Can you tell me what criteria I should use to determine how much to sell puppies for, (pedigree, color, etc.) And what is a good starting price? They are AKC registered. Also, what is the best way to ensure that puppies are sold to good homes?

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A comprehensive answer to your questions would need pages of text. My question is, why are you breeding/thinking of breeding if you have no idea what puppies may be worth or how to find good homes?
"Starting price"? Puppies dont have a starting price - well not here in the UK anyway. They are not up for auction, the decided price IS the price and thats that.
The parents must have low hip scores and a clear eye test before they are worth anything much, over here. Some breeders I believe are also x raying elbows as there is an increasing elbow problem.
In the UK the breeder of a puppy who develops an hereditary condition like hip displacia can be taken to court and sued for thousands, so beware, as I believe litigation generally in the states is much more prevalent (and expensive) than here.
The colour should have nothing to do with value, sometimes chocolates are priced higher-but shouldn't be.
You could start with buying "The Book of the Bitch" by Kay white and Jim Evans which covers almost every aspect of breeding.
Why do you want to breed? Are you hoping to keep a puppy?

I would think if they are registered then u bought them off a breeder, what did u pay for them? That should give u an idea right there, and why not call ur breeder they should be more then happy to help u on ur way. I always found my breeders very helpful and I talk to them all the time, 1 I talk to atleast 3 times a week or so just to chat.

ttfn :)

I was wondering..when i was looking at the dachshund puppies the other day..I found a lady on the kennel Club website selling for £400 she was the cheapest i've ever seen them for they areall £500 and up anywya when i called her she said 'is that too cheap for you' I said no it is still a lot for a dog then she told me that she had a couple calls from 'proper' dachshund breeders telling her that she is charging too little and that she is undercutting them...I told her my opinion of a breeder was a caring person not in iot for the money but for the love of it and thefirst thing on thelist was a goodhome for their dog..is this normal breeder behaviour...should breeders be bothered with others prices...this woman was a hobbie breeder she did it for the love and fun of it?my aunt that bred boxers never made money on it she vetted the homes and that was her main concern..just wondering as this question has been asked on this topic? :)

It depends Melmel. If this hobby breeder
a. hasn't done any health checks,
b. has used a cheap stud dog who hasn't been proven to produce happy, healthy puppies,
c. has no knowledge about the dogs behind her bitch and stud dog (after all a pedigree is only a collection of names if you don't "know" the dogs on it) because they haven't travelled miles to see the quality and temperaments of the dogs on the pedigrees,
d. has reared the pups on a cheap food,
e. doesn't give an indepth booklet about diet, training etc,
f. doesn't make long distance phone calls to provide backup and advice in case of problems and maybe doesn't have the knowledge and experience to do so, if she only has one or two dogs,
then even though her selling price is cheaper, she could be making MUCH more money that the breed enthusiast, who has spent yearsworth of time and money studying the breed to maintain the breed standard, and therefore the quality of the pups she is producing.
Love by itself isn't enough to breed puppies. Knowledge is required so that you don't sell your learning mistakes to unsuspecting families!

some very good points Val I understand what you mean ..but lets say a breeder does all what you say and feels to charge £2 for her dog should other dog breeders object ..does this affect them ?Are they worrried about the values of their dogs ie the prices taking a dip ?..even though there is no SET price there is an average that each breed of dog goes for not so ?

If someone in my breed did all the things that were mentioned over a period of time, then after making all that outlay of time, money and emotion, decided to sell their pups for £2, then I would have no problem with that! They certainly wouldn't make a habit of it! In this day and age, I don't know anybody in a position to do that though!
In my experience, those selling cheap puppies are those who cut corners, and the new owners, who think that they've saved money, realise what they've really done when they've paid the first Vet's bill!

thanks Val as I said it makes perfect sense ..I was just wondering if it made the other breeders mad if the dogs went too cheap...I am always suspicious when some item is TOO cheap ..so a dog should be no different..it is the people that are NOT doing all the checks..breed work etc..and charging top price for the dog..that's the other end :)

Just my opinion Melmel. Others may feel differently! ;)

Val, I ditto all you have said..

