seller subject

How to sell dogs online for free

Advertise dogs free on Pets Connected. What to prepare, how to write the advert, how to price it, and how to screen buyers safely.

Dogs
Close-up profile of a Xoloitzcuintli dog with a harness outdoors on a sunny day.
Xoloitzcuintli

Key takeaways

  • Listing a dog on Pets Connected is free.
  • Honesty about behaviour finds the right home faster than hiding it.
  • An adult dog's advert should describe its routine — that is what a new owner is taking on.
  • Allow time for a proper handover. Rushing it is how dogs come back.

Step 1

Where to advertise dogs

Adult dogs are harder to advertise than puppies, and where you advertise matters more as a result. On a general classifieds site an adult dog competes for attention against puppies and gets skipped. On a pet marketplace, people actively filtering for an older or settled dog will find yours.

Pets Connected organises dog adverts by breed, age and area, so an advert for a five-year-old crossbreed reaches the people specifically looking for one rather than everyone looking at dogs.

Step 2

What it costs to list dogs

Advertising a dog on Pets Connected is free. There is no listing fee and no commission when the dog goes.

Optional Boosters and Featured slots can lift an advert back up its category, which is more useful for adult dogs than for puppies simply because adult adverts tend to run longer. They remain optional, and a clear honest advert outperforms a promoted vague one.

Step 3

Listing a dog step by step

Photograph the dog in daylight, ideally somewhere it is relaxed rather than in a bare room. Write the description around its actual routine — walks, feeding, where it sleeps, how it is with people and other animals. Set a rehoming fee or price, add your general location, and publish.

Then give it time. Adult dogs take longer to place than puppies, and the adverts that succeed are usually the ones that stayed honest and waited rather than the ones that kept cutting the price.

Ready to write your advert?

Creating a standard advert is free, and there is no commission when your dog finds a home.

You will need a free account to publish an advert. Sign in if you already have one.

Step 4

Avoiding time-wasters and scams

Adult dog adverts attract fewer scams than puppy adverts but are not immune. The pattern is usually someone offering to collect immediately and pay in cash on arrival, then negotiating hard at the door once you are emotionally committed to the dog leaving.

Agree the fee before anyone travels, take payment you can verify, and be willing to say no at the door. A dog going to the wrong home is a worse outcome than an advert running another fortnight.

Step 5

Screening buyers and enquiries

Ask what the dog's day would look like in their home, how long it would be alone, what other animals and people are there, and whether they have had a dog of this size or energy before. For an adult dog with any specific need, ask directly how they would handle it.

A good sign is a buyer who asks to meet the dog more than once. Someone willing to make two trips before committing is usually someone who will not give up in the first difficult fortnight.

Step 6

Welfare checks before you advertise

Be straightforward about the dog's health and behaviour. If it is on medication, has an ongoing condition, or has a bite history, that has to be in the conversation before anyone travels to meet it — for the dog's sake and for your own.

Where health is uncertain, get a vet's assessment before advertising rather than relying on your own impression. Rules on microchipping and transfer of registration differ by country and region; check what applies where you live and make sure the change of keeper is done properly.

Step 7

Writing the description

Describe the dog as it actually lives: what a normal day looks like, how much exercise it needs, what it eats, where it sleeps, how it behaves when left, and how it is with people, children and other animals.

Include what it finds difficult. A dog that pulls on the lead, dislikes being left, or is wary of strangers is not unrehomeable — but a home that discovers those things after collection is where returns come from. Saying it upfront attracts owners who are equipped for it.

Step 8

Photos that get replies

Photograph the dog standing, in daylight, from its own eye level. Include one clear head shot and one full-body shot showing its build. If the dog is good with children or other animals and you can photograph that naturally, it does more for the advert than any sentence you could write.

Use recent photos. A photo of the dog three years and several kilos ago is the kind of thing a buyer notices at the meeting, and it undermines everything else in the advert.

Step 9

Setting a fair price

Adult dogs are usually rehomed for a fee rather than sold at a market price, and the fee should be modest. Its purpose is to filter enquiries, not to recover costs.

If you are selling rather than rehoming, price against comparable adult dogs of similar age and breed locally, and expect the figure to be lower than puppy pricing. Pricing an adult dog like a puppy is the most common reason those adverts sit unanswered for months.

Step 10

Completing the handover

Send the dog with what it knows — its bed, its current food, a familiar toy — and write down its routine for the new owner. A dog that arrives to the same food and the same schedule settles considerably faster than one that arrives to everything new at once.

Offer to stay reachable for the first few weeks. Most rehoming that fails, fails in the first month over something small that a two-minute phone call would have solved.

Useful Marketplace Next Steps

Common questions

Where can I sell my dog?

You can advertise a dog free on Pets Connected. Create an account, list under the dog category with the breed and age, add recent daylight photos, and publish. Adverts are searchable by breed, age and area, so people specifically looking for an adult dog will find yours.

How to sell a dog?

Photograph the dog in daylight at its own eye level, then describe its actual routine — exercise, feeding, sleeping, and how it is with people and other animals. Include what it finds difficult. Set a modest rehoming fee, publish, and screen enquiries about the home before arranging a meeting.

Where to sell dogs online?

Use a pet marketplace rather than general classifieds. Adult dogs get overlooked on general sites where puppies dominate, whereas a dedicated marketplace lets buyers filter for age and breed. Listing on Pets Connected is free.

How to sell a dog online?

Create a free account, start an advert under the dog category, and upload recent photos showing the dog's build and face. Write the description around its daily routine and be specific about what it needs from a home. Add a rehoming fee and your location, then reply to enquiries promptly.

Where can I sell my dog for free?

Pets Connected charges nothing to list a dog and takes no commission when it is rehomed. Paid promotion is available but optional.

Where can I sell my dog online for free?

You can advertise a dog free on Pets Connected — no listing fee and no commission. Create an account, publish with recent photos and an honest description, and the advert appears in the dog category for your area.

Where can I sell my dog near me?

Add an accurate general location so local buyers can find the advert and meet the dog before committing. For adult dogs a local home is a real advantage, because meeting more than once before collection is what makes rehoming stick.

How to sell a dog fast?

Recent daylight photos, a realistic rehoming fee, and an honest description of what the dog needs are what move an adult dog advert. Adult dogs genuinely take longer than puppies, so expect weeks rather than days — and resist cutting the fee, which attracts exactly the enquiries you should be filtering out.

Ready to write your advert?

Creating a standard advert is free, and there is no commission when your dog finds a home.

You will need a free account to publish an advert. Sign in if you already have one.

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