Built-in interfers with free trade

When building an item for sale to the public we are now given the option of EITHER selling that item as a copyable version OR allowing others who buy it to resell it. I challenge you to simply make a box and try to make it no copy, no modify, no resell. Cant be done. By doing this anyone can either buy multiple copies and share them with friends without actually giving it to them (I lose money) or they can buy it and resell it at an undercut price (I lose money) and profit from my work. I have somehow lost control in what is suppose to be a free market. As a builder and artist I should have the ability to decide for myself if something can be resold or copied and not have the system automatically check and UNcheck options for me. When I check copy I can UNcheck resell...when I UNcheck copy the system checks resell and greys it out. It is an either/or situation that the owner no longer controls.

Try making the object no-mod/no-copy and putting a no-transfer texture on it.

Or something like that.. I know there's a way to make something have really crappy perms and annoy everybody who buys them..

This isn't new, it has been like this for as far back as I can remember.

I don't understand your complaints here. Can you clarify?

An object can either be no copy OR no transfer.


Are you talking about a copy/ no transfer item here? If so, only objects rezzed in world apply in this situation because you cannot "give" another avatar something (like hair, clothes, or shoes) if it is no transfer. You also cannot attach it for them. For rezzed items the buyer has to have permission to rez on that land in order to share the item or rez multiple copies on their own land. If you don't want them to do that, why not make the item no copy/transfer?



I don't see the problem here either. Person A buys something a no copy/transfer item from you, meaning they have 1 item. They resell it, "undercutting" you, for L$75. They lose L$25, so they didn't profit at all, and they had to buy it from you at full price in order to sell it. If they want to "undercut" you again they have to pay full price for the next item they want to sell.

I feel like I am missing something, and since I don't know what it is you sell I can't apply the probelm to your item.

How does someone make a profit by buying an item from you and reselling it for less than they paid?

OK, this is sort of silly. You don't want folks sitting on other people's chairs at friend's homes or something? You don't want other avas to play the same games, or watch the same televisions, or anything? Everyone has to buy their own stuff and res it wherever they happen to go? Sheesh. I'm not coming to your house.



No, they lose money. Why would I buy something from you for L100 so I can sell it at L50? Sheesh.

Unless you're passing out items that are both copy and transfer. Then, yes, folks will resell. Why not - you inherently gave them permission to do so.



If you look on XStreet, you can find lots and lots of items that are no c/m/t. I'm not sure how it's done, but it is done and it can be done.

I am an artist. My works are mod/transfer. I want people to be able to give them to others as gifts, and to be able to resize the things to fit their homes. People can resell them if they like, I don't mind - they have to buy copies from me to do it, I make my money, and if someone sells the work for more then good for them. Course, their customers might be a little upset when they learn they can get the originals from me for cheaper.

You can sell things that people can transfer, or that people can copy, or both.
* Transfer only - and some of my items are like that - its great for gifts but if they want more they have to buy more.
* Copy, they can make copies in case the asset server eats it, but can't give them away to others.
* Both, you can bet people will try and resell. Why not, you gave them the permission to.

99% of the time, if an item is no c/m/t, unless it's a really stupendous item, I will not buy it at all. I cant pass it to an alt or a friend, and I can't make a copy for backup. In *that* case, you will not lose money - you just don't make any from me.

Well.....except for copying (the way we do in SL) the same applies to real world commerce. I can buy anything and re-sell it on ebay or whatever. The person I bought from still made their profit......and, it gives them exposure to a broader market.

Lets say for example.....I find a really amazing piece of jewelery at a flee market......I buy it at the flee market price.......but then I inquire about who the maker is because I'd really like to buy more pieces of their work.......

Seems to me.....this promotes the original designer, rather then hurts them.

And....as has been pointed out.....you can make your items no-transfer.....so big deal they can be copy/modify......what is someone gonna do with umpteen million copies of an item they CANNOT transfer........um, nothing......probably delete.

And if it IS transferable......you make it no copy.....the likelihood that I'm gonna find a bargain basement deal on an item I see and really want in SL, is pretty slim......I'm more then likely always going to buy from original creators, simply because when shopping, I am looking for creator's original shops.....not yard sales or freebie joints. If I want something spacific and unique.....I'm going to seek out originals.

By the way, most people, if you restrict an item to "NO copy / NO mod / NO Transfer" will tell you "NO SALE", and will not purchase it.

There are ways to do that, but extremely few valid reasons for restricting an item so much.

If an item is not copyable, what happens if inventory servers glitch while it is rezzed in-world, and it gets lost? No backup in inventory means they have to buy it again. And faced with that, most people will get the next one from someone less restrictive. Many people like being able to have a backup copy in inventory, even if they only need to rez one copy at a time of the item in-world.

If a scripted item is transferrable but no-copy, and ceases to function correctly, they can give you the screwed up original as proof that they owned the item, and you can replace it. If they had a no-copy and no transfer object and it gets screwed up, they have no way to prove to you that they own it, and that the original won't continue to be used if you replace the damaged copy.

As others pointed out, you can set an item as copyable but no-transfer, and they will be able to make multiples for their own use, but they can NOT 'give' or sell copies to friends. At worst, they might do something like rez a few extra copies of a chair in a friend's house, for whoever to use. But most people don't leave that sort of thing lying around, because the home owner doesn't own the "borrowed" chair, and can't usually move it, except by deleting it.

I think you've got a big non-problem. Ask yourself -- If nobody can make and sell things without losing money, why are so many still in business?

Here's how to look at it.

I make a No Copy/Transfer item. I sell it to Person A. He buys it as a gift for Person B, or keeps it and later decides to re-sell it to Person C when he gets tired of it. This is just like selling merchandise in RL. I make my money on the sale, and don't care what the buyer does with it later on.

But, sometimes stuff vanishes from inventory, or gets lost in world (especially vehicles!). Or maybe I want to sell a house design to someone who wants to put up fifty identical units. So, you can also sell stuff as Copy/No Transfer. Here, you're basically selling your customer the "rights" to your object. They can make as many of them as they want...but they can't re-sell them to anyone else, or give the original away either.

I guess I could see someone who owns, say, a copyable living room suite rezzing copies for all their friends...but it doesn't happen often. Because even if you leave that sofa at your friend's house, it still BELONGS to you. Your friend can't edit it or move it (unless you give them permission). All they can do is Return the bloody thing to you when they tire of it. Plus, most places won't even allow you to rez objects unless you join their group. Otherwise, autoreturn will throw your item back into your Lost and Found, while your friend hollers, "Indian Giver!"

I occasionally do custom building or landscaping. I much prefer to use No Copy/Transfer objects, when I buy them pre-made. These can be transferred to my client. I hate leaving copies of my copy/No Transfer plants on someone else's build. They're always trickling back to me, when the customer decides they don't want that bush just there.

That's deliberate: the intent is that you can either sell your product like it's software... so that people can copy it but not resell it... or like it's a physical object... so people can resell it but they lose their only copy when they do.