In world shopping vs. Xstreet shopping - which do you prefer?

It's at http://www.xstreetsl.com/

It's a way of shopping in SL via the web.

You can also buy lindens (the inworld currency) there, but it goes into your XStreet account. You can withdraw it inworld at XStreet terminals.

I look on xstreet, depending on the item I will usually tp into the store.. for anything other than clothes and shoes. It is just as hard to search on xstreet for what I want as it is inworld to search for things I want.

But I have a problem with laggy malls, I hate them in fact in rl I have not been to a mall, aside from running into an anchor store in about 3 years.

I prefer searching for things in xstreet and then going to the creator's store in-world. I will sometimes buy in xstreet if there is no in-world vendor. It's nice to be able to walk around inside a store and shop. Heck, that's one of SL's selling points isn't it? Xstreet is great for browsing and searching for things though. I find stuff that would otherwise be completely invisible in-world.

Thanks everyone for your input so far. I read all comments and reviewed the poll so far.
The results so far and the comments are very revealing and are shedding more light on peoples preferences, nice to haves and several angles one would otherwise not have thought of. RL perceptions and aspirations affect our experience here in some cases.

As at 9/28/09 in world shopping leads!

In world shopping 21 votes 55.26%
Xstreet shopping 7 votes 18.42%
It depends on the product 6 votes 15.79%
50-50 (I like both equally) 4votes 10.53%

Looking forward to more input.
Thanks once again!
Pip

Before LL bought Xstreet you had to register your account at the xstreet site and then verify yourself in-world using one of the xstreet terminals. You also needed to transfer money up to xstreet in order to buy an item. In other words, it was a huge hassle. I have a few alts that shop a lot and having to do the whole registration thing with each was bothersome and I had to maintain a separate xstreet acct for each and I had to log out as Bree... log in as such and such. So it really wasn't a preference for shopping in-world it was simply easier to do everything in-world.

Like most others in this thread, I use xstreet to search but then buy inworld. There's not many things I'd consider buying without seeing them inworld. I also like knowing LL isn't getting commission on my purchases. It's handy for searching for things though. The most useful thing I ever did with it was verify an alt with payment info. Much quicker than using her account page.

I only find XSL search useful sometimes. Some product categories are flooded with spam, either with zillions of BIAB copies of the same product or zillions of trivial variations of the same product. I really don't want to go digging through 30 pages of color variations, thanks.

A good website would blow in-world shopping out of the water, but XSL isn't it.

My actual preference is for a well-designed, lag-free shopping experience on an external website.

Which crosses XStreet-SL off my list, these days.

I used to like shopping on XStreet, before LL screwed it up so badly.

Now, I'd rather shop in-world, in spite of the lag.

I use Xstreet to look for things some times.
I buy in world only.

Depends on the item and how much I need to see it in world before I buy. Builder tools, supplies, animations, etc I would only buy in world where I can see up close and test out. Clothing is an in-world purchase. I like to scan XStreet listings so I know which shops I want to check out in-world. I guess I think of XStreet more for research than shopping.

I looked at it for the first time last week when someone pointed me to a freebie I might like. I looked around for a bit, but as others have said, it's not great for searching, too much repetition. I've had eneough success with the inworld search as lacking as it is, and with just asking people for sugestions or some of the blogs, so I will probably continue to give Xstreet a pass.

I tend to go to Xstreet anymore only if I want to snatch up a quick freebie. Otherwise there are a few stores I go to in-world, some freebie stores and some not. If I like something I see at "X" freebie store, I will visit the creator's store and if I have enough Ls, make a purchase. For others I use "Showcase" and have found a really great historical garb store this way. As for the rest, well I am a creator myself, so I rarely if ever buy furniture anymore as I put a copy of what I made in my SL home. So yeah, the only thing I really shop for anymore are things to put ON my avatar. And the occasional HUD.

I prefer inworld only for things I need to see inworld first, and only if I actually can see inworld first. I've little use for shops that have only pictures (though I do understand the advantage of grouping the in-store displays tastefully and conveniently).

I can't imagine buying hair or animations by web.

Otherwise, I prefer the speed and convenience of web shopping.

I prefer shopping in world.

It depends upon what I'm looking for but if I'm social shopping, ie someone has told me it's about time I bought some shoes or new clothes, I much prefer inworld shopping.

If I'm looking for buildings again it will be inworld.

If I'm looking for scripts or templates, I'll go to Xstreet.

I preferred it when it was SLEX and independent of the Lab....as per usual they managed to screw a good product and made it into something that is bland. I use it for Research of products that i would buy in world....occasionally i'd buy direct from site. Current search method for marketplace is crap.....unless i'm too thick and can't work it out properly.




.

I have browsed around in there before and in some catagories, every single item listed is a "featured" item. All you would have to do to be on the first page is to not pay the extortion ... err ... I mean, the feature fee.

personally i prefer Xstreet ..... why? i hear you ask (you did ask didn't you ? or am i starting to hear things in my old age?)

without mentioning any product names: i wear a hud that relies on places being script enabled. If i am online, so is my hud. There is nothing more frustrating for me, than to TP to a shop (or any other type of area), only for my hud to tell me ..... Detected a no-script parcel. Functionality may be limited. (translation: now you're screwed)

It is more to my liking, knowing that my hud will be functioning & my products will be delivered.

Fix the HUD

I hate Xstreet, and will only use it as a browsing tool when I'm trying to find something specific. I just think the site is incredibly ugly and a giant mess. (What's the point of having a billion categories?) And I agree there's a lot of poor quality content floating around there. OnRez back in the day seemed a lot less prone to that. (And I actually did shop on there.)

As a customer, if you want to really support a creator, shop in-world. Xstreet takes a cut of all sales and however small, it adds up after a while.

fwiw

LL did a survey a few months back and found 75% of people use xsl for the search function and then go inworld to buy.

I hate XStreet.

Even before the changeover I used to just use XStreet to find products and then TP to the in world store. Now, however, I don't even bother using it for that. I usually just search Slapt.me or actually use the in world search, because it loads faster and the format fits my screen.

I find it easier to look through a lot of things on XStreet like clothing, scripted items, etc.. A package is a package. Unless a model is wearing the potential outfit, it's going to look the same in the store as on XStreet. Now for houses, builds, sculpted things, shoes, jewelry, etc. -- I'd much rather see them in the store or be able to rez them temporarily (like Park Life / Ace's).

But it's also fun to snag a freebie from a vendor then see what else is lurking. If the freebie is good, about 9 in 10 times I buy something else. (Although I made a mistake recently and bought two skin packs that just plain sucked after getting a freebie.)

I am quite new to SL. I started out using XStreet a lot, mostly to find low cost items and deals. Now that I have a better understanding of the differences in quality I do what many have mentioned, research in XStreet then visit the shop to buy. I do like reading the reviews and finding information from them.

Is it correct that merchants make more from Inworld sales due to commission on Xstreet or is there a similar mechanism Inworld? Once I have found an excellent store I want to support it all that I can. There some amazing content creators here.