Please reconsider closing the Classifieds Forums

margaret & enabran,

i think you're arguments hold true for a RL business. however, a lot of people are not starting businesses in SL with the goal of making RL profits. i know a lot of people who use whatever profit they get to pay for tier fees, upload fees, etc. having to pay an additional L$500 a month takes a big chunk out of that. not everyone is out to make $ in SL.

Do you mean make no profit in SL? It seems they are looking to make $ in SL, at least enough to pay for tier fees, upload fees, etc and now advertising costs.

On the other hand, I am not out to make $ in Sl.

the business owners i'm speaking of are not looking to make $ (as in dollars) in SL. they are making L$ (as in lindens) to pay for tier fees, upload fees, etc. for small businesses, whose main goal is not to make $ (dollars), the advertising fee is costly.

If they take the lindens which they have gathered from other players in exchange for the work that they have done, and turn those lindens into real dollars to pay for their game, then they are part of the commercial sector in SL.

1. I've never used the classifieds
2. I'll never use the in-game classifieds.
3. I've never went to any place advertised on Metaverse billboards.
4. Such advertisement is (IMO) "useless spam" and "waste of bandwidth"
5. I will now have to wade through spam in General Discussion because of this.
6. I shop at places through WORD OF MOUTH!!!!

Word of mouth is much more valuable than any craptacular billboard or brown-nose gusher in the classifieds posting for +1 under their name.

I'd rather see the item being worn than buy something I don't like.

"Oh, but L$ is cheap! You're only out $0.20 if you buy a crap T-shirt at L$50."

Trust me, I'd rather that $0.20 go towards my light bill, my food bill, or better yet, my gasoline bill. I don't have discretionary income any more....

...for people that have no desire to spend RL $ on SL,...

My point was, that most people who have no desire to spend RL $ on SL have had the cost explained to them relative to RL extras. I'm asking why that same attitude is not being expressed toward this commercial segment of SL who are losing their free classified section.

I don't see why this group of people who have no ability or no desire to spend RL $ on SL has received more sympathy than the others.

1. I've never used the classifieds
2. I'll never use the in-game classifieds.
3. I've never went to any place advertised on Metaverse billboards.
4. Such advertisement is (IMO) "useless spam" and "waste of bandwidth"
5. I will now have to wade through spam in General Discussion because of this.
6. I shop at places through WORD OF MOUTH!!!!

Word of mouth is much more valuable than any craptacular billboard or brown-nose gusher in the classifieds posting for +1 under their name.

I'd rather see the item being worn than buy something I don't like.

"Oh, but L$ is cheap! You're only out $0.20 if you buy a crap T-shirt at L$50."

Trust me, I'd rather that $0.20 go towards my light bill, my food bill, or better yet, my gasoline bill. I don't have discretionary income any more....

Thank you.

OHHH, WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN, OMFG, THE CHILDREN, GOD SAVE THE CHILDREN

Listen, when I started my business, I converted about $40 US into L$, which resulted in about L$10,000. I used that initial investment to pay for rents, pay for scripting services and a bunch of other things. My ROI was fantastic, but I wouldn't have been able to get anything without the initial investment.

Same thing when I developed my siegeBot. I spent something like $40 on development costs of one sort or another. I quickly recouped the initial outlay.

You have to spend money to make money. Every business requires at least some initial investment. If I could do it with barely any money in college, anyone can. Maybe the tough realities of making that sort of thing happen on a shoestring will impress upon folks why I have so little regard for the OH, THINK OF THE POOR NEWBIES argument. You need to plan and you need to back up your business with an investment. The initial investment in an SL business is so miniscule more often than not, I really don't buy into the excuses.

i think you're arguments hold true for a RL business ... not everyone is out to make $ in SL.

If they're not out to make money in SL, they don't need to worry about marketing and the subject is moot. Business is business is business, regardless of the arena. If you're unwilling or unable to make the choices and investments necessary to be in "business," you don't belong there.

No you don't have to spend money to make money. I did my whole business without ever buying a single Linden. And plan to keep it that way.

Indeed. But you also say you make less than L$5000 a week, so where does that lack of investment leave you?

In any case, you're having to spend money on texture uploads, tier fees and premium membership to maintain your development and your shops, so you're quite wrong about not having to spend money to make money. I'm really not aware of any business that has a completely empty expense column. Even robbery costs you the gas to get away from the bank.

Even robbery costs you the gas to get away from the bank.

Thank god for hybrid cars. Bank robbing in a Toyota Prius is the only way to go these days.

There's still a waiting list. They would have to steal one so the new vehicle purchase expense would be eliminated.