First results from "Wholesale Land Sales Test"

What is the opinion of the SL community with the results of the Wholesale Land Sales Test so far? Anshe has just bought the first 30 for 1,000$ each. Which is perfect with me. The only problem seems to be, that while this "experiment" is running, LL does not put any new single sims on the block anymore. I just posted a question in the Hotline.



But I still would like to hear what others are thinking about it.

LL failed on first test for sure,
they could sell 30 sims near usd40000, especially with such properties(u can chose water etc.)
Yes i also noticed they are not putting single sims to auction. Now i am getting rid of my sims, for CHEAP prices. I am retiring from land business.Because they killed competition. I cant any more.

Sorry, Kazanture, that you got this impression. I don't think the test "failed". Competition is not that easy to kill in a society full of entrepreneurs. Of course the biggest player has advantages ...

It just gets a little harder maybe. The reasons behind the Lindens decisions to go this way are easy to understand. So they will continue in this direction. They will find ways to hold up competion because it is in their best interest to have competition. I don't know what their internal costs are. It is easier, to sell in bulk and they don't have to do the terraforming. I am sure that they would have liked a price thats better than 1,000 per sim, though. So they will find a way to make it a competitive market again.

It is actually me who has purchased the sims, not Anshe. You are right in that we run a business together, but any questions or issues related to this project you can direct towards me.

I went over to the auction page. There are still several single sims available. In addition, Robin posted that Linden Lab continues to sell developed sims. They put up some really cool stuff southeast of the mainland that I am sure will be up for grabs soon.

*smiles*
I bet they are only sitting there since before Christmas because no one has yet discovered their hidden value which must be there, somehow.

Well, a talented entrepreneur can still survive in a competitive market, it just takes more than mindless buying and selling to make a buck.

Even though Anshe has an upper hand with the mainland sims and the land market, I don't really see a direct threat to the other real estate traders and developers. If you can offer a better product or more competitive rate I don't see why you can beat Anshe to her business.

Business is only going to get tougher from now on. With the huge inflow of new residents on free accounts, SL is attracting the attention of real world businesses and business-savvy SLers to join the ranks of SL entrepreneurs. If you can't take the heat of competition and expect to play in a kindergarden-grade business world, well, the exit is on your left.

Just my 2 cents.

Guni Greenstein wrote:

It is actually me who has purchased the sims, not Anshe.
> I dont care.
You are right in that we run a business together, but any questions or issues related to this project you can direct towards me.
> It is not about you, if i had 40K usd i could bid too.U have no question or issues related to this project.
I went over to the auction page. There are still several single sims available.
> They were all before christmass.
In addition, Robin posted that Linden Lab continues to sell developed sims.
> Good.
They put up some really cool stuff southeast of the mainland that I am sure will be up for grabs soon.
> Good.


Kavai Onizuka wrote:


Well, a talented entrepreneur can still survive in a competitive market,
> I am not so "talented"
it just takes more than mindless buying and selling to make a buck.
> As i mentioned i am retiring from "mindless buying and selling to make a buck"

Even though Anshe has an upper hand with the mainland sims and the land market,
I don't really see a direct threat to the other real estate traders and developers.

> All i said was answer to this: "But I still would like to hear what others are thinking about it."

If you can offer a better product or more competitive rate
> I have no problem about selling at competetive rates i have problems about buying
> there is nothing to buy anymore.

I don't see why you can beat Anshe to her business.
> I have no intend to beat someone.

Business is only going to get tougher from now on.
> Nothing is tougher, I was a small car buyer & seller , now they decided to sell the car
> factory and i cant afford it.thats all.

With the huge inflow of new residents on free accounts,
SL is attracting the attention of real world businesses and
business-savvy SLers to join the ranks of SL entrepreneurs.
If you can't take the heat of competition and expect to play in a kindergarden-grade business world, well, the exit is on your left.

> All i saw is you completely misunderstood.


All i said was an answer to this: "But I still would like to hear what others are thinking about it.".
In real world in such situations small business owners leave the market or join each other, and i am chosing to leave, thats all. I will continue to have fun in SL. I just wrote the my opinion about test results. Why are you so offensive?

You misunderstood me, I am just saying my opinion of business in general, not really criticising your actions with your firm, as I am not in the position to judge any other company than my own.

In a nutshell all I am saying is that LL won't be as friendly towards smaller firms as they will shift their mode of operation to favor the larger corporations (Anshecorp) and it will just be tougher to do business.

Ok i think i misunderstood. My english is not good enough, sry, not native language.

All I have to say is WOW... I can't imagine spending $USD 30,000 on virtual property that could go poof if the big one hits San Fransico, or if Philip decides to flip the switch.

Personally, I think it's shit.

If LL really intended to test our ability to develop these sims they would have placed several 10 sim blocks up for sale, not auction.

I had full intention of purchasing a 10 sim block but was told Anshe was bidding on them. At that point it would be a bidding war, cutting into profit margins severely.

meh.

I'm over this.

I second that. As those sim and packages of sims are more or less identical (fully terraformable), auctioning them makes not that much sense. It does not even make sense to the Lindens in a situation like this where the demand side seems to be a little short.

Simply selling them - and keeping the window for development open for longer (see also here) - would make much more sense, IMHO.

Yeah, but think of the press release to follow: "Virtual Land Speculators Purchase Even More Virtual Land from Company which Badly Needed Cash Flow After Losing Singular Corporate Contract".

That'll look good on Terra Nova, no?

Monopsony is good thing, I hear. It will be cool if the grid is still running long enough for the buyer to realize the terms of their purchase.

Well, hmm. I've been thinking and thinking about this since the announcement was first put up, and I can just see so many angles here that it's hard to make a real conclusion on whether switching to wholesale sims rather than single developed sims would be good for the community overall. Here are the single three MOST IMPORTANT parts as I see them so far though:

1. Not having to develop the sims keeps costs down for LL. In light of the overall direction LL seems to be taking lately, it seems to me as if it MAY be important to the longevity of the community for any and all cost saving measures to be implemented. Of course this is impossible to say for certain.

2. $10,000 US minimum auction bids will keep costs down in the wholesale market. This is good for people bidding wholesale, and thus good for their in-world customers, as long as there is enough quantity on the auction block at all times. Any one perticular resident cannot keep bidding on them forever without entering a tier level that the market can't sustain for them, so it doesn't SEEM to be a problem from a competitive standpoint on the wholesale market.

3. $10,000 US minimum auction bids will restrict the smaller traders to in-world activity only. These traders, of course, still need land to trade. Restricting traders below a certain commitment level to in-world liquidations only should encourage more people to seek out these excellent opportunities and acquire the highest possible share of them. This should provide more LIQUIDITY to the land market overall.

Of course there are many smaller points both for and against this change in the auction formats, and I'm sure many other points which I've not yet considered. I'd be interested to hear everyone's thoughts on the 3 points above though.

Personally, this is just another bad example of LL's thinking when it comes to making money. Woooo we're all gullable SAPS taking the bait. When those of us who had been around long enough know well enough it isn't what its cracked up to be.

Woohoo Go SAPS!

I am rather sure, that - done right - this is a move that will be good for the community. Most important for this positive effect is the fact that residents now can create (terraform) mainland. This will lead to more diversity and competition - not only in pricing but on the creative side, too. There are many factors, though, that will be decisive for the model to be a success.
If the new model results in cost savings depends to a large degree on the price. At 1,000$ a sim (at the current auctions without competition) I am not sure, if it is already advantagous for LL to do this. On the other hand I would estimate the cost for setting up a sim - at least one of the nicer ones - to be more than 150$ (at 50$/hour). So maybe it is already a good deal for Linden Lab. I am sure they could achieve better prices with a different model, though.
This still has to be seen, IMHO. Setting up those sims for sale is a time consuming process. Having to terraform them adds to this time. And already terraformed sims went for 1,000 - 1,200 at the acutions. It all depends on how efficient the land developers can design the new setup process. Of course, Anshe can now produce land on these sims that is more valuable (waterfront, better cuts ...) But this will hardly keep the land prices down on the market.Why not? As long as the turnover is there, I fail to see any reason why it will a problem for a profitable business to go to tier levels of 100, 200 or 500 sims. The new group mangement tools rumoured to be around the corner will probably help in designing organisational structures that can handle businesses of this size.


This might happen. But it will need some time, until we see a working multilevel model (with big Land Barons buying and developing large chunks, selling some of them to little resellers).

A move in that direction will be inevitable, I guess, with the Lindens drawing back from the business of designing land. It might lead to higher prices for a while, with every level trying to make a profit. Lets see ...

Not shocked, not suprized.

Hi Pham,



I agree. I'm very curious to see where it goes though. This could be a whole new era in Second Life!



Well let's take a look at the 30 sims that were purchased under this program already and plug your number in. That adds up to $4500, which is like selling 34.5 sims while only paying for the setup costs on 30. Seems like a pretty big win.



I meant that land prices will be lower on the wholesale market with almost every block going for a flat rate of the minimum bid. This may or may not manafest itself in in-world pricing. I suspect it would to a degree due to other factors.



My point exactly. That kind of turnover -isn't- there, and won't be for quite a while. There are only a finite number of residents, and a small subsection of them who want any land at all.



Hmm.. a multi-level thing like that would be interesting. I hadn't thought of that! I was thinking more along the lines of the smaller resellers being forced to go after the in-world liquidation/flipping market. Buy from residents to whom time is more valuable than price, then sell for retail.



I dunno. I don't think I even want to try to predict. It will be very exciting to see where it goes though.