The Sweatshop, the Witch and the 10L$ Wardrobe

Poser is pretty popular. Many people use it to... well... let's say, for similar purposes as SL. To realize personal fantasies, not to create artwork. I'd guess that there are more Poser users than SL residents... items offered on Renderosity and Renderotica sell quite well (especially the latter).

Well basically just like in RL , people have to hope their creativity, productivity and quality is sufficient to offset the insanely low wages in some parts of the world.

The alterantives are what?

Of course some of the poser customers are people who buy animations (or use internet freebies) and mod them for use in Second Life.

Perhaps, but Wal-mart hasn't put Ethan Allen out of business yet either. Nor does the craftsman making stunning hand-made products give a poop about what Wal-mart is selling.

Some people will always want cheap junk and will never spend money (play or real) on quality. Those people will always shop at Wal-mart first and never even venture into a quality furniture store.

Some folks care for quality and will never set foot inside a Wal-mart.

Worlds big enough for both sorts of people I imagine.

If you're losing busniess to Wal-mart, better start making better things then Wal-mart offers.

Great thread name!

I have to agree with Pie.

I mean I dont even see any alternatives.



Stop letting people sell for less than xL$? sounds like socialism.

Ban people who use cheap labor to make products? huh .. how will you know?

Go to war with China over their unfair monetary and trade practices? Yeah, right.

no one can "force" prices down on anything. if thats her goal, then more power to her. when i "shop" per se, i dont look at the price(much to the hubs annoyance) but at the quality of the item. no i haven't bought a pair of 700l jeans(and never will), but if the item is worth the lindens, poeple will buy it.

Sometimes it's not about quality. It's happend time and again where a Big Store will come into an area and just drive local merchants who do make quality , out of business. Undercutting prices, getting suppliers to deal with them exclusively, etc. A lot of times, the little guy just can't compete. But I do agree there should not be any type of regulation in these cases, it's just dog eat dog business.

One thing: I don't think it's terribly important to this thread who's behind the "dumping"... the identity is mildly interesting in this case on the premise that it may be a strategic move to bolster land rentals (or a desperate move in the face of collapsing land prices?), but not essential to the problem.

And that problem is inevitable, whoever does the dumping, but I think ultimately self-limiting. Lots of good stuff is available as freebies. And now more good stuff is available as almost-freebies. The market is limited to folks who want stuff that everybody knows is almost free.

Self-limiting in another way, too, I think: SLX could easily find itself the place from which no high-end merchant will sell. Not triggered by a seller boycott or anything, just a fact of marketing. Gucci doesn't try to sell through WalMart, and doesn't need to. WalMart has their customers; Gucci doesn't need them. I don't think Damani (say) really needs SLX, either.

And if SLX keeps selling the almost-freebies, they leave wide open the possibility of somebody (SLB?) establishing itself as the quality supplier and setting a price floor of L$100; it would be like WalMart intentionally creating Target's (or Neimann-Marcus's) market opportunity.

I guess I'd be concerned if I were a merchant targeting the in-world equivalent of the WalMart demographic. But that's a tough market anyway, because of the afore-mentioned freebies.

Trust me, that takes as much work as creating new animations from scratch. SL avatars have less joints and usually look quite distorted when animations for high-polygon models are applied to them.

Besides, Poser is rather still pose oriented. There aren't that many multiframe animations.

Yup, I live in a small town and pretty much the only place you CAN shop is WalMart. I go to the few smaller stores in the area when I can, but they frequently don't have what I need. Worse, it's a Super WalMart, so it's damaging the grocery stores' business as well...we only have two left.

I'm grateful that here, there are no Super WalMarts, the Supermarkets have been able to keep them out.

if someone wishes to sell for 10L...thats their choice...if someone wishes to purchase for 10L or more...that's their choice too...

i don't understand how anyone who is making virtual items and making money off of them has any room to complain that someone else does the same thing at a cheaper price.

just make higher quality stuff...and if the items that are so inexpensive are actually comparable...well, thats too bad...thats capitalism at work...

personally i am only a consumer here, so my opinion may be antithetical to sellers...though i do purchase nice things if they are not overpriced...and I make stuff for my own enjoyment, not to sell or make money.

basically if there are sellers with comparable goods selling cheaper than someone, thats perfectly fair, if some creators/sellers wish to band together and form some sort of "Quality/price set" group and the items are nice and the prices (obviously more than 10L$) are reasonable...they should be fine in this marketplace... there is room for dollar stores next to neiman marcus...

Best thread title ever!

I plan to combat this by supporting hard-working creators who charge fair prices for their creations like Nimue Jewell and her prim pincher furniture, Ace Albion and her stellar prefabs and Supa Shang and his no-longer-runaway land crabs.

I don't know if its keeping up with the Jonses so much as how you see yourself but my main concern was about people not learning the skills for themselves if things are cheap and having other artists work stolen and reproduced as it is work to come up with designs.

But you have reassured me, you and others who have said that you make things for yourselves. And that is what makes me happy, that people have the skills to create for themselves. Of course you make shapes to sell as well, so you are a content creator and understand the economics first hand.

And shapes can be made for free in Appearance editing so it seems that people will buy something that is well done they could get for nothing with a some effort. So you may be right that it may be more than price that determines economy.

I'm going to possibly become the most unpopular person in this thread, but...

...she's not breaking any rules, she's providing a service, and nobody's forcing anybody to do anything.

Don't like it? Don't buy it.



Second Life is a globalising engine. Brings us all closer. We've been celebrating that. But globalisation does not mean we win all the time, while singing in harmony around a campfire.

Take WalMart for example. Nobody forces anyone to shop there. Few don't realise what it represents.


WalMart is rich because everyone is soooo eager for a discount, they will do anything to save money.

Just wait until there is cheaper competition to Second Life. Many will rush over, regardless of service quality. (Yes, as bad as it is, you ain't *seen* bad yet).

And when you do rush over to the cheaper grid, remember you complained about people undercutting the market and destroying your SL business here and now.

Here here. Use word of mouth and any means neccesary to promote and support your favorite creators. Like Cory Edo, Lilith Heart, J33bus Carlos, Pahoa Jade, Jack Feaver, Jake Cellardoor, Joshua Nightshade...

Does she pay her workers 10L per creation? How long is it going to take her to recoup the cost of even one worker at sweatshop graphics art prices? She has to sell 27 items to get ONE US dollar. Does she really think the demand for her stuff will be so high that she will crush the market? I think not! Freebies are nice, but people move on.

...if price were the only consideration in any economy we would all drive kia rio's and wear kmart clothes, or thrift store goods, and eat generic bulk staple foods...the list goes on and on...

the people who will make the 10L$ stores there main shopping place wouldnt be buying 500L$ outfits if the 10L$ store didnt exist...theyd just look shabbier or wear freebies...

this is really a non issue...it will not drive prices down...

100% correct. Spend your money as you see fit, in the end that's how it should be.
*An admitted I'd rather buy it than make it consumer*

I'd suggest putting your own first name into an SL Exchange search Brenda ...

But Har ... why can't we RATE that item?

Think Value enters in somewhere.

Besides the point - the point is that poser person sells the animation on some 3D site then someone mods it and sells it in Second Life.

Who is entitled to everlasting profits forever?

Im guessing the second person. But wow if only the first person had known about second life ..

??? I don't follow you , Hon?

Luckily in SL this is harder to do.