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Best/Worst times to set up a shop |
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Miles Beck
MilesBeck.com
Join date: 20 Mar 2007
Posts: 537
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10-31-2008 18:51
usually do better with like slexchange and stuff rather than paying in game for store fronts etc. I know most times me and my friends we wont go to any in game store, when we can have it delivered to us anywhere we are at from slexchange. so dont worry about some elaborate store, most time its a waste of money. stick with k.i.s.s. 'keep it simple stupid' _____________________
BECK'S GREETING CARDS, INVITATIONS & GIFTS
 - Inworld: http://slurl.com/secondlife/FairChang%20Balboa/23/72/25/ - Xstreet: http://bit.ly/nH1n9 |
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Fia Tyne
Registered User
Join date: 14 Jun 2005
Posts: 111
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10-31-2008 19:05
Now is the best time to start. "Timing" is a synonym for procrastination.
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Cynster Clowes
♫♪甘い心♥♪
Join date: 15 Oct 2008
Posts: 78
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10-31-2008 22:55
Now is the best time to start. "Timing" is a synonym for procrastination. Not with forums. There, timing is everything. A start in an inactive month could mean potential members shun your forum before even checking the content because "if it was good someone would be there". I'm not sure how much traffic affects potential customer mentality on second life, but when I see a bunch of people gathering one place and not another, I tend to follow to see what's so special. |
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Rhaorth Antonelli
Registered User
Join date: 15 Apr 2006
Posts: 7,425
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10-31-2008 22:57
I usually subtract my upload fees, tier, mall rents and advertising costs from how much I made and if I'm in the black, Profit! same here and I have yet to be in the black _____________________
Morpheus Linden: But then I change avs pretty often too, so often, I look nothing like my avatar.  They are taking away the forums... it could be worse, they could be taking away the forums AND Second Life... |
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Colette Meiji
Registered User
Join date: 25 Mar 2005
Posts: 15,556
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10-31-2008 23:04
As a former forum admin, I noticed huge differences in member turn out depending on what time of the year it was. I would like to set up a small shop in SL sometime, but I would like the timing to be right and not be out of business before I even start. So I guess I have a few questions. Traffic aside (because location is such a huge factor) 1. What months do you get the most sales / least sales. Does it have anything to do with Holidays IRL? If you were to pick a time to set up a shop when would it be? 2. What do you do to calculate costs if really there aren't any variable costs when people just download at no charge to you other than the fixed cost of rent / your time. How do you know when you are making a profit? 3. How much is the average person willing to spend out of their pocket? I guess this question could be for anyone. As for me, I don't spend real money on items in game. 4. Are custom orders rare? Would it be wise to specialize in custom orders? Just answer whatever you want. I'm a newbie, so I'm just trying to get a feel for what your more experienced users know. 1. Seems to slow down in the summer 2. If you can cover your tier, mall stores and advertising and still have money left over, thats the profit. 3. Not very much. 4. Yes. Probably not wise. |
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Anti Antonelli
Deranged Toymaker
Join date: 25 Apr 2006
Posts: 1,091
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11-01-2008 07:24
Custom work needn't be unprofitable if you arrange it the right way. Don't take custom work if the customer insists on it being exclusive, and don't take custom work that nobody else would ever want. With those rules in place (and your intentions clearly explained ahead of time to avoid hurt feelings), doing custom work magically becomes "getting good ideas for new products". I've done that a couple of times and ended up with modestly successful products.
Of course the animation market may be hugely different from clothing, and people wanting custom clothing may generally expect to end up with an exclusive item unique to them. I really don't know. But advertising custom work might not necessarily be a terrible idea. _____________________
Designer of sensual, tasteful couple's animations - for residents who take their leisure time seriously.
 http://slurl.com/secondlife/Brownlee/203/110/109/  |
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Cynster Clowes
♫♪甘い心♥♪
Join date: 15 Oct 2008
Posts: 78
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11-01-2008 08:57
Custom work needn't be unprofitable if you arrange it the right way. Don't take custom work if the customer insists on it being exclusive, and don't take custom work that nobody else would ever want. With those rules in place (and your intentions clearly explained ahead of time to avoid hurt feelings), doing custom work magically becomes "getting good ideas for new products". I've done that a couple of times and ended up with modestly successful products. Of course the animation market may be hugely different from clothing, and people wanting custom clothing may generally expect to end up with an exclusive item unique to them. I really don't know. But advertising custom work might not necessarily be a terrible idea. Alright. I did think about that. Maybe I could do both but charge more for exclusive rights. Thanks for the tip :3 Colette - Thanks for the input :3 |
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Czari Zenovka
I've Had it With "PC"!
Join date: 3 May 2007
Posts: 3,688
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11-01-2008 16:07
Hi, Cynster
There is a very long, but extremely informative thread now called "Advice on Sales" at: /327/ac/274749/1.html Great swap of ideas between those who have businesses that support them RL to those of us just starting out. It's a long thread but definitely worth at least a surface read. _____________________
*Czari's Attic* ~ Relive the fun of exploring an attic for hidden treasures!
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Rakhiot/82/99/111 During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.- George Orwell |
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FD Spark
Prim & Texture Doodler
Join date: 30 Oct 2006
Posts: 4,697
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11-01-2008 18:46
When I have had people approach me about clothes they often want a exclusive
item only they have and no one else. I don't know about anyone else. _____________________
Look for my alt Dagon Xanith on Youtube.com
Newest video is Loneliness by Duo Zikr DX's Alts & SL Art Death of Avatar |
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Czari Zenovka
I've Had it With "PC"!
