Hi I have a pup sold to a nice familly they sent a deposit in the form of a money order and I just got a call from them saying that they don't want the pup now cause they found one closer to where they live and it's not redistred,so I would imagine the real reason is that it's alot cheaper than one of my pups. I spoke to her this morning and told her some of the dangers of buying a pup from back yard breeders and she still wants to go and look at it today,she asked me if she could have her deposit back I didn't know what to say at the time cause she is a nice lady so I told her to go look at the other pup and call me back and I will give her an answer then.
What do you think should I give her back the deposit or not?
Need some help please.

No, I wouldn't return the deposit. In my opinion a deposit is paid to demonstrate a buyers commitment, and to provide the breeder with some level of 'security'. Why not wait and see how long it takes to sell this puppy, and for what price. If it happens very quickly, and you get the original price, then you might refund the deposit, but don't end up out of pocket.

I will say though, that i have never paid, or been asked to pay any deposit when I've bought puppies.

Dawn R.

I paid a deposit for my dog but wouldn't have expected a refund if I had backed out of the sale.  IMO that makes me a nicer lady than your nice lady ;)  If she is getting a puppy somewhere else just because it's cheaper then she can afford to lose the deposit can't she?

I'm not a breeder but if I was I would be offended at someone rejecting a well bred pup just because of price and I don't think I would want to sell to her now anyway.  Keep the deposit and find another buyer anyway.

We paid 500 EUR deposit on our puppy when we came to make our pick at 6 weeks. We then came back at 8 weeks to take her home, and paid the rest of the purchase price (another 500 EUR).
Katie

I don't take deposits for this very reason.  I would rather the prospective owner change their mind before taking the puppy if I've misjudged them, than to go through with the sale and be unhappy - and have my puppy umhappy!

Have you met them or have they sent a money order without meeting you or your dogs?

I paid a deposit for our then 6 month old little girl (rougly 1/3 of the total cost) then paid the rest on collection.  If we had backed out yes I would have been a bit miffed to have lost all that money but at the end of the day we would have prevented the dog from finding another home for the 3 weeks we waited to collect her.  If you put a deposit down/pay the costs at a rescue centre etc you lose the full amount so why not with breeders?  It just needs to be stated in the Terms of Sale or on the receipt given out :)

I take a deposit, but it is only £50 about what it would cost to readvertise if the prospective owner changes their mind, as it may be some weeks before a suitable new home is offered, once I have turned away other potential owners to go on other breeders lists, wouldn't be right to then poach them back.

I make it clear that this is to hold the pup for them.  Anyone not fully commited is welcome to come back when they are sure, but can't be guaranteed there will still be pups available, and may have to be passed on to someone else.

I don't take deposits for the same reasons as Val. But if I did, I don't think I'd return it in this case.

I wouldnt give the deposit back.

You you place a deposit on a car or something similar you wouldnt assume that a refund would be given for a change of mind, and should you change your mind, you would loose out on that deposit.

She aggreed to give a deposit to hold that pup, in doing that she acknowledged the risks associated with handing over a deposit - i.e not getting it back. If she was concerned about getting a refund for a change of mind she should have checked with you before handing the money over and gotten a written aggreement to that effect.

You shouldnt have to give her the money back, and personally I wouldnt as I assume you would have put off serious buyers for these people who have just ended up wasting your time. Or if you feel a little iffy about keeping the deposit, take a 50% cancellation fee, which I think is more than fair.

I only give deposits back if the vet hasnt given the pup a 100% clear health check or if for any reason I back out. If the new owner backs out then I wouldn't give the deposit back as you have reserved that pup for them and prevented others from being able to offer that pup a new home

If they sent a money order as a deposit, does that mean they haven't even seen the pup and you haven't met them?

Difficult one this. Depends on whether she has sent deposit without seeing the pups and also the age of the pups now and the chances of you finding another buyer. If you are going to have to readvertise the litter and additional costs are involved, then it would be reasonable to cover those. On the other hand, if you didn't really agree exactly what the deposit was for and what guarantees were given in return, then it leaves the situation open. In your situation, I would try and be fair, so keep the deposit until the puppy is sold, and then deduct all reasonable expenses, advertising , additional feed etc. After all you don't want to sell a puppy to an owner who is dithering and unsure and only takes it because she doesn't want to lose the deposit.

I wdn't send it back, they've pulled out so it's there fault!

when you recieve a deposit you HAVE  to tell them that there is no refund or only a partial refund if you didnt then yes you have to give it back if you did then no you dont.

hi .... i had this happen recently ..... lady came and looked at puppies when they were 7 wks old .... picked one out and left a deposit ...... she phoned later that week to say she had changed her mind because of other commitments ..... this had never happened to me before but i refunded her deposit .... she never actually asked for it back but i had quite a list of other people wating for puppies so it seemed the right thing to do..... i think it depends on the situation at the time.... if this lady had asked me to keep the puppy back for a couple of weeks before letting me know that she had changed her mine then maybe i would have held on to it but because i had other people waiting then i wasnt really out of pocket ..... you will really have to make up your own mind about it

personally I would NOT give the deposit back, a deposit is exactly that.... this may teach her to make her mind up fully before saying she wants a puppy, after all she has wasted your time and imagine if you had told people the litter were sold and then ended up with a puppy through no fault of your own......

Hi thanks for all the feed back,I did tell her the deposit was non refudable and I did miss an opertunity to sell this pup to another good home as I dont think I will give her back the deposit.Yes they came to meet me and see the pups and then sent a money order the next day after they made the decision to buy a pup from me.
I will call her with my decision today I know she wont be to happy about it.

a deposit is to secure that the puppy will not be sold to someone else ..you held your side of the agreement she is the one who broke it by changing her mind so in my opinion she will have to forgo her deposit .

Roni

I had something similar with my last litter ~ I nick named the woman "the mad German"   She came to visit 3 times and she'd left a deposit which I both told her & wrote on her receipt that it was non-refundable except in exceptional circumstances & she accepted this.  This woman always knew that there were 3 people plus myself to pick before her.  A few days after her 3rd visit I got a very snotty email telling me how unhappy she was at not being able to have pick of the litter & in light of this she no longer wanted a puppy but would I refund her deposit ~ I emailed her back & politely told her to get on her bike!!  I'd passed on other interested people & spent a lot of time with her.  I later found out that I wasn't the first breeder she had done this to & last I heard she'd lost the equivalent price of a puppy in lost deposits!!

Id  not return a deposit or even think of letting her have the puppy now.

i donot take deposit.i would want the new owner to be shaw 100% that they could afford the cost of a puppie and the love and care for the rest of it life.

i would be glad that she back out now and not have one of my puppie if the reason is that it a cheaper puppy elis where then how are they going to feed,vet bil,ect if the reason is money,

plus you have the puppy back in later years.
drop them donot ring them.you find a good home for the puppy. fate has a big part in life.

First rule; always write into your deposit contract (two copies for both parties to sign retaining one each) setting out your terms.  Full puppy contract given with the dog on complete sale.

Mine states that deposits will be refunded if we are informed of the buyers wish to pull out buy the time the pup is 8 weeks old.  I only take £50 so it doesn't break the bank If I have to refund it.  I would not want anyone taking a puppy if they were not 100% committed.

Can anyone help me with a reasonable puppy sales contract? I've never had one before but after reading some of these posts I think perhaps I should. I've a litter due in 2 weeks.:rolleyes:

I would do a search on puppy contracts as you will find loads of useful info :D