My little experiment.

Would you like to read about my little business experiment?
(that satisfies the requirement to ask a question)

A few days ago I purchased five of the cheapest available 16m lots, each in a different region. On each one I put a copy my boldly packaged freebie bundle and a nice, self-explaining sign that, when touched, opens a link to my Flickr photo site. Each 16m lot was in an area that had been cut into ad lots, mostly still for sale.

Since then, nobody has 'bought' any of the freebie bundles (for L$0) and there have been no new hits on my Flickr site.

I used to sell products for real L$ from 32m plots rescued from ad usage, and always had a trickle of sales. Then the sales stopped. I figured that there was a growing resistance among a lot of residents to buying stuff, the threshold being that between L$0 and L$1!! But now perhaps there's been a dwindling of curiosity, a kind of 'seen it all before' feeling among us, myself included.

Another possible explanation--although perhaps wishful thinking: There's a growing movement to alert the public to the abuse of the Mainland perpetrated by microparcel extortionists and adrunners. Many signs, etc., exhort residents to refrain from touching anything on a microparcel, lest it give clickthru count to advertisers or otherwise encourage these abhorrent practices.

So, if that's being effective, it may affect the results of the experiment.

That could explain it. Anyway, I'll probably terminate the experiment very soon and sell the plots or give them to the Arbor Project.

Plenty of other reasons people may not click on your experiment

- People are suspicious. If it looks like too easy there must be something nasty about it.
- People don't want to do the work (i.e. flip over to their browser to look at a Flickr page - just hand over the loot, dammit)
- Some folks (unless they're broke or new) don't like freebies because of poor quality. I found that most lying-around freebies are free for a reason. I've even seen freebies given away as a promotion by quality designers are so awful that I can't imagine how they're supposed to drive business to their shops. (Realizing of course, that freebie-hunting can be a blast and I've had fun with it, too)
- Maybe your boldly packaged bundle is too garish and just looks like an ad. Something I automatically ignore and wouldn't bother to read more closely.

I don't know what you mean by "I figured that there was a growing resistance among a lot of residents to buying stuff" I, like a lot of my friends, do a LOT of shopping. I look for detail and quality and I don't mind paying for it. While I've come across the occasional lower-priced item that's just blown me away, for the most part quality means pricey, as it does in RL. I'd have no hope of finding something wearable for a buck on the side of a road.

A box full of toys and silly gadgets, however, is an entirely different story

For me it's even easier. I don't even really look at anything placed on a 16m plot. I was never the kind of person to 'buy in' to advertising's flash and flair. So I've already been turned off by anything sitting there asking me to buy it, even if for free. For all the buying I do wind up doing, it's usually with friends at a fully constructed store with a certain goal and intent to get something. (^_^)

Now... If only someone could help me set the prices on my own items so they would actually sell..... (T_T)

Maybe they haven't seen it. Does it have a *titler* above it.

I don't think that is entirely wishful thinking. As others have said, I wouldn't click on anything on a 16 sq m parcel.

Also, there are loads of freebies now, many well displayed and organized in various freebie locations around the grid. If someone wants freebies, it's not difficult to go there and "shop" for them, selecting just the items they want.

Too, the micro parcels are disconnected, so there is no way to find them other than happening across them randomly.

As for curiousity and willingness to buy things, I rent space at a shopping center that holds monthly theme events which feature freebie/dollarbie items. All the vendors are invited to place items at designated stands themed for the event, and the anchor store also provides several custom items for the event. I haven't been renting there long, but my experience so far is that in an environment like this, people are VERY willing to pick up freebie and 1L$ items.

This was an interesting experiment Conifer. Thanks for sharing the results.

I went back and checked the lots - they all have zero traffic. The freebie bundle does ''sell' in small numbers from my home shop, it's not really garish, just noticeable. Like I say, this was just a test - I'm not going to sit crying in my basement over it!

The more likely conclusion is these plots don't actually generate a whole lot of traffic on their own, despite what the advertisers would like you to believe.


Spam and 419 economics: low rate of return (<5%), with high enough volume, equals a reasonable return if the cost of spam is low enough.

Equally, it is possible to get money from above by making people believe* there is a service to be had through these "networks".


Ditto for mass marketing, and practices like ad farming.


* See long tail economics