Pam

i do agree with everything that has been said , but do feel that the other breeders had NO right to call the breeder you mentioned and question why she was selling at £100 less,perhaps she was in a position to.£400 is still quite a bit for a puppy~depending on how many were in a litter.
I would imagine , any breeder would know average prices of their breed before they start.I am no breeder , but know what price to expect should i buy another Newfoundland,so i would worry if i were setting out to breed them and yet had no idea of the "average " selling price.However , it does sometimes puzzle me why prices vary SO greatly for different breeds.I understand that larger breeds acumilate larger vet bills an so this may be the main reason.Im guessing that also the rareity of the breed is a factor.I would imagine that a breeder would roughly divide out her costs between the puppys whilst takilng into consideration the price of its peers and come up with a price that way.I'm only puzzled that if this IS the way breeders decided ( i.e divideing the price between pups with maybe a little profit) then why the price varys so greatly? are the costs very different from breed to breed? is it done by risk factor ( in some breeds that commonly require c~sections etc) or simply depending on how many of a breed there are?
I am by no means saying any of this is right or wrong , i am in NO postition to , nor would i.I just wonder how certain breeds came to have the "head price "they do~ esp. if vet costs and rearing are similar ( not sure as not a breeder).
Very interesting subject though!
I should imagine also , that higher prices would some times deter people who see a certain breed in a film,or on tv and know nothing about it from running out and buying one.It may make them think a little more if the price is higher! after all , we dont think twice about buying a newspaper at 25p ... but a purchase of a video etc isnt something we would just pick up with the morning milk.The more something costs,the more thought we usually put in before buying it.If your child wanted a pup to play with , and you were not a conciencious person~ you may very well pick the £90 pup in the paper~but faced with a £750 pup to a vetted home , a barbie might become the better choice !
Zoe x

It used to be that the price of a puppy was roughly the price of the stud fee. But that seems to have changed, and puppies have become relatively more expensive.

In theory, you would think a high-priced puppy would deter non-serious buyers. The trouble is, sometimes it works the opposite way! People see that a puppy is expensive, and think "I've got to have one of those, they're a status symbol" and their next thought is "This was an expensive puppy, we can breed from it and make a fortune".

Oh i do realise that , but i would have thought that more people have less money to spare than those that have money to throw away on a fad.
The only alternative would be to sell cheaply~this way allsorts of people would want the pups!including thoses that could not afford to keep the pup.Whilst money does not stop bad owners buying pups , it can help prevent SOME bad owners.It cuts out a small slice of the market~either those that would not bother to pay that for a dog ( usually not knowing much about breeds other than looks )or those that could not afford it ~ and so maybe not ideal owners ( as if they havent saved up and prepared they shouldn't be getting pup anyway ).
So i would say price deters impulse buyers and unprepared buyers.May only be two kinds...but better than no kinds !!!
Still dosent explain puppy prices differing so much!!

Hi Melmel. There's an interesting thread under idle chat. Now that's the sort of puppy producer that good breeders would object to. Unregistered stock, no health tests, no stud fee, no research, no knowledge of the dogs behind the pedigrees. Good sized litter from a poor bitch who only had pups 8 months before. Now there's a nice little earner with no outlay of time or money of effort. Not the sort of breeding to be commended. It's refreshing to read about so many people speaking to lots of breeders to gain knowledge before buying a puppy. But the average family only buys a puppy once in maybe 15 years and doesn't know what to ask.

Val..looked for the thread not seeing it...

It's been removed under TOS!

I have recently bought a dachshund it is a rodima std long I paid £350 I did ask why so cheap she said that above birmingham say wolverhampton,leicester etc thats the going price but below birmingham say buckinghamshire way £500 -£650 depends where the money is she said!!!!