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Do you REALLY make money here? |
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Mia Lian
Registered User
Join date: 27 Jan 2007
Posts: 18
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09-20-2007 23:03
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Warda Kawabata
Amityville Horror
![]() Join date: 4 Nov 2005
Posts: 1,300
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09-20-2007 23:51
Yes, I really do make money here. Not enough to give up teh day job, but enough that I can truthfully say, "I get paid to play computer games".
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Marine Kelley
Your cutest PITA
![]() Join date: 19 Nov 2006
Posts: 111
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09-21-2007 00:02
I do make money here, but don't think for a second one has to just put up a vendor and wait for monies to fall down from the sky because it really is like a second job. If you want to make a profit you have to work 24/7 for it.
Why ? If SL were perfect, items would deliver on time, flawlessly, there would be no bug due to viewer updates, no lag, no lindex problems, no system incompatibilities, and you could just count on the constant flow of new members and satisfied customers to bring you fresh money everyday and you would have time to work on new products, updates and other nice things (contests, events...) and for yourself of course. Right now, the "reality" is : do not rely on a rock-solid script behaviour to remain that way, things are always prone to change, customers always have new suggestions, SL will always find a way to annoy you and of course, RL will always get in the way. |
Finora Kuncoro
Impish Stoic
![]() Join date: 11 Dec 2006
Posts: 213
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09-21-2007 00:02
It's a question for all business people - do you make any real money after the expenses Yes I mean not L$ and not Gross but US$ profit. Well L$ and US$ are both convertible to goods and services and are for all intents and purposes equivalent. I watch my expenses very carefully and I do make a (small) net profit. I'd love to hear some success stories and some tips. I have no tip other than find a niche and do what you enjoy doing. I don't expect SL to replace my day job. The amount I earn net in a month for my SL designs would pay for oh say 10 minutes of my RL time in my professional RL designing capacity. Of course that's just me, others mileage may vary.... I for one sold my land and will close my premium account. I presume this is because you are not making any money from SL. Take a look at the SL economic statistics, you'll find you are in good company. My advice is to enjoy the world and the astounding creativity of those in it. In my experience those who think having more money leads to happiness tend to be the unhappiest people. Good luck whatever you decide to do. _____________________
<Now fully Trout Certified>
I give you a solid 8.2. You can come across as very pure if you want to, but inside, you're a dirty, dirty girl. Shame on you, and congratulations. Designer of clothes and owner of Built For Sin Designs. Come visit us at: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Centaur/5/85/399/ |
Sylvia Trilling
Flying Tribe
![]() Join date: 2 Oct 2006
Posts: 1,117
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09-21-2007 00:16
Yes, I make real money. Not enough to live on but extra income that makes a difference in my real life. I have made money doing custom work. I am also developing products to sell from my store but I beleive that will be a long haul before I make any real money there.
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Rhiannon Boronski
PRIMAL ART OWNER
Join date: 3 Feb 2007
Posts: 220
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09-21-2007 00:19
yes, we do make money, but that is not our primary goal. If we did not love what we do here it would not be the same. The day we stop enjoying what we do will be the day we quit, hopefully a day that will never come, but nothing is written in stone especially the future. SL is what you make of it, and like most people you should do it because you love it, not because you are looking to make money. We started this as a hobby, a different way to use our artistic skills, it has been a long road to get where we are now, and our journey of learning still goes on and will continue to do so. There is still so much to see and do on SL, but for now making money is just an added bonus for us, this is our first month where our sales are being used to pay for our tier and a few other luxuries we would otherwise not have. Many come to SL looking to make a fast buck, but the real success stories are the ones who put the time and effort into their creations and so obviously love what they are creating. To make real money is hard work and does not happen over night.
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![]() BE SMART, THINK PRIMAL ART YOUR VISION, YOUR TATTOO http://slurl.com/secondlife/Rakhiot/67/112/111 http://www.slexchange.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&MerchantID=101120 |
Katryna Jie
Registered User
Join date: 24 Jun 2007
Posts: 187
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09-21-2007 00:30
I'm so jealous. I'm still learning to build etc. slowly.. saving my items and building up until I have enough items to open a store. I've got a whole bunch of designs sketched (not very well) on paper - but translating that into SL and prims is a bit of an issue.
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Conifer Dada
Hiya m'dooks!
