Crazy Side-Hustle Anecdote

[la Condessa]

My brother’s childhood best friend has stumbled into a business.  He was buying a puppy while visiting a relative in Mexico, and as they were so much cheaper than they would have been at home in the US, he decided to buy the litter and sell the extras.  Made a few thousand dollars’ profit in a weekend, so he figured he’d do it again.  Now it has grown and he has an employee who sources litters of puppies in Mexico and brings them up for him, and others who are mostly sah moms who sell the puppies for him.  They are all making amazing money at it—several of the stay-at-home-moms are earning more than their working husbands, and the friend is trying to decide whether or not to drop out of medical school, since he is already bringing in about what he could as a doctor with his puppy empire.

[jeromedawg]

My brother’s childhood best friend has stumbled into a business.  He was buying a puppy while visiting a relative in Mexico, and as they were so much cheaper than they would have been at home in the US, he decided to buy the litter and sell the extras.  Made a few thousand dollars’ profit in a weekend, so he figured he’d do it again.  Now it has grown and he has an employee who sources litters of puppies in Mexico and brings them up for him, and others who are mostly sah moms who sell the puppies for him.  They are all making amazing money at it—several of the stay-at-home-moms are earning more than their working husbands, and the friend is trying to decide whether or not to drop out of medical school, since he is already bringing in about what he could as a doctor with his puppy empire.

Haha International Puppy Trafficking! Are there any issues with the legality of this, I wonder?

If he's in California, https://www.cdtfa.ca.gov/formspubs/pub122/

Texas: https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/breeders.htm

Arizona: https://www.animallaw.info/statute/az-pet-sales-title-44-trade-and-commerce-chapter-11-regulations-concerning-particular

It seems like there is generally regulation around this so hopefully your friend is licensed to do this. I'm assuming he is hahaha.

[la Condessa]

Utah, actually.  I didn’t ask about the legality of it, but he’s a person I would expect has probably made sure everything is above-board.

[draco44]

The US Department of Agriculture also regulates this sort of thing on the federal level. Importing dogs into the United States for resale, whether through retail or wholesale channels or fee-based adoption, is covered under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). Each dog will need health inspections and import permits.

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalwelfare/ct_awa_import_live_dogs_regulation

[ncornilsen]

Utah, actually.  I didn’t ask about the legality of it, but he’s a person I would expect has probably made sure everything is above-board.

This sounds like the lead in to an episode of "It's always sunny in philadelphia" lol!

[KarefulKactus15]

I imagine this is the standard pet shop model.

Buy somewhere cheap and sell for markup.

Does your friend want to own a pet shop / be a professional animal wholesaler / dealer? 

I'm curious what causes the price mis match, I don't imagine dogs breed for much cheaper in Mexico than here, maybe it's simple supply and demand?  The US population can afford to drop bucks on a liability like an animal while not so much in Mexico?

[la Condessa]

I imagine this is the standard pet shop model.

Buy somewhere cheap and sell for markup.

Does your friend want to own a pet shop / be a professional animal wholesaler / dealer? 

I'm curious what causes the price mis match, I don't imagine dogs breed for much cheaper in Mexico than here, maybe it's simple supply and demand?  The US population can afford to drop bucks on a liability like an animal while not so much in Mexico?

He doesn’t have any plans to open a physical location pet store.

I don’t know why, but apparently that first litter of 6 purebred poodles cost him a couple hundred bucks, and selling 5 of them netted him several thousand.

It may just be that there are fewer people willing to pay that much, but there might also be more puppies available if spaying and neutering isn’t as common.