The new Marketplace Features coming - Merchant Survey Requirement

[Tari Landar]

13 hours ago, Charlotte Bartlett said:

It’s is ok we simply agree to disagree.  We have our own viewpoints based on our own successes/businesses/strengths/experiences.  I have a completely different viewpoint of LL interactions and it is positive in my direct engagement.  That doesn’t negate your own experiences.   Support I have struggled with recently but in a one off situation.

Thank you for your explanation.  If nothing else, it has been nice to meet some merchants I had not come across before and have dialogue ☺️

Oh, don't get me wrong, direct interactions with LL, well mine anyway (support and even some general conversations inworld), have always been pleasant. But, they've only really been communicating here on these forums in the last year, with very rare appearances before that (and pretty much only in specific areas, at that), Dakota notwithstanding, because shes been doing her best for some time here on this particular forum. One of the chief complaints from nearly everyone for the last decade+ has been LL's inability to properly communicate. Those aren't my words, those are the words of the vast majority of the community. It's super easy to find the evidence of it, right here on the forums. (though it's just as easy to find it all over the place too with a google search, lol).  I'm glad they seem to be on an upward trend of remedying that issue though, and I certainly hope it continues. 

[Luna Bliss]

33 minutes ago, Tari Landar said:

One of the chief complaints from nearly everyone for the last decade+ has been LL's inability to properly communicate. Those aren't my words, those are the words of the vast majority of the community. It's super easy to find the evidence of it, right here on the forums. (though it's just as easy to find it all over the place too with a google search, lol).  I'm glad they seem to be on an upward trend of remedying that issue though, and I certainly hope it continues. 

I hope the increased communication continues too.

Why do you think they are changing?

[Theresa Tennyson]

6 hours ago, Rya Nitely said:

It's like the landlord coming into your house and saying 'We're going to make improvements and increase your rent - good times, happy anniversary'. Are the tenants really going to be saying 'yes please, let's have a family huddle and see if we can come up with some improvements ' ? It's more likely they'll be thinking 'Take your improvements and your rent increase and shove it'. Is it really so surprising that the pollyanna theme of the first few pages got quashed? When I first started reading the thread I was surprised that nobody was mentioning the fees, until Grumpity said something. It was meant as a reality check.

How long has it been since you've lived in an apartment? That's exactly what landlords do in real life.

[Luna Bliss]

25 minutes ago, Theresa Tennyson said:

6 hours ago, Rya Nitely said:

It's like the landlord coming into your house and saying 'We're going to make improvements and increase your rent - good times, happy anniversary'. Are the tenants really going to be saying 'yes please, let's have a family huddle and see if we can come up with some improvements ' ? It's more likely they'll be thinking 'Take your improvements and your rent increase and shove it'. Is it really so surprising that the pollyanna theme of the first few pages got quashed? When I first started reading the thread I was surprised that nobody was mentioning the fees, until Grumpity said something. It was meant as a reality check.

How long has it been since you've lived in an apartment? That's exactly what landlords do in real life.

Yeah but they don't just putty over a nail hole in the wall, jack up your rent 300 usd, and say 'happy birthday' on the way out the door.

[Theresa Tennyson]

25 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

Yeah but they don't just putty over a nail hole in the wall, jack up your rent 300 usd, and say 'happy birthday' on the way out the door.

https://www.realtor.com/advice/rent/is-big-rent-increase-illegal/

In other words, Yes. They. Do.

[Charlotte Bartlett]

3 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

Pollyana type attitudes harm people, especially in leadership positions. It's not "negative" to point out reality.
Living in beauty does not mean to 'Be Positive'.....it means facing cold hard facts and being willing to engage anyway, to love. Without reality what is one engaging with but illusion?

Luna

This is meant with the best intent as I don't see things the way you do so I hope you can see whilst I respect your viewpoint, I don't agree with it.

