Selling Avatars

Hi,

I'm pretty new to Second Life and since I've been here I have concentrated on making avatars, which is something I really wanted to do. Anyway, I've finished a few avatars now (and am working on some more) but really need some advice:

1. What's the best way to sell avatars?
2. What sort of price is reasonable for prim-based avatars?
3. What sort of avatars do people really like in SL?
4. I don't currently have any land in Second Life, should I get some to start a store? If so, where would be a good place to locate?

If anybody could help me out on either of the above I would appreciate it. I have looked around and the prices of avatars vary a lot. If anybody wants to see the avatars I've already made just let me know (I put two of them out for free on Numbakulla for Halloween - a ghost and a devil - and now I also have a dragon (cartoony) and a stick man). I'll try and post some pictures here later.

Thank you.

Hi Oculenc and welcome to SL.

Prices for ready made av's varies but most of the ones I have seen seem to average around the L$200 mark. But at the end of the day it's case of charging what you think they are worth taking into account the time and effort you have put into it and what people will pay. As to what av's people like. I think SL is such a very varied world that whatever type of avi you make there will be a market for it.


There are quite a few shops and markets which will rent or give you space without the need to buy land. We have a nice vendors area in our new resort we have built in Amida. I cant give you the exact location at the moment as I am posting this from work . But if you would like to IM me in world for details, then we would be pleased to let you have a place in the vendors spot.

Here are pictures of the 4 avatars I currently have completed. I gave the Ghost and Devil avatars away on Numbakulla for Halloween.

Bobby, thank you for your reply. L$200 seems reasonable I think, so it's good to have a general figure in mind And thank you for the tip on vendors, I'll have to work out how to do this more before I get started I think.

Also, I have another question. Is there generally quite a large market for avatars in Second Life? The reason I ask is that when I searched for avatar places there were only a few that actually sold avatars, others listed didn't really sell avatars, more just clothing. So I wondered if there actually is a big market for them in Second Life?

I would say there is, I get a decent amount of business myself and it's enough for me to keep building and make a little cash to pay the bills. :>

Hi Psyra, do you make avatars then I take it? If it's not cheeky, how much do you sell them for and do you have any pictures of the ones you sell (SL is down now so I can't get in to visit your store). I don't want to copy, I just want to see what avatars others are creating.

EDIT: Sorry Psyra, my settings were not showing signatures so I didn't see the links in yours until now. Love your avatars, I take it you primarily make birds?

Also, if people have any feedback on the avatars I've created so far, I really would appreciate it. Obviously I'm new to this and all advice is gratefully received.

Thank you.

Sorry, I have another question as well. What's the best permission set to use for avatars?

I love the stickman!!!

You might want to play around with different textures, and also with shiny. Mmmm shiny.

1. Yup, I primarily make birds. Ironically before SL I was a dragon artist, but in SL when I started making birds they just "clicked" with me. So I turned to birds. Besides that, dragons were in a bit of abundance, and I like to make stuff that's original :>

2. My prices range from 300 to 3000 depending on complexity. On the basics of my range on the gallery:

300 : simple clothes-type ones (IE Captain Kangaroo)
400 : Advanced clothes and some prims (IE Duke Nukem)
450-500 : Simpler prim avatars (Chocobos, Pen Pen, etc)
1000 : Moderate prim avatars (Shadowhawk, Rainbird)
3000 : Highly Detailed Avatars (Brown Chocobo, the future line of the RL-inspired birds)

3. I like the dragon, for some reason it looks familiar to me from TV. The others are really good considering how long you've been building, so definately keep building, it only gets better.

Thank you for yor comments - I need to do some final tinkering with the stickman, but I'm quite pleased how he turned out - almost like the old Saint logo

I have been using shiny, for instance on the dragon's belly, but I have limited the textures I've used as I've found that, in most cases, they've taken away from the impact of the avatar rather than added to it, although I will be using textures in some of my avatars, obviously (the dragon's eyes are a texture).

Wow, that's a large range of prices. In your opinion do you think that my avatars are suitable for selling? If so, in your experience, what price point would you recommend?

Thank you for the comments on the dragon. I'm not sure what TV character you are referring to - I didn't refer to anything whilst I was building it. Mind you, dragons tend to be green with yellow bits on their belly, I suppose!

Here's another one I finished yesterday - a chicken

Does anybody have any more advice to offer? Sorry for bumping I just want to make sure that I get as much advice as possible