Boxed or Objects? Opinions.

Hi all, I wanted to get some general opinions of preference when it comes to selling & purchasing single items. Do you prefer it be boxed so when you open the box it creates a folder with the item name or would you rather it be sold as a copy or contents and go into your objects folder to prevent making new folders?

Thanks.

Boxes are good in that it forces people to look at the contents, and grab the instruction notecard, landmark, etc. A lot of new people don't think to look at the contents of the items they purchase. For things like electronics, this can be a serious mistake and leaves them confused. I prefer boxes for this reason.

Personal opinion is a copy of an item. Like if I buy a couch, I don't want to have to open a box to get the couch out of the box, I just want a copy of the couch to show up in my Inventory. Just one girl's opinion.

agreed..it depends on the product really...clothing?..make a folder..and please try to include a texture of the clothing in the folder as well..really helps with not having to try on an entire outfit.

Furniture on the other hand..I guess id prefer the actual objects.

Ive bought some sculpty kits that required massive copying to inventory..if I had been able to see an over view texture without copying textures and then simply taken from the kit i think I would've been alot happier.

Ive bought a few houses that were all in a box..house was great..I idolise the builder..but was infuriated to find out i needed to match up squares to make the house fit together. I don't care about some bug that prevents rezz Foos from placing objects below ground..rezz FOO it!!..it's easy enough to select all objects and lower yourself after.

Luckily he made all objects copiable and mod..so i rezz "fooed" it myself

Lana

For clothing, jewelry, furniture sets and such, I much prefer getting the folders with the items in it. This just simplifies finding things faster in Recent Items tab and moving the folder to its new home. For single items, I don't mind making a folder for it as soon as it appears in my inventory, if it didn't come with its own folder. Folders are also a way for you to promote your business or product in the folder title.

For selling a multiple item set out of a networked vendor, "boxed" is rather unavoidable.

Personally, I prefer "Boxed" if the item is copy, so I can keep the box as a backup, but boxing no-copy items is a tad unnecessary.

I agree. It drives me crazy to buy one item and then have to pull that item out of a box, especially if it's because someone ones to give me a note card advertisement that will irritate me and I'll delete the second it pops up.

If it's more than one item, such as a wardrobe or a set of something, then definitely the box is best so that it's all in one folder.

well since most of the time means selling multiple items at once, and then multiple items upon the multiple items, selling 'packaged' objects it the way to go if you're moving much stuff, or want to keep sure that everything sold is as current as possible..

There is also one other thing to consider and that is inventory.
When buying boxed up items you rez the box and copy contents to inventory, this in itself creates its own file.
Buying an unboxed single item just appears in the objects tab (by default) and this means additional work in re-organising your inventory and possibly having to create new folders, then dragging items from 1 window to the other. Also it is much easier to lose a single item tucked away under the objects tab than if it was organised in its own folder.

So boxed is my preference as this simplifies organising the inventory.

From a sellers point of view, I try to accomodate both.

My furniture is of course on display, so you can just right click and buy it , so you get a copy of the item. For sets and copyable items, I use networked vendors with 1 item per vendor so no scrolling is necessary. From those vendors, sets are sold in boxes, copyable items just as the item itself in most cases.

My newest series will not be available in copy version, so only the sets will be packed into boxes. Easier for the customer, and easier for me not having to make the box

Marcel

Some vendors deliver a folder containing all the items bought, LMs, notecards etc. When that's possible, I do prefer it to a box that has to be unpacked. I've occasionally encountered layers of boxes containing folders containing items to be unpacked, but I've put that down to inexperience on the builder's part.

The most annoying is a box that has to be unpacked, containing a single item - especially when the box isn't labelled as such. Even after my n00b-osity long since wore off, I've managed to end up wearing a box because I've got two identically labelled items in inventory and carelessly attached the wrong one. Some builders are nice enough to label boxes as 'Boxed', 'Do not wear' or 'Unpack this!!!', for which I'm always grateful.

Slightly off-topic, but another nice touch is to label attachments with their default attachment point... I sometimes go back and do this myself if I'm likely to wear something with more than one outfit.

You don't actually need a vendor to do that, just load a prim up with all the products and set it to sale and it will deliver everything in a new folder.

some things need to be in boxes because of how many items are transferd i believe..i don't think you can buy anything that is over 43 itens in a folder at one time without them being in a box..that and i know unpacking some boxes i get the server can't keep up with the items messege..so i don't know if that has any affect on transfers of sales either when dealing with alot of items at once..i just want the smoothest transaction as possible cause i hate having to find designers and wait for a response on a bad transaction..most are nice and helpful .but i just want to shop and go lol

Anyone to confirm this, because i thought this limit was only for direct AV to AV transfers ?

if you set a box to sell contents it will create a folder with the items in it, the name of the folder will be the same as the name of the sales box

some situations require one to use a box and not the items in the sales box

for instance I use the meta card system, and it requires that the items are boxed (or at least an object) so clothing have to be boxed.
and for the gifting option it has to be a single item in the sales box.

some vendors might require boxed up items as well

The only thing I box are my "everything" packs as they can amount to 200+ individual items... everything else ships as an object copy...

I use the full items in my main studio, where my prim count allows. In my vendors, however, I use pictures of the products which have sell 'contents' activated.

Thanks everyone for your responses, seems like it's about 50/50. I appreciate the feedback.

The answer really is more like "it depends" on what is being sold. If it's something complex that has multiple objects in it, a box might be handy. Folders are great too.

QFT

Please label your items with some info, like 'boxed', or 'attached to/worn on', instead of a bunch of special characters like '*' or 'A1'. Much more useful to me.

I prefer:

To get everything in boxes, and I DETEST getting things delivered via folder. Especially folders that start with ~ $ * @ < ! - = _ + and others so that they come to the top of the inventory folder list. If I buy a Knit Top from GlamourHouse (made up name) when I go to look for it, I am going to look in K for knit, if it is not there I will then look in G for GlamorHouse. Why and how would I think that a knit top from GlamorHouse would be in the !@^%#$*^#&#+=- section of charecters?

I would prefer to get it in a box named GlamorHouse - Knit Top <blue> or similar. This way I can also pick the items I want out of the box into my inventory. Instead of having a folder with every layer of every piece of the outfit (I like the ones that do that, just not in a folder), LM's to their mainstore and 6 satellite locations, a notecard outlining the makers SL life story, a notecard telling me how to wear an item, a notecard and LM for their friends place that makes jewelry that goes great with this outfit, 6 textures of the different ways to wear the outfit, 4 freebie eyes that match the shirt etc. I bought an outfit and got it in a folder that expnded my inventory by 35 items?

Don't get me wrong, I like getting extras as much as anyone, but please, put it in a box. I can junk up my inventory enough on my own without the help thanks. It seems to often that you see creators/vendors package things in ways convenient to them instead of their customers.

EXCELLENT point! When people started doing this it was so their products would be easy to find and would stand out in an inventory..now..theres my ~!@#$%^&* mess inventory..and under it..my "real" inventory. Very rarely do I wear or use anything from those !@#$$%^&* folders. And if a designer wants their clothes or objects to be used (it IS free advertisement) they should rethink that naming habit.

~Lana

Furniture -- Just a copy, thanks.

Gadget -- Box it so I'm forced to notice the notecard that goes with it.

Clothing -- Box it in a box that shows the outfit. That makes it easier for me to file it.

But no matter what you do, please do not annoy me by putting a box into a incredibly-high primmed gift bag into a box. I bought some earrings that did this. I got bored by the third level of things to open but luckily it was the last level.

And no incredibly high primmed gift bags. I can afford an extra prim, but not 32.

The one exception to that rule, I think, would be attending a class in SL. (Am I the only one who goes to classes?) I prefer class supply folders to jump to the top of my inventory so that I can find them since I'll be using the materials within the next 30 seconds and having to scroll through all of my inventory to follow along with the class is a pain.

Maybe we should reserve the !@#$%^&* for educational use only?

As a buider, designer and seller I can say the box is the best way to go.Vending machines have lag even if low many in an area can effect performance, they also seem to confuse some people . Putting the objects out have limitations even when in a large developement or Island there is only so much room to show stuff and have an environment. Much to the disdain of some posters the ability to give a notecard for giving landmarks or upsale idea's can be paramount for success. Many built things of mine also include important instructions for their use (even attachments might inform of attachment spot before some will try it on in case it conflicts with something already worn). The buyer can simply rez the box and copy or drag contents to inventory, they need not keep the box nor read the instructions or the notecard its their choice. Funny, some hate spam as much as I and insist when they buy that they are being aggravated by the sellers attempt to promote themselves sheesh gimme a break got 20 toons ta color and their pixels are fading lol.
At Fhelzgud we try to box as much as we can with some builds in between for trying out things like hammocks. swings .poses, houses, drink givers, Flyable bugs, furniture etc even though most of that is also in boxes as well . We do use some venders for things like sounds,textures & animations still the tried and true box remains IMO the best.