Land Tier Pricing Changes

[RoxyCyn]

Regarding the new land pricing/monthly tier changes.  I applaud these new changes.  I have 2 homesteads from the same well known landowner and I've been very happy with the service so far.  One I've had for 7 years and the other for almost 2 years now.  With the announcement of the new tier pricing for full regions I contacted the realtor/land owner and they were not even aware of the changes.  I discussed it at length and provided the link to the page explaining the new changes.  Today I contacted her again because I'd like to move to a full region now for my home and business.  The response from this rather large, well known realtor/landowner was a bit disheartening: 

"Hello! here is a message from one of our higher ups "During the past 24 months we reduced a lot of rental rates on a lot of sims/parcels. Now Linden Lab lowered some of their rates while raising other fees. As always we will observe how that impacts the market and adjust accordingly so that supply and demand gets properly balanced and expenses covered.'  "  "we do not have tier price adjustments yet as we still have to study the impact so we can adjust without losses."  

If they are going to continue charging the old tier pricing with the new changes in-place, this new pricing is of no benefit to the end user that's willing to pay tiers to maintain businesses, homes and provide regions for others to use.  Charging the old tier to the end-user/customer while getting a reduction directly from Linden Labs effectively overcharges the end-user on the monthly tier while creating higher profits for the landowner.  I seriously doubt that was the intent of Linden Labs and in so doing will defeat the purpose of the land tier reduction, in my humble opinion. 

 

[Alyona Su]

Why do you create a new thread after posting the same comment in this thread? :

 

 

[RoxyCyn]

The other post contained an error which was corrected. 

Edited June 4, 2019 by RoxyCyn

[Alyona Su]

3 hours ago, RoxyCyn said:

The other post was in error.

And you create a new thread 30 minutes later rather than simply editing the post that was in error to correct it?

[Parhelion Palou]

6 hours ago, RoxyCyn said:

Regarding the new land pricing/monthly tier changes.  I applaud these new changes.  I have 2 homesteads from the same well known landowner and I've been very happy with the service so far.  One I've had for 7 years and the other for almost 2 years now.  With the announcement of the new tier pricing for full regions I contacted the realtor/land owner and they were not even aware of the changes.  I discussed it at length and provided the link to the page explaining the new changes.  Today I contacted her again because I'd like to move to a full region now for my home and business.  The response from this rather large, well known realtor/landowner was a bit disheartening: 

"Hello! here is a message from one of our higher ups "During the past 24 months we reduced a lot of rental rates on a lot of sims/parcels. Now Linden Lab lowered some of their rates while raising other fees. As always we will observe how that impacts the market and adjust accordingly so that supply and demand gets properly balanced and expenses covered.'  "  "we do not have tier price adjustments yet as we still have to study the impact so we can adjust without losses."  

If they are going to continue charging the old tier pricing with the new changes in-place, this new pricing is of no benefit to the end user that's willing to pay tiers to maintain businesses, homes and provide regions for others to use.  Charging the old tier to the end-user/customer while getting a reduction directly from Linden Labs effectively overcharges the end-user on the monthly tier while creating higher profits for the landowner.  I seriously doubt that was the intent of Linden Labs and in so doing will defeat the purpose of the land tier reduction, in my humble opinion. 

 

The maintenance fee for a full region went down $20 per month. That works out to L$5040 per month for the entire region, or L$78 per month per 1K sqm rented. Since the credit processing fee went from 2.5% to 5%, the region owner will want to offset the increase. That takes L$21 off of the L$78, leaving L$57 per month per 1K sqm rented. That's not enough to increase people's interest in renting. Therefore I doubt Linden Lab was trying to reduce people's rent. It was a small handout to region owners & maybe enough to get people on the fence to buy a region.

[Mollymews]

11 hours ago, RoxyCyn said:

Today I contacted her [the landlord] again because I'd like to move to a full region now for my home and business.  The response from this rather large, well known realtor/landowner was a bit disheartening: 

"Hello! here is a message from one of our higher ups "During the past 24 months we reduced a lot of rental rates on a lot of sims/parcels. Now Linden Lab lowered some of their rates while raising other fees. As always we will observe how that impacts the market and adjust accordingly so that supply and demand gets properly balanced and expenses covered.'  "  "we do not have tier price adjustments yet as we still have to study the impact so we can adjust without losses."  

