How do I pay tier

OK, sorry - this is a really obvious newbie landowner question, but I can't find it anywhere on the SL website.

I upgraded to premium yesterday, and opted for the pay a year option in one go to get the discount. I also decided I wanted to buy more than 512m2, so I bought 1536m2 of mainland, which means I need to pay tier of $8 a month to LL.

That's fine - but what I can't find out is *how* do I pay this tier? Will they simply collect it from my PayPal account or credit card automatically, or do they send me a bill every month?

If you've given LL payment info, they'll just take the money.

Are you sure that you are in possession of a mainland parcel?

If so, LL deducts it automatically from your US$ balance in your account and then tops up the rest according to your payment option (Paypal or credit card).

The "bill" shows up on your account page (http://www.secondlife.com/account): Under "Land Holdings", "Total monthly cost" and "Next bill date"

On islands you contribute to the island owner's tier through your rent.

One thing to note...if you buy mainland..... LL does not bill your tier for a month. I just learned this myself and was pleasantly surprised. The same goes for a whole Island sim if you buy from LL.

I know in the past when I bought a plot on an island I had to pay tier at the time of sale, which does not seem to be the case with mainland.

Many thanks for the responses, everyone.

Yes, it's a mainland parcel - I've been renting on private islands for ages, and still am, but wanted a bit of land to call my own too

Something else to remember -- you pay the tier for the previous month and it is based on the largest amount of land that you owned in that billing period. They will set your bill date -- you can see it on your Account Summary page -- and on that date they will take the money from you, either via any US$ on your account and then via your payment method.

Based on the above way of charging, if/when you decide to sell and reduce the amount of land you own, you should attempt to do it close to the end of your billing cycle.

Whenever you buy mainland from Linden Lab, you pay at a tiered rate, which is why it's called tier.

Buying a plot on an island is really renting from another player, and it is almost always due up front because the island owner has to pay for the island sometime during the month. Island rates are not tiered, it's flat (except that some islands are grandfathered at an older rate) but they call the rent "tier" too.

Ahhh but when you sell your mainland, you pay for one more month.

Ahhhh! I should have figured there was a catch!!! )

To be precise:

On the day you first buy mainland, your tier cycle starts. Your first charge is 30 days after that day.

When a tier charge time comes, you are changed based on the highest amount of land you owned, at once, at any moment during those 30 days.

If you buy or sell extra mainland, your tier cycle time does _not_ change, so you may even get charged for land the day after you buy it.

Another thing: If you have a balance on your USD amount, tier will be drawn from there first before hitting your credit card/paypal. So if you have a store and sell Ls off in exchange for USD, LL will take from your USD balance first.

Yeah, sometimes twice, lol!
(But i submitted a ticket and they have refunded me. Fair is fair.....)

Just a tip:
Keep a good track on your tier payment and personal account.
If you don't respond in case of double payment, you're money is lost.

Not that this happens frequently, but it's possible.