Join date: 6 Oct 2006
Posts: 3,716
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09-21-2007 00:38
I have sold items and dealt in bits of land over the last year but I probably haven't covered the costs of a premium account. But that's not the point. I love it in SL and having my own land where I can build whatever takes my fanciful imagination, while listening to a music genre of my choice, is worth the investment.
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Marcel Flatley
Sampireun Design
![]() Join date: 29 Jul 2007
Posts: 2,032
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09-21-2007 00:39
Hell no, it costs me money
![]() Anyway, I became premium for $72, bought a 4608 m2 of land, an pay my tier of $25 monthly. On that little parcel i am building day after day, finding i spend more time in photoshop then in SL, to make my custom textures. And one day my buildings will be good enough to sell, but that is not why I build them. Also have a T-Shirt shop and did a few custom shirt designs, which all costed way much more time then it brough in cash ![]() But, and that is the point many seem to be missing, DON'T do it for the money. Do it for the fun. As for me, it would be great if one day my creations pay for my tier fee, but even if not, I am having a hell of a time for my initial investment and $25 per month. As soon as I don't have any more fun, my land gets sold and my SL client gets deinstalled. Greetings, Marcel |
Mia Lian
Registered User
Join date: 27 Jan 2007
Posts: 18
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09-21-2007 00:58
Don't get me wrong, I'm not "looking to make a fast buck", I just hate to lose money and maybe even more I hate to waste my time, that's the main point of my question. I asked because I see too many people paying tons of money just for "make believe", I can not afford to do this, if it's not time/cost effective I'm not doing it. LL are fast to take your money but slow when it's their turn to deliver. Plus - the service is way overpriced and the gap between buy/sell L$ and US$/L$ is too large, you waste money in every transaction. Add to this all the free and under-priced stuff that clogs the market. It just does not look good.
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Katier Reitveld
M2 News Manager
Join date: 13 Sep 2005
Posts: 412
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09-21-2007 00:59
A lot of people do indeed make varying degree's of money. Even some of the smaller clothes stores such as Simone make enough to live off in RL.
It's not a huge amount you have to make either, for example if you sell one, 600L ( say 2USD) item of clothing per hour( on average) then you are making, 17472 USD/Yr. A whole sim costs around 2340 ( for the lower priced one ) per year, so you can see even a comparitivly small shop can generate a nice sum of cash. |
Sarah Nerd
I BUY LAND
Join date: 22 Aug 2005
Posts: 796
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09-21-2007 01:19
Making money in sl is risky,and unstable. You can be rolling in the money one month and barley scrathing by the next. Unless Your Anshe successful , I would say play sl to have fun, If You want to create a business, then go for it and do the best You can consider it icing on the cake, and working twords a goal, just don't completely depend on it as Your real world income because even if You make as much as You would at a 9-5 job, Realistically, LL could change the rules tomorrow and take it all away.
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Min Fairweather
Registered User
![]() Join date: 21 Feb 2007
Posts: 202
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09-21-2007 01:30
I just hate to lose money and maybe even more I hate to waste my time, that's the main point of my question. I asked because I see too many people paying tons of money just for "make believe", I can not afford to do this, if it's not time/cost effective I'm not doing it. LL are fast to take your money but slow when it's their turn to deliver. Plus - the service is way overpriced and the gap between buy/sell L$ and US$/L$ is too large, you waste money in every transaction. If a person chooses to spend money in SL they do so because they are paying to play. Just the same way people pay to play WoW or put money into any hobby they have. There is absolutely no guarantee that you will ever get that money back. If you choose to spend cash here on land, rent, or stuff don't expect to see that money again! Yes some talented and hard working people have made money from SL but the majority of people don't even cover their expenses, even if they have a shop or business. When I spend money here I'm spending my money on my hobby. If my store makes enough in a week to cover my expenses then that's a nice bonus ![]() If you don't think spending money on SL is worth it for you then don't spend the money. Spend your hard earned pennies on another hobby that you feel is worth it. |
Marty Starbrook
NOW MADE WITH COCO
Join date: 10 Dec 2006
Posts: 523
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09-21-2007 02:31
I sort of agree with Min on this....