If they are going to continue charging the old tier pricing ...

i think your landlord gave you a pretty fair response. They will do their numbers, look at what other landlords do, watch how the rental market moves, adjust rental rates accordingly, etc. 

you kinda answered your own posit really, by saying "If they are going to continue charging the old tier pricing ...". If being the operative word

if your landlord does continue to do this, when other landlords do not, then you in turn will do your own numbers and act as you see fit. An outcome might be that you move to another landlord estate after doing your own numbers, where/when another landlord's numbers are more inline with yours

[RoxyCyn]

The landowner has 260 regions total (107 full regions & 153 homesteads) with all tier rental boxes in a central location.  All the boxes are set-up to only accept Linden dollars in-world with no provisions for any credit card payments.  The renter/end user/customer is paying the credit card processing fees when they purchase their Linden dollars They charge tier based on the maintenance fee as it is simply passed along to the renter/end user/customer.  Therefore, there is no increase in fees to offset due to any credit card processing.  As stated by Linden Labs, grandfathered and buy down prices on regions are being reduced,  pricing changes are reflecting their commitment to improving the overall health of the Second Life economy and they hope to ensure a prosperous future for the entire community.  This is not just a small change for the landowners but rather it is a substantial reduction for the benefit of everyone in Second Life.  Yes, the landowner is looking at their business model and I understand that.  And yes, I will reconsider my expenses accordingly.  Lowering prices and passing the savings along to the entire community is a step in the right direction for the health of the economy across the grid and everyone benefits.  Taking a benefit intended for everyone and failing to pass it along is not in the best interest of the economy or the end user.  I applaud the efforts of Linden Labs in this regard as they understand what is needed here. 

[Fox Wijaya]

19 hours ago, RoxyCyn said:

Regarding the new land pricing/monthly tier changes.  I applaud these new changes.  I have 2 homesteads from the same well known landowner and I've been very happy with the service so far.  One I've had for 7 years and the other for almost 2 years now.  With the announcement of the new tier pricing for full regions I contacted the realtor/land owner and they were not even aware of the changes.  I discussed it at length and provided the link to the page explaining the new changes.  Today I contacted her again because I'd like to move to a full region now for my home and business.  The response from this rather large, well known realtor/landowner was a bit disheartening: 

"Hello! here is a message from one of our higher ups "During the past 24 months we reduced a lot of rental rates on a lot of sims/parcels. Now Linden Lab lowered some of their rates while raising other fees. As always we will observe how that impacts the market and adjust accordingly so that supply and demand gets properly balanced and expenses covered.'  "  "we do not have tier price adjustments yet as we still have to study the impact so we can adjust without losses."  

If they are going to continue charging the old tier pricing with the new changes in-place, this new pricing is of no benefit to the end user that's willing to pay tiers to maintain businesses, homes and provide regions for others to use.  Charging the old tier to the end-user/customer while getting a reduction directly from Linden Labs effectively overcharges the end-user on the monthly tier while creating higher profits for the landowner.  I seriously doubt that was the intent of Linden Labs and in so doing will defeat the purpose of the land tier reduction, in my humble opinion. 

 

the solution is not that difficult  you say you want to up to a full sim : buy one.
( and homestead do not get a lower maintenance fee, only the full sims)

[Sister Nova]

3 hours ago, RoxyCyn said:

Taking a benefit intended for everyone and failing to pass it along is not in the best interest of the economy or the end user.  

I think you're misreading the intention in the price reduction of FULL regions. As the statement by LL said "That’s more savings than ever to build, create and design your own home, business or experience in Second Life." The saving is for the owner of the region, and says nothing about 'passing it on' to anyone, even if the sole reason for having the region is to lease parcels for rentals. The "commitment to improving the overall health of the Second Life economy" relates to their program of changes, they're not saying that the benefit received here HAS to be passed on.

You said that you rent 2 homestead regions from this owner... they have not been reduced in price, and so certainly do not warrant any sort of imagined intended benefit of rent reduction. If you think you're being unfairly charged, shop around until you find the price you're happy to pay.

[RoxyCyn]

I think people misread posts quite frequently and tend to misunderstand the intent.  This thread is not a complaint nor a half-baked indictment, but rather an observation of economic and financial behavior meant to spark insightful thought, constructive consideration and further discussion among users who all happen to be consumers and contributors to the Second Life economy.

