Selling chickens on Craigslist can be a great way to find new homes for your extra birds, but there are a few things you need to keep in mind. Follow these tips to make sure the process goes as smoothly as possible!
Unlike social media platforms like Facebook, Craigslist allows you to sell farm animals on their site. And better yet, it’s free, easy, and anonymous, but it also has drawbacks. My personal experiences with Craigslist have led me to believe this platform has a higher-than-average chance of no-shows or flaky users. But I have some great tips to help you make the most of the online classifieds website and successfully sell surplus chickens or chicks.
Why Sell Chickens on Craigslist?
Most poultry keepers will eventually be faced with a time when they need to sell or rehome surplus chickens for one reason. Your reasons for removing birds from your flock can vary, and how or when you decide is a personal decision.
Craigslist isn’t a fancy site. Keeping things simple and free has allowed Craigslist to rival eBay and Amazon in the number of online users wanting to buy and sell.Craigslist provides a great way for people to post quick advertisem*nts in a targeted location or city, and get exposure to a huge audience.
If you are considering thinning your flock and wondering where to start, check out this post of considerations and all the methods available to sell, rehome, or cull birds.
Tips to Help You Successfully Sell Chickens On Craigslist
Are you considering selling some of your chickens on Craigslist? It can be a great way to rehome extra chickens, but it’s important to remember that there are a few things you need to do to make the process go as smoothly as possible. Here are eight tips to help you sell your chickens quickly and easily on Craigslist.
Make Sure You List in The Farm & Garden Category in Your Local Area
You might have difficulty getting the right people to see your ad if it’s not located in the right section. While it may be tempting to find your birds a good home by listing them in the pet category, ads for poultry and livestock will do much better in the craigslist farm and garden area.
Include Specific Keywords in the Post Title
Your title is the first thing potential buyers will see, so make it count. Be specific about what you’re selling and include key information like your chickens’ breed, age, and gender. When titling your listing, you want to be specific and clear. Instead of a generic title like: “Free Roosters,” try adding a few keywords people may be searching for, like: “Docile Mature Orpington Roosters.”
Use Great Photos
Do not use stock photos or photos you found online. People want to see actual photos of the bird you are trying to sell, and using stock photos looks sketchy. Craigslist allows you to upload four photos per post. Use them all. The more pictures you provide, the better! Phone cameras take amazing pictures now. Make sure the lighting is good, the chickens are in clean surroundings and try to get close-ups of unique features.
Price the Birds Right
When pricing your chickens, you will need to do some research. Look at other listings in your area and get an idea of the going rate for the same breed of chicken. You may want to price your chickens a bit lower than the competition to attract buyers, but don’t price them so low that buyers will be wondering what is wrong with that bird.
Decide The Absolute Minimum Amount You’d Take
Once your listing is created, keep an eye on your email or text messages and answer potential buyers’ questions. It would help if you also prepared yourself for haggling and counter offers. I find it best to decide on the lowest price you are willing to sell before you even begin communicating with a potential buyer.
Write Clear and Accurate Descriptions of the Chickens
We’ve all seen those ads that leave you with more questions than answers. We want to avoid that. Include clear descriptions of each chicken in the listing, including their age, weight, vaccinations, chickens personality traits, health history, and egg-laying abilities. The more details you can provide, the better. I also find it helpful to think about what I would ask a seller if I was interested in buying and try to include answers to those questions in the description.
Meet Buyers in a Public Location
When it comes time to meet the buyers, do so in a public place. This is a personal preference, but I don’t particularly enjoy inviting strangers to my house. Instead, meet in a busy parking lot or some other safe location. Our town has a designated meetup location near the Police Station in the middle of town. Grocery stores often have video-monitored parking lots in a high-traffic areas if your town doesn’t have a designated online transaction location.
Ask Them to Text You When They Are on Their Way
When the time comes to meet with the buyer, I like to try to select a mutually agreeable meetup location. Be sure to agree on a time and place ahead of time so there is no confusion.
The biggest complaint about Craigslist transactions is the number of no-shows or last-minute flake-outs that happen when you use this platform. I like to ask the buyer to text me when they are on their way or if they are nearby before they leave. If I don’t get that text, they have likely lost interest, and I will not waste my time catching the chicken and placing it in the dog kennel for transport and driving to the meetup location only to have a no-show. If I don’t hear from the potential buyer, I send a courtesy text or email saying, “Are we still on at noon today for the rooster?”
The extra effort of reaching out to a buyer before the planned meetup might prevent bad experiences due to a no-show. Wasting your time on no-shows is extremely frustrating.
So, there you have it! Eight tips to help you successfully sell your extra roosters or chickens on Craigslist.
With a little effort, you should be able to sell your chickens on Craigslist successfully. Just be sure to follow these tips and use common sense, and you’ll do fine.
Happy selling!