Its all down to what you want SL to be, if you treat it like a game that you subscribe to play then its just an overhead for your entertainment. With that situation you can enjoy SL for what it is. You only spend what you can afford to loose each month and work within your budget. If on the other hand you see SL as a business opportunity which has to make the money back that you "invest" into ... then its almost certain you will loose money.....why? Becasue SL isnt like real life..... to give an example, my RL wife owns and runs "juicee" clothes but her style is VERY european rock chick rather than a more american style or the american view on haut corture (sp) with big flowery arms etc. Certainly not to everyones taste and becasue of that sometimes business is good ... sometimes its slow, you arnt selling to YOUR market .. you are selling to ALL markets, some might think you items are rubbish and some might consider yours the best they have ever seen and definately its VERY rare that you can command L$600 or an item of clothing in SL any more as people just wont buy it becasue it would be over priced, If you make L$2000 a day is average...... lower end L$500 upper end ... well I should imagine there isnt an upper end limit As for me... I own SB Lighting so i make all the clubby stuff, there are some VERY good guys on SL who are in the same market to me of course i would love to mention but I cant due to forum rules .... but we certainly have some that make creative textures and work hard on the scripts etc .... then we have some that do the same item in 10 different colours and sell each one as a seperate item... I even have business "competitors" who sell the scripts that are common for thousands of dollars. Im more different in my eyes that everything I do comes with maximum functionality...... buy ONE item and it has the flexability... I keep my prices low to middle of the range and I try to work cosmetics in. Sometimes the work just doesnt give the rewards. e.g I spent a month building Denon 3500 CD players... why a month ... becasue thes eplayers have sound effects, working buttons...even the CD ejects it sells for L$150 yet there are people who try to sell JUST a texture for L$100 or they sell an item with 200 prims becasue they have made each button yet it actually does NOTHING. So the markets in SL can be varied...... what works for you might not work for them, the one thing that is constant in SL is be varied ... dont make clothes and wonder why you can be seen on the search... because everyone make clothes... but if you make a certain KIND of clothes ... then its marketable based on that. But to answer the ORGINAL question .... do I make money in SL , yes i do, but i dont have to. I have MY budget each month that I am prepared to loose should I make NO sales... To this day i havnt cashed in a penny becasue i havnt had to... I do it for the love of it I worked out how much ive spent compared to land costs and membership and I am still in the black, its nice when you get sales becasue for me .. its like people saying " I like your stuff" but I would recommend that you base your SL on the enjoyment of wha you do becasue as a business oppertunity its a very very very bad bet with a lot of competition, technical issues and pretty much market whim. Most importantly....... dont go stir crazy living in your store 24/7, lately ive been involved in building the forum cartels club house AND helping my dear friend Denise Bonneto getting her Vamp Collection store ready for its grand opening on Saturday..... its good for the soul _____________________
Loves to drink Chokolate Latte at 2am GMT
SB Lighting ...... Im so cheap i cant afford signatures |
Morwen Bunin
Everybody needs a hero!
Join date: 8 Dec 2005
Posts: 1,743
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09-21-2007 02:37
No, I don't make money here. But I do spend a lot of money so other can make (some) money here in SL
![]() Morwen. |
bilbo99 Emu
Garrett's No.1 fan
Join date: 27 Oct 2006
Posts: 3,468
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09-21-2007 03:47
I spend 7$US a year here apparently .. so I'm not going to 'create' about it
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Be polite .. that newbie could be your next ex-partner.
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Capella DeCuir
Registered User
![]() Join date: 15 Jun 2007
Posts: 289
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09-21-2007 04:10
Never made money.
Honestly, looking at the odds- you're really not likely to turn any kind of significant profit and only slightly more likely to break even. I spent probably 6k lindens just working through building and getting nice builders tools- not counting land purchase (6k) or quarterly payments (20something$ every 3 months) or Tier payment (8$ monthly) and I had a grand total of one sale for 200L before I tore the shop down. I recognized a big flaw was my limited inventory and I didn't have the time (or urge most days) to fix it- so I'll reopen someday after I have a significant enough stock to not rattle around in a 10-20 prim mall space. I also didn't spend enough time advertising and hitting the pavement to get my name out. Breaking even in SL is pretty much a full time job acquiring clientèle at the start and maintaining them once you get rolling. I wouldn't look at SL as a business venture. |
Brodsky Zapedzki
Registered User
Join date: 30 Mar 2007
Posts: 337
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09-21-2007 04:17
Bankers make a ton of money in SL. And the good part is you don't need to declare any of it in your income statements.
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Yumi Murakami
DoIt!AttachTheEarOfACat!
Join date: 27 Sep 2005
Posts: 6,860
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09-21-2007 04:33
I think that for quite a few people, paying off tier is more important than net profit - it gives you a much nicer sense of freedom to create things.
Some people do make a net profit, but often it isn't that much, and/or the person is (or could be) an RL professional who could make much more but works in SL instead because they enjoy it. |
Johan Durant
Registered User
Join date: 7 Aug 2006
Posts: 1,657
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09-21-2007 04:45
you don't need to declare any of it in your income statements. Nobody has to. It's just most people choose to because they don't want to go to jail. _____________________
![]() The Motion Merchant - an animation store specializing in two-person interactions |
Colette Meiji
Registered User
![]() Join date: 25 Mar 2005
Posts: 15,556
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09-21-2007 05:23
I make a little bit which Ive sold for USD$
Not nearly as much as I used to. Theres been a definite decline in my business. |
Victorria Paine
Sleepless in Wherever
Join date: 13 Jul 2007
Posts: 1,110
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09-21-2007 05:46
Don't get me wrong, I'm not "looking to make a fast buck", I just hate to lose money and maybe even more I hate to waste my time, that's the main point of my question. I asked because I see too many people paying tons of money just for "make believe", I can not afford to do this, if it's not time/cost effective I'm not doing it. LL are fast to take your money but slow when it's their turn to deliver. Plus - the service is way overpriced and the gap between buy/sell L$ and US$/L$ is too large, you waste money in every transaction. Add to this all the free and under-priced stuff that clogs the market. It just does not look good. Well I would say that if you come to SL to make money, it's going to be a slog for you. I know many people who "break even" on their carrying costs by working very hard at making high quality things for others and selling them, or by being exotic dancers or something like that. But in terms of being time/cost effective, the amount of "money" you are making in SL is paltry compared to what you can make for similar effort and time in RL. It really is. I look at SL as entertainment for me, and I feed the meter with my RL entertainment money each month with no regrets. I enjoy my time in SL. I have a job in RL that makes good money, so I do not wish to have another one in SL, personally. |
Morwen Bunin
Everybody needs a hero!
Join date: 8 Dec 2005
Posts: 1,743
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09-21-2007 06:16
I spend 7$US a year here apparently .. so I'm not going to 'create' about it ![]() Apart from the premium account and the land fee, I buy almost every month for about 30 US$ Lindens...... *coughs* every now and then twice per month.... Morwen. |
Ged Larsen
thwarted by quaternions
Join date: 4 Dec 2006
Posts: 294
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09-21-2007 06:29
I asked because I see too many people paying tons of money just for "make believe", I can not afford to do this, if it's not time/cost effective I'm not doing it. Time / cost effective? If minimum wage is ~US$7 / hour = roughly L$1,890 / hour. That suggests that unless you earn nearly L$2,000 for every hour you put into your product, it would be more time / cost effective to flip burgers. And that's not even figuring in the expenses for texture uploads, tier / land rental payments, and / or premium fees. Odds are, if you are looking for "time / cost effective," you should NOT be in Second Life. On the other hand, if you're there because you're doing something you enjoy, then you'll have to decide for yourself whether it's worth it. _____________________
- LoopRez, flexi prim skirt generating tool
- LinkRez, a necklace chain generator |
Dekka Raymaker
thinking very hard
![]() Join date: 4 Feb 2007
Posts: 3,898
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09-21-2007 06:31
I came into SL not knowing what to expect, but on the back of the publicity surrounding the landowner millionaire story. I remember meeting quite a few new residents of the same age, there was an expectation of making money, myself too.
I dabbled, made some t-shirts, made a ash tray with a cigarette packet and a cig that was burning in the ash tray itself which provided smokes when clicked (the best thing and most naive thing I made) the best thing, because it showed me that I knew I could become a competent builder. So now I had the idea, make stuff, sell it and make money, but all the time it was dawning on me that to do so just wasn't feasible, unless I was on social benefit and had all the time in the world. Now I am slowly putting things together and may eventually offer something for sale. But the main thing for me now is just to build and push my skills to the limit in SL, so basically not a lot actually gets finished because I get to the point where iknow I can do it, then its all a case about ok what else can't I do and then try to master that. I have probably made L$50 in all my time in SL and I've enjoyed making every last cent of it. |