Why do items come in boxes when they don't need to?

[Sara Nova]

One of my biggest SL pet peeves is items in boxes. Rather than immediately getting my items as would make the most sense, instead I have to rez a box, open the box, copy the items to my inventory, and delete the box. It gets very annoying. Why isn't there a rule saying all items on the marketplace need to just put a folder with the items in your Received Items, rather than a folder with a box with the items? There's no reason this step should be necessary. Your thoughts?

[Sassy Romano]

I agree that it can be convenient however, for existing merchants to migrate to Direct Delivery, it was just easier to upload the existing content. Second, for those merchants who use inworld vending systems, it's easier to have just one consistent product, the box of content, in both places. An inworld vending system cannot deliver folders in the same way that Marketplace can.

 

Having the same item in both places reduces errors in packing and keeps instructions consistent, where appropriate.

 

Also to add that the whole idea of delivering unboxed content was considered a major reason for implementing Direct Delivery as it reduces the number of steps that a newbie has to go through to use content. This is completely mitigated by having an unpack script in the box so that the customer only has to wear the box, which is often in the form of a shopping bag for cuteness.

[Rhonda Pinion]

I ditto Sassy's post. My items are in boxes for the above reasons: Had them packed before the migration already. And sell them in world via vendors.

[Amethyst Jetaime]

I sell my items in boxes because that is how my vending system requires them to be sold.  I sell most of my items as copy/no transfer.  By selling them in boxes, people can go to an in world redelivery terminal connected to my vending system which is connected to the MP and have their copyable items redelivered to them if they don't get them or the item is lost from their inventory without having to contact me, send a transaction history, and wait for a reply.  They can do this as long as the product remains in stock.  Those products that I sell as transferable are mostly items people may give as gifts.  Transferable items I gift box for the customer's convenience.

I have also asked my customers and the majority prefer boxes for the reasons stated above.

[Sara Nova]

But inworld delivery can give a folder.

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/LlGiveInventoryList

[Tari Landar]

---

MyAlt4099 wrote:

One of my biggest SL pet peeves is items in boxes. Rather than immediately getting my items as would make the most sense, instead I have to rez a box, open the box, copy the items to my inventory, and delete the box. It gets very annoying. Why isn't there a rule saying all items on the marketplace need to just put a folder with the items in your Received Items, rather than a folder with a box with the items? There's no reason this step should be necessary. Your thoughts?

---

Rule? Absolutely not.

Inconvenient for shoppers? Perhaps, at times. A showstopper? Absolutely not.

While slightly inconvenient, for many this is exactly how sl has been for, well, ages. So it's not as much of a bother. For some, it's a bother because they just don't understand, as they've really only got experience with direct delivery and not needing to open packages as much. But, really, it wouldn't matter what methods are chosen by merchants, someone will be bothered by it. It's not really THAT big of a deal, to me, regardless of what method people use.

When DD was first introduced there really was a pretty quick push in that directions aimed at merchants. Many scrambled, though imo they did so long before they should have, it's irrelevant. Some merchants have thousands of items on MP. I don't blame them for not having the time to unbox, folder, and send off, for every.single.item. In fact, I'd venture a guess that the method they chose was probably the most optimal for them, at the time. So, I say. Kudos to them for doing what worked best for them.

Some of my stuff is still boxed, not all, in fact most isn't. But I do have some items I intentionally boxed because it requires the purchaser to pay attention to what they're doing. I have had products for which this  is vitally important, and experience with those particular products taught me that selling them unboxed, was a bad idea. Of course they're not my biggest sellers and they have a niche market, so most wouldn't buy them anyway, lol. Less worry of people being "annoyed" by my boxes.

If you don't want to unbox, you can always go inworld and buy...except that you often have to unbox there too. I guess I don't understand the whole "unboxing is sooooo inconvenient", when it's something we're all goign to have to do at some point.

[Tari Landar]

---

MyAlt4099 wrote:

But inworld delivery

can

give a folder.

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/LlGiveInventoryList

---

Merchants can, but most don't. The majority don't even. I have to believe there's a reason why and I don't believe the reason is so merchants can inconvenience consumers. Most of the ones I have seen who sell via folder do so with a particular vending system(theirs or one they've bought that is).

But even that method has it's limitations and can be terribly inconvenient too.

[Sassy Romano]

---

MyAlt4099 wrote:

But inworld delivery

can

give a folder.

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/LlGiveInventoryList

---

Yes this function is typically what an unpack script would do but this is completely impractical in a vending system for the following reasons:-

 

 

It would require all content for all products to be in a server prim, can you contemplate the management of hundreds of products each with hundreds of items and how that would be handled from the vending system "components of this product" page?

If done this way it would be completely impractical to manage that prim, try opening prim content with say 200 items in it and see how long it takes.  It's not difficult for one product to have 20 items in it.

Won't work anyway because of this issue "

•  Must be or recently have been within the same Region as sending object. SVC-868"

The server is rarely in the same sim as the location of the purchaser since many who use vending systems will have multiple sales locations.

