Advice on Sales!!

KessKreations - Quality Fine Jewelry
Kesseret Steeplechase
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Amira/21/92/22

Upon TPing in, I am facing the wrong way, so a quick spin around and I see the sign, very pretty, definitely tells you what the main product of the store is. Very pretty jewelry, and she has demo's so that is also a bonus, that way you will know if it fits or not. I see there is also a gift card system, which is nice. This designer put a lot of work into the jewelry she has here, using micro prims to the extreme. I am not usually a person big on SL jewelry but this one definitely impresses me. Store is well laid out, classy with easy to see ads, and did I mention demo's? Iit is like the hair of jewelry!
I would rate this store as very nice and have yet to find any fault. The owner is also in the store, so that is a nice plus too, and had a couple customers when I walked in.

A Touch of Surreal
Owned by Surreal Babii
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Play%20Sexy/51/27/22

I teleport in and my first thought was, wow this is big. Things rezzed about average for me. After wandering around I get the feeling as though I am at a yardsale. Things seem to be tossed down and no really placement but, it works! I looked at the mixture of things that are available and although I would not really consider them surreal, they are nicely done, with a nice collection. My only complaint was the picture frames.. no pictures in them! And they say click to power on, however when I clicked the small ones, it wanted me to buy it! Oops....
I would rate the store as comfortable, not too over the top, and worth visiting.

E! - Eclectic Accessories
Owned by Ecelectic Wingtips
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Marsco/75/82/358

Having had the pleasure of meeting Ecelectic in world previous to this review, I must say, she is one cool lady! Her place very much fits her personality, fun, bubbly and friendly, with a touch of excitement added in. When I teleported in the first thing I noticed was the E! Elmo Slippers, way too cute! And the prices, wow, very low, so even the frugal shopper can find something here. I usually avoid buying things as of late, but.. I just had to get a couple things from her store. With paint splattered floors and awesome brickwork, this store just screams fun! The logo is very fitting as the store really has no one type of thing, Eceletic is the perfect name for the store, and the owner! So far this is one of my favorites!

Sampireun Design - Low Prim Furniture
Owned by Marcel Flatley
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ecstasy%20City%20Beach/137/216/25

The owner made a good comment on the forums, when he requested for a review..."Because I built the place, I am to biased to see its flaws". I think we all feel that way about our own builds, we either can not see the flaws, or we see the flaws others do not, or.. both. With that being said...time for my review! Teleporting in brings me to a nice quaint little area with a duck ponds which also have some swans, so I like that. I see there are a few lucky chairs, so lucky shoppers can hope their letter comes up. The store has a nice bright feel, which shows the furniture very well. The small ramps up to the second level (not the upstairs) seem tobe backwards, I feel as though I should walk up the stairs, but it looks as thought the ramps were made for that purpose. Very nice furniture for the primpincher. The shape shifting tables is a very nice touch. The only thing I would change is the ramps to the next level, turn those into steps and the steps into ramps.

Beck's Card Shop
Owned by Miles Beck
http://slurl.com/secondlife/FairChang%20Balboa/23/72/25

Very open feel and welcoming. The rez time so far is about normal for me. Ok, it is a card shop... the first I have seen in Second Life, and I must say, it is nice! I can almost smell the paper as I walk around looking at the cards. This card shop is well thought out, and very nicely put together, and if you know anyone who are getting married, or having a baby or it is almost their rez day, get them a card at Beck's Card Shop!

Evotive
Owned by Malina Chuwen
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Utopia/69/98/260

I sincerely hope I got the name correct, since the name in the land description shows as "The perfect Society-Im a Penis adultshop-Utopia-free money tree". This is one major reason it is a good idea to use your store name either in the name of your product or written out on the ads, or at least put a full name logo in the store somewhere.
As for the product, it looks like she sells skins, and a few animations. The skins are pretty dark skins. The animations are not actually animations as far as I could tell, but static poses, which over all are not too bad, but a little overpriced for my pocketbook. Not a lot of product, but shows potential. Now sure what the area I am in is, as there is nothing much else around.
(It shows everything as owned by the store owner, so I would suggest, to enhance the potential customers experience, remove the vendor, put the skins out on individual prims, and also do the same thing with the poses, (and rename them as poses, unless they actually do animate and my system was not showing me). This will make your store appear to have more product, as well as make it easier for the customer to be able to browse through it.

