We've made a big rule change which allows for the sale of animals which are born but not yet established. "Not Ready," formerly known as "preestablished animals" are those which have not yet established a regular feeding pattern.
We added this use case because it does occur in the hobby and can be performed responsibly. This can be particularly useful for animals which are in high demand which are in many cases selling before they ever hit our market. That said, both buyer and seller should exercise this option with care. We recommend that these animals be established by the breeder prior to delivery. In most cases we believe this is how this feature will be used. This update simply allows the sale to happen earlier.
To utilize this feature, eligible sellers can simply list an animal for sale and set its maturity to "Not Ready". These listings will show up just like other listings. When buyers inquire, they will see a disclaimer to make sure they understand the additional complications that may occur, such as a delay in delivery.
In order to carefully regulate this feature, we have only made it available to certain sellers. Current requirements include a selling account which is at least six months old and Basic membership or higher. These terms are subject to change as we seek to find the best balance between freedom and responsibility.
Sellers wishing to use this feature should make sure to read the Default Store Policy and override terms as desired. By default, the maximum time for an animal to be successfully established after payment has been made is 60 days unless otherwise specified before purchase. If the seller cannot establish the animal in this time window, they must be willing and able to provide a 100% refund of all money paid, upon Buyer’s request. Like most of our default policies, this can be customized by the seller in their own policy or documented in writing with the buyer prior to the sale.
The newer version of our search (soon to be default) makes it easier to find these animals by making the maturity filter a multi-select. This means you can filter on multiple maturity settings at the same time, such as "Not Ready" or baby.
All sellers can still prepare ads for upcoming animals. We recommend creating those ads with the inactive setting. After the animal is ready to sell, these ads can be easily activated.
Learn more about this feature:
