What are the appropriate Rate and Tip Etiquettes these days?

I would like to know what are the appropriate "Rate" and "Tip" best practices (etiquettes) these days.

Rate: I have rated several avatar friends (positively!) and paid my $L. But now I read that this is apparently a big change from the past when Rates were no-charge. So when do you think it is appropriate to Rate others' avatars and buildings and stuff? Does "Vote" replace "Rate"?

Tip: And while we're at it, what about "Tip" best practices too? Every time I dance at someone's club? Ride their amusement park? Take repeated grateful advantage of their "Free stuff" place? Intermittently? Is $5 too cheap, $50 (ouch) too much? What's appropriate where and when?

WHAT are appropriate Rate and Tip etiquettes these days, please share with me your thoughts. Thx!

(I looked and did not find this in the wiki or the manuals so any leads appreciated!)

I usually just ask if they want the $25 since it'll go to better use than wasting it on a positive rating that'll be gone soon.

Tip: And while we're at it, what about "Tip" best practices too? Every time I dance at someone's club? Ride their amusement park? Take repeated grateful advantage of their "Free stuff" place? Intermittently? Is $5 too cheap, $50 (ouch) too much? What's appropriate where and when?
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Can't help you here, never been to a club.

I rate when I'm really impressed, or when someone is generous enough to rate me for honest reasons and I genuinely feel like they deserve a rate, too.

As for tips, this is my usual schedule:

Attractions that blow me away: L$500

Simple services rendered for which no pay was asked: L$750


I haven't had occasion to tip beyond those two sorts of circumstances. These days I usually hand out free copies of my products (about L$750 in value) to people who really impress me -- or are kind to me.

Don't take those tips as any sort of useful guideline, though -- I've always been particularly generous with my L$, since I don't find myself buying *that* much in-world beyond the services of others.

I usually just ask if they want the $25 since it'll go to better use than wasting it on a positive rating that'll be gone soon. (I haven't rated in the past 2 months, I usually only rate newbies though.)


Can't help you here, never been to a club.

Translation:

Enabran is rich! (and a soft touch)
Go to his house and flatter him right now!

Ratings haven't been free while I've been around, but they used to be L$1..

Actually its only neg rates that are going to be eliminated in 1.7. Unless this has changed in last couple weeks?

MJ

Haha, no, those tips were from my pre-SL business days. I always kept a few real bucks converted into Lindens so I could buy land, gizmos and services from people who were smart. Like I said, these days I usually give away my own product, which has a decent value behind it, but doesn't cost me anything.

What do you recommend for appropriate "Rate" and "Tip" best practices (etiquettes) these days?

To recap (so far):

. Rating was not free ($L0) "back then" but it was cheap ($L1) vs now ($L25).

. In the new SL version coming up, there will still be positive ratings but there will not be negative ratings (?)

. It may be best to offer helpful new acquaintances the choice of a contribution to their kitty, rather than a positive rating to their avatar (does this apply to their creations too?)

. Tips at the level of $500 and $750 are... unusual (?!)

What else...?

I guess the best advice I can offer folks is to toss five or ten bucks of your real cash into L$ each month so you can have it on hand. It's great to be able to see something worth having and just grab it. It's also great to have a problem or small job you need done and be able to say "Hey, I'll give you 500 to look over this script for me." I really like having a token available to show people my gratitude when they do something nice for me, whether they're realizing they are or not.

These days my business tosses me the L$ I need for that, but in my puttering days, I always liked keeping my account stuffed with a little bread. A little goes a long way in SL.

I admit I've thought of this. What exchange(s) do you recommend to "throw a little into" each month?

I appreciate these tips, please excuse newbiness, and hey I'm posting where all can see. Another aspect of my sterling personality is, I'm willing to be the goat!

I'd generally rather that people didn't rate me at all. (There's a note in my profile to that effect)

If I've been good, and helpful and all that, well...hooray. Save your L$25, and go and buy yourself something nice with it. You will know, and I will know, and that's all that's important, right? Go do something nice for someone else, and share the loving.

General is a good enough place to talk about this.

For someone buying, your best bet is to use LindeX, since Linden Lab will bill you directly and there's no real trust issue involved, since you already gave them some trust before. To access the LindeX exchange, click the Community link up there. When the page loads, click the currency button on the side. You'll be able to buy L$ directly.

Happy spending. And my best advice: Only buy stuff recommended by people you like or who can plainly demonstrate the quality of the wares you're interested in. There's a lot of *junk* out there. Also, stay away from land vehicles, they're crap -- not the builders' fault, but Linden Lab's. SL just isn't good at handling driving. Aerial vehicles rock, however, and I heartily recommend Cubey Terra's stuff in Abbotts.

The stipend bonus from positive ratings is also going the way of the dodo. I beleive it is halved atm and will be eliminated completely in the future.

From what I understand, this will slow the supply of currency in world with the objective to raise the USD value on the Linden$

the Linden$ has gotten much stronger since this change was enabled, so it looks to be working

good for you if you make money in world, bad for you if you spend money in world

You're right MJ. The ratings system we have now will be scrapped shortly.

LOL. Yes, that would be bad for me because I do spend money IW. However, I would be forced to control what I buy and then that would be bad for the businesses in SL. No, I'm not saying just me controlling my spending would be bad for them but if other people felt the same way then it would have an effect on both in a negative way. It would be just one more thing that I found fun in SL taken away.

MJ

So, what amounts do people tip event hosts? Dj's, live musicians, *ingo/event hosts?

My thought is 20 linden for a host tip. If you are playing a game like tringo and win 10% of the pot should go to the hostm in as much as its the hosts job to talk up the pot. Some events lend themselves to tipping. I don't usually tip the owner of a premises, unlessm they actually do somthing for me, because the owner in benefitting from dwell.

For a more substantial service, the tip should be higher. Like looking over a script or helping with a build.

Keep in mind, Jake, Dwell is dwindling...
And event payments don't happen at all anymore except for "Linden Sanctioned" events...
So Hosts are not as economically compensated as in the past.

And before anyone gets hot under the collar, I am not an event host, and have not ever been. I like to attend events, and I try to make it worth the host's time and effort to continue to ... host ... events.
As for an appropriate amount, I think you should pay what you think the entertainment time was worth. Keep in mind that some hosts don't bother with a tipjar... these people may even be offended by being offered money. In that case, offer what you can, in terms of time effort and energy to make thir hosting experience as positive as possible.

For ffolkes who DO put out a tipjar, I usually ask myself what an evening out in RL would cost for a similar experience... I convert to Lindens from US$, and divide by 10.

I usually tip DJs $100 a song request that they play for me. Bribe, tip, whatever
Sometimes I tip owners but often they aren't there and/or I can't figure out who the person is who owns the land (especially if it is completely covered by prims). I tip event hosts 10% of what I win unless they already keep part of the pot.

Well I don't attend too many events, but I do like a good trivia, so I try to tip the host anything I win playing plus some extra (usually in the $125L range, I'm not that good at trivia). I always figured I don't buy a lot in world, so I don't need the cash I win. But I do enjoy attending the event. However, reading all this, perhaps I'm being too miserly with my $L. I don't make money beyond my premium stipend each week, so I felt like that was decent, but maybe I need to re-evaluate my spending practices.

You do realize that the 'About Land' window can be opened by clicking the name of the lot you're standing on, in the middle of the title bar?

the new trend is not to tip and not to rate. More so to keep all your L$ to yourself and to cash them in for profit. yeah the truth hurts, so what.

Doubleclicking the sim and parcel name in the menu bar while bring up the about land dialog, allowing easy identification of landowners on parcel coated land.

Is it actually the menu bar, just below the title bar in windowed mode? (There is no title bar in full screen mode.)