My land purchase dilemma

I've been looking for land to reopen my furniture store. A friend is offering a beautiful parcel at a really good deal. There's just one problem - the sim is rated Mature.

There's nothing really Mature about the sim at all. Almost entirely made up of homes so few people are ever around. However, if I open there will I be excluding much of what could be a customer base.

If teens join the grid I don't want to miss out on their money. If adults will now be choosing not to go to a mature sim I'll miss out on their sales too.

What should I do? Should I purchase this great piece of property or should I wait until I find some land I like in a PG Sim?

I dunno, Brad. What are you looking to sell?

Furniture and none of it has erotic poses.

I was under the impression that the new content label of 'Adult' would be separate from 'Mature'.

Most sims out there at the moment are Mature, and unless they have publicly explicit content, they shall remain so, as I understand it. I don't think there should be much fear of people missing out on your store.

As for teens, you can always open up a second (Perhaps smaller) store when we finally get to the point of having them around. Also remember that some adults may not want to be around teens at that point, and would avoid the PG sims, so either way you could end up losing some business. Two stores would be the most logical setup for getting your products to all audiences, I think.

And, as I said, you can deal with that when it gets here. At the moment, don't worry about teens, and when (If? I haven't really read, or looked for, anything solid on a merge)they end up on the main grid, then cater a bit more to them, as well.

You know, this poses a serious problem. Nothing I sell could even be deemed 'mature', but my shop is in a mature sim - does this mean I would have to move to get the teenage customers now?

Honestly, this whole thing is stupid.

I think you are fine moving into a mature sim. Both of my store locations are in mature sims (one mainland and on island, but my content is PG.

If you are worried about the new changes coming, it is my understanding that Mature and PG sims will be accessible to everyone. It is "Adult" sims that will require verification to enter, not Mature.

As someone else here mentioned, if it becomes a problem down the road you can always add a satellite location in a PG sim, or rent mall space in one.

In my opinion, things in SL are always fluid and changing, so there is no way to make a decision at any one time that you can be sure will not have to be changed as things evolve. In the furniture business I am willing to bet that space and prims will become an issue before parcel rating no matter how much land you start out with. A space that looks cavernous will be filled before you know it.

BTW, I am happy to hear you are going back into business, Bradley. You make very nice things.

The bottom line is probably, yes, you'd have to move to get the teenage customer base.

But.....on the flip side......what portion of the teen customers are running around with fistfulls of L's looking to buy.....especially homes and furniture. I'm sure some are.....those that have mommy and daddy's backing and available funds. My guess is that your larger customer base would still be 'adults' who have more independence and flexibility with the funds they dedicate to SL. It's just a thought......and you can always relocate or set up venders in non-mature areas, to ensure you reach the teen market. But if you're getting a good land deal.....it might be best to jump on it....especially if it's someone you know and trust, doing the selling.

Also, remember that your xstreet listings will not be flagged as mature, so everyone will see those. I know that xstreet generally generates a fraction of the sales that an inworld shop does, particularly with furniture, but it is still a way to get customer's eyes on your products. Now that LL owns them, it wouldn't surprise me if the role xstreet will play will be increasingly important.

Not me. My XStreet sales always top my inworld sales by around 50-60%

Thank you!

I've never heard of that happening before. What do you sell?

Even better!

*Everyone* including teens (when that happens, that is)? Teens will also be allowed on the mature estates?

It depends entirely how much you would be saving in this great deal, and how long you think you're going to be in business.

If you're absolutely confident that you'll be in business a long time, looking for the PG land is your best long-term bet.

I don't know for how many people it actually makes a difference whether you are on PG rather than Mature. But if you're in it for the long haul, even that small percentage adds up to sales. And over a long period of time, you may hit the lottery with that one big spender who limits spending to PG only.

Conversely, people can't filter out PG, there are no plans to filter out PG, and my guess is that there are far fewer people who would avoid your store because it's on PG rather than Mature, than the other way around.

Though the merging of grids is speculation right now, gambling on the merger has little downside. The only downside is how much real money you'd lose by not taking advantage of this deal.

If you're looking at the short term, you'd take the immediate savings of the land deal. You can always move later if you change your mind. If you're looking at the long term, you make the initial investment for future profits, and in that case, you probably spend the extra money on PG land.

There is no way anyone can know that right now. For right now there is no official policy about where teens can go on the main grid because they haven't announced the merging of the grids. It is that sort of unknown policy change I was addressing when I said:

Tough choice, Bradley. I'd go with your gut, and buy the nice parcel on the Mature land, but be sure to flag your parcel as PG.

I personally would refuse to buy (PG) land regardless of what I sell. My own store and home is on mature land, and I prefer the freedoms offered to me while I'm there. I'm not ~required~ to have a sex den, after all. I can sell my stuff and live my life in peace without worrying about the next AR flying my way just because of a silly sim flag. (=_=)

That said... Parcels in (Mature) land can't be flagged (PG), but, your land - your rules. Just boot the people that break'em. =^-^=

Hey Bradley

Go for it if you like the parcel that much!
As fr as the current development goes, there will be no problem at all with a mature parcel. And when teens arrive (which still can take a lot of time) you could always open up a satellite store for them. But the new policies about adult are of no influence to your current choice.

About teens not having the money, I would be careful with that statement. We are really talking small change here, if a teen wants to put 10 dollar into the game they could buy quite a bit of furniture Plus the entertainment budget of the average teen tops that one of the average adult at times, it seems to me. So they definitely are worth a try with a satellite shop, once they get here.

Good to see your store back by the way!

Bradley,

I wouldn't buy any land at all at the moment. Too much is unknown about what LL will do in regards to the new "content" changes and the likely game of geographic musical chairs.

My own guess is that Mature mainland prices will fall into the toilet. Wait a few months, and if Mature mainland is what you want/need, you'll be able to pick up all you want.

Meanwhile...rent, week to week.

Bradley,

I've been meaning to catch you in-world and say welcome back!

Don't buy anything until we talk. I was going to see if you wanted to do a furniture store, maybe even for free. I've got some areas where I do free commercial space because it's a service to the residents.

That is, if I don't quit over this "move your smut to Sodom and Gomorrah" fiasco!

--Avion