SL Merchants Survey

XSL charges 5% currently, and it appears that now with a little tweak they will charge 10%-15%?

I wonder if there will be room for everyones unverified alts to set up shops too.

And will I be allowed to use unregistered bots there?

You're becomming an old cynic, now.

Hmmmm... The Mall of Second Life. If something like this would happen, I'm sure all the top sellers in SL would be there.

Didn't I read a "story" about a copybot that can copy regions worth of items all at once?

Yep, that was my thinking also. If LL did all the marketing and promotion, this would be a bonus too, as it can take as long to bring a product to market as it can to create it. It would depend on things like prim allowance and space allocation - but this "concept" is potentially a goer. I wonder what Pink would say if I said I needed a quarter of a sim?

This sounds disturbingly like the "Public Option" in "Universal Healthcare".

Many of these proposed "hypothectical" (cough) moves worry me. They seem too much like LL wriggling itself between me and my customers and charging for the privelege. Or charging for things which I can already do, happily, for free, or should already be expected as part of the service they already claim to provide.

"Real time" trackable Xstreet sales info is uneccessary. It already sends me an email when a sale is made. I don't need to pay extra to communicate with my customers..they can already find me easily enough. And "metrics"....whaa???? All my vendors are lag-free unbreakable single prims and they're perfect, and I don't need to pay for special merchant support to get them fixed, ever. Lots of this stuff is just pointless. And as many of you have said, we already expect products to be delivered and being asked to pay extra for this is just silly.

I do resent the insinuation that I will soon be allowed to pay between US$10 and US$100 a month to gain special priveledges. I take that to be the ability-or-not to be found using LL's various search methods. This is scarey. And "automatic consideration for large scale promotions" is one of the benefits of paying this fee. Ie, will some business be able to pay US$100 to recieve an invitation to purchase extra special LL promotion of their business? Would this be promotion like featuring on log-in pages, etc? I run a tiny business, and never make enought to pay this sort of money. Will I be made to look like a backyarder in comparison, and be hidden entirely in all searches?

I do like the mall idea. Potentially. I would use it if it was well maintained, promoted it's tenants fairly, and allowed me to make a professional display of what my business does and direct customers to my mainstore. (Wouldn't it be nice if the space provided looked anything like the gorgeous photo in the survey? Why do I keep getting images of freebie warehouses in my head?)

I am glad that LL asked our opinions, if they truly are feeling out a few hypotheticals for the long-term future. A more cynical take would be that this is the beginning of the softening up process. Anyway, it's good to hear everyone's thought on this.

I think if LL had a direct stake in revenue from in world sales of digital content, this would be a strong driver for them to take stronger action against IP theft.

They have a direct stake in XStreet sales and this does seem to have had an effect in that outlet.

Every day I pray harder and harder for one of the other *worlds* to become a truly viable alternative to SL.

If your monthly profit is under $100 US, then that's a hobby, not a business.

Now I'm not a merchant, and I don't claim to know all your costs. My first reaction to the other fees, 10-15%, even 30%, was that's way too high, so it's not as though I think LL is anywhere close to the target with these ideas. But this particular price felt reasonable to me.

Whether it's worth the services provided is a separate question.

However it's probably the most important question.

The %age they take now is adequate. If they simply moved to "clean up", removing old content in a structured way, then everyone would be happier.
Some sellers may even have to do ten minutes of work per month.

Otherwise, It's just a capitalistic attempt to get more of the pie. Like a Bank or Telco.

I definitely believe that with Option 1, there's a high likelihood that the LL approved vendor will get a reputation as the only vendor that can be trusted. That will mean that merchants won't be able to sell their products without using LL's vendor and paying a cut to LL. I see it as a form of extortion.

Most "businesses" in SL are hobbies. It's hobbyists that created most of the content that people are paying real money for. The ones who are making real money are a fraction of a percent.

On the survey... I don't see any of the stuff they describe as being useful. I'd probably try out the stuff that just requires a commission, but I wouldn't depend on it.

Give us search that works, quit trying to force people to XSL and away from competing sites, get out of the business of competing with your customers, give us access to all the transaction info you collect, and let us download it as CSV... and not just a month's worth.

The Mark of the Beast



All this time I thought Barack Obama was the AntiChrist....who knew it was M Linden?

You've obviously never met Thatcher, undeniably the beast.

Well I just got back from a months holiday in darkest Europe away from PC'S and laptops and loved it .I opened my mail and deleted the lot unread.I checked my balance and all is normal I just need to refund some double purchases.
Now after reading this thread I feel somewhat depressed.I agree with most things that have been said, especially by Phil.
I am entering my 4th year here and things are not the same ,this new Big Brother attitude the company is adopting does not suit me at all.I will jog along for the ride to see what happens but LL has gradually killed my interest.

Gotta make up for all the lost tier these days somehow.

More cake, not pie!

Then maybe LL should stop trying to treat them as businesses. If they're going to price things on the presumption that most SL merchants are making a real profit, and that's wrong, then they can't succeed.

I shuld probably be spanked for starting this
thread

I've said it before - you get all the luck!

That may be part of the probem as the 5% charge on XStreet sales may not cover the full cost of hosting the site - but yes it is an attempt to get more money from the customers and, of course, this will be carried on down the line. Increase costs lead to increased prices.

Oh Ef Ef!!!
Is LL taking lessons from obamafool?? Let me ef u more while u r not watching!!!!
crap - no u will NOT see u rates go up- crap- same excrement different jour...


oops did i insert politics in here?

/me tacklehugs Amara