Fashionity Fantasy
Owned by Saku Koltai
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Glam%20Island/130/202/28

Well my first impression.... HUGE... now what do I do? If this were not a review I would have already TP'd away as the TP dumped me in one location but pointed me in another, which when I went there, was not where I needed to be. As for the product, I am still waiting to find it. Ah there we go, takes awhile to rez, and it is a large store, so either expect to do a lot of walking, or flying, do not try to cam as things may not rez for you from a distance. The card on sale here signs are hard to read with the blue on blue , although the ads are very nicely done, with a nice neutral background. The product I did see looks very well done. Did I mention it is a huge store? There seems to be a lot of wasted space. If it were mine I would downsize the store to a more comfortable level. (I do not even see all the store at my minimum draw distance). Don't get me wrong, if you are liking grand staircases, and large open spaces, then this is the store for you! It just doesn't have that cosy feel for me, I tend to prefer smaller enclosed spaces for shopping. (unless the store is packed, ie Girl6 for example NEEDS a large store)


There we go, sorry for all the totem posts, but I respect the designers and store owners and felt each review deserves it's own post

This was an exciting moment for me (if I've mentioned it somewhere on the forums already, please excuse my memory but pretty sure I haven't mentioned it in this thread)...

I make a "Lady's Dagger" that I mentioned being encouraged by Goreans to sell in their venues. It is made to be worn high on the thigh and the band holding the dagger to the thigh is made of black lace. Very feminine and can go either Goth or hidden under the Gorean FW robes of concealment.



I've sold several of these both when I rented the small stall plus from SLex.

So, I'm out touring the Caledon exhibit during SL5B and enter a place for the "Young Widow's Club" (or something similar). I'm walking around...stop in my tracks...blink...and see....



My dagger had been used as part of the "set" for one of the Caledon exhibits. I was so excited. I quickly called my partner over, jumped up and down....did an edit on it to see my name as the creator...

...and that, for me is part of the fun of creating in SL. Never know where one's creations will travel.

that is so cool czari

Thanks so much, Skell! (I have a tendency to complicate things that don't need to be...lol.)

Thanks so much, Rha! You've gone to a LOT of places to review...I hope you've gotten frequent-flyer miles for all the TPing.

Several of you have mentioned that the rez time in my store has been normal. THANKS! I know how it is on my computer, but feedback is helpful.

Greeting card shops are notorious for long rez times. After all, our displays are quite similar to those at texture stores; most of you have probably experienced long waits at those.

In case you're interested, especially for any of you who need to display so many textures that you're concerned about rez time, here's what I did: I used 1024x1024 texture sheets (several images on one texture) for most of the cards on display. Each texture sheet contains the designs of 2, 3, or 4 cards. This way, customers will see the textures quicker than if each card's textures were on a separate sheet. (For example, instead of four 512x512 texture files for four cards, I combine those images on a 1024x1024 texture file; the resolution is the same either way.)

However, I use different texture files for the cards customers receive. Those cards look the same as the cards in the store, but I don't want a customer to rez a card she purchased and then wait for an entire 1024x1024 texture to rez -- only one-third to one-fourth of that texture sheet would be seen for the one card. Therefore, for each card design, I uploaded the textures twice: the large texture sheets for those on display in the store, and smaller texture sheets with one design on each for the cards that customers receive. (For most of my designs, each individual image is the same size for both copies. In a few designs, the files used for customers' cards have slightly better resolution.)

It sounds more complicated than it is. Bottom line: it saves a bit of rez time.

I also used texture sheets for almost all the non-tiled textures in the building and my signs. And if you ever wonder why I used the same few plants over and over, it's simply because I didn't want customers to wait for more plant textures to rez.

Awwwwww thanks!!! I loved meeting you too! You are so enthusiastic about what you do and very lovely to boot My prices are very cheap and a number of people have brought this up. I thought about raising them a bit, BUT I want new people or people without a lot of money to enjoy my stuff. Un like most of you I dont have tier to pay and my only costs are my uploads. I do this for the sheer enjoyment of peple finding something of mine they like. I also figure at L$50 someone who might not have taken a chance on someting i made is more likely to cos L50 isnt much to lose

I've no idea how you even seen the shop since it's been long gone even before your post O.o Interesting though. And as I said in reply to my previous rate, I can do nothing about the title and am moving anyway

Thanks for your time though. And I'll be checking out your mall in a bit and see if there's any room left, lol.

I believe this is fairly common - if a single vendor does very well, and has friends who make things too, they'll agree with their friends to move to an island and merge all of their content under the successful brand name.

I know for certain that Bare*Rose (June Dion) and Curious Kitties (Ameshin Yossarian) did this. Simone! (Simone Stern) may have done so, too.

Rha - Ok! I found a spot I like and I've done it I think? Never rented a shop so I appologize if I do something wrong.. Just kick me You can keep the 50L if you wanna.. Especially get a whole month!? Gosh, that just helped me loads already! Going to see how nice I can get it on 25 prims, lol.

You can 'cut in' a space for my name if you'd like.. I'm not terribly fussy especially on such a kind offer. I've also told ::EZ::'s owner but she's still thinking about it.

YES! makes every single hour you've spent creating worth it. cool story!

Congrats Czari! That is a great story.

it was previously posted on my blog, but I kinda guessed no one bothered to go look there, so deleted them off my blog and posted the reviews here.

I mentioned it a few times that I did some reviews and placed them on my blog so as to not clutter this thread, then noticed others posting reviews here so figured... ok guess this will work then

Oh shoot! I appologize I do remember you posting about your blog and kept meaning to check it out, life's just been a little crazy these past 12 hours. Lol..

