Are sales bad for everyone right now?

Sales up and increasing all the while.....had a rocky ride in Nov and Dec because i neglected New Search, so it was my own fault.

I just visited your shop, Danielle. Your store is very nice, inside and out. I've never created clothes in SL, so keep that in mind when you read my comments.

Your Basic Shirt in the lighter colors, especially white and yellow, has extremely good shading and fabric folds. It's usually in the lighter colors that designers fail to get a realistic look, so you're doing some excellent work in that regard. If you want to make it even better:
-- The neckline looks a little rough.
-- This shirt can only be worn with high-waist pants. Wearing it with low-waist pants (including most jeans) will result in a gap between the shirt and the pants. Many designers work around this by including the shirt fabric on an underwear layer. I'd gladly pay more for this!
-- Some designers include their shirts on more than just one layer. At Simone's new store, Style Starts Here, I think every men's shirt comes on all three layers. Yours is on the shirt layer, which is perfect if I want to wear it with a jacket. But without a jacket, your shirt would look even better when worn with a sleeve filler; for that, I'd need your shirt on the jacket layer. Again, I'd rather pay more and have this flexibility.
-- I bought the white Basic Shirt. As mentioned above, there is some fine work in it. The outer edge of the collar, however, looks somewhat blurred.

Overall, the photos of your items don't do your work justice. With the darker items, I could see a shape and no details. The pinstripe suit looks solid; even when I zoomed in, I couldn't see pinstripes. (That's good news to some extent because many designers have way too much contrast in their pinstripe clothes.) I set the sun to different times of the day and it didn't help. Also, the aspect ratio of the images on the lower right was off, making the image look too skinny; it was very difficult for me to see any details in those suits. (It's easier to re-do the images than the clothing, so you should think of this as good news!)

Finally, I've never noticed the model in images for men's clothes until I went to your store. The clean-shaven model in some of your pictures has a look that is so "newbie," it detracts from the item you're selling.

You offer a LOT of things; if you ever find that you don't have time to tweak some items as much as you'd like, then consider focusing on and selling fewer items. Dan Senyurt started his store with only one shirt style. He devoted a lot of time to that single item, but that shirt has one of the best looking collars in SL.

I intend these comments to be helpful and I hope I've worded them to accurately convey that. If anything sounds overly critical, it's only due to my failure to find the right words. You've done some good work, Danielle, and I hope you have more success selling!

The past few weeks my sales have never been better, except of course the last day or two. But I must say I worked hard to get to this. Upgrading all items, making brand new cuddle animations. Basically increasing overall quality. A time investment of about two months, working every night. A lot of work, but it pays out. In my opinion SL has come to the stage that quality really starts to matter.

The last week has been a bit on the low side. Not dire, but definitely a dip. Probably just a cyclical thing.

Mari

Mine have been getting better since New Year's, but I've been learning how the new search works and trying out different ways to let people know my things are out there. Sometimes the crossovers are things I'd never guess. I got a ton of sales of stuffed animals with a cute holding animation when I put up a free valentine's day outfit and sent a notice to one of the freebie blogs.

edited for spelling

Ohhh well then sales are just right! My alt quit advertising her scripts and gadgets, sales cover costs plus enough to tier up again, but too much business would take too much time and make no life. Even the free stuff brings in money and there's no tip jar! The only thing that makes me uncomfortable is there are no complaints, like ever, it's hard to guess what to improve if there are no wish lists

It is hard to find numbers in Second Life that mean much but a constant 75 to 80 % of avatars who buy were born in 2006 or before, and it is the same for the freebies. For the 2007 and 2008 births almost half the ones sampled say in their profiles that they are alts. Almost everything in the shop needs SL experience or land or both so that doesn't say anything about newb spending habits in general!

We are not in the fashion business, so I'm not sure it's a fair comparison, but our sales are steadily increasing, with only random dips.

I really think you have to position yourself as doing something that nobody else does, in order to get the people who actually want the products you are selling. I haven't been by your store yet, but will check it out. If what you are doing is making stuff that looks like "regular" clothing, rather than the all-to-common "cartoon stripper"/Paris Hilton clothing, then I think that is your niche and there is a call for it.

Getting the word out to the people that will buy your stuff can be tough. Freebies are a double-edged sword, because it attracts the campers and those that would never ever spend money in your store. Your store become laggy (because the freebie-hunters often have wayyy too much lag-inducing stuff on), which will put off your clients with money. It also means that you are working for essentially no reward on those products.

Have you joined the "Fashion Consolidated" group yet? Lots of people advertise there and it's free.

I recommend you cut your overheads (in terms of satellite stores, etc) and focus on getting the right people into your store.

Over here, I've shot myself in the foot...

I've not released anything new in close to 2 months as I'm reworking EVERYTHING in an attempt to up the quality of my basic product...

as such I've seen my traffic, sales, and update group membership half.

That said, I only need to hold on another three weeks before I can start teh ball rolling with the new lines...

. . . I am an avid shopper and FashCon member. I love FashCon but sometimes the number of notices can be overwhelming and some days I don't always get to them all. I imagine others feel the same. Have you considered creating a blog to announce new arrivals? Perhaps you can trade links with other fashion blogs. Also there are some great SL fashion feeds out there that can help drive traffic. I have some links to share if you're interested--PM me.

All of this said....I run a blog for fashion freebies. If anyone would like to point me to their stores, I'd be happy to do a write up on the blog and see if we can send some business your way.

hlilliehook at gmail dot com

My sales have really been down. But I'm chalking that up to the fact that I closed down my smaller stores, both rented and owned, and bought a larger plot of land for a bigger store. I didn't necessarily need more prims (for a change), but did need more space. I, too, do woman's clothes, and try to overall stay with a classy-but-not-prudish styles of clothes. Which isn't uncommon, but I think it's a little more niche than just selling a little bit of everything. I finally have the new store and land in order and am going to start advertising again, etc. I also plan to sell on slexchange, which is something I haven't done but have thought about for a while.

Having said that, I do think that people aren't spending as much shopping as they were in the past. I myself still have a little weekly spree, but not anything like I used to spend.

What are the metrics nowadays on new accounts? If they are down significantly that pretty much accounts for drops in sales for non-niche basic markets like clothing and apparel. It seems that SL residents tend to curve their purchasing volume for these items significantly within a year of their rezday and it is only new blood that tends to keep these markets up.

I would not give the whole blame to LL on this.

Ok the bank ban, casino ban and VAT.

But there are other factors that I consider can make sales slow down:

- Lack of new products

- Lack of original products

- Lack of quality

- Location

- Lack of promotion (or bad promotion)

- Luck.
----

The three first are the most important ones. SL is full of very great designers so, personally I try to improve each time I make a new product.

You couldn't of said it better.

Lack of new products: Especially for men regarding clothing as all you see are the same tiresome clothes. I know of one big shop that still has the same clothes I saw when I first came to sl two years ago. Nothing there has changed and this is a shop that shows a great deal of traffic.

Lack of original products: In just about everything made. Even in women's clothes you see the same type clothes, just in different colors. And women as we all know get the best things to wear.

LACK OF QUALITY: Now this is the most important one of all. There are lot's of crappy items out for sale and many times the people selling them know exactly what they're selling. This is one reason why you'll get no answers when you call them to let them know.

Pants that don't reach your ankles for men and even if modifiable they still won't go down any further.

Textures, like for animals that once you set them out they're too transparent therefore no good for anything.

Necklaces that are all bent out of shape and non-mod to boot. But even if it was mod you couldn't do anything with it.

Sneakers that are so tiny you barely see your feet. And in the same box another pair that if you put a dozen feet in them you still wouldn't fill them out.

All these and many more happen all the time. I know, it's happened to me and although I've sent messages to these people, I never once received an answer. So if it's happened to me it's happened to many others as well.

This is my bitterness towards many shopowners. And it's not the money as I can more then afford what I've paid. It's just the thought of being ripped off and by those who do it on purpose because you have to be aware of what you're selling. You can't be that naive.

There are great designers I know this but they're not the ones causing sales to decline.

Our sales are booming the last few weeks But we are not in clothes and stuff and do make wonderfull asian themed items and buildings. And yes, we do put a lot of effort in brand building. Also updating all classifieds, descriptions and pictures. If you want your sale to 'grow' you have to work for it.


Amiryu Hosoi,

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When the new search was introduced our sales plummeted but recovered once I figured the important bits in the new 'search all'. We are mainly a fashion mall with some great top name designers as tenants and they all saw a fall-off. However, by working on diversity in the advertising, introducing new ranges and improving presentation we are back on track.
I was a BIG opponent and critic of the new search but I reckon I now save in excess of L$45,000/month on advertising in classifieds and now am back at the old sales levels.
. We started as a wholesale re-seller but once we had our own designs we've run that side down (50% profit isn't going to pay the bills)
Don't give up but I'd say SL is just like RL. When you start a business you need to expect to make a loss for the first year as you build the business. (Maybe shorter in SL as everything seems to be a factor of 7 shorter.)
It hurts but it's fun!

I have been wondering this myself. It seems to me there could be a real decline in SL usage and spending from the US at some point. It seems people complain fairly loud about $3/gallon gas, yet we're still spending real $ on virtual goods that I'm guessing don't give most of us the feeling of real value. If you aren't profiting from it and its not a necessity I'm guessing a lot of households will start cutting the old SL budget. That, or SL will become a necessity to get through the next few years of RL.

