Instant year's stipend when buying a year for 72 bucks?

If I recall correctly, one can purchase a year's worth of premium membership for 72 dollars, a significant discount off the monthly price.

What would be the consequences if Linden Research paid out the whole year's worth of stipend, 26,000 lindens, all at once in return for paying them all at once, instead of doling them out once at 500 per week?

That nets you about $US 92.00 on the Lindex right now.

So, you'd have everybody and their brother giving their alts 72/year premium accounts in order to get the $L26,000, until the Lindex inflated to reflect as such, which would be $L361 or so.

I've got 4 alt accounts I wouldn't mind using to make 100 bucks on.

Thanks to Premium Accounts that I farm, I earn 25% return
every year from dumping my L$500/wk onto the market.
About 1,000 accounts nets $20,000/yr.

I think I'm going to farm out my farming work to a firm in
India. Its just becoming too much work to collect L$500,000/wk
and sell it. As soon as I can offshore my operations, I'll
be able to drastically increase farming operations.

RBD, why don't you stop feeding us your fish stories?

First of all, if in fact you WERE farming stipend from 1,000 accounts -- which would be virtually impossible, unless you are also dealing in fraudulent credit card numbers -- selling the L$26,000 in stipends you would collect in a year would make you about $90 a year from each account, for a gross of about $90,000; assuming that you pay each of those accounts annually, @ $72 each, means they would cost you $72,000 a year, for a profit of about $18,000.

IF that is what you are referring to, holy crap, for a big $18K a year, I'd rather work at Best Buy.

Why don't you stop pretending to be something you're not, and admit that you're a pimply faced 30-year old virgin who still lives with Mommy? I think she's calling you... you forgot to take out the garbage this afternoon.



P2

I like this idea. I'd like the full 26,000 right now. The majority of my accounts that aren't basic are premium only for the stipend. I only hold land under this account (the only account that I actually use to play the game). The other accounts are strictly for holding groups and collecting stipends that I buy content with.

So, yes I can definately agree. I paid the 72 bucks immediately, I'm not paying month to month. Why should I have to wait 12 months for my L$26,000? It should be receivable as soon as LL receives my $72.


Edit: In case anyone from LL is watching this thread, I would like to add that if this feature is implemented, I will register the max allowed number of alts and upgrade them ALL to premium. I'm sure that many others would too.

This sounds good.

Precisely what is that you tell the Lindens to convince them you need that many accounts?

"I run a lot of businesses and want separate accounts. I'm just exceptionally entrepreneurial."

"We share an apartment. A real big apartment."

"My first 999 accounts are so popular I can never find a quiet time. I need one more."

Now, what is that makes the instant payout so attractive while the same amount received but spread out over a year is not enough to entice everyone to max out their premium account allotment?

Is it pure time preference, that is, having 72 bucks now is worth more than having more value later, or is it the perception of risk, fear that LL won't last the year, or the value of linden bucks will decrease too low to provide an adequate real dollar return?

Or is it something else?

Well it's not $72.00 now, it's $92.00. This is over 21% more buying power for the dollar, until the exchange rates adjust. Actually, as a lot of people still base prices on an L$250 exchange rate, it may be as much as $104.00, or in other words, up to 30% more buying power for the dollar.

As an intelligent consumer, having the ability to buy more stuff in-world for less has a lot of appeal to me. Additionally, I have a fairly strict rule against using money that I earn or (if I bought any money) money that I buy from other residents to buy content from other residents. I used to buy content with any funds, but these days I refuse to buy it using anything but my stipends. I will only buy land using funds outside of stipends.

So, having L$26,000 per account NOW, allows me to purchase a lot more content and enjoy Second Life a lot more. I paid my full $72 at once. Why shouldn't I be allowed to buy my full L$26,000 worth of content right now if I so choose? I think that this would be an excellent program, on many different levels.

The ability to be paid at a rate of L$500/wk, if you choose to, should be retained though. This way, people who need or desire a budget can have one. It should only be an OPTION to have your full L$26,000 dispersed immediately.

There is this wonderful thing called Gift Cards that work like credit cards, you should try it.


http://www.bankofamerica.com/giftcard/

Words to live by!

The reason you pay $72 up front is for the discount of what would be $119.88 if you paid monthly over a year.

If you paid Linden $119.88 for a whole year I think you would have more of a case to be demanding the entire stipend for the year up front.

