Paying Out Linden Dollars ???

I have been thinking about this for a while now, as I'm reading all these posts here, I thought I'd throw my question out to you guys....

Money in SL....

There are thousands of clubs, bars and buildings in SL. Virtually all are free to attend, and rely on tipping...but for the 100's that visit these places, only a few AVs actually use the tipping jars, or pay anything to use the facilities so to speak... why ???

I mean, if there was no money available to use, or spend, and people built and developed for the sheer pleasure, then that would be something else, but SL has certain RL similarities...land rent, businesses, staffing needs, etc...so why is it that even if people attend certain things, or events, where they would in RL have to pay...like getting into a club for example...people simply expect the entertainment for free, and if there are currency prizes, that those are given out for free too.

If you go out to a club in RL, you would pay a entry fee & maybe even a booking fee, possibly a cloakroom fee, drinks, snacks....any other errrrr...purchases you might encounter.....and you would pay without thinking, because thats what happens...its a business. In SL, you go to a club (which for the owners is also a buisness)...you walk into the premises, dance, listen, get a drink at the bar, chat, socialise, make friends and you leave......probably having not even thought about spending even 1 Linden Dollar.
So why is that ? How do the clubs make their money ?
And if you would charge, as a club owner...people would soon attend the free clubs....so are all SL clubs operating at a financial loss ?

If you don't you tip or pay when you run about these places in SL....why not???

Likewise, if you do....then why?

Would you be willing to pay to see an event ? or would you not bother because it is ticketed ?

What would make you be willing to pay an establishment ?


Like I said, this has been rattling around in my head for some time, I'm really interested to get your thoughts, if only so I can stop the question rattling about in my brain, so please be totally honest with your opinions.

Thanks.

Number 1.... there are clubs comin out the wazoo.... If one starts a cover charge, then they'll just go to the next one.

B... I have been to some, where the girls are begging for tips. I felt kinda dirty in one the other nite, the girl was shouting every 2 mins that she'd go topless for $500L's

(you like how I did that? 1....b...hehe.... *shrugs* it was funny to me!)

On the flipside, I have tipped. I've tipped at great galleries, builds, especially the space one... that's my fav... as for clubs, I've tipped DJ's. I've never tipped a host or hostess, or security staff... or dancer. Why havent I? Cause what have they done for me? The DJ is the one spinning the tunes. Most hosts/hostesses are very loud, and just shout out a hello to you when you walk in and then start raining VIP tags down on ya. Seriously... one.. very popular club in particular I used to love. Would go to every day, dance a bit, chat up people... re-organize my inventory... file my nails... (my avi is getting the exercise ... not me) And all of a sudden... 5 hosts/hostesses in there, 1 DJ, one off the clock DJ, 3 sec guards! Just outta nowhere... I declined that ()$#&@(*#&$(*#@&$ VIP tag 7 times before I up and left.

I'm not a penny pincher, I'm not tight on the purse strings, or cheap... or not a loyal shopper or not appreciative... If I see someone who is actually... affecting my entertainment... Then I'll tip them. Point me to a genuinely fun place that yes...Ill tip

I sure as heck don't tip the pizza guy if my pizza comes cold and looking like it was dropped.. Why the heck would I tip someone who lambasts me with group tags and/or floods my chatter screen with gestures and howlz? (gawd those annoy me)


...Steps off soap box

I do try to tip if I attend a good event, or club if I stay more than just that first minute it takes to check it out. I also hit a tip jar at a really nice build or gallery. I am not a big tipper but I try to give a little something.

I think most clubs have vendor space where they sell their own products or charge rent for other sellers to set up shop. Attending an event in a club brings traffic to the parcel which -in theory- raises the value of the retail space both by bringing shoppers near the products and by raising the listing in search>places which ranks based on traffic.

Also, I think that there are people who like to run clubs and hold events because they find it fun, and they don't make money (many lose L$) in the process.

I work as a freelance escort, and many clubs frown on freelancers making deals in them. There are some clubs that look the other way about escorting, and if I make a deal there I always tip the club. Especially if I use pose balls or animations, or other accommodations that the club has to offer.

If I visit a club and there are dancers working, I tip them...but only if I like what they are doing. To show appreciation. Far too many dancers think just being up there warrants a tip.

Sometimes if I just visit a club for fun and have a really good time, I will also leave a tip for the club.

Common courtesy really!

