Hamster Breeding / Marketing

Selection -  When looking for stock to breed, you  want to find animals that are young and of known parentage.  Collect all the info you can from the breeder at the time you make your selections.  If you are lucky enough to find an established breeder in your area, then maybe they will take yo under their wing and help you out.
Of course you will want animals that are young, very healthy and strong ones that are free of blemishes, scars or any physical defects.
If getting animals of known pedigree is not possible, then try to find animals that are as young as possible and those that meet the critiera you have set for your breeding program.  This may mean you have to be extra diligent when it comes to culling and future selections from your litters and breeding stock.  This is were knowing the Show Standard is going to help you out the most.
I find no shame in breeding from pet shop animals.  In fact, years ago that was how many of my outcrosses came into my little stable.  Most worked out OK, some did not.  But I was always on the lookout to cull any animal or offspring that was not up to my standards. 
Personality and attitude is very important in breeding animals.  After all, we raising pets here.  Iif a potential client pulls back a bloody finger, then it will not matter how beautiful the hamster is that he tried to handle.   That it why I stress not to breed any agressive or high strung animals.
These standards apply to all breeding stock, but there is one thing to keep in mind with syrians.  Males can continue to breed all their lives, where as females are retired after their first year. So you male syrians may be covering several new females in his breeding life, giving you the potential to access his genes and test breed several types of females.  If the male is carrying excellent traits, then this could be to the breeders advantage. There maybe a temptation to inbreed on this males line too, but I would discourage this at all costs.
Start up small.  This gives you the opportunity to test the real market and space to expand as you pick the best of the best from your litters. My first syrian experience (with my current lines) was with one male and one female.  The male was born from my friends childs gift hamsters (opps!) and the female came from a dwarf hamster collegue that was breeding a few syrians.   I later added another female and slowly built the stable, regardless of the fact many of the shops that were selling our Dwarf Campbells were clammering for nice healthy Syrians. 

Once you have your animals selected and ready to take them home, double check and triple check.  Every point is important, so go over your personal check list.  AND make sure you have double checked each animal to determine gender.
Once they are home and settled in, let them recover and get used to home for at least 2 weeks, or until they have reached breeding age, in the case of Syrians.

Now, on to breeding.