Offer a count group to buyers: applications and reservations

Once you are tracking a litter, clutch, or cohort as a count group, you can publish it so buyers can find it, apply, and (when you are ready) reserve a spot with a deposit. This article covers the seller side: publishing, screening applications, running your waitlist as an ordered queue with time-limited offers, taking deposits, and matching buyers to animals. Each choice you make here changes what buyers can do next, so it is worth understanding all of them.

Step 1: Publish the group

Open the count group, go to Settings, and find Public profile. Turn on Visible to buyers, then choose a Public step that reflects where the litter is.

A few things to know before you publish:

• Public profiles are available for count groups only, and a readiness checklist must be clear first: the group needs a buyer-facing name, a species (used for buyer search and profile language), and a count greater than zero (expected, born/hatched, or current). The group must be Active (unarchive it first), and a few species are not eligible for public count-group profiles yet. The checklist shows exactly what is missing, so you always know what is blocking publication.

The Public step, and what each tells buyers

The Public step is a single dropdown that sets the stage you are at. It changes the badge on your profile and the button buyers see, so it is how you signal what buyers can do right now:

• Planned: breeding is intended but animals are not here. Buyers see Join interest list and can already send a free, no-deposit application at the Interest level.
• Expected: a pregnancy or clutch is confirmed; animals are on the way. Buyers still see Join interest list.
• Born (shown as Hatched for egg-laying species): the animals have arrived. The button becomes Apply.
• Applications open: you are actively taking buyer applications. Buyers see Apply.
• Waitlist full: you are signaling that the line is long, but buyers can still get in it. The button reads Join waitlist, and new applications start at the free Interest level (a buyer can still choose a deposit-backed level on the form).
• Reservations open: accepted buyers can place deposits. Buyers see Reserve your spot. This is the only step at which deposits can be taken.
• Matching: animals are being assigned to reserved buyers (this is set automatically once you start promoting animals). The button becomes View reservation.
• Placed: everything is spoken for and handed off.
• Closed: the group's sale lifecycle is complete. Placed and Closed groups show View updates.

One rule to keep in mind: applications stay open through every step up to and including Reservations open, and close once the group reaches Matching, Placed, or Closed. So the waitlist you build below can keep filling until matching begins.

Set your deposit policy and (optional) application fee

Still in Settings, two more controls govern money. Set these before you open reservations:

• Deposit policy → Refund type (required to take deposits): choose Fully refundable until handoff, Partially refundable (cooling-off window), or Non-refundable once deposit posts. This is the promise buyers see before they pay, so it sets expectations and your obligation if a buyer backs out.
• Cooling-off window (days): for a partially refundable policy, how many days (0 to 30) a buyer has to change their mind and still get the refund.
• When the breeder receives funds (the release trigger): On handoff (recommended), On individual match, or On deposit (released immediately). This decides when the held money actually reaches you. Releasing on handoff is the most buyer-trusted; releasing on deposit gets you paid soonest. Note that deposits are held securely by Creatures until this trigger, then applied as a credit on the buyer's final balance invoice.
• Application fee (optional): a flat screening fee a buyer pays when they apply. It is separate from any deposit and is not credited toward the final sale, so it covers your screening time, not the animal. Standard sellers pay the seller service fee on it; Pro sellers pay no seller service fee. If you set a fee, an applicant must pay it before you can accept them. You do not have to set up the group's books first: the group's financial records are created for you the moment you set a fee.
• Deposit amount: the dollar figure a buyer pays to reserve. You set it by creating the group's reservation-deposit listing (a fixed-price amount) for the published group. Until an active listing with a deposit amount exists, the readiness checklist flags it and buyers cannot place deposits.

Step 2: What buyers see

Buyers visit your group's public page, where they see your photos, the species and breed, the count and availability, your breeder rating, and parentage details with trust tiers (Creatures-verified, Reported, or Pending). The button they see matches your public step: Join interest list early on, Apply while applications are open, Join waitlist when you mark the waitlist full, and Reserve your spot once reservations open. For the buyer's side of deposits (choosing a tier and paying) see Reserving from a breeder: applications and deposits.

The application uses the standard Creatures application questions. Buyers share their name and email, where they are located, the home and household they can offer, their experience with the species, and their preferred timing, then write two longer answers: the care they can offer, and what matters most in the right match. They can also give a sex, color or markings, and temperament preference, plus a preferred pick position for numbered pick orders. On the two written answers, a Help me write assist can draft wording from points the buyer gives it; the buyer reviews and edits before sending, so what you receive is still their answer. Finally, they choose a reservation interest level. That level signals how committed they are and whether a deposit will be involved if you accept them:

• Interest: free. The breeder knows the buyer is interested, but no deposit is involved. Lowest commitment, good for early interest before reservations open.
• Priority: a deposit is required if you accept. The buyer is in line for matching, and you assign a specific animal when ready. Best for buyers who want a spot but are flexible on which animal.
• Specific match: a deposit is required if you accept, and the buyer is reserving a particular animal by name or attribute, not just a slot in line. Highest commitment, for buyers who want one specific animal.

No Creatures account needed to apply

A buyer who is not signed in can fill out the same application as a guest. To confirm it is really their email address, Creatures emails them a 6-digit code to type on the page (the same email also carries a link that finishes the step if they prefer to click), and then the application reaches you like any other. Creatures creates an account for them along the way, so they can track their status and respond to a waitlist offer later. A guest can instead pick a sign-in provider on the form, which signs them in (or creates the account) and submits the application in one step.