Brandi...xxx

I totally agree with you Jessyanne

I am really fed up with group spams too. I mean, advertise your clubs, tell me what events are going on......but not every freaking 10 minutes. I have left at least 10 groups because of the incessant chatter and BS.

The other night, Saturday I think, there was one pathetic soul who was all alone at the club whimpering *come see me, i am soooo sexy* over and over and over -- It drove me nuts. Also, incredibly sad. I tip like a mutha when I am out in about -- if I am entertained. If I take proceeds from a Sploder, I share the wealth. But, the quickest way to piss me off is to have 4 clubs blowing s**#$ out in group chats at the same time -- especially if I am building something or trying to hold a conversation of my own -- this old brain can only handle so much.

Exactly! I have left groups for the same reasons. And you're right. If I'm enjoying myself, and the sploder is pumping, I always give back, generously. But especially with the group im issues lately... building acn be a beeyatch with those IMS

I'm takin ya clubbing with me tonite

i dont really go anywhere where tipping is a real factor, but i do actually enjoy giving out $. i'll give an av as much as $5,000 if i see they are doing some work, are likely poor, and are nice.

hi Nina, you look wonderfull today, want to see what i am building?

I tip the DJ. I "donate" to the club. I do this automatically because if I like the place I want it to keep going. In my short life I've seen a few of my favorite places go out of fashion and shrink from lag city to almost deserted. I'm not sure what causes this or that donating helps, but it can't hurt.

But for some reason I'm only comfortable tipping if there is a tip jar handy. I've been to one or two places where you have to poke around in the DJ's profile to tip. That's just doesn't feel natural and I usually leave. I do not donate or tip (or stay in) any place that has its own dancers - yuch! *I* will do the dancing - thank you. -- KC

I think your overlooking a few major factors here.
Firstly RL clubs have something called liqour which pretty much allows them to exist, also they have women.
Liqour + women = plenty of male customers.
So what exactly is it that i am supposed to be paying for in SL, i cant buy liqour and i have no interest in virtual women(except as friends), and as for the djs, well im sick of hearing "doof, doof" (im sure this is SL's version of pop) everywhere so i listen to my own music and not SL's.
Also, consider the fact that there are hundreds and hundreds of clubs in SL and a lot that hand out $L prizes, why would i go to a club that wants my $L when i can go to a club that instead wnats to give me $L.

I worked at two clubs in SL,,,,, *** and ***, I DJ's for hours on end.... entertaining the masses and did I get paid for my 4 hours of keeping them entertained ... NOPE, not from the owner OR the tip jar , the ONE occasion I did get a tip I only recieved a third as the owner kept the rest.

So the question is...

Has SL turned into a PONSES PARADISE, I think so, with the advant of free acounts how do you get people who wont even pay to play the game to pay what accounts to 2pence or 4 cents (100L$) for your 4 hours of entertainment. I have been in game since december at which point I came into the game with nothing, I starter as a free player for 2 weeks then when I decided I liked it enough to invest I did, I paid my membership I went hunting for my land which I got and then found camping. Camping is BORING AS HELL.. so I befriended a person who was camping as well ... a fellow brit he introduced me to the owner of the club he DJ's at. The owner was rubbish at building so I tried and did a fair job at it and if anyone remembers pulse and bliss, he asked me to go and get some lighting... which I looked around for a it was REALLLY expensive, I figured I could do better so I used my land and started developing my own stuff...it got to the point that I used to build and DJ ... then I started to realise that I got MORE lindens for my stuff than I got DJin, The owner was getting depressed as there wasnt any interest in the club if there wasnt camping or sploders etc and even then they wouldnt tune in .... only CAMP. So eventually ... I stopped DJing there..... I spent all my time building lights and floors and the club has now closed.... so the moral of this story


If people dont reinvest into the game... then the content creators will die, then people wont have the money to offer camping etc..... then the campers will die... then SL will become a baron waistland with the Lindens sticking more and more sims out for sale but nobody buying.

If you camp to play the game then fair enough ..... if you camp because its a RL income then your a PONSE who is KILLING SL.