This script creates one folder, Marketplace can create nested folders which have clear advantages to items that have many parts, thus if the merchant uses the folders effectively on MP, they CANNOT replicate this inworld anyway!

What we need to make this happen effectively is an API to the MP Direct Delivery system that can be called from an inworld or other web based vending system...

[Tamara Artis]

For me its practical, I keep original boxes along with unpacked folders. After some time the outfit/dress or whatever I have unpacked becomes old and I don't use it so often but at the same time I don't want to delete it completely.

I just delete the unpacked folder and keep the box. This way I have less items in my inventory and if at some later time I want to use the outfit again I just unpack the original box again. 

For items that come in folders, I have to create a box and put the entire folder in its contents. 

[Sybil Hallison]

Noone seems to mentioned the most common issue with the folders in DD.

When DD came, I thought exactly as the OP, "I don't want my customers to get into all that trouble". So even though it was inconvenient for me, I unpacked all my boxes, created folders for every product, and uploaded them to merchant box.

The problem is that after a period of time, I started having complaints from customers, contacting me that some items were missing, or most commonly that items in the received folder, had the wrong permissions, especially in the products containing 15-25 items in a folder. With a simple redelivery the problem was solved of course, but still this is not acceptable by me. I now have to do the same process again, box the folders into an auto-unpacking box and then upload them to merchant box, hoping that the auto-unpack may save a couple of clicks to my customers

[Porky Gorky]

As a merchant I wasted far too much time resolving DD issues to unpack 2600 boxes. This would take me a very long time and would save the customer only a few seconds, not worth the effort at this stage of the game. Most boxes have unpacker scripts nowadays so it's a simple process of rez, click and delete.No biggie.

 

[Sassy Romano]

---

Porky Gorky wrote:

Most boxes have unpacker scripts nowadays so it's a simple process of rez, click and delete.No biggie.

 

---

Exactly and the on_rez() event can even do the unpack and the deletion so there's only any need to rez or wear the box, no touch, no delete needed.

[Madeliefste Oh]

I prefer to sell unboxed. Because it gives customers the possibility to have a look in the content tab on the marketplace, where you can see all different parts of the products and the permissions each part has.

 

 

[Sassy Romano]

Yes this works for simple objects and clothing layers but you can't inspect permissions effectively when the object has scripts which are usually no mod.  The object then appears as no mod too which isn't necessarily correct.

[Porky Gorky]

As a consumer there are a couple of reasons why I prefer boxes. I don't shop often but when I do I will buy lots of stuff, some things I may use straight away, others things are purchased for future use. When I get home I will just dump all the new **bleep** out in a corner of my build space and there it stays until I want it. If I can't see it I generally forget about it because I use multiple avatars all of whom have very hectic inventories so I find it really handy to have stacks of boxes lying about with nice pictures on to remind me of what I have purchased. 

My inventories are very overloaded and a larger inventory results in a longer load time once you get over 30k to 40K items. Unboxed products tend to fill up the inv faster resulting in slower load times when opening the inv.

When i am finished using a product I generally archive it rather than delete it. Boxes help keep my archive orderly and if I have items that are not boxed then I will box them. 

So given the choice of boxed or unboxed I will vote for old skool boxing anyday of the week.

[Lasher Oh]

I really dislike receiving items in souless folders rather than nicely packed into a box. I like the boxes because

1 Some of them are very clever and nicely designed artifacts and show  keen sense of design and  marketing style

2. If the item  contains information of  an important nature then the pop out notecards and textures are really useful.

3 It's easier for storage and saves me the time of having to rezz a new box in order to place the things that came in a lazy Marketplace folder, so that my inventory doesn't get more overloaded than it is already.

Long Live  Prepacked Boxes :-)

That's my tuppence worth!

 

^L^

[Madeliefste Oh]

---

Porky Gorky wrote:

As a consumer there are a couple of reasons why I prefer boxes. I don't shop often but when I do I will buy lots of stuff, some things I may use straight away, others things are purchased for future use. When I get home I will just dump all the new **bleep** out in a corner of my build space and there it stays until I want it. If I can't see it I generally forget about it because I use multiple avatars all of whom have very hectic inventories so I find it really handy to have stacks of boxes lying about with nice pictures on to remind me of what I have purchased. 

My inventories are very overloaded and a larger inventory results in a longer load time once you get over 30k to 40K items. Unboxed products tend to fill up the inv faster resulting in slower load times when opening the inv.

When i am finished using a product I generally archive it rather than delete it. Boxes help keep my archive orderly and if I have items that are not boxed then I will box them. 

So given the choice of boxed or unboxed I will vote for old skool boxing anyday of the week.

---

Thay is a nice method for someone who has enough land with unused prims. But many people don't have land or are limited in prim count. They can just let the purchased items sit in their purchased items folder, till it is time to use them.

