How do you manage to keep breeding without going broke

[Troubadoura Resident]

Anyone care to share some tips and tricks to keep breeding under control and not break the bank?

Do people really cover their costs through the sale of kittys? If so, how? there seems to be 100's if not 1000's of kitty's out there for sale?

Are there strategies for not going over board in the breeding?

I didn't get into this to make money, I enjoy the intellectual puzzle of it, but I see my expenses growing more than I thought they would. And feel like I have to start backing off or even pulling out of this.

Any words of wisdom or support?

[Sereina Fairey]

Thanks for the topic, I've often wondered about this as I do it for a hobby and most often menagerie what I breed for kibble. The only way I would see this even breaking even is to have an initial investment of say 150+ kitties with half being starters and selling new traits at auctions for 20K+ to buy more kibble.

[Winter Phoenix]

You groove on a little fake kitteh popping out of a box with holes in it.

You are into the genetic manipulation thingy.

You find it entertaining,

It certainly beats farmville as a time consumer.

You buy the kitteh a scratching post and a clothes basket.

You pay rent (food) on that cat forever, or finally permapet it.

You start with two and end up with 350.

You have a big COCO 3 mega that you ride around.

Then it becomes prohibitively expensive to own all these cats,

and a bunch of em end up sick in your pocket.

This is the KittyCats experience!

Stay lean and mean.

Avoid twenty breeders in your cattery.

Advertise your stuff, find the right price number, use bidboards and auctions.

Get excited when you sell something,

but dont bank on supporting your addiction.

You've been out there, the competition is overwhelming.

Find a niche and exploit that.

Do something different.

For example, " I have a shop in an old windmill,

with a kitteh squisher called the menagerie.

I prefer to breed nice looking fur/ eye combos,

and not concern myself with adhering to a nine trait edict.

I cater to an eclectic crowd of subversive, creative, social misfits

who like to sit around and talk kitteh.

We embrace the N00bs, they are the ones buying cats!

I sell some stuff, but Im not getting rich."

Thus is the nature of things!

Best of luck in your endeavors.

[Kayleigh McMillan]

The way I go around that is making a RL hobby budget for my kitties as I would do with an other RL or SL hobby and stick to that set budget.
I do not take sales in consideration within that budget just so I can keep breeding the amount of cats my hobby budget covers.
If I make a sale I buy that pair of shoes or that nice skin or clothes or save it for the next special but do not increase the amount of breeders I have based on that.
Not sure if that would work for others but that is how I do it.

[Ylva Helendale]

(11-10-2013 08:49 PM)Kayleigh McMillan Wrote:  The way I go around that is making a RL hobby budget for my kitties as I would do with an other RL or SL hobby and stick to that set budget.
I do not take sales in consideration within that budget just so I can keep breeding the amount of cats my hobby budget covers.
If I make a sale I buy that pair of shoes or that nice skin or clothes or save it for the next special but do not increase the amount of breeders I have based on that.
Not sure if that would work for others but that is how I do it.

This is similar to my strategy as well. I set aside a certain amount of real cash for buying kibble and milk and try to avoid buying more cats as much as possible. They're all so darn cute, and it's sooo easy for it to just explode, like Winter said and suddenly you've got 300 cats and wondering what the heck happened.

Put it in your budget. I will spend x amount of RL cash on KittyCatS and not a penny more.

[Mellyn Llewellyn]

I used to have an SL budget of about $50 a month to pay for my land, decorating, and shopping addictions, but now, most of the time (most but not all) my sales cover food, my cart rent, putting 10k a month into a sim I share with others, an occasional splurge on a kitty with a newish trait, with a little left over for a shopping budget. I also at one time had 200 cats that overwhelmed my time and my budget, left breeding for awhile because of that, but the kitties just wormed their way back in. The second time around, here's what I've learned:

1. Do it because you enjoy it and don't expect to make any profit. This is a hobby, not a business.

2. Live sells better than boxed. I sell more cats at the 100% love tables than anything.

3. Use bidboards and auctions if you can afford the time. I don't have enough time for auctions, but use bidboards regularly. Advertise when you do.

