No refunds for classifieds

I've read this on the Linden blog, kinda horrifies me:


Why were classifieds charged, when they're practically unusable, unsearchable (except for prefix name search)?

I'm sure most wouldn't agree, but I actually prefer the classifieds this way.

Now if I search for something like "skins" * I get 20 odd actual skinmakers and not hundreds of malls and other venues filling their descriptions with barely relevant words so their ad gets more exposure no matter what people are searching for. It actually seems to work in the way I'd have expected places/events/classifieds search to work were they not spammed into uselessness.

(* disclosure: I make skins)

unless of course the noobs make the mistake of searching for "skin" or "make up" or "photorealistic" or "freckles" or "goth" or ... any of 100 words youmight have used in your descriptions, that now have to be specifically called out as the first word of the title.

Amazingly, I don't get a lot of people searching for "Eclectic". Problem is I have 2 jetpacks, a chair, a tip jar, an avatar, and a penis in my shop. 6 items. In order to cover them I'd need over 15 ads at $50 each (instead of one at $50).

This is not acceptable to low-end sellers with a variety of products.

Because the current situation makes having one of the front-page classifieds even more valuable. I can easily see a lot of drama coming up if people found out that they could have had a L$100000 classified slot for free by posting at the right time, but they weren't told.

Your skin store won't be found unless you list it with "Skins" as the first word in your store name, hon. And even then, if they look for "Female Skins" or "Male Skins" they will never see you. It only works as you say if you, as a merchant, flagrantly spam the Classifieds with dozens or even hundreds or ads, that each start their name with a different keyword, which is absolutely insane!

Instead of ONE concise listing per location:

Name: Ceera's Fashions - Furnation
Description: Dresses, t-shirts, avatar parts, cheongsam, sarong, eyes

I now have to list all of these?

Name: Dress - Ceera's Fashions - Furnation
Description: Dresses, t-shirts, avatar parts, cheongsam, sarong, eyes

Name: t-shirt - Ceera's Fashions - Furnation
Description: Dresses, t-shirts, avatar parts, cheongsam, sarong, eyes

Name: Shirt - Ceera's Fashions - Furnation
Description: Dresses, t-shirts, avatar parts, cheongsam, sarong, eyes

Name: Avatar - Ceera's Fashions - Furnation
Description: Dresses, t-shirts, avatar parts, cheongsam, sarong, eyes

Name: Cheongsam - Ceera's Fashions - Furnation
Description: Dresses, t-shirts, avatar parts, cheongsam, sarong, eyes

Name: Sarong - Ceera's Fashions - Furnation
Description: Dresses, t-shirts, avatar parts, cheongsam, sarong, eyes

Name: Eyes - Ceera's Fashions - Furnation
Description: Dresses, t-shirts, avatar parts, cheongsam, sarong, eyes

... ad nauseum

And I must repeat that for EVERY STORE AND ITEM TYPE THAT I SELL?

No, I am NOT going to do that. Classifieds are useless now, and I will NOT pay for a castrated service!

My shop is named and advertised as 'PrimWorx', but I actually make toy trains, voting boards, teleporters, etc.

So what am I supposed to do now? (Other than continue paying the weekly classified fees, eh

This is a nightmare and the wall of silence were getting on all questions related to classified is quite worrying.

I want a refund for the last week - the service Im getting is NOT what im paying for.

I want a return to the previous seachable classifeds, before everyone simply floods the listings with a ton of adverts.

Ah the Tao of SL ... the increase in revenue this brings LL will be offset by the increased server need.

Ooooooooom

I think it would be kind of a neat idea to pay for classifieds per search keyword! Maybe when find gets up and working instead. I have gotten tired of doing a search and having all the clubs come up first because they list every keyword possible for search when I'm looking for something specific in a shop.

ah, just turn it over to google.

It's a nightmare, all right. And I hate to say this, but it looks like another fatality of the Open Doors at All Costs policy.

coco

Finally an answer in Linden Answers, it is temporary (we hope):

/139/e8/152972/1.html

That'd certainly get my vote, nomination, endorsement, synonym, synonym, typo-for-matching-synonym, unrelated key-word fishing for searching people, pie, ... !

Its not an answer, a free weeks extension of a broken pay service for everybody who didnt cancel their adverts is not a refund.

It might take some time to process a refund, it takes seconds for someone to take the decsion to refund and let it be known.

(just so its known my weekly budget for advertsing inc classifieds is L$4000 - my business, like all in SL depend, on people being able to find you)