Nowhere does Linden Labs state that the land price reduction is for the sole benefit of the owner of any region.  They do however, clearly indicate that this move is their commitment to the overall health of the Second Life community which does include landowners, business owners, consumers, everyone; not a select few.  Overall being the key word; overall includes everyone.  Landowners are only a part of the economic structure and financial well being of the economy here.  Without consumers the landowners would cease to exist.  All consumers play a vital role in the health of any economy, not just a select few people. I never claimed that this was intended nor required to be passed along to everyone, but rather indicated that any benefit afforded by lower costs that is passed along to the consumer and end user is a step in the right direction for the economy as a whole and benefits everyone.  Building, designing, creating our own homes, businesses and experiences is what we all do, not solely landowners.  We built Second Life in our own ways and we support it as well.

My desire to upgrade from homesteads to a full region is a personal choice that will further benefit the economy in it's own small way.  Economies are made and maintained by small changes of the collective whole and not solely the purvey of a handful of people. If savings are passed along to the end users, others will consider renting, purchasing, buying more products and/or upgrading as well.  Lowering expenses allows others to spend more and invest more on land, rentals, consumer goods, essentially everything, again helping the economy as a whole. We've all seen people complain about the high cost of land and as indicated I believe this is a step in the right direction and am totally in favor of this change.  There was no statement to indicate that there was any reduction intended nor expected towards homesteads and that in my own example I would reconsider my expenses as well.  Reconsidering my business expenses and lowering my costs includes shopping around for lower prices on land, be it rental of another region from an estate owner or outright ownership through my own purchase, further passing along the same savings to other consumers and end users and again, keeping all of this within the in-world economy.  

In my personal case, renting from an estate owner provides the opportunity to pay tier with Lindens acquired in-world and not by paying directly through the use of credit cards and in real life cash.  If I were to purchase a full region outright (to which I am not opposed), that would increase my costs through additional credit card fees, paying in real dollars instead of Lindens earned in-world and those same expenses would in-turn have to be passed along to the consumer, thereby increasing their expenses.  Earning money in-world as I do, spending those same Lindens to purchase, rent, and consume others products further allows more money to be spent in this economy while reducing real expenses and fees by not using credit cards and real cash for those same purchases and rentals.  I can appreciate that not everyone has this ability, but this is another way of my giving back to this economy to keep it healthy in my own small way.  All monies I make in-world are spent here, nothing is ever transferred to real cash which fuels the economy and keeps expenses and fees lower.  Please don't misunderstand my intentions.  I turn 100% of my profits right back to the Second Life economy through rentals and purchases that stay within our economy and community.

This is all tied together and integrated in the entire economy which is not the sole domain of landowners.   I am totally in favor of the land price reductions and continuing the growth of the economy to ensure the future of Second Life.  I would welcome, but do not expect, any input from any of the Lindens regarding this matter. I'm here to keep Second Life alive with my own small contributions.  We're all small pieces to a much larger picture.

[Fox Wijaya]

25 minutes ago, RoxyCyn said:

 I'm here to keep Second Life alive with my own small contributions.  We're all small pieces to a much larger picture.

in the matter of landcosts you forget one little thing; if your landlord is big enough to participate in the Atlas program, you think you pay only a little more than the usual maintenance fees, but you don't... you pay actually a big chunk to that landlords own wallet. Nothing wrong with that if you like it that way, but it makes the picture bit more realistic, and your contribution is a lot smaller in that case.
I;d rather be direct customer of LL for those amounts, tháts really adding something to SL. And more insurrance you won't get kicked off your sim when the landlord goes down ( doesn't happen a lot, be we see those cases quite often during the year on the forums when people come there what to do ....)

[Mollymews]

@RoxyCyn

the responses you had received previously can't be construed as a misunderstanding of your intent, as they all address what was said in the OP. Like we can't know what your full situation is unless you tell us. Which you now have

now that you have then what you seem to be saying is that you would like your landlord to pass on the reduction in tiers to you, so that you can apply this toward helping you to get a full region. And you are concerned that your landlord may not do this yes ?

if so then this a perfectly reasonable want. Who wouldn't want to improve their general SL experience

while we can have a discussion about what landlords could/should/might do, it still does tho leave you with two basic options if your landlord doesn't reduce your rent to what you think is fair to you

1) Move to another landlord and continue to pay L$, at a now reduced rental rate, or

2) sell your earned L$ on the LindeX, and when you have enough in your SL USD account then use this $US to buy and tier a full region in your own name

Edited June 6, 2019 by Mollymews
if so