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The price of a puppy or kitten varies widely if sold through pet stores, through online breeder directories or directly from a breeder (as advertised through websites or ads).

As with any business, pet stores mark up the price of the animal (once purchased from a breeder or broker) to make a profit on the sale.

The price is not reflective of the health of the animal or the quality of breeder or breeding conditions. Dogs and kittens have sold for under $50 or over thousands of dollars from both good and bad breeders.

As an example, a pet store in Blaine, Minnesota (Four Paws And A Tail), that acquires puppies from large commercial breeders, displayed prices for puppies on their website ranging from $1,649 - $3,500 in 2023. Only one puppy was priced below $1,000. (These prices vary based on time of viewing.) All other puppies were smaller breeds, such as yorkie, morkie, shorkie, maltese, cavachon, teddy poo, and peke a tese.

In November 2016, prices on this pet store's website ranged from $1,200 to $4,500. Some puppies were "on sale" for about $750 - $1,000.

Another pet store, located in St. Paul (now closed) that also bought puppies from large commercial breeders, had prices ranging from $398 to $1,495 for puppies in November 2016.

The true cost of breeding

Higher prices should reflect proper care (i.e. veterinary costs, quality food and shelter, appropriate levels of staffing for exercising and socialization, vaccinations, microchipping, etc.) but disreputable breeders:

• can and do charge higher prices — to make higher profits

• can and do charge lower or discounted prices — to "get rid of" puppies who are not selling fast enough or to move large quantities of animals

There is limited documentation available to the public to confirm breeding and dealer interactions and pricing. As with all business, each company that touches "the product" marks up the price (beyond expenses) to earn a profit. As an example: Some USDA-licensed breeders have been known to sell a puppy for $200 - $800 each to dealers. The dealer then adds kenneling and transport expenses plus their own mark-up (for profit) when selling to pet stores. The pet store then adds an additional mark-up (for expenses and profit), resulting in the end retail price to the consumer. With some pet stores, the dealer is not involved (the pet store owner buys directly from the breeder) so the price may be lower. NOTE: A typical mark-up within retail is 50%-60%.

Obviously, mark-ups and prices vary widely based on type of breed, time of year, consumer demand, shipping costs, and other factors. The less money spent on animal care by the breeder (at his/her kennel), by the dealer (at his/her kennel), by the carrier (when the animal is trucked or shipped by air) or by the pet store (when caged at the store for days, weeks or months), the higher the profit for each animal sold.

The economy impacts prices

Pet Shop Puppies (no longer operating) was a nonprofit organization that tracked pet store activities, received pet store complaints and analyzed pet store data, such as pet prices.

Their data is from years ago, but it showed how puppy prices, like other "products," may vary based on the economy — and also vary seasonally, especially during and after the holidays in December. In a 2009 assessment of the pet store industry, Pet Shop Puppies concluded:

"2009 was a dismal year for the dog industry. (Pretty for the dogs; ugly for the dog industry.) Overall, the average pet store puppy price in 2009 was $887. That compares to $1,019 in 2008 and $1,031 in 2007 (all-time high). If the industry was expecting Christmas sales to pull them out of the slump, they were grossly miscalculating the economy and the public's increasing knowledge of puppy mills and the pet store connection. The average 2009 Christmas puppy (from Thanksgiving until December 31st) was $926; in 2008, $973; in 2007, $1,095. The highest price for a "Christmas" puppy (based on Pet Shop Puppies data) was $1,800. This compares to $3,300 in 2008 and $4,950 in 2007. The dog industry has been quoted as saying that holiday puppy sales make up 50-60% of their entire year's profits for stores that sell puppies. Some pet stores closed their doors in 2009; others stayed open to take advantage of the holiday season. Watch for deep, after-Christmas discounts on pet store puppies."

The above prices are obviously dated from 2007, 2008 and 2009. As the economy changes, so too do prices.

During COVID (2020-2021), people purchased many puppies — and products, services, and supplies for these pets. The pet industry exploded. Limited data is available at this time to document the COVID "impact."

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