We are relatively new to selling breeding stock (seven years with a six cow herd). I concur on some of the previous posters.
We sold our first Angus heifers private treaty by listing them on Craigslist. Got 'em sold, but didn't hardly cover our expenses. Then we started showing and selling heifers and bulls at our local Nebraska Cattlemen's Classic. It was a great opportunity to have our prospects side by side with other smaller, more established breeders. Not only were we able to sell our heifers for nearly twice as much as we had done with private treaty, we made many new connections. (Warning: sales commission and expenses are high compared to selling private treaty.) Those connections are what is key. Our first heifer sold this way was to a friend of mine. Could have sold her private treaty, but it validated what we thought we had in quality. Our second sale was to another breeder/exhibitor that we had made a connection with. He's loved our heifers ever since and is always checking out our stuff in person and on our Facebook page. It is also a bonus that he routinely wins with his Balancers at the NWSS.
Selling bulls took a little while longer. The big difference here is that heifers have a much bigger audience or market. This includes juniors looking for a prospect that does well in the show ring, other breeders, and commercial cattlemen. Bulls are another story. The primary buyer of herd bulls are commercial cattlemen. If you aren't proven, you will have difficulties. Our first bull was sold at the Classic. We won our class, but our bull was near the bottom on sale price. A friend of a friend bought him based on how he looked, his numbers, and our friends recommendation of us. Not many were willing to stake their herd's breeding season on an unproven operation. The second bull was sold several years later at the Classic. Finished 2nd in class to the champion. Sold him near the bottom on sale price again, but this commercial cattleman had a history of buying lots of bulls through the Classic and was active in talking to his neighbors. Kept in contact with him and that helped us sell our third bull by private treaty two years later. The third bull we sold by placing ads on Craigslist in three locations in Nebraska. We had been selling heifers for five years with some success. So we took a quality photo, offered plenty of numbers, and had him evaluated by our vet. We actually showed him to our eventual buyer at the vet clinic. The key on this sale was that we were not shy about price, we guaranteed him and had our vet's seal of approval. I was worried when we had him listed at double the price of most Angus bulls on Craigslist, but the buyer didn't hesitate. He liked what he saw and he was also a neighbor to a previous bull buyer, so that brought credibility.
We sold our last bull a month ago and we were nervous. This bull is phenotypically awesome! We were selected as the reserve champion yearling bull at the Classic. His performance was outstanding, weighing in at 1,450 lbs. at 54 weeks of age. The biggest fear we had was after we had him DNA tested. He's a son of Soo Line Motive, who can be used with confidence on heifers. He was born at 78 lbs. unassisted to a cow who's had six calves born between 64-81 lbs. Then came the shocker. His DNA test showed that he was an outlier. Performance was good, we new that based on how he stacked up against the rest of our herd. However, his CED went from +6 to -10 and BW from +0.8 to +3.8. I thought we'd never sell him! We were honest with his numbers and marketed him as a power and performance bull to use on cows. He ended up selling as the 4th high Angus bull in the sale to a repeat buyer.
The bottom line is it took time, connections, and commitment to our customers. I cannot emphasize the connections enough. We winter our cows with another breeder and have another cattlemen with tons of connections across the country do our breeding. Those connections along with the connections we've made by showing our bulls and heifers at various Nebraska shows has helped us get into the market. What I love is that these competitors and friends are willing to talk up our breeding stock even when we are competing for the same customers. It has also helped us get our fix in showing since my kids are no longer juniors. The bottom line is that even when you don't get the price you were hoping for, you now have built up your connections and those friends will be there for you in good times and bad.
