Billing Cycle question - more information... (Edited with reply)

[Ren Float]

I realize now that I neglected to mention in my previous question (a few hours ago) that I paid for a year's worth of Premium membership - so I won't (or at least SHOULDN'T) be billed for anything (since I don't yet own land) for at least another 10 months (assuming the bill arrives a month before membership expires). Should i use the date that I bought the Premium membership and presume the billing cycle begins each month on that date (the 9th for me)?

Thank you for the tip about the class on land ownership - I'll try to be there.

I apologize for starting a new thread, but I saw no way to reply in the same thread.

 EDIT:

If I understand you correctly...

The very first time I buy land, whatever that date of the month it is will set the "billing cycle" in stone. I'll get the whole month's use from it - regardless of the date my premium membership would have been due, right?

(thanx for the info about Edit)

 

Actually... as a Premium member I do have land - was that counted as buying land?

[Muletta]

The billing date of premium and the billing date for land holdings, are not always the same.

If you have owned land before - have had a break in your premium-membership - and come back an sign up again for premium....the first day you ever bought land in your second-life, will allways follow you, as the future billing date.

If you never have owned land before, the future billing date will be the one, when you buy your first land.

If you are not able to see a date on your dashboard - account - account summary...I suggest you ask LL.

[Muletta]

...you can reply in the thread, using the option button to the right in your screen, and choose EDIT.

Then your reply will show in your first post, which started the thread

[Muletta]

(assuming the bill arrives a month before membership expires).

You will not get a bill before membership expires...If you do not remember to downgrade to basic membership before next date of premium-billing (after getting rid of your lands/Linden-home) - your account will be charged per default for another year of premium.

 

[Muletta]

If I understand you correctly...

The very first time I buy land, whatever that date of the month it is will set the "billing cycle" in stone. I'll get the whole month's use from it - regardless of the date my premium membership would have been due, right?

Yes! Correct.

 

(thanx for the info about Edit)

You are welcome

 

Actually... as a Premium member I do have land - was that counted as buying land?

It depends... If you have "bought" estate-land, it does not count.

If you only have bought the 512 m2, which is free of monthly fee, it does not count either...

- But the very first day, you buy some mainland, where you have to start to pay monthly land-fee to LL, this will be your billingdate of landholding forever and ever....Even if you have a break as a premium member.

[Muletta]

Specifik:

You sign up for premium membership on Sept 9th. - Your billing date for premium fee, will always be the 9th. each month/each 3 months/each year.... depending for how long, you have signed up.

You buy your first land on Sept. 20th. Your first land which is more than the 512 fee-free sqm. The future billing date for landholdings will be the 20th. each month.

So you have in fact 2 billing days, to watch out for

 

[Rolig Loon]

It looks like Muletta has answered all of your questions quite nicely, including a tip about how to edit your question to add more information.  (You can also post a direct reply to a specific post in the thread by clicking on the Permalink in that post, BTW. It's a silly system, but it's what we have.)  The only point of clarification I would add is that you do NOT have land as a Premium member.  What you have is a land fee waiver that will cover the monthly fees for a 512 sq m parcel of land on the Mainland.  That waiver will be applied to your monthly bill automatically if you

1. Choose a Linden Home, which comes on its own 512 sq m parcel or

2. Buy a parcel on the Mainland.

Buying a parcel in a private estate doesn't count.  Nor does renting. Nor does the cost of buying the land itself or of building a house, landscaping, deorating, or anything else.  That waiver is only for monthly land fees on the Mainland.

[Ren Float]

Thanks for the tip about Permalink - I was expecting that to mean something entirely different.

 

Here is my current situation, and what I am considering:

 

1) I currently have and use the Linden Premium gift home located wherever/however it normally comes.

2) I am considering buying a 2048 sqm parcel.

 

Q: Ignoring any "tier effect" for the moment, would the fee waiver lower my obligation down to 1536 sqm? (I presume the tier effect would raise it back up to 2048)

Q: If so, if a 2560 sqm parcel was available (I don't even know if that's possible) and I bought it, would I be charged for 2048 sqm?

Q: Is there an additional "property tax" type of fee if I "improve" the land?

 

I'm definitely going to do my best to make it to those classes! I don't suppose anyone has the LM handy to post?

 

[Ren Float]

Thank you for the clarification.

[Ren Float]

You've confirmed what I was beginning to realize. Thank you

[Rolig Loon]

Caledon Oxbridge University is at https://support.secondlife.com/history/ . You will find that they have an excellent set of tutorials there on a range of topics, both intro level and advanced. The more detailed your land questions get, the more important it will be for you to ask Lindal Kidd, who is our resident expert in such things. You may do well to send her a private message if she doesn't chime in here before long. Or simply wait until Friday and ask her in class.

If I understand your situation correctly, you are currently using your land fee waiver for the Linden Home. If you kept the Linden Home and bought a Mainland parcel, therefore, you would pay the normal monthly land fee for that new land. If you abandon your Linden Home, the land fee waiver will again be available to cover the fee for the first 512 sq m of your new land. So, you would in effect be left paying a fee for land in the 2048 tier but would have a $5 credit applied against it. If you buy more than 2048 sq m, you will be in the next tier and therefore at a higher fee level but, again, you would have a $5 credit applied against THAT fee. There is no additional "property tax". Your only costs are the purchase price for the land and anything that you buy to put on it (trees, a house, fencing, furniture, animals ... ). Those are one-time costs.

[Ren Float]

Ok, it's getting clearer...

 

You understand my present situation precisely.

 

If I keep what I have and buy 2048 sqm, I would owe $15USD/mo

If I abandon what I have and buy 2048 sqm, I would owe $15-$5 = $10 USD/mo.

 

Correct?

 

I didn't think there was a property tax, but when you mentioned additional costs of developing it, I wanted to make sure. I've spent any an hour on MP, so I'm familiar with those costs.... all-too-well. LOL! (I usually have a browser window (or five) open to it).

 

Is Caledon Oxbridge University a location in SL? I presumed it was, but now realize I may be mistaken.

 

 

 

[Rolig Loon]

Correct.

MP is straightforward, compared to the complex business of land. There are no MP fees to the buyer, and the only MP fee to the seller is a 5% commission on each sale. Well, unless you get into paying for ad placement, which is a waste of L$, IMO.

Caledon Oxbridge University is indeed a location in SL. That's why I gave you the SLURL you asked for.

[Lindal Kidd]

---

Lvddawter wrote:

Actually... as a Premium member I do have land - was that counted as buying land?

---

No...as a Premium member you have the ABILITY to own Mainland, either a Linden Home or Mainland that you purchase yourself.  You do not automatically have any land.

With an annual Premium membership, you will be automatically billed for a renewal one year after your signup date.

When you own a total of more than 512 sq m. of Mainland, you will be billed a monthly land fee, starting from the date of your iniitial land purchase.

[Ren Float]

When I clicked on the link it took me to "Support Case History" web page. I was expecting a TP pop-up inside the viewer. I did a CTRL-F search for Caledon, but it found nothing about it on that page.

[Rolig Loon]

Oh, drat. It pasted the link I had copied for the previous post instead of the one I had copied for you. Sorry about that. (That's a handy link to have, BTW, even though it was the wrong one, so keep it.) Caledon Oxbridge University is at http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Oxbridge/128/128/2 . If you ever lose that SLURL, you can find it again by typing "Caledon Oxbridge University" into Search. It's right at the top of the returned list.

[Ren Float]

TY. I'll keep the other link handy and hope I never need it.