I don't believe anybody is posting here in a leadership position, bar anybody with Linden in their name.   I see everybody here exactly equal, a merchant within Second Life with the same access to the same functionality the platform offers and tools available to us - the only differentials outside that is talent, business sense, networking/communication and experience.      Nobody has also said it's negative to point out reality, the posts here I have read have shown a considerable balanced level of viewpoints on the survey content from negative to positive.

I also don't understand using terms like pollyanna attitudes (which you didn't introduce to this thread).   The perception it creates for me is that it is trying to label other merchants who remain polite and want to work with the platform provider in a positive manner to get a survey.  It's basically lining up a pathway where requirements have been requested, and if not met, we have very specific areas to highlight as failures.  If they are met we then have the opportunity to get better solutions to support merchants.

This forum is open to every merchant, whether we act as a community or just as individuals it's up to the person posting. I view the merchant forum differently to others and want merchant level professional dialogue, agreements (so I can then demand accountability from LL) and great interaction, and that's fine - I respect the right to treat it differently to me doesn't mean I can't shine a spotlight on off topic posting regarding US Presidents and FX risk, fees etc etc but it will be with integrity and professinally.

Anyway, I hope all turns out as well as it can with your trip, and I genuinely hope your daughter and family situation is the best it can be in the circumstances - hopefully things here will have progressed when you return.  

[Luna Bliss]

4 minutes ago, Theresa Tennyson said:

30 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

Yeah but they don't just putty over a nail hole in the wall, jack up your rent 300 usd, and say 'happy birthday' on the way out the door.

https://www.realtor.com/advice/rent/is-big-rent-increase-illegal/

In other words, Yes. They. Do.

Well tell me about it -- my daughter lives in San Francisco, fortunately in a rent-controlled apartment however.

BTW, there was nary a mention of Happy Birthday or any great gift for that matter in that article...;0

[ChinRey]

Hmmm... if I told people to calm down a bit, would that work?

No? Oh well, it was worth a try.

I have to remind everybody that we're all speculating here. We know very little and we should be careful if we judge Linden Lab by their past record. LL today is very different from what it was a few years ago.

What we do know though, is that there will be an upgrade of the Marketplace and that LL's will increase their MP comission and LindeX transaction fees. I do not think we can discuss one of those topics without the other two - they are too closely connected.

If I understand correctly, the plan is to compensate for the reduced tier income with more MP and LindeX income and that means a substantial increase. We don't know how much of course but a percentage or two won't do in the long run.

Luna reminded us all that any improvements to the MP would have to result in increased sales to justify a higher comission rate. That opened up a can of worms of course but it was necessary, not only because it would be unfair to expect the merchants to cover the tier reduction but also because such a plan is bound to backfire. Nobody has to sell through MP after all and for many the whole setup is marginal enough as it is. Twice the percentage from half the sales volume, that's not going to make wonders to the bottom line. Linden Lab has no choice, they have to come up with a package that the merchants are happy with and that means something that looks good on our bottom lines too, not only on theirs. If they don't they are the ones who are in deep s**t. Most merchants can move on but Linden Lab is stuck with the Marketplace.

Edited March 31, 2018 by ChinRey

[Rya Nitely]

1 hour ago, Theresa Tennyson said:

How long has it been since you've lived in an apartment? That's exactly what landlords do in real life.

I'm not saying they don't do it. I'm saying don't expect the tenants to be happy about it. If they can't afford a rent increase it means moving or living on less. If that's what it takes they'd prefer things to stay as is.

[Rya Nitely]

4 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

I hope the increased communication continues too.

Why do you think they are changing?

I always felt that it was due to Ebbe. In Sansar he does participate in chat very often (often one on one), and he even has Jen employed just to talk to people and socialise with them.

[Tari Landar]

7 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

I hope the increased communication continues too.

Why do you think they are changing?

To put it shortly....a change of employment/employees/staff/whatever one wants to call them.

Whether or not that change has been a matter of new people, or merely shuffling around responsibilities, it is my, very strong, belief, that it is specific employees/staff at LL that have had an impact on the communication we have seen in the last year.  I'd prefer it, if were that we, the residents, the audience, the consumers of LL's product(s) that had an impact, but history tells me that's just a pipe dream that'll never see fruition. So, the only logical conclusion is...different people, new people, whatever have you...people, at the powers that be, ie..LL, have had some kind of influence on how, when, where, why and, hell, IF, they choose to communicate  

 

[Pamela Galli]

 Here is the reason some of us are skeptical about the value of alleged upcoming merchant services  expansion: see the recent thread I started to see how merchants reacted when they discovered that the transaction page no longer showed today’s transactions by default, but a whole week. Grumpity Linden was sure we would all be delighted. I think he even alluded to having consulted some unnamed group of merchants. But not anyone in the forum. However, once he actually did consult those of us in the forum he was able to come up with something that actually had positive value for us. This is typical LL mode of communication. It has always seemed a case of putting the cart before the horse.

 It sounds like  LL has already decided what new improvements will delight merchants. But maybe some Linden will consider soliciting our opinions before anything is carved in stone. I don’t expect any to be reading this thread —I have just been assuming we are talking about our favorite pie in the sky, like we have so many times before (as Tari points out).

Edited April 1, 2018 by Pamela Galli

[Noveen Benoir]

On 3/21/2018 at 9:37 PM, Pamela Galli said:

 Yes, this would be number one. I don’t think Linden Lab has ever realized how difficult it is to manage a business with one account. 

   

 

This right here is a wonderful idea plus form that both of you could look up or multiple people could look at instead of just a listing giving like a certain percentage to one person maybe there could be an option where you know 10% goes this person 10% goes this person Etc and then the remaining a sale goes to you. The manager option is the best idea I've seen so far. And I've noticed that when I make new listings for something that's mesh it is not giving me the mesh option so if you can fix that that would be great

[Majestic Kohime]

 i dleted post nvm..

Edited April 1, 2018 by Majestic Kohime

[LittleMe Jewell]

From the viewpoint of Forum threads, one change I would like to see is that a person must have verified payment info before being allowed to set up an MP store.  Or at the minimum, give some sort of "Verified" label to store owners that do have payment info. Too many new folks just don't know that they can look up a merchant's profile to see if they have payment info and they don't know what other things to look for.  I cannot see much of a downside to that and it will definitely stop the scammers that set up short term throw away accounts. 

 

[ChinRey]

10 hours ago, Majestic Kohime said:

 i dleted post nvm..

You mean dieted, right?

[ChinRey]

5 hours ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

From the viewpoint of Forum threads, one change I would like to see is that a person must have verified payment info before being allowed to set up an MP store.

You have to have that today.

[LittleMe Jewell]

22 minutes ago, ChinRey said:

You have to have that today.

I wouldn't think it would be so easy for folks to get away with 'empty box' scams then.  So either the people complaining on the forums are not subsequently Flagging the items when we tell them to or LL is ignoring such.  It shouldn't be that difficult for LL to confirm if a listing is actually delivery said product or not after it has been flagged.

[ChinRey]

46 minutes ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

I wouldn't think it would be so easy for folks to get away with 'empty box' scams then.

I shouldn't be. It's easy to validate the payment method but it does mean LL has means to follow up complaints if they want to.

[Bitsy Buccaneer]

Several people have expressed a desire to get rid of older things on MP. I'd like to put in a word for them. There is value in some of the old stuff which might not be trendy enough or sufficiently profitable for creators to make new, like shoes for system feet.

Freebies and cheap 'junk' which I could take apart to examine have helped me immeasurably in learning how to utilise scripts. A L$10 prim whatever may be ridiculously out-dated, but if it suits my needs far better than a pretty (and more expensive) mesh one with limited mod capacity I'd rather it not be wiped out for the sake of modernisation. The old DIY, help each other culture of SL has already been overwhelmed by the current do it for me one. Tucked away in MP is one place where it can continue.

There are other examples but I know there's little interest here in what I have to say so I'll keep it short. By all means, make these sorts of things hard to find. Add some sort of reference date if that's possible. Bury them in the MP or even, as Chin Rey suggested early on this thread, as part of a separate legacy MP. But I'd really like them to still be available somewhere.

