How Online Puppy Brokers Sell Puppies
Hundreds of websites sell puppies online, but the puppy pictured on the screen may be hundreds of miles away from the buyer—and so may the breeder.
Some websites allow breeders to create listings and sell puppies directly. Others operate as puppy brokers or marketplaces, connecting buyers with breeders while handling parts of the sales process, payment, transportation, or customer service.
These websites may use terms such as puppy concierge, puppy finder, matchmaker, or approved breeder to make the buying process feel personal and reassuring. But a polished website does not tell you where the puppy was born, how the mother dog lives, or how many dogs the breeder keeps.
Before paying for a puppy, buyers should know the breeder’s name and location, visit in person, meet the mother dog, and see where the breeder’s dogs live.
Puppy-Selling Websites Consumers Should Research Carefully
Stop Online Puppy Mills researches puppy-selling websites and broker platforms because buyers often cannot verify where a puppy was bred before paying. When breeder information is withheld, delivery replaces an in-person visit, or buyers cannot meet the mother dog and see where the dogs live, important information about the puppy’s origin remains hidden.
The following websites are among the puppy-selling platforms we have researched. Buyers should independently investigate the breeder behind any puppy listing before making a payment.
- Next Day Pets — associated with Pawrade.com
- PuppySpot.com – Associated with UpTownPuppies.com
- Infinity Pups
- Oodle
- Terrific Pets
- Puppies.com Puppies.com — formerly PuppyFind.com
- Keystone Pups
- Puppy Trader
- Dogs Now
- Pawrade Associated with Next DayPets.com
- Animaroo
- Lancaster Puppies
- Premier Pups Associated with 7 other websites selling puppies.
- Crockett Doodles Associated with 10 other websites selling mostly doodle puppies.
- Preferable Pups
- Uptown Puppies Associated with PuppySpot.com
- Puppy Finder
- Little Puppies Online
- Greenfield Puppies
What a Puppy Broker Actually Does
A puppy broker acts as a middleman between the breeder and the buyer. Depending on the business model for the website, the broker may advertise the puppy, communicate with the buyer, process payment, arrange transportation, provide customer service, or offer guarantees.
The breeder produces the puppy, but the broker may become the public face of the sale.
That distinction matters. A buyer may feel as though they are purchasing from the company whose website they are using when the puppy was actually bred by someone else in another state.
Puppy Concierges, Matchmakers and Puppy Finders
Some puppy broker websites use sales representatives called puppy concierges, matchmakers, or puppy finders. These titles can make the process feel highly personalized, but buyers should focus on what information is actually provided before payment.
Can you identify the breeder? Can you visit the property? Can you meet the mother dog? Can you see where all of the breeder’s dogs live? If not, the website is standing between you and information that is critical to evaluating the breeder.
Puppy sellers also reach buyers through search engines, social media, classified listings, and paid advertising. Professional photos, testimonials, health guarantees, videos, and breeder profiles can make a website appear trustworthy. None of those features replaces visiting the breeder in person.
What Online Puppy Buyers Often Do Not See
When a puppy is selected, purchased, and transported entirely online, buyers never see where the puppy was born. They may never meet the breeder, meet the mother dog, or see the conditions in which the breeder’s dogs live.
That missing information matters. Buying a puppy from a beautiful puppy photo tells you almost nothing about the conditions that produced the puppy.
See where your puppy was born—or you may never know.
Watch This Video About Online Puppy Brokers
Watch What You See Online—and What You Don’t to learn how puppy-selling websites can separate buyers from the breeder, the mother dog, and the conditions where puppies are born.
Online puppy broker websites give breeders access to large audiences of people searching for puppies. For buyers, the process can feel easy and convenient. But convenience also removes the buyer from the breeder, the mother dog, and the place where the puppy was born.
We recommend visiting the breeder in person before paying. Meet the puppy and the mother dog, see where the breeder’s dogs live, and verify breeder and license information when applicable.
Photos, video chats, health guarantees, transportation services, and professional websites are not substitutes for seeing the breeding operation yourself.
To learn what to look for in a responsible breeder, or visit PupQuest.org and our Breed Club and Rescue Links page for additional resources.
Before buying a puppy online, look beyond the puppy. Meet the mother dog, and see where and how the breeder’s dogs live before you pay.