There are some EXCELLENT creators in SL in various different genre's, yet the public at large just doesnt even KNOW they are there...... support the clubs becasue if we look at the SL money chain

Clubs are where you go to show off your AV's, Hair .. clothes etc..
If there no clubs then theres no need to look good
which means no hair or fashion businesses
which means no camping facilities etc.. ( i know it will get rid of the free loaders but the MAJORITY DO buy YOUR products)
which means no users
which means no customers
which means no SL

i was following you all the way until you got to this point.
i dont frequent clubs. i have zero intrest in clubs, sl music/dj's, or dancing or whatnot.
but i do care about how my av looks. so i spend plenty at gurl6 and the like. i also spend heaps on building tools, texures, commercial rentals, and land.
while i see your issue regarding supporting content providers, i do not agree that sl will die if the club scene does. i dont think campers reditribute much $ at all. i'll bet i move more $ in a week than 100 campers do in an entire month. and i dont spend that much to do it either.

As a new club owner, I run my club mainly for my pleasure. I pay my staff a salary that is fair with regard to SL valuation because I want to get and keep good people, who will eventually develop the following they need for us both to be successful. I have DJs and hosts, no dancers or escorts - the club is a no-sleaze place. It is not a moneymaker. In fact, it is quite the money loser. But it is the kind of place I would like to see more of in SL, so I opened it. It is a labor of love - or, as I will cheekily put it, my money pit of love. I have faith that in time, the donations and small tip rake will offset the salaries and make it not as heavy an expense to run.

With regard to the actual question: Very few places are pleasant enough for me to want to tip them. And fewer still have my loyalty. I am not going to tip random dancers who don't do shizzle to greet me and make me feel comfortable - let me know where stuff is, and be generally friendly and fun. I don't need to be molested verbally, but some kind of friendly banter will earn a tip, unless I just happen to be feeling sorry for that person. I don't get off on looking at pixelated parts just for the sake of it, so I'm rather unimpressed 99% of the time. What I do like is good music, and good people, and I tip if I can find either. I will almost always tip DJs, as they are doing the most work to give me pleasure.

I'm a newborn, 3 weeks old today lol. I've already tipped on numerous occassions when I feel credit is due. Like others have already mentioned, if I find a club that hold me there for more than five minutes because the DJ rocks then I have always tipped the DJ (never thought of tipping the host/hostess). I have also tipped people for there help, as a newbie I need all the help I can get and some people have gone above and beyond to help me out so far (a credit to the community spirit within SL).

If you tip then it shows appreciation for someone elses hard work, and as Brandi said "Common courtesy really!" is what its all about.

Clubs don't necessarily rely on tips. The usual recipe:

– Open a club and a nearby mall, on the same land.
– Hire dancers, strippers, escorts, whatnot.
– Place sploders, camping chairs etc.
– Advertise, use lots of keywords like "sex" and "free money".
– Wait for traffic to increase.
– Trade notecards to business owners, begging them to check out your place and of course the adjacent mall.
– Business owners rent shop space, despite the fact that the club is filled with camping zombies and no one visits mall. High traffic = lots of customers! Common error.
– Mall rental fees pay for the club.

Sounds silly, but works. With sufficient seed capital, you can have your club (+mall) generating money within a few weeks. Want to earn more? Open 20 clubs. There are enough teenagers desperately searching for free camping chairs and dancepads, and enough business owners who open shopping outlets at every major mall, despite the fact that they make 98% of their revenue at their main store.

Of course, there are other clubs too, without camping zombies, without a mall attached, in short: without a concept to make revenue. Those clubs offer a much nicer ambience, but are a money drain for the owner. That's life. Second Life.
Want to earn? Sell something. Be it a product, your avatar body or traffic, you can sell everything here with a little effort & advertising. If you just build a nice place, people will consume the free content and move on.

this is gospel. ive seen it so many times.

On a side not to all this.........Dance clubs don`t make money. As someone earlier the mall supports the club and its staff. Good owners do two things ..........


1.) Repect and pay the staff fairly

2.) When dealing with mall vendors the club owner KNOWS how important the vendors are to support the club and its assets. FAIR treatment for said rents of speaces with in the mall is impairative ( or highly important ) if you want high quility high level creators setting up shops with in your mall.

3.) Running money balls......well it seems like all times dance clubs are yet again starting up the believe the money balls are important. Just like those dance pad and money chair casinos that pays its dwellers. To keep their members avies tthere for long periods of time. Dance clubs answer to go up with those casinos and others locatiosn that rely SOLEY on dances pads/money chair systems.

4.) Owners also understand how the system works and hire those that been tur the battles and wars. Support staff other then dancers, host, DJ are vital but just as vital are people that can problem solve and or help take care of problems with a emergency comes up.

5.) Main vs. Island.....here take you pick...........

Usagi