Paying a fee to participate as a merchant in a hunt?

[Lara Panthar]

I was recently contacted by an avatar I do not know, asking if I would like to participate in a series of grid wide hunts. To participate, I would need to pay a 500L fee. I have a low traffic shop and several themed parcels ( for people to enjoy for free. Not selling anything in these places, I  just love to create.The low traffic does not bother me at all. I am not looking to increase my visitors purposefully). I have never been approached or even thought about participating in a hunt as a merchant before. Is it normal to be asked to pay a fee to participate? On one level I feel she is attempting to scam me. Though her avatar is a few years old, she has no "picks" and her group "Grid wide hunts" has only one member. Her. I did not just fall off the SL turnip truck so I am cautious. Does anyone have an experience to share or tips on this subject? Thanks in advance to all who have time to weigh in on this.

[Blush Bravin]

I simply reply, "No thank you." to such contacts. If the person continues to contact me, I block the person. 

[Clover Jinx]

50 minutes ago, Lara Panthar said:

I was recently contacted by an avatar I do not know, asking if I would like to participate in a series of grid wide hunts. To participate, I would need to pay a 500L fee. I have a low traffic shop and several themed parcels ( for people to enjoy for free. Not selling anything in these places, I  just love to create.The low traffic does not bother me at all. I am not looking to increase my visitors purposefully). I have never been approached or even thought about participating in a hunt as a merchant before. Is it normal to be asked to pay a fee to participate? On one level I feel she is attempting to scam me. Though her avatar is a few years old, she has no "picks" and her group "Grid wide hunts" has only one member. Her. I did not just fall off the SL turnip truck so I am cautious. Does anyone have an experience to share or tips on this subject? Thanks in advance to all who have time to weigh in on this.

You're right to be cautious, there's some serious red flags there. I've only been a hunter so I don't know for sure but I would imagine a small fee would be reasonable to help offset organizer costs, but 500L seems a bit much for a hunt. I know some events that charge less than that.

It wouldn't hurt to reach out to some of the established hunt organizers and see what their policies are in case you were interested in the future. Maybe also warn them about this person (they may already know or not care if they aren't pretending to be affiliated with the bigger hunts).

[Cindy Evanier]

26 minutes ago, Clover Jinx said:

500L seems a bit much for a hunt

This.  Its been a while since we entered hunts but I am pretty sure it was never that much and they all had websites or blogs to check out where pictures, clues, sponsors names etc where posted.

[Chic Aeon]

While it isn't common, there is at least one prominent hunt that changes a fee for participation and it is much larger than the $500.  While I did not take part, it is indeed a legitimate event with many top notch designers. This one of the OPs of course doesn't sound like it is.   

[Polenth Yue]

Most of the more general hunts I've done haven't had a fee, but do ask for a new gift for the hunters. A fee isn't immediately a red flag though, as it depends on the hunt system. One system has land owners buy the items to hide. In return for that, the organisers supply all the hunt gifts and have an established group who'll do the hunts.

What is a red flag is contacting people out of the blue with no proven track record of hunts. A lot of the hunts I've done haven't really attracted many people in. It's not a problem when it's free entry, but you don't want to pay to be someone's guinea pig.

[Tarani Tempest]

15 minutes ago, Polenth Yue said:

What is a red flag is contacting people out of the blue with no proven track record of hunts.

This...very much this.

Paying to be part of an event is normal.  Paying to be part of hunt is not how most of them work, it is not unheard of though, bigger hunts are marketed pretty heavily...so the price can be worth it for some.   But with any type of event you join, you need to know if you are  dealing with something legitimate...something you can actually research before you make any sort of decision.  If there is nothing in their profile regarding their 'Hunt' or events they are a part of , or past experiences with those things, absolutely be cautious.  Big wavy red flags for sure.

[Tamara Artis]

Well you don't need to explain yourself, if you don't want to participate simply say "No, ty". She probably sent tons of messages and notecards to find merchants for the hunt. It's normal.

You might see only this one name in her group because you are not a member, I am not sure about this but it could be the case. As for these hunts and invitations, I would advise everyone to check the website, in-world group, Facebook page, Flickr group etc. if you are thinking to join. Any event wort participating will have at least some of those. 

And concerning the fee, it is normal, specially if the event covers more than just rent of the sim/parcel. There is one event - grid-wide hunt, that is taking applications until Oct 15th and their fee is 100L$, the sponsor fee is 5000L$ and it guarantees that your shop will be at the beginning of the hunt list. 

Edited October 8, 2018 by Tamara Artis

[Bitsy Buccaneer]

There are at least two blogs which lists hunts (googling "SL hunts" should find both of them). If you want to try participating in a hunt or two as a creator, take a look at which ones are currently accepting applications. Depending on your genre, you might find more via related groups. Also, keep an eye out for posters advertising upcoming and current hunts at places you like to frequent. Unless things have changed dramatically in the last couple of years, there were always plenty to choose from.

Take a look at the organiser's website or blog for the hunt to get an idea of how well it's run. If someone were to solicit me, that's straight where I'd head - an internet search on the hunt's name (or the hunt organisation, etc) to see how they were set up. Not that I'd be inclined to pay lindens to them but I would be dead curious what they were up to