Are Freebies Killing Content Creators?

As SL gets older, its products become more sophisticated and advanced. Additionally, the number of "freebies" in existance increases exponentially. SL is already awash with freebies, which can be a direct competitor to content creators, shop owners, and entrepreneurs.

For example, there are more freebie clothes than can be counted. This may cause new avatars to not need to shop from content creators because they can find (almost) anything they would want for free - or marginal cost (L$1).

As SL fills with more freebies, it increases the competition in which creators fight against.

So the question remains -- are freebies a good thing or a bad thing for SL?

Freebies are wonderful for newer people and for people who may not have the additional funds to pay for anything more than their account. Freebies can also be a stepping stone for future purchases.

The only problem I see from Freebies is when people sell them to make a profit instead of giving them away to help as they were intended...

Dunno Jamie - you tell me - you love the hell outta freebies.

As for me - don't care - I don't make them anymore ... wonder why?

(Must be a slow news day for SL top legend in their own lunchtime)

Not hurting my business at all.

Anyway, Jamie, doesn't more freebies mean more stuff for you to mark up and sell as your own?

I'll never figure out why some people get an idea in their heads, anchor on, and never let go. Your comments are so yesterday. We're past all that today.

I release a line of freebies to compliment my business.

Having freebies as part of your business is a Good Thing.

Though if I ever see one for sale.... I will triple-rate them!

I release a line of freebies to compliment my business.

Having freebies as part of your business is a Good Thing. I keep them notransfer, though.

Though if I ever see one somehow for sale.... I will triple-rate them!

BING!BANG!BOOM!

I'm not, anyone who does this and knows the moral standpoint has self-destruct written all over them.

Anyway, I don't have any copies with freebies, I have a feeling reselling them for profit makes the freebie market go a bit wobbly tho..

You commited the act. Live with it, you can't undo it.

I don't know, honestly. It's a good question.



Is it killing me? Pffft.

The only thing holding me back from my sim now, is I'm rushing to finish the stuff to put in it before I buy it. My business made all the money for it, every penny, and it can already float a sim (or three) without paying into SL... if freebies are 'killing me', it's an awfully healthy form of death.

I've met some of the folks that buy my *own* cheap items and resell them at yard sales. Not an issue; and in fact, I've helped some of them find things - as in: "Hey, there's also an inexpensive book case you missed."

Oddly enough, I'm get good paying customers coming by, because of all the freebie yard sale action! I guess they like what they see and want to 'move up'.

I'm not.

I'll be over it when I get a consecutive year and a half of not dealing with the angry aftermath..

Not one day before.

It's not yesterday if the crime continues.

Yes capitalism abounds but the ever diligent mods find time to 'discipline' an errant 'resi' (isn't that word cute?)

/108/ab/86130/1.html

Didn't freebies cause yesterday's grid-wide outage and the value of the L$ to plummet from like 284 to 285?

I have trouble keeping up.

I'm quite sure you'd like that to be yesterday's news. What got that idea in their heads? You admitting to it here ?

For anyone who missed'em, a _few_ of the relevent threads are here:
Petition Againts Bergman's Bargains
My freebies are being sold without permission.

And you got caught, and you admitted it and started to say "What's wrong with doing this, it's capitalism" and play dumb, and then you turned around and started to deny, and then you decided it was yesterday's news. But you're the only one who's forgotten and you're the only one who wants to sweep it under the rug.

Wow, how did you know!?!?! Why it was just yesterday I was notified of you marking up one of my freebies on SLEX and inworld to L$1,000. Welp, so yesterday eh? Time to get out of that business - As to answer your question - It's not the freebies, it's the morons.

- Sam

Yes and I suppose tomorrow trying to crash the Lindex will be "so yesterday" lol

After reading hundreds of these kinds of threads (or so it seems) I feel i must make my first contribution to this forum.

Freebies are a very good way of helping just-starting sims around, get them some actual clothes to wear, etc. It's unfortunate that some people may exploit these and turn around and sell them, how, i don't know, if it's marked no copy-no transfer.. All this economic BS is completely that, from my standpoint.

Take my situation. I'm a free accounter by necessity, not by choice. IRL, yes, i have a job. i work 8-9 hours a day. Also, i am a college student. However, i have very little wiggle-room in my budget for spending massive amounts of money (10-20 dollars per month is massive when you have a 120/month budget allowance for fun AND/OR savings, take your pick). I came to SL after hearing about it from IRC and deciding it might be fun to poke around and maybe add a 3d element to my roleplaying.

Am I a "freeloader" and "hurting the economy"? Perhaps to those who earn enough money in SL to pay for 200-400 dollars/month for complete sim packages. If it wasn't for a few friends from other mediums spotting me, i never would have gotten my avatar. If it wasn't for freebie clothes, etc. and donations from those friends as a leg-up from having virtually 0 money, I would be completely naked. I've bought 11 dollars worth of L$ from the Lindex and am determined to not spend any more than that if i have to, througout the course of my using SL. I don't have the skill (nor the hardware and programs on my computer) to design or script things for money, and even doing that, i would need to spend more money per month to rent a booth in a mall/set up a small storefront, etc.

SL is supposed to be what you want it to be. Unfortunately, some people - and the most vocal on these boards, it seems to me- seem to think that if you're not spend spend spending on thier products, you have no rights to be on SL. Remove my basic stipend and/or force me to upgrade to premium, and I will leave, quite handily, and i have a feeling thousands of others will follow. If it wasn't for freebies and friends i know from other places helping me, i would have deleted this program after the first 4 days.

Hmmm, well it might interest you to know that you DON'T have to spend money to sell stuff in SL. There's always SLEX, or SLB, who sell on a commission basis, or even, dare I say it? ONE, where you get a vendor of your own in a store for free - no up front, just commission on sales.

So, now have a go. You'll be surprised what you can come up with to sell in SL, IF you look, and use some ingenuity.

To answer the original question: no.

If every single object was made as a freebie with direct competition then maybe, but there's still a market for quality stuff as well as some good stuff free.

I've been in SL coming up for 19 months now. I was in Yadni's a little while ago (3 weeks or so) and picked up a couple of boxes of freebies. It's not only for poor newbies, I picked up some things that were indirectly related to a project I had on the go, to get some ideas about how other people had approached the problem in the past. I also grabbed a big box of clothes and gradually sifted through them for stuff I wanted but I seriously doubt if there was any change in my shopping habits for more expensive clothes that week.

I even release freebies of my own, stuff that's in competition with other freebies or that's old or whatever, or is in beta. I'm positive some of the free stuff has bought me additional sales - because people have told me they saw the freebie tried it and came back for more - so I might even go so far as to say it's helped my sales.

Hehe, stop trying to hide it.

Also your "Acid Trip" thing, will be released as a freeebie shortly..

Why pay 1k for it when you can pay 1 linden for a full perm version.

Adios

I'll be interested in seeing this Acid Trip and I surely hope it isn't Ace Cassidy's Acid Chair!

OMG!!!! I remember helping Ace test that