Convention

While we wait to find out the results of my pawpaw's surgery (that's grandfather for you non-southerners), I found myself drawn back to my blog. It's good to keep occupied sometimes. :).

Many people buy rabbits and have friends, acquaintances or even total strangers who are headed to convention pick up pre-bought animals and transport them back.

To begin with, transportation can range from free, if you have a VERY good friend going (run give them a hug- I'll wait.).............................................. to $30 or more! I've noticed average prices seem to be $20-$25. Don't forget to figure that cost in to the cost of your new rabbit(s). Often, you'll have to pay transport for the rabbit TO convention, as well as for the rabbit to come home to your new barn. Sometimes, it's actually cheaper to ship the rabbits directly from the breeder to your nearest airport. Imagine you're buying 3 rabbits from the same breeder. It costs $20 each to get them to Convention, and another $20 to get them to you. That's $120 in traveling fees! Some airlines, like Frontier, will ship for $85.

When choosing who you contact about transport, if you don't know the person, try to find out about them! You don't want to trust your precious, expensive rabbits to someone who has an unsavory reputation in the rabbiting world. Unfortunately, there are people out there who are known to untrustworthy. Thankfully, the good rabbit people FAR outnumber the bad :).

Be aware of troubles that can occur in transport- the rabbit could get sick or die, stolen, forgotten or left behind (for whatever reason). Plenty of people get rabbits transported all the time with no problems. However these problems CAN happen and have happened.

Convention is a great time to try to get animals from other states/districts. With so many people traveling, and such a large collection of breeders gathering in one place, it is much easier to find a way to get the animal to you, if you have no interest in shipping. Top breeders in every breed usually have nice stock for sale. Keep in mind, prices leading up to convention often jump higher- and this is not saying anything bad about any breeders. Often they have to add in transport, entry fees, care for the animal on the trip, etc.

I'm reminded of a story of a lady trying to sell a nice rabbit at a past convention- she priced the animal at $80, the regular price she would ask for such a creature. Time and time again people passed the animal by, and the breeder began to get frustrated. A friend suggested to her she bump up the price. After pricing the rabbit at $120 and advertising her for only an hour, the doe was snatched up. Sometimes people believe lower priced animals are always bad! Don't fall in to that trap, try to evaluate the animal itself, not it's price tag. You will find $200 rabbits not worth $50 normally.

For those of you going to Convention- I'm incredibly jealous! For those of you not going- the next one will be in Kentucky! I hope to see you there!

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry