Do you use Xstreet and why or why not?

I agree with all of the above b*tching. And I mostly shop XSt. Both inworld and XSt search engines are terrible. I like the reviews and stars in XSt. I could do research there and buy inworld. Maybe with the direct TPs i will. But usually, when I go to the store, I can't find the product.

Most stores are lovely and worthless for shopping. I have tried the alternative online sites. Most of them are just as bad as XSt and have a tiny fraction of the merchandise. For now, I will shop XSt from my SL hot tub.

At first, I used OnRez and only tolerated SLX. (=_=)

Then OnRez was gone, I only tolerated Xstreet. (=_=)

Now that Xstreet is charging, it's not worth the time and expense. (>_<

My inworld store profits have always been better and haven't shifted a bit since I closed my Xstreet story. (^_^)y

-- As for purchases, I will always choose the inworld store over Xstreet. If I wanted a web page to buy stuff, I wouldn't be in SL. (>_<

The pictures are too small.

There are too many items that are the same except for the color.

The main reason, expressed in general terms, is that it's very hard to find what I want.

What I'd like it to have to make things easier to find is full "boolean logic" seach, with AND and OR. wildcards, and parenthesized expressions.

I use XStreet a lot.

Both for purchases and as a browsing place so I can go inworld and look.

Sure, search is not good on XStreet. But I think it's better than inworld search! I use + and - a lot. I often search for a keyword and then -demo. To avoid getting all the demos up.

The search is one reason.

The gifting is another. I just bought 2 packs of shirts as gifts. I can send it to friends or alts.

The third is hopelessly slow rez'ing vendors and maps inworld. If I have 2 hours leisure time in SL, I don't mind to TP around and shop happy.... but if I have to wait for maps and vendors to rez, it is terrible. If your vendors rez after the walls, floor, potted plants and sofas, then you have a serious texture problem. Use smaller textures that load faster! Not to mention that some shops are like labyrinths. And then again.... if your sign that says "Lingerie" is the last readable think to rez, I'm out of there. Some of it can be blamed on my computer or network, but I hear many others with totally new and powerful machines complain too.

As a customer - I dislike shopping in RL and SL so the only time I shop at all was when I decorated my first home in SL and now only if I hear about or see some really unique product that I would use. I didn't know about Xstreet until I'd been in SL for awhile. Now I use Xstreet to see what's offered in SL for a specific product. MUCH easier to compare like items than hopping all over SL with the lag, etc. many have already mentioned.

As a merchant - I, too, am very upset about the new fee structure for Xstreet and was quite vocal about it. I belong to the "Say No to Xstreet" group, mainly for those people who read profiles to know about the changes and to be another voice of protest to LL.

At first, I deactivated all of my products (didn't delete just in case LL reversed its new policy). Then another merchant in another thread made some comment akin to that being cutting off my nose to spite my face until the new fees go into effect. Since my only in-world store is in a mall (which I am VERY grateful for /waves again to Rhia), and I can only have a few of my products on display at any given time, 99% of my sales came from Xstreet. I decided to reactivate my products until the changes took place. Interestingly, I have sold about twice as much on Xstreet after reactivating them and I increased the price of each of my products by 10L. (Keep in mind my price range is in the 25L - 75L range.) I'm even selling items I only ever sold one of in the last year and a half.

I have signed up with another online outlet as well and plan on a third. Since I have been selling a lot on Xstreet lately, when the new changes take effect, I'm going to leave my items there for a month, see if I still make a profit with the new fees or if I lose money and go from there.

Very interesting, Czari. To hear that you have more sales now. Maybe it was a harsh medicine, to get away with the old freebies that filled search. I can afford a prize increase in 5-10 §L per item to cover higher costs. I am glad to pay for it, since I don't use my valuable free time on waiting for shops to rez inworld.

I haven't seen anyone mention my two favourite reasons for using XStreet on occasion:

1. For shopping "on the fly" while Inworld, if I need something quickly but don't want to TP away from the place/situation I'm in to shop;

2. If I'm not logged in to SL and think of something I want to buy, but don't want to go Inworld and fend off IMs / TP invites due to lack of available time ... I'll just go buy what I want on XStreet and have it waiting for me when I next go Inworld.

I do shop on Xstreet. Both to search for items to purchase inworld, and to pick up stuff off the website.

Sometimes I'm not sure where to start a search for an item, and Xstreet gives me a place to start.

I can take a look at the posted pics, and get a sense if the item is what I had in mind. If I'm not inworld, I mark it as a favorite, then check out the store (if there is one) when I'm next inworld.

As others have mentioned, Xstreet's also handy when I need something NOW, and I cannot get to the store inworld (e.g., a gift needed asap, and I cannot teleport).

I prefer to do my buying inworld, but I figure the markets are here to serve me, not the other way around, so if Xstreet serves my purpose...yay!

As a merchant:
Of course I use XStreet. It is the #1 SL e-commerce website, it is the cheapest advertising possible, and it is pushed by LL. 3 reasons to sell my stuff there.
Since the publishing of the new policies, my sales are better then ever too. Seems to confirm what I wrote a few weeks ago: The more items disappear from there, the more visibility for what remains.

As a shopper:
Many items I purchased on XStreet. First of all I have a nice balance over there from my sales, so it is easily payed for. XStreet does not show up in my general sales database (as 95% of sales are inworld), so I actually prefer buying there.
Searching... well it is not perfect but I always manage to find what I want. Searching is something you have to learn apparently.

i use it as a search..if they don't have a link for inworld then i keep searching..a lot of people i know will use it as a search..
i can't sit inworld and wait 10 minutes for a store to rezz then wait for everything grey to turn blurry then from blurry to clear..

it's kind of like the web site rule..they figure if people have to load a site for 30 seconds they will leave..well thats whats happened to some stores in sl..they make these stores that rezz forever and people end up leaving..
Xstreet is good for having a good look at the products..but these high end rezz stores are losing a lot of browsing business also ..and it's sure not helping with their traffic like it could be with a store set up for lower end users..

That's the only thing I can figure as well. After our banter awhile back, I admit you were right and I'm glad I relisted my items. Thank you, Marcel.

LOL, Ceka...it sounds like your inworld shopping experiences are like mine. Waiting...waiting...waiting. And since some stores do rez faster, I have to chalk it up to using textures that are overkill. I didn't know anything about the relationship of textures to rezzing time until I took the Gimpsters course. That's where I learned that some builders use 1024 just because everyone else does when 512 and in many cases 256 will work on larger prims. And you're absolutely right, they are losing business if it takes too long to rez. (Of course there are other factors like how many people are in the store/sim, etc. I don't know what the hierarchy of what makes places lag is, but I would bet using large graphics is way up there.)