I would say if you are going to get your entire years stipend up front on yearly paid accounts, Linden will have to apply the same reduction on the L$ amount that they applied to your US$ yearly fee.

My maths isnt great but $72 a year is like a 40% discount, so the stipend amount you would get up front should be roughly 15600L$

Don't knock it Phoenix, if I could find another way of earning $18k per annum without any ongoing work I am up for it (smile)

Regardless of the fact you say Reserve Bank Division may be a pimply 30-year-old virgin, that lad may go far in first life. Reminds me of the UK Chat show host who asked a (engaged) supermodel what she saw in her 50-year-old millionaire partner.

Sounds good... Lets apply it to US government bonds also. You buy the bond and immediately get your money and your interest back right?

Agreed. Premium Accounts are 1yr Bond with a Yield of 25%.
The more P.Accounts you buy, the more money you make.
Some people call it farming, I call it the only SL investment
actual worth something.

Exactly! As Ricky pointed out a few weeks ago, the stipend acts like a pseudo bond. You are not buying 26000 linden for $72. You are buying the promiss of 26000 linden over the next year. There is a significant difference.

Anyway, the immediate effect would be rapid devaluation of the linden even on just the news of such an offer.

Ohhh hell yah... If I bought a premium Account and received
L$26,000 off the bat, I'd be selling. And just like me, so would
everybody else. The L$ would be at L$362 in the blink of an eye.

Actually, I don't see this as much of a barrier. Markets basically tend to be quite efficient ie they tend to be valued at the "true price". You might say that the Linden will fall further, but to some extent projected future falls are already worked into the current price. For example, before the Iraq war the oil price slumped because everyone knew there was going to be a war. So, the market basically stays where it is on average.

Even if it didn't, you could be certain of a profit whatever happened if you hedged the L/$ market-a classic arbitrage. Though the downside here would be commission costs.

In addition, remember you also get discounted first land. You can sell that on at a profit if you know what you are doing, at maybe eight times its initial cost. You can see why LL junked the referral bonus thing-add that into the mix and farming becomes a really attractive option.

As to the practicalities of doing all this on a grand scale I'm more sceptical. SL would probably balk at a thousand accounts. Visa would go apeshit. I don't know about this gift card business but I imagine you would get all kinds of trouble trying to set up that many accounts. I think you'd have to fund each account from your own card and you'd probably get closed down due to tripping the max number of transactions if nothing else.

I do other, "farming" stuff online, and really you need a higher return than we're talking about here to make it all worthwhile. Managing even half a dozen accounts is extremely difficult with all the practical problems involved.

Not that this isn't a cool idea. Think big my friend. And keep LL on their toes...

It's 72 dollars for a year of premium membership purchased all at once. Hence one can chose to loose 72 dollars now in return for the the benefits of premium membership which includes 26,000 lindens doled out over a year.

Yes essentially you are buying a junk bond with a projected cash profit of around $20 for $72 (based on $L 500 times 52 divided by $L 280 ..ish) That is a yield of about 27%

BUT, in real life so called junk bonds can trade for as little as $20 per $100 coupon, and usually there is some security behind them which is either common equity of the company, or tangible fungible other assets, in the case of default.

Here there is no security for your projected Linden yield, UNLESS the content providers continue to produce, thus encouraging more new SL clients and spend to soak up excess Lindens.

For me I am choosing to own land and create content (Houses) and possibly associated items. Because ultimatly if all here just farmed the whole thing would go skint and it would be a lucky AV that walked away with any worthwhile profit.

I would strongly recommend that people seriously consider making any payment to LL for long term services at least until Philip's Thursday townhall and the announcement(s) of unknown content that some are expecting it to contain.

Contrariwise, there may be no announcement of major significance on Thursday, thus I have noted this as "speculation".

There will always be Town Halls, so you'd never do anything long term.

Of course that might not be such a bad idea either, but there you go.
I'm hoping they announce the replacement for developers incentives, though.

Why would you be doing this if you really believe the L$ is going to sink as fast as you say it is? Could it be that you are exaggerating a tiny bit?

Unless you have a gazillion workers in India spending their day
doing it for you for pennies on the dollar.

Its Called Risk Assessment. Think of me as a Hedge Fund.

How much free land would 1000 Premium accounts be entitled to own aswell? Don't they get the first 512sqm without having to tier up? That would amount to 512,000sqm if you grouped them all together. woah.. Plenty more to be made with land sales aswell?

Or have i got this totally wrong, and its only one account per credit/gift card that will get 512sqm 'free'?