Articles on: Selling

Offering a count group to buyers

Offering a count group to buyers


Most listings sell one specific animal. Sometimes you need to sell something that does not exist yet: a breeding you have planned, a hatch that is still weeks out, or a crop of young animals you have not sorted through. A count group lets you offer those by the number you expect, and lets buyers get in line before there is anything to point at.


If the babies are already born and your buyers are choosing a particular one, you do not need a count group. See Taking deposits on babies from a litter instead.


This article is a short orientation from the Selling side. The full setup walkthrough is Offer a count group to buyers: applications and reservations.


How it works


You say how many animals you expect. Buyers apply, and you decide who gets in. As the animals arrive, you match your waiting buyers to real animals one at a time.


That means you can line up serious buyers, and take deposits from them, before a single animal has a name or a photo. For a planned breeding or a batch of young stock, that is usually the whole point. See Track animals by count with count groups for how counts work outside of selling.


How committed each buyer is


Not every buyer is at the same stage, so the application can ask which level they want. The three levels come as one question: you can show it or hide it, but you cannot offer only some of them.


  • Interest is free and there is no deposit. It just tells you someone wants one. Good for building a waitlist early.
  • Priority takes a deposit and puts the buyer in line. You assign them a specific animal later, when you are ready.
  • Specific match takes a deposit and ties the buyer to a particular animal, by name or by what they asked for, rather than to a place in line.


Interest never takes a deposit. Priority and Specific match only charge the buyer once you accept them.


Deposits


A deposit is never an extra charge on top of the price. When the reservation turns into a real sale, it comes off the buyer's final balance.


When that money reaches you is your choice. A count group deposit can be released immediately on payment, when you match the buyer to an individual animal, or at handoff. Until whichever point you picked, Creatures is holding it. Handoff is the recommended setting and the one buyers read as safest.


Whether a deposit is refundable, and under what conditions, is also your policy, with one qualification: any minimum your buyer's state requires is layered on top, and where state law is stricter it wins. Your buyer sees the combined terms before paying, so write your side plainly.


Applications


Count group reservations use the same buyer application flow as approval-gated listings, so you can ask questions and decide who reserves before anyone sends money. See Requiring buyer applications and building a form and Reviewing and approving buyer applications.



Updated on: 07/08/2026

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