Need suggestions and advices to run a shop

[Beggar Mayo]

Hello, everyone.

I read some things around in the community, so I have some information about this topic. I hope I am writing this post in the right category about feedback, because I need feedback. The idea is to enjoy my SL and not only earn money, even is the second main objective.

I am on the way to start my shop or store. I have some concerns, doubts. I understand that today the best place to start is marketