Buying and Selling Land

You can call it what you like, as you usually do, but I rather doubt that you'll find anyone who agrees with you.

The single most common question that I get during basic building classes is about the land system. I make sure that I explain the system scrupulously, and I find invariably that the new residents are grateful to be made aware of all their options.

Education is a powerful thing.

Providing information isn't abuse, its the best defense against economic predators. This is why you hear all the protest, you're killing their business model that relies on ignorant consumers to thrive.

Keep on, keepin' on - the only way to de-infest the system is to keep letting newbies know what the land system is about, before they fall into the meat grinder.


"You won't be able to sell for more than that, sell to me!"


Ahahaha...SL is a system of boomerangs it seems, and sooner or later your words and actions will be returned to you with blinding efficiency, with interest.

Education is. As is indoctrination and propaganda. The question that arise here is: Who is teaching what and for what purpose?

I am strong proponent of newbie education and have great respect for people who spend time and effort in a selfless and neutral way to help newbie understand their options better.

When education is used to influence newbies according to a personal agenda, religious belief or political opinion it becomes indoctrination.

You also wouldn't agree with the owner of your local Kebab fast food shack offering classes in pre-school about how McDonalds food kills, right?

QUOTE: "The single most common question that I get during basic building classes is about the land system. I make sure that I explain the system scrupulously, and I find invariably that the new residents are grateful to be made aware of all their options."


Viola, my take on Anshe's statement is not that she is against having classes on buying land in SL - it was more to the point of Lisse mentoring that kind of class. I am not for or against Lisse mentoring a class, I just wanted to clarify what I think is some confusion.

Then offer your own classes **For Sale** for the education of **For Sale** newbies. That is, **For Sale** if you can tear yourself away **For Sale** from the pursuits **For Sale** that delight your **For Sale** soul so readily.

You're right about **For Sale** propaganda, **For Sale** I swear, it seems that **For Sale** some people just use **For Sale** signs as a means **For Sale** to indoctrinate **For Sale** the buyers.

What a **For Sale** horrible **For Sale** life they must lead to **For Sale** feel the polluting of **For Sale** a sim **For Sale** is worth the **For Sale** price.

Sad **For Sale** indeed.

When asked about land, I gladly point new users to first land, and explain that there are users who inflate the market through unfair business practices, as a fair warning, I also quote a fair rate based on my current values, in price per square meters as well as size information. They... tend to agree with me within a week that an individual who's over-pricing land is indeed a land baron and thank me for the warning.

- Ice

i'm in agreement with ursa. there is nothing to stop lisse from mentoring a class about land, but i find it to be highly unethical do to conflict of interests. i would always be much more comfortable with nolan or even catherine passing out notecards as they are not players involved directly with the land trade.

i find the mentoring classes run a risk of becoming promotional tool for ones own business. i don't believe either a land speculator has the objectivity to instruct a noob class. i'd rather it be run by someone who hates ALL land speculation than someone with subjective opinion on different types of land speculation practices, favouring thier own over anothers. i don't begrudge anyone for spending the extra time to solicit clientele but lets call a spade spade.

lisse, i agree with you that any player who tries to prop the market price of land is doomed but bidding on each auction is not neccesarily such an act. that is a necessity of large volume low margin trading. winning every auction regularly and continuing this practice would be be an attempt to prop the market price and it would be doomed.

lynn's post brings up an interesting question about L$ manipulation and it's realtion ship to land. my question is if somebody did have 100,000 USD +, would they use it to corner the SL land and L$ market, and work on that as a full time job at huge risks that could result in being locked out from thier game and money? or would they take that money to a RL investments?

i agree with anshe. so does firechick.
and in the hands of a speculator, it is marketing.

Thank you for your friendly advice However, I made decision to focus my time and effort on my core business so that I can offer people best possible price when buying or selling land.

I would also have moral problem using "classes" as a method to draw newbie attention to my land business.



That is great! Keep up good work. Please make sure they know how to compare price. I often tell people look at the land left, the land right, then look at my land and decide which you want buy

Ah, I see **For Sale** I guess that means your complaint **For Sale** is not important **For Sale** enough for you to **For Sale** follow up on. **For Sale** Glad we got **For Sale** that sorted out.

Please **For Sale** let us know if you **For Sale** have any further **For Sale** baseless **For Sale** concerns, we'd be **For Sale** happy to **For Sale** oblige.

I would, however, agree with a pre-school teacher who showed the film "Supersize Me" to her class before lunch, in order to point out the dangers of the whole junk food industry.

In well over a year of teaching classes, and now being part of live help, I have never - on not one solitary occasion - been witness to any instructor or helper either promoting their own business or denigrating that of a rival player. Not once.

It's my experience that the majority of new players who resort to buying land from land barons do so for a simple reason - they think the process is more complicated and difficult than it actually is. Once they understand where to look, where to find the information and how to bid, most of them agree that paying a premium for a land baron's "service" doesn't make good sense.

P.S. Jau, your French is even worse than mine.

well canadian representation not withstanding... does anyone else wonder if any of these people are filling out 1099's this year? or what might happen to them if they don't and someone notices they suddenly have tens of thousands of dollars in unaccounted for deposits and withdrawals from primary accounts?

audits are never pretty things

I would just like to add,
When I first started SL, I did not really fully understand/care for the idea of the land lottery. So I just made money and bought my first lot, and back then a 512 = ~L$5-6k.
And I had NO problem with that. I sold that same lot for more later, and then upgraded my tire and bought a 1024 lot, again, i later sold the lot for MORE, and were talking about double the price your defining as "to high".
Around the same time I do recall other fairly new users purchasing land for around the same prices. No mater what the price for land is, people will complain about the price. Like gas,

Also I much later began to buy and sell land for almost twice the price. I do not like the fact that all the prices have dropped SO much, and that people are still whining about the prices. LL added all the extra sims, and land prices basicly choaked to death.
As I do understand from a creators perspective, you feel you should be able to invent without restriction whatsoever.

You must remember inventing isnt restricted only to shaping,programming, and texturing prims.
Creation can be anything from a "car" to an "in world real estate firm" or a "play".
What if land prices were L$120psm and they droped somehow to L$75psm.
Suddenly most people would rejoice in the seemingly low prices. While others would still be whining about the prices. If people are paying the price, then it must not be to expensive.
Ide like to see the day that everyone in the RL gets together and decides not to buy gas for a month. But what would that do to us? You only see the short term. Long term, gas prices would drop, as would stock, the econamy, all the way down to possably your job. and then.. Taxes, guess what would happen there.

And the same is true for sl. My first transaction on gom was $1.46 for a block.
Now its under $1.20. Some of you would look at this and be happy, but it is those of you that are hurting SL, that is more gready than even the land barrons..
"I want it ALL and I want it as close to free as possable".
Sl isnt ONLY a place for people that like to modify prims. Its for EVERYONE. And that means you half to deal with everyone. By saying "I do not want people who have different interests to be allowed to do what they want to, but I want to be allowed to do anything that I want". Your being childish.

What state/country rules apply to money made in SL I wonder? Seriously. If someone makes money in SL - living in Britain, how does that work? They aren't employees of LL and so I am not sure what laws apply. This is a whole new ballgame - or it is to my accounting challenged brain.

Luckily not a single person has every used that as their argument here or anywhere else to my knowledge.

Which means, I dunno that I get your point.

We buy gas because we have to if we want to use our vehicles.

We buy land because we have to if we want to maintain semi-permanent builds.

Whatever the current market price.

Dunno. But I don't intend to fess up my SL earnings to the Inland Revenue any time soon.

Here in Germany it is 30% profit tax for all revenue that doesn't go to charity or have been reinvested in SL. I am proud to be able to make a little contribution to this country now, even though most people would still consider it peanut

I am sure everybody here who has earned money from SL is proud of doing same thing for his/her own country

Bwahahahahahahaha!

Btw, I hate my country. With a passion.

I don't understand. I believe one should always love community one belongs to.

Maybe you don't really mean you hate country but government?

Nono. I hate the government too, but the country itself sucks the big one.

I guess a lot of that is down to the way successive governments have managed to drive it into the ground, but still, I hate what our country has become.

And I really don't subscribe to your theory. I just live here - which is most unfortunate. I certainly don't feel any love at all for it. In fact, I can say with conviction that I pretty much loathe the place.

Oh. And there is no community.

So, the same sense of community - like a sim carved up with 'For Sale' signs? Thanks to the most generous example of wealthy land owners, we'll never be spared the 'goodwill' of these eyesores.

Thank you so much, for the blight upon SL, you know who you are.

Maxx, my dear....

I'm taking a wild, wild guess here... but by chance, do you not like for sale signs?

*snickers and runs*

The signs are innocent - I prefer to think of their owners as the real plague.

But thanks for asking for clarification, my little breakfast-muffin.

damn, it came out! HIDE! ITS THE.... TRUTH!

I'm not sure about Britain, but here in America income is income.


Kris - Go live under some other government for a while. No one forces you to stay