Selling on Xstreet just got more expensive

I consider that measley amount they charge for commission, as basically "free".....call me an elitist snob....or do the math.

To the best of my knowledge (and I admit that is limited), Xstreet has never been "free". They have always taken a percentage out of my sales.

These new fees just seem aimed at forcing out those of us who build for fun and want to share our creations with others and maybe make a few lindens here or there.

My sales would definitely not be sufficient to cover the 10 linden per month listing fee. For the 100 plus items I had listed that would come to over 1000 lindens a month just to keep my listings. So -- as the "hobbyist" merchant - my items will need to be removed and only sold inworld. I would rather give my lindens to the mall owners than directly to LL.

Just my two cents.

I don't see what elitism has to do with it; it's the difference between 'free' and 'not free'. The math is blindingly simple.

x > 0, therefore x != 0

I'm sorry you feel that way. I hope that you aren't letting the opinions of others (in a heated moment, without thinking straight), persuade you into doing something that takes the fun away for you. Giving lindens to mall owners instead....is not a bad thing at all.

1000 lindens is like what....4 dollars? I've got a ton of hobbies...can't do one of them for 4 dollars a month. Even the gas to go to Hobby Lobby a few times, for the 50 bucks in supplies, is going to cost more than that.

But that four dollars is a parking fee for a parking lot at a place you don't actually need to go to to take part in the hobby. You only went there because you got $2 tubes of acrylic paint for free, and it was on the way.

The ditching XStreet vibe is strong across the street as well.

http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/general-sl-discussion/36999-second-life-blog-roadmap-managing.html

Yes, and when I got out of the truck in the parking lot, I accidentally banged my door against a Lexus, and the owner got real pissy...but then he saw the paintings in the front seat, that were on their way to the gallery, and he purchased 2 of them....then became my best customer....so I no longer had to scrounge for free paint.

If you think this is bad just wait until some of the terrible ideas they sent out in a recent survey start getting put to use by LL. They are taking away the ability for small time merchants to conduct business and will be doing more to eliminate them in the future if they actually put forward some of the things in the recent merchant survey. To larger merchants this may seem like a good thing, however just wait until they start with the 10-30% sale surcharges and other various things I am bawwwing about.

Linden Labs' excuse this time around is the same damn thing they did with Openspaces. They are blaming the residents once again for the faults of their own establishment. This time it's the residents fault for "flooding" the market with freebies. Last time it was the residents fault for "abusing" openspaces. I honestly have NO issues finding things I want on Xstreet so I have no idea what bullshit this is or what provoked this other than LL looking to make more revenue.

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Please read this paragraph quoted from the changes FAQ:

"The Xstreet SL Marketplace is not meant to provide a replacement or even identical experience to that of shopping in-world. Instead, it serves as a specialized shopping experience which makes shopping & selling easier and different in many ways."

This explanation is what credit card companies are giving their customers in the U.S. after they screw them over. "It is not meant to replace.."

They bought SLX.. That means they can redefine what it is entirely as they are doing currently. I've just removed all my xstreet listings. As I vowed after the openspace changes to never deal with simulators and LL again, I will now never use xstreet again. Whiny, but well deserved bawwwwwing.

I made a large number of items inactive. If they haven't sold, or have only sold once or twice, they are now inactive. They will all be deleted because there is no sense in listing something that isn't selling enough to pay for its $10L listing fee + commissions. I'm not here to go into the negative, that makes no sense.

I have based my business on providing a quality product for a reasonable price. To do that, I need to keep my costs down. The bottom line is that there are a few of my mall locations that each earn at least as my XSSL listings do every month. While I might consider paying $1000L a month for a 100 prim mall spot, that spot will need to earn at least that much, or I don't keep the spot. I'm not going to pay LL $1000 a month PLUS commissions because I just don't sell enough on there to justify it.

I used XSSL for the convenience to my customers. On average, it counts for less that 10% of my overall monthly earnings. Right now I am leaving my better selling items up, but they will be going too, soon.

And I really think LL ought to come up with a way to mass delete. I'm not looking forward to having to edit each item in my inactive folder to delete it. I'll get carpal tunnel

But everyone else who's tried that is now in jail for assault.

Oh my, that's precious.

Shoppers hate free and affordable items!

They expect me to believe that real feedback from real shoppers gave the result, "Too many free and affordable items."

I also wonder what economics school the geniuses at Linden Lab attended that would even suggest to them to that a market that provides items at the lowest prices through competition is not "optimal." There's some revolutionary economic theory there.

Of all the idiot things that anyone has ever written on behalf of Linden Lab, this one is so stupid that I nominate for the official, "They've jumped the shark" moment of Second Life.

It takes some finesse.

Just pulled all of my ex-Street listings in protest.

Just in time for Holiday shopping! >_<

So much for the free information kit I had up there. They have slapt me one time to many.

I think the part that really gets me is this little bit (quoted from the blog post)...

I don't know about other people with listings on XStreet but I must say that I am very offended by Colossus Linden stating that any product I have that doesn't sell at least one per month is nothing more than "clutter". Why is it that every time Linden Labs decides to make a controversial announcement do they go out of their way to insult us in the process?

I beg to differ!

Two of my clutter items had 4 and 5 stars. Go figure.

I seem to have the same two cents. I just made my listings inactive and deleted the magic box.

QFT!

My products average in the 40L range. I sell at least one item a day on XStreet so now I either:

(1) Raise the price to include the 10L fee
(2) Move to another site
(3) Just pack the whole creating/selling items in and come into SL every once in awhile for entertainment.

I've said this before, but enough small merchants do this, it will cause a big wave.

Let's see.. over 700 items.. not one a freebie.. 7000+L per month just to have them listed and available..

OK, this is not going to be too difficult a business decision for me.

How many items are available at the various shopping sites, including XStreet:

http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/virtual-business/37026-second-life-shopping-sites-tracking.html
http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/virtual-business/37026-second-life-shopping-sites-tracking.html

Note: the Xstreet numbers dropped by about 500 just between when I took a snapshot to add up the total and post it, and when I looked back again.

Note2: I removed my own two freebie *information kits* which I never expected to make any sales from, those were purely community service items.

So deactivated items would *also* be charged the 10L listing fee? If so, DANG!! I thought I would just deactivate the seasonal things and cycle them back in as needed.

I am of the understanding that it has not yet come into effect...so...

Do we try and send a message to the Lindens by making all our stuff deactivated (which of course would only work if all or the majority of us do so) as a protest

Do we simply bite the bullet and pay the fee (cannot see myself paying that..I have over 300 items loaded - one is free as a sample of what I do ... every other one is active, my creation and something I am intensely proud of. But..the majority of them are not selling much on Sl Street. And even if they were...I am now paying a nice commission to the Lindens for the privilege of selling them there. Somehow it seems a double dip to me...they get a commission when I sell something AND a fee every month I have it listed? Should it not be one OR the other? I pay a fee to list something...and then no commission...which I would not mind on some of my more expensive items...or I pay a commission and no fee when it is listed.

I don't mind one OR the other..but both? It aint like I am makin tiers now..now your gonna really try and put me out of business.

Either way I have to take a very hard look at what I have listed on SL Street and probably deactive 90%...its still available in world

Anyone know of another web based selling system that can work as an alternative? I always saw SL Street as simply an advertising tool anyhow..you look there..find what you want..maybe buy there..but also may just go to the merchant's shop to see what else is out. For sure most of my stuff will be not available on sl street ... which means they will lose out on that commission

Apparently it is against the forum guidelines to mention any other outworld commerce site other than xstreetsl. Can you say anticompetitive, LL?