[Desudesudesuka]

I'd love a demo system that doesn't make us have to create two listings for every single product.

Maybe listings which have multiple versions you can choose to purchase from of what is basically the same item with small variations.

This would also condense colour packs and fat packs.

[HaileeTempesta]

*Since by the time I made it through the thread it had turned into a commission fee argument, I will add my thought on that first & then everything else under that.

*In regards to the coming marketplace commission fees.  I think it should be based on each individuals sales. Some merchants make thousands of US dollars a month & others may only make a few dollars.  It's hardly fair for it to be the same flat fee for everyone just my opinion.

As to possible changes, I went through & used all the ones I agree with in order of importance to my own experience:

1.
The ability to ban a customer from our marketplace front as we can inworld.  (would pay a higher premium membership fee for this ability alone)

Edited to add: Though the reason it will probably never happen is the same as listed below in #13.

2.
Please fix the keyword listings.  Just saying that the item has been added to the adult category because of a keyword problem but not telling me what the word or words are is in no way helpful & can take hours of going through word by word until you find the problem & which usually makes no sense.

3.
The ability to get re-deliveries for copy items.  Someone had mentioned that alongside the 'Add to Cart' & 'Buy As Gift' buttons there could be another button 'Redeliver Previously Purchased Item.

4.
The ability to change something on every listing at once or singularly.  Someone had mentioned an editable field for policies used on every listing so you don't have to paste them in every description.

5.
Bulk upload of images.

6. More than one store front per avatar

7.
Ability to bulk edit Slurl.

8.
A gacha category

9.
The ability to add a store manager option who can edit & create listings & do re-deliveries from the web page.

10.
The ability to favorite designers/stores & to go even further to then be able to save your favs from them under the favorite listing. The way everything is all piled into one favorites folder now makes it impossible to find things easily.

11.
The ability to make a Wish list others can buy for me from.  Once bought, the item is removed from the list & you're notified of a gift.

12.
More flagging options.  Personally anyone should be able to flag copyrighted items & they should be reviewed & taken down with or without a DMCA being filed because sometimes it's clearly copybotted, such as people using Disney or other big name brands.  Leaving illegal items up until the holder of a copyright comes forward is NOT an appropriate way of dealing with something illegal when you KNOW it's not allowed.  Personally I'm not sure how LL can't still be held liable if they knew but did nothing until they were contacted.  I would think that is risky.

13.
Someone had also mentioned deleting merchants who no longer have an account or have not logged in for more than a year.  That is a great idea, but, not one I think LL will ever implement.
LL makes money off of every single sale whether that person logs in or not.  That's also why I think they leave up store fronts on avatars they have banned from SL, because they make money off of them indefinitely.  
Something to note, if banned you can't cash that L$ out for RL $ either because you can't access your web page to sell the L$ to be able to do so.  Keep that in mind if you normally let your L$ build to high amounts before cashing out.  Same goes for if LL were to suddenly close SL, L$ balance is lost, only what was cashed out to your US dollar balance will be refunded, at least that is what I have always heard.

Edited April 4, 2018 by HaileeTempesta

[LittleMe Jewell]

39 minutes ago, HaileeTempesta said:

 if LL were to suddenly close SL, L$ balance is lost, only what was cashed out to your US dollar balance will be refunded, at least that is what I have always heard.

If they actually shut down and declared bankruptcy, you'd have a slim chance of even getting your US $ balance.  

[HaileeTempesta]

14 minutes ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

If they actually shut down and declared bankruptcy, you'd have a slim chance of even getting your US $ balance.  

Good point, that is true.  I think my brain went along a crazy wavy trail of they just got tired of running it. lol

[Gayngel]

I want to see an API and LSL functions for thirds party vendors and scripts to record sales inworld as a sale on the Marketplace so that inworld customers may write reviews on my MP listings aswell as contribute to total sales in reports and order histories with transaction IDs.