Just the other day I wanted to buy myself a new set of clothes because I was getting tired of what I had on. Then I had to ask myself... why.. I'll save the few RL $s and buy myself a cup of $5 Caribou Coffee instead thank you

How tied together do you think the SL and RL economies might be? My guess is there is a relationship there, although probably with some real lag.

Hey, what's that all about American economics? Only 30% of the residents are American. That leaves us with 70% residents that are not having a resecion.

Check out http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pxbDc4B2FH96QnlAI9boFUw&gid=7

Amiryu Hosoi,

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SLUrl Hosoi Ichiba, Japanese Gardens & Lifestyle

Only if the American economy existed in a vacuum.

I sell some of the houses I build and rent. I saw sales start to tick upward around December. I believe that it came with the new search. I optimized my parcel description fairly early on, and have tweaked it a little since. While that is not the cornerstone of my business, it encourages me that people actually buy my stuff sometimes. For the size of the plot it's on, it earns its tier and then some, and I do almost nothing to promote it beyond a 50L ad in services. If I put more energy into it, maybe things would be different, but my rentals are the core of what I do in SL, and development/management takes up the most time.

I would take the advice that has been given very seriously. I understand it's not what you're looking for but if you close your mind to it, you may deserve the lack of sales. I know you're pretty static on the no-mod issue from the previous discussion. You are automatically going to lose a segment of the market there, the ones like Ricardo who want mod items.

Your problem is getting connected with the people who would wear your clothes.

This comment stood out:

I would make the effort to reach out to the bloggers, like Honeybear said. Especially the established fashionista blogs, like Linden Lifestyles and SecondStyle. They are looking for new artists, and normal, conservative clothes is a niche that desperately needs filling.

Cristalle,

Thanks for saying in a polite way what I was tempted to say in a really snarky way, but just kept quiet.

To answer: "Are sales bad for everyone?" No. My business has been gradually doing better since I joined SL last summer, and I've been adding about 1 sim every 2 months to cover the growth. I have my down cycles, but so far have turned them all around.

With the recession talk, I like to compare SL to the movie industry during the Great Depression. For the price of a movie today, a person can rent a fabulous mansion for a week in SL, with money left over for furniture, clothes, hair, and shoes. That sounds like a cheap but wonderful escape from recession to me.

If you will look, you will see I've changed quite a few of my items to copy/mod no trans...


If you read my initial post, you'll see I'm actively doing quite a bit..I'm re-arranging, coming out with new stock, all the things advised in here.

And I explained that yes, there are a few mall stores that are empty with a few things in them, 3 malls moved over the weekend, I do not have 24/7 to be in SL..if that is a fault, then I apologize for it.

For those who have implied I"m just lazy, or not willing to work hard, you obviously haven't seen my stuff, and your assumptions are incorrect and almost insulting.

I"m not unwilling to listen to constructive criticizm, I'm just not as apt to take it from people who have never been in my shop.

Please, lets not turn this into a "bash" thread....don't bash me, don't bash other countries, or anything else.

I simply asked, are sales down in SL.

My main shop is in my signature file. Please go look at it before you offer more constructive advice. Thank you.

I have to agree with this. The recession is going to cause people to cut back in many ways. How often does the average American eat out these days? I believe it's three nights a week. You'll see those type of things cut back. SL is very cheap in comparison and I think it's unlikely it will be affected much, if at all in the long run. Hell, it could possibly be the best thing that ever happened to SL.

You confirmed only more what Cristalle and Avion were saying. People are responding to the specific question you asked. Some suggestions among those seems to really rile you up. As a business owner I'm happy to take any suggestions from people anytime. I don't care whether they've seen my shop or not. Of course, it's best if they have, but that doesn't mean I'll discount any criticism or suggestions I receive if they haven't. I'll take the good suggestions, toss out the bad ones but will always be appreciative of anyone who has taken the time to give me any.

As for bashing you, I haven't seen that at all in this thread. I see people attempting to assist you.

While there might be some folks who cut their gaming costs when things get tight, there will be others who cut back on major costs like vacations, cut down on the amount of driving they do to save gas, and end up with more money for activities you can do at home like renting movies and playing videogames. Unless you're in the land business or rent/own a lot of land for personal use, Second Life is about the best entertainment value I can think of. Shopping here is amazingly inexpensive. Land gets expensive fast, though.

Our skybox sales have been doing very well, although we're getting less business from SLExchange than we used to, whereas business at our shop in-world has exploded. I don't know how to account for that. Our monthly take has remained the same, it's just shifted in-world for some reason.

EDIT: Also, to the original poster. I haven't seen your shop, so I can't comment on the quality of your stuff. I can say that marketing is just as important in SL as it is in the real world, and it's a WHOLE LOT CHEAPER!!! And seriously, do not confuse good or bad sales with quality. There are some builders/designers in SL whose stuff is real crap compared to their competitors (and often overpriced crap at that) who do great business. Again, it's about marketing and visibility.