After they apply: the buyer's status page

The apply page becomes that buyer's status page for your group, so if someone asks where things stand, point them there. What they see, state by state:

• Application pending: you are reviewing their application. No deposit is involved at this stage.
• Waitlisted: the card explains you kept their application on the waitlist and shows "Your waitlist position: #N". The number is live: it moves as you reorder the queue and as people ahead of them leave it.
• Offer ready: when a place opens for them (you send an offer, or the queue advances automatically), the card changes to "A place is ready" with "Respond by {date} at {time}. Accept or decline before this offer expires." and a Respond to offer button.
• The respond page: shows who the offer is from, their current position, the deadline, and two choices. Accept this place confirms their application and opens the reservation step (no payment is taken on that page). Decline and keep waiting keeps their application active but moves it to the end of the line.
• Application accepted: once reservations are open, the card prompts them to place their deposit; before that, it says no deposit is due yet.
• Application not accepted: you declined, with your shared reason if you wrote one. They can apply again after about a day if their plans change.
• Withdraw application: available while they are pending or waitlisted. The confirmation is explicit: "You'll give up your spot in line and any offer that's currently out to you. To rejoin later you'd apply again from the start." After withdrawing, they are out of the queue, and they can start a fresh application if you are still taking them.

Step 3: Review applications and run the waitlist

Your group's Applications tab (the panel is titled Applications & reservations) lists everyone who has applied, with counters across the top for Pending, Accepted, Held (reservations currently held with a deposit), Waitlisted, and Rejected. Each application card shows the buyer's answers and preferences, a private Review note box (only you and your team see it), and a Reason to share if rejecting. If AI suggestions are turned on, a Suggested review box can also draft a fit summary and a suggested reply from the application; nothing changes until you review it, and you still choose the next step. For each application you pick one of three decisions:

• Accept application: approve the buyer. For a Priority or Specific applicant, this is what makes them eligible to place a deposit once reservations are open. If you set an application fee, the Accept button stays disabled until that fee is paid.
• Move to waitlist: keep a promising buyer in the running without accepting yet. This does more than park them: it adds them to the end of your ordered waitlist queue, covered next.
• Reject: decline the application, sharing the reason you wrote if you added one. Rejecting is not permanent for the buyer; they can apply again after about a day if their plans change.

The waitlist is an ordered queue

Everyone you move to the waitlist joins the Waitlist order panel at the top of the Applications tab, numbered from #1. It is a real line, not a holding pile:

• You control the order. Drag the grip or use the arrows to set who is next; changes save automatically. Each buyer's status page updates to show their new position, and when anyone leaves the line, everyone behind them moves up one.
• Row labels tell you where each person stands. Up next marks the first eligible person in line. Offer active means your current offer is out to them. Fee due means your application fee must be paid before this person can receive an offer (they keep their place while they pay). Account setup means a guest applicant has to finish setting up their account before an offer can be delivered. Previous offer ended · Manual re-offer available means they declined or let an offer lapse and are waiting at the end of the line. Offer ended · Updating shortly appears briefly while an expired offer is being processed.
• Callouts above the list surface the one thing that matters right now: the active offer ("Offer sent to {name}", with the date and time a response is due) or whatever is blocking the next one, with a link to the application.

Offering a place

When a spot opens up, choose Send offer to {name} on the queue panel. Creatures notifies the first eligible person in line and gives them a private respond page. What to know about offers:

• They are time-limited. An offer expires 72 hours after it goes out, and the buyer sees the exact "Respond by" date and time everywhere the offer appears.
• One at a time. A waitlist can only have one active offer, so you can never promise the same place twice.
• Accepting turns their application into an accepted application, exactly as if you had chosen Accept yourself, which leads into reservations and deposits as usual.
• Declining or letting it expire keeps the buyer waitlisted but moves them to the end of the line, and Creatures tells them what happened. If they work their way back to the front, you can send them a fresh offer.

Continue automatically

The Continue automatically switch on the queue panel decides what happens when the current offer ends:

• On: when an offer is declined or expires, or the person holding it withdraws or is rejected, the next eligible person automatically receives an offer, so the line keeps moving without you. If the queue runs out, or the next person is blocked by an unpaid fee or unfinished account setup, Creatures notifies you so you can decide what happens next.
• Off (how every queue starts): nothing is sent on its own, and you choose when to send each offer.

Step 4: Open reservations and take deposits

Once you have accepted buyers, you can open reservations so they can secure a spot with a deposit. To take deposits, three things must be in place: your Stripe payment setup is complete (so Creatures can hold the deposit securely), an active deposit policy and amount are set, and your Public step is Reservations open. The readiness checklist confirms each one.

An accepted buyer then places their deposit. They see the deposit amount, your refund policy, and what happens next, and pay by card. The deposit is held securely by Creatures, not paid out to you yet, which is what gives buyers confidence to pay before the animal is in hand.

Once the payment goes through, the buyer's reservation is held, and both of you can see it.

On your Applications tab, each accepted buyer shows their deposit status (for example awaiting deposit, held securely, or refunded), so you can see at a glance who has paid and who still owes a deposit.

Step 5: Match and hand off

When the animals are born and ready, use Promote to individual profiles to create each animal's profile and match it to a reserved buyer (the promote step lets you attach each new profile to a held reservation). Completing the handoff transfers ownership to the buyer and releases the deposit to you according to your refund policy and release setting. The deposit is applied as a credit toward the buyer's final balance, so what they paid up front counts against the total.

Related information

• Track animals by count with count groups
• Create and manage animal groups

Updated on: 22/07/2026