Next time I swear to pay better attention? =)

just so folks do not think I am ignoring you hehe

you know I am right there with you in world, and already refunded the rent, and upped the time... and now.. will cut the land LOL

you are welcome hon

It is a huge space, I was really unsure how to place items because its long and narrow. I will put a test easle out for trying and change the buying feature on the easles too. Thank you so much for your review and input . I have been away the last few days, so im catching up and trying to get around to everyones shops. I have a day off tomorrow, finally, lol, and will hopefully get things done! But i must say I had a few sales since i was gone, so I had a big smile on my face. I love creating, but i love it when someone actually buys something from me, woohoo , now just a few hundred more a day and i can get that sim I have had my eye on, lol.

lol no worries, we all get busy

very welcome

Hmmm.. I don't know what can I reply to this ... Ok I will try to be smart and correct.

The shop is huge, yes for sure. I own the complete island, the shop is set on 1/3 sim approx. The other part of the island is landscaping and full of things to discover. It looks like you miss that. There are maze, fantasy creatures, house, waterfall, mermaid, troll, litlle church and many more ..oh yes and a large shop. Last week, a hunt was running all over the sim, it has been a success.

The tp doesn't face the shop .. ok I will look at it but as I said all the island is dedicated to Fashionity, and as the shop is the big part of the island, i never see a customer looking for the entrance of the shop.

My draw distance is set to 200m and I can easily see all in the shop from the tp point. Also,, about the notice in blue ... the character are white .. so i don't understand why it should be hard to read it. There are more than one blue notice in the shop for example for "Gift pict reward system" and all the customer can read it easily.

Wasted place ... I don't think "wasted" is the correct term. For sure there are areas without things to sell, some space are dedicating to relax or even to play piano, or only for freebies ... As I said in a previous post, i create for fun and I don't mind to invest all my SL money in SL, this main shop and sim are the result of this. If you need medium or small shops, I have a 25-30 mall shop list I can give you.

You said about Girl6, they NEED a large shop ... hmm ..is it another way to say that I don't need it ? Inside the shops, there are more than 50 different outfit Collection all set in with many colors and all display on big vendors so the customer can examine all the clothes details before buying ... and I,m still creating so the stock increase every weeks ...

The product seems well done and ads too ...hmm ok thks you. I think it's the only positive point in your review. Perhaps i would prefer without the "it seems".

Honestly, 1st time I read this on your blog, I was a bit angry but I decided to not reply as it was only on your blog. Now as you moved it on this forum, it's not the same. Fortunately, I have slept on it, i'm less angry about that.
My impressions of this is you tp there and have try to see all only with cam (or perhaps fly or walk but not very long). For sure it's not working if your draw distance is under 200 meters. There actually around 11000 primitives on the sim, so give them a chance to reez ...

To conclude this, I have to say that this place is more than a shop, it's a complete sim dedicated to my business. Your review is the first negative feed back I have about. Perhaps, this sim is the proof that some people in SL love to create but not only for money, just for fun. Since opening in July, I have received many congrats from customers or visitors, perhaps I was desserved a "negative" one.

Anyway, thks you for the time you was in my sim.

A word about malls.

I have a satellite shop in a mall, and received a notecard from them this morning, promptly facepalmed and said 'd'oh'! Why haven't I shared the experience I have had with a particular mall when it has been so positive and beneficial?

I haven't sold much there, almost enough to cover the rents so far hehe but not quite. But like Jo Jo said in an earlier post, sometimes mall shops aren't really for selling, but for exposure.

I went to look at this mall because of two things that I read in the advertisment. No Camping and No Resellers. Ok, I'm sure there's a box 'o bots somewhere if traffic really counts for anything anymore...but it was the 'no resellers' line that really grabbed me.
I don't mean to dun all resellers...some of you provide a great service and do a great job, but there are some resellers whose operations are a bit 'shoddy' (reselling freebies for example) and they tend to make me look at the shops around them in a dimmer light.

So anyhow...I went and looked at this mall, and saw ONE stall for rent. I walked around, and saw names like Dreamscape and Xcite and BG Shoes and many more that I recognized. I grabbed the stall!

Since I have been there, the mall has hosted 3 or 4 events, including a fashion show for it's renters. (That was the first and only fashion show anything of mine has been in and it was a thrill to be honest). The reason I think of sharing this with you all now is that today I got a notecard about an upcoming Labor Day weekend sidewalk sale and also a little note about an fashion show being planned for the end of September.

I'm not going to say the name of the mall, cause I'm not here to advertise for them (and if you really want to know it is in my picks and usually there are less than 1 or 2 shops available anyway) but what I do want to point out is that when you look for a mall, look for one that hosts events (including fashion shows, what better way to get your stuff out to be noticed?), surround yourself with a class act, again like Jo Jo said 'the cheapest house in the nicest neighborhood'.