4. Recessive sells better than not recessive, no matter how pretty the cat.

5. 8-9 traits or new traits sell best.

6. Go beyond eyes and fur. Well-traited cats do sell.

7. Don't overprice, don't underprice. It's very hard to hit the right spot and I probably underprice, but then sales are steady and I can feed my cats. I do try to comparison shop so I'm not terribly undercutting my neighbors.

8. Be patient: Patience is a virtue in all kinds of ways, in long-term breeding projects, in waiting for a good cat to sell, in breeding starters for that trait lottery (not a game to everyone's tastes).

9. Stay focused. Choose your projects carefully and limit yourself to just those projects.

10. Use the menagerie liberally. Don't keep cats that disappoint or duplicate or simply aren't meeting your ambitions.

11. Be ambitious. Do try to get all your favorite traits on a single cat. May never happen, but it's fun to try.

12. Control numbers #1: Rotate in, rotate out. I try not to open new boxes unless I am removing some older breeders. I have some pairs of boxes I haven't opened because I don't have room, and it's okay if I never open them.

13.Control numbers #2: Reassess regularly. I sometimes find I have too many pairs trying to achieve the same goal and didn't realize. Every week when I open boxes and repartner kitties, I am looking for ones I should weed out.

14. Control numbers #3: Don't breed cats too long. Once a pair has passed on their DNA to 1-3 breeding offspring pairs, I sell or menagerie the parents. Some really good cats I'll breed all 120 days, but most of the time I don't keep them that long.

15. Rent a cart, not a cottage. It's cheaper. I've never needed all that room.

16. If possible, get a good location. I'm by the bidboards at Too Adorable where there's a lot of regular traffic. By 100% love tables is good too.

17. Advertise but don't spam 497 times a day. If you can be just a little bit witty or clever, you'll get noticed more. I only send out notices a few times on weekends or when I have something special. People do respond to notices.

18. If you're going to buy cats, buy fewer and the best you can afford. One strong cat is worth 2O mediocre ones and eats far less. Negotiate prices. It never hurts to ask if a breeder will take less than the asking price. Try trading rather than buying when you can.

19. Wait for new traits to become cheaper before investing. Yeah, I've broken that rule a few times. Jolita Korobase makes me do it, damn her to hell.

20. Use the online cattery. Don't pay for land prims except for the kitties you love and want to keep close. I use it exclusively for breeding and love it.

Hope that helps,

Mellyn Llewellyn, the wise sage of Kittydom.

(11-10-2013 04:17 PM)Troubadoura Resident Wrote:  Anyone care to share some tips and tricks to keep breeding under control and not break the bank?

Do people really cover their costs through the sale of kittys? If so, how? there seems to be 100's if not 1000's of kitty's out there for sale?

Are there strategies for not going over board in the breeding?

I didn't get into this to make money, I enjoy the intellectual puzzle of it, but I see my expenses growing more than I thought they would. And feel like I have to start backing off or even pulling out of this.

Any words of wisdom or support?

[Kayleigh McMillan]

I totally agree with Mellyn's points and most of them I experienced the same way besides I do have a shack instead of a cart.
It is totally possible to pay for food milk shop, sim rental and more I wouldn't always count on it also because it is really hard work to get that going and therefore investment in time is needed I think just as any business.
I'm often too lazy for that >.<
Also a photo of a pretty kitty for example via Flickr and shared on the forums tells so much more than a list of traits in an advertisement.
Especially if it is an eye fur combination which may not sound so special in words but looks stunning when snapped.
Also I think the newest traits hunt can be a boobytrap as new traits devalue so fast it is not so easy to earn an investment back.
So I think either buy the traits at top rate if you don't care for your investment but just love the trait or indeed wait a little till prices are more leveled out which will be in no time I learned.
Lately I prefer to focus on combinations of traits mainly furs and eyes as Winter mentioned over having the latest and the greatest.
I feel more joy in that and less hurried why it remains to feel more as a hobby.
I especially agree with the first point of Mellyn I think every other reason to breed kitties may lead to disappointment.
It is a nice feeling to have a backup plan, a piggybank, with earnings set aside for when sales for what ever reason go not so well as they used to that avoids a lot of stress.
Recently I noticed people friend me after which they spam the crap out of me, via personal IM's, I wouldn't do that it may aggitate some people XD

[LibGwen Resident]

I'm VERY small scale, and four months a year I can't do any breeding. So my advice is:

- Pick a maximum number of live cats you can have going at one time and never have more going no matter what. In fact I normally have two less than that, just in case I find another live cat I simply must add.

- Because of the small size of my cattery, more often than not I breed a cat for its full breeding life. If a cat turns out not to fit my plans after all, I hunt around and trade, stud, or sell it. If necessary, I regretfully put it away.

- When a cat has had its last box, I put it away. Some I will Perma-pet later, most I won't.

- Remember you don't have to immediately birth a kitten. A box can stay in the Cattery or your inventory forever. A box doesn't eat, doesn't age, and its genes will never change. You can see its gender in-world by changing it to Image mode, or in the Cattery you can turn on the box gender indicator under My Account.

- In the long term, selling boxes and live cats can make up for food expenses. Milk may be a bit much to hope for, and rent is unlikely. However, you cannot count on sales helping when you need it. They tend to come in patches.

- Beware of pricing low. If you do that you drive down market prices, it takes more sold boxes to earn enough for your needs, and people will expect you to always have low prices. Also, if you price lower than you'd like, you'll be REALLY unhappy if you decide you want to put some boxes on a special sale. Also, customers have a distrust of sellers who undercut the market, and if they can find what they want from someone whose prices seem more rational, they will find reasons buy from that person instead.

[Olgita Ruby]

(11-10-2013 05:11 PM)Winter Phoenix Wrote:  
You groove on a little fake kitteh popping out of a box with holes in it.

You are into the genetic manipulation thingy.

You find it entertaining,

It certainly beats farmville as a time consumer.

You buy the kitteh a scratching post and a clothes basket.

You pay rent (food) on that cat forever, or finally permapet it.

You start with two and end up with 350.

You have a big COCO 3 mega that you ride around.

Then it becomes prohibitively expensive to own all these cats,

and a bunch of em end up sick in your pocket.

This is the KittyCats experience!

Stay lean and mean.

Avoid twenty breeders in your cattery.

Advertise your stuff, find the right price number, use bidboards and auctions.

Get excited when you sell something,

but dont bank on supporting your addiction.

You've been out there, the competition is overwhelming.

Find a niche and exploit that.

Do something different.

For example, " I have a shop in an old windmill,

with a kitteh squisher called the menagerie.

I prefer to breed nice looking fur/ eye combos,

and not concern myself with adhering to a nine trait edict.

I cater to an eclectic crowd of subversive, creative, social misfits

who like to sit around and talk kitteh.

We embrace the N00bs, they are the ones buying cats!

I sell some stuff, but Im not getting rich."

Thus is the nature of things!

Best of luck in your endeavors.

That is sure one epic experience! So true, so true!!!

[JC Aferdita]

jc agrees with most points! :3 Keep it as small as your budget allows, maybe get a job inside sl to help pay for food-costs? Cuz sales are no good to rely on, and if you don't have too much money in rl then an sl-job you can do a couple of hours a week will be awesome and really really helpful. But most of all, don't open every box, keep it to as many breeding pairs as you know you can afford for certain every week, rubber bands on the wrist helps! And sticky post-it notes on the computer screen! And the whole, don't go take a stroll i nthe markets unless you are actually looking for something specific <.< cuz just strolling around will sucker you in >.< them cute faces looking at you