pay for a demo..why?

i was out on usual quest for new hair and shoes today..when i noticed that the balance between those stores that charged 1L for a demo and those that dont is fairly evenly split.

However..unwittingly or not..when i checked my inventory..I had seemed to buy more from those that dont make this little charge...than those that do. when I reflected upon why this might be, I decided, rightly or wrongly that it might be that even subconciously..i took more demos from the non charging store and thus had more choice/style etc..than with the stores that made the nominal 1L charge.

Whilst it doesnt really register at the forefront of my mind that Im being charged to try and then have to discard the item..it obviously has been influencing my purchases...with shoes & hair..this is a LOT of purchases.

First question to store owners..why do you charge for a demo?

Secondly..to those who do not provide demos...why not>? with hair, shoes & boots iam VERY unlikely to buy anything without one.

My first pair of stiletto moody shoes were a gift...i know they fit me now- so although id very much prefer a demo i will purchase the older styles without one- but i havent bought her new range without a demo ..

anyone?

Fai

yes i have been to a pair of well know shops lately and they don't have demos so i left without buying..noway I spend 400-500l on a pair of shoes if I don't know if they fit me well..and yes, that 1l annoys me a lot, because i try a lot of demos!( and discard 80%)

It used to be that it was impossible to "sell" something for zero L$ and still get a report from your vendng system that showed those transactions. It also used to be impossible to set an item "for sale" with a zero L$ cost - you had to set it up as "Take Copy Allowed" instead, which left no record of what was taken.

So a lot of merchants set demos to L$1 each, so they have metrics on what products people are interested in. They could get those reports from their vendor records, and not have to weed through al the zero L$ transactions that show up in their transaction log, like when you give someone else a snaphot or a notecard.

The earlier inability to set something for sale at zero L$ is also one reason why some "Freebies" were set for sale at L$1 for a boxfull.

Today, I think most vending systems can deal with recording and reporting zero L$ transactions just fine. But a lot of merchants left things set up the old way, or just copied what they were used to.

frankly, I pass on all demos that want 1L.... dont care what it is.
If I am at a hair store, I might try on 15 hairs.... its crazy and can add up.

Hey Ceera. Thanks for being on the Forums. You always have good information and you share it well.

yes that would explain some of the more established merchants thank you But what of the new places..? I hadnt thought of the type of vendors they use...good point

I would think the $1 charge would be to discourage the idiot with nothing better to do than sit there clicking the Buy Demo button over and over again. I know this sounds stupid... but there are a lot of people out there with too much time on their hands.

seriously? lol

I recently saw demo items for L$10 - more than one from the same store, so it wasn't a mistake. It completely put me off buying from there, which is strange because L$10 is still nothing compared to RL money (just over 2 pence, UK, and you can't buy a damn thing for 2p). For me it was more their attitude: that they expect me to roll over and start paying L$10 for something that could be free, just so they can bolster their profits.

Not going back, ever.

ditto...wow...(i wanna know where that was lol) 2p...can still buy you 2 black jacks or 2 fruit salads sweeties here

I disagree... I think mainly it is done to make money, you see 20 avatars all looking for items try on 5 apiece.. lets do the math... 100L figure a typical day supports this on a busier business they can clear more a day just from demos.. (that are deleted anyway)
of course if they are charging 10L or more.... well... you see my point.

demos should be free PERIOD>

L$10 is the default when you set something for sale. Unless you change it, that is the value you get. I've seen some newbie merchants make that mistake. Did you consider asking the merchant why their demos were priced ten times higher than most other stores that charge at all for demos?

Isn't that why we have these forums?

Does hippovend charge the L$1 fee for these transactions?

This.

Not only that, but if I pass on the demo it means I pass on the product.

1L demos mean lost sales.

It's amazing how even $1L can add up really fast.

I don't think it discourages people from taking all of the demos, though. People who want the demos will get them. But...I thought that was the point of a demo??

I wish all demos were $0L, I am not sure why they are not. Maybe to discourage copybotters? But does that work?

I didn't ask, but they are a very established merchant. Certainly *not* a newbie. Discretion prevents me naming names.

You don't pay for something that you can't use other than to try it. Even if its only L$1.

I was at a store recently that had 'sample' items at L$10. They were actual usable items in a few select colors, though - easily worth the price! For a non-usable demo, though, that's ridiculous.

I don't really mind paying L$1 for a demo, though now that I'm reading this, I'm starting to think maybe I should... lol

I charge 1L for the ones in the vendor, because I was not sure if it would support a 0L charge.
The ones still on the wall, are still 0L but for convience I am slowly migrating them to the vendor (has nothing to do with greed, being I might have 3 or 4 demos go out in a week (not a day, a week)

I need to test to see if it will let me sell it for 0L

(some folks might charge 1L to help offset any cost for textures they need to upload to make the demo product(such as clothing demos or skin demos))

Since demos just about have to be no-mod, I find them to be of somewhat limited value in the first place. Charging for them, at least for me, dramatically reduces the chances I'll try one, much less buy the actual product.

I don't charge for my demos since I only have a few, but if I did, it would be for the bookkeeping.

Because I have gifts in the shop and often have some sort of other freebie out, I ignore $0 transactions when downloading my history because I don't want to wade through them. If I had a lot of demos, then I might want to compare demo purchases to item purchases, and if I did then I would price the demos at $1 so that they show up on the spreadsheet.

I have never minded paying $1L for a demo, the person went to the trouble of creating the demo, uploading it, and boxing it up for my convenience, how am I going to quibble about paying them a fraction of a penny for it?

Well - some hair places have 100 hairstyles to choose from. If new and wanting to see for the first time what suits your av that adds up quickly.

And then if people have alts...

interestingly...I see it not as a *convenience* but a way to entice me to buy the item (and its usually items that are costly and / or might just not fit an av at all,so demo can be pretty crucial factor in deciding to make the purchase) I dont see unless you sell huge amounts each day how it would be so tiresome to wade through 0L purchases, they show up on my spreadsheets, or not if i turn them off...am i missing something here? (i probably am lol)

Well if they don't have L$1 they aren't likely to have L$100 to buy your product anyway or aren't that interested, it's probably a good thing to stop people clogging their inventories with crap they really aren't interested in.