They do cost a lot more to raise than you think. I don't know how a peron doesn't go in the red when they sell their puppies for $300. Maybe they are not going to the vet as much.
Good luck finding homes for your little ones. Be patient. Check with your vet. Some allow you to post a card there. Check in with the local dog fancier club in your area. Let the breeders you got your two adult dogs from know you have puppies. They can sometimes steer an interested customer your way if they do not have a litter ready to go at the same time. Definately advertise them here on YT if they are 10 weeks old. You can list them for a set price and then let it be a case by case basis to give a discount if you want. I advertised mine for $900. No one has asked me to take less and only here on YT has anyone suggested that was too high of a price for them to pay. I could have sold several more females if I had them but for some reason no one has asked for males. The breeder I got my girl from said it goes in cycles. Sometimes it seems like all callers want a girl and sometimes they all seem to want a boy. Sorry this got so long --- I just got going and did not know when to stop typing!