Join date: 3 May 2007
Posts: 3,688
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11-02-2008 04:25
If you have a big item, say a piece of furniture, you can just set out the object and set it to give them a copy when they buy. You could put your landmark inside of it, but many may never find it there. My partner and I were given some gifts by a friend last Christmas. One item was a very nice area rug. Several months later I was building in the same room as the rug, hit "edit" to add a script but targeted the rug by mistake. In the contents tab was a pair of ladies undies - a black thong actually. I blinked, trying to figure how that had jumped into my build until I realized that I was targeting the carpet. I then plucked the thong out of the rug and saw that indeed it belonged to the friend who had gifted us the rug. Maybe it was another gift I was supposed to "find" (not likely) but to this day still trying to figure out how the undies came to be in the rug.  Now I look in the contents tab of EVERYTHING! _____________________
*Czari's Attic* ~ Relive the fun of exploring an attic for hidden treasures!
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Rakhiot/82/99/111 During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.- George Orwell |
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Ceka Cianci
SuperPremiumExcaliburAcc#
Join date: 31 Jul 2006
Posts: 4,489
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11-02-2008 05:30
My partner and I were given some gifts by a friend last Christmas. One item was a very nice area rug. Several months later I was building in the same room as the rug, hit "edit" to add a script but targeted the rug by mistake. In the contents tab was a pair of ladies undies - a black thong actually. I blinked, trying to figure how that had jumped into my build until I realized that I was targeting the carpet. I then plucked the thong out of the rug and saw that indeed it belonged to the friend who had gifted us the rug. Maybe it was another gift I was supposed to "find" (not likely) but to this day still trying to figure out how the undies came to be in the rug. Now I look in the contents tab of EVERYTHING! those are easter eggs..once in a while i will find goodies in things i buy..i think it was fun finding them that way instead of knowing they were there..to me it's more of a nice surprise. _____________________
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Betty Doyle
Ingenue
Join date: 15 Aug 2006
Posts: 336
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11-02-2008 06:34
My partner and I were given some gifts by a friend last Christmas. One item was a very nice area rug. Several months later I was building in the same room as the rug, hit "edit" to add a script but targeted the rug by mistake. In the contents tab was a pair of ladies undies - a black thong actually. I blinked, trying to figure how that had jumped into my build until I realized that I was targeting the carpet. I then plucked the thong out of the rug and saw that indeed it belonged to the friend who had gifted us the rug. Maybe it was another gift I was supposed to "find" (not likely) but to this day still trying to figure out how the undies came to be in the rug. Now I look in the contents tab of EVERYTHING! hahaha! Well, that certainly would be a surprise! I guess I need to start looking inside more stuff.  _____________________
Ingenue :: Fashion with a Past ::
http://ingenuevintage.wordpress.com http://slurl.com/secondlife/Lo%20Lo/201/99/21/ |
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Porky Gorky
Temperamentalalistical
Join date: 25 May 2004
Posts: 1,414
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11-02-2008 06:48
I once bought a car from one of the brand leaders in SL, the car was copy/mod/no transfer. In the contents I found a copy of the car with full perms. It wasnt in the root prim so not easily detected but still a major error on the part of the creator!
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ArchTx Edo
Mystic/Artist/Architect
Join date: 13 Feb 2005
Posts: 1,993
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11-02-2008 07:53
I hate to be negative, but...
It is very difficult to start up a business in SL that you can rely on to make a living, even minimum wage. If you look at the SL Economic Statistics, Estimated In World Business Owners. http://secondlife.com/whatis/economy_stats.php There are 16,000,000 avatars registered for SL. Thousands of them are very talented people creating and selling stuff in SL, Yet only about 1200 people make more then US$1,000/month. Only 236 make more then US$5,000 per month. And those incomes are BEFORE paying tier or land rental. Even if you are incredibly talented and can make fantastic stuff, it is very hard to get the word out about your product when you are competing with thousands and thousands of other little businesses for recognition in the marketplace. The Search engine sucks for that purpose and there are very few effective advertising methods available. In addition our hosts are unreliable, provide horrible customer service, frequently break features and changing policies in unpredictable ways that hurt businesses, and will probably be raising rent in 2009. I have been running a successful business in SL since early 2005. It started producing a profit in 2006, peaked in early 2007 and has been decreasing every since. I expect this month will be a new low given the OS fiasco. It won't surprise me if 2009 becomes the year when I stop making a profit and have to decide if I want to keep paying for my land. This is with an established business, with over 100 products for sale in world as well as at XStreet and OnRez. Don't give up your day job. _____________________
 VRchitecture Model Homes at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Shona/60/220/30 http://www.slexchange.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&MerchantID=2240 http://shop.onrez.com/Archtx_Edo |
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Ceka Cianci
SuperPremiumExcaliburAcc#
Join date: 31 Jul 2006
Posts: 4,489
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11-02-2008 12:26
hmm..i know plenty that are paying their sl bills and home bills working from sl and complaining about not having enough time because they are so busy..
i don't know if i would want to make a living from sl really.. sometimes i think it would be nice working from home but really most of the time i work from home or around my home anyways lol myself if i were to do it depending on if my products took off well or not would be to use what i made here in good times to find more stable types of businesses in sl so i could weather the bad. thats just me though and my thinking i think testing a bunch of areas after i feel good enough about my business is a key element in expanding if i really wanted to make an RL living that is secure enough for me in sl.. my money would have to work for me here or it is just playing.. if i were pulling from my other business accounts to cover this one i wouldn't be doing it very long thats for sure because it would not be doing anything but putting a strain on my other businesses.i'm a firm believer that a company has to support itself and getting credit from my other businesses is a company that will always be in debt.. it would be kind of fun to try and do it from scratch which sounds like a fun idea. i may give that a shot if i ever get a wild hair for it lol _____________________
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