 

 

[Drake1 Nightfire]

---

Lasher Oh wrote:

I really dislike receiving items in souless folders rather than nicely packed into a box. I like the boxes because

1 Some of them are very clever and nicely designed artifacts and show  keen sense of design and  marketing style

2. If the item  contains information of  an important nature then the pop out notecards and textures are really useful.

3 It's easier for storage and saves me the time of having to rezz a new box in order to place the things that came in a lazy Marketplace folder, so that my inventory doesn't get more overloaded than it is already.

 

Long Live  Prepacked Boxes :-)

 

That's my tuppence worth!

 

^L^

---

i have to disagree with point one. I don't need a 30 prim box for my 13 prim mesh bedroom set... Throw it in a cube, slap a pic on the box and call it done..

as to point three, that's all well and good unless its a wearable. Who wants to unpack clothing each time they want to put it on?

[Madeliefste Oh]

I have bought products that came in boxes that contained boxes that contained boxes.

For example when you buy a multi-pack. You get one box, that contains store information, product information a landmark and three boxes. Unpacking those three boxes, every single box gives go again: store information, product information a landmark, and several boxes that contain the actual products. Unpacking the actual products give you a again the same landmark, store information and product information.

You have a lot to clean up afterward, when you care about a well organised inventory.

[Perrie Juran]

I prefer my purchases in a box also.  Especially if an item is copy/mod.  My back up is in the box and it reduces inventory clutter. 

It is a lot easier to unpack a box than for me to have to pack everything into a box for my back up.

It would be awesome if all merchants used the "wear to unpack script."

[Pamela Galli]

---

Porky Gorky wrote:

When I get home I will just dump all the new **bleep** out in a corner of my build space and there it stays until I want it. If I can't see it I generally forget about it because I use multiple avatars all of whom have very hectic inventories so I find it really handy to have stacks of boxes lying about with nice pictures on to remind me of what I have purchased. 

 

---

This is exactly what I do. Otherwise even if I remember I have something I don't know what it is called. 

[Deja Letov]

---

Perrie Juran wrote:

I prefer my purchases in a box also.  Especially if an item is copy/mod.  My back up is in the box and it reduces inventory clutter. 

It is a lot easier to unpack a box than for me to have to pack everything into a box for my back up.

It would be awesome if all merchants used the "wear to unpack script."

---

This is why I like boxes too. Gotta love backups. besides it's only one extra step and it's not really that big of a deal.

[Czari Zenovka]

---

Tamara Artis wrote:

For me its practical, I keep original boxes along with unpacked folders. After some time the outfit/dress or whatever I have unpacked becomes old and I don't use it so often but at the same time I don't want to delete it completely.

I just delete the unpacked folder and keep the box. This way I have less items in my inventory and if at some later time I want to use the outfit again I just unpack the original box again. 

For items that come in folders, I have to create a box and put the entire folder in its contents. 

---

My reason for selling my items boxed is pretty much the same.  I keep a very organized inventory, including keeping the item count as low as possible. (Total inventory is approximately 8700 - and that is after 6 years in SL and being a builder/merchant - the secret is boxing/storage.)

I prefer receiving my items boxed.  When I receive items, usually clothing, in folders then *I* have to take the extra step of creating a box for the back up, if it has copy perms.  For me, it's *inconvenient* to take the 5 extra seconds needed to box up items.  (See how it's impossible to please everyone? :matte-motes-wink-tongue:)

As a merchant, the same factors apply as others have stated - Items are sold boxed in world and keeping two separate sets, one boxed-one in a folder, is counterproductive.

Edit: clarification

[Czari Zenovka]

---

Sassy Romano wrote:

---

Porky Gorky wrote:

Most boxes have unpacker scripts nowadays so it's a simple process of rez, click and delete.No biggie.

 

---

Exactly and the on_rez() event can even do the unpack and the deletion so there's only any need to rez or wear the box, no touch, no delete needed.

---

Can someone recommend an unpacker script please?   Thanks.

Edit: clarification

[Porky Gorky]

---

Pamela Galli wrote:

---

Porky Gorky wrote:

When I get home I will just dump all the new **bleep** out in a corner of my build space and there it stays until I want it. If I can't see it I generally forget about it because I use multiple avatars all of whom have very hectic inventories so I find it really handy to have stacks of boxes lying about with nice pictures on to remind me of what I have purchased. 

 

---

This is exactly what I do. Otherwise even if I remember I have something I don't know what it is called. 

---

Before I learned to make textures and then sculpts/meshes I used to buy allot of full perm textures and sculpt maps, and I mean ALLOT!  It got out of hand so I made my own rezzable shops full of the things I had purchased,  like the demo rezzers we use for prefabs. So if I am looking for some branches I'll jut rez the "landscaping shop" and voila, every full perm landscaping item I ever bought is there for me to peruse in it's original packaging. It took allot of hours to set up initially and I ended up with over 20 "shops" but it really allowed me to get the most out of all the full perm items I had purchased for many years. All obsolete now of course as my creative process has completely changed. Got millions of L$ worth of full perm textures and sculpt maps, all useless  as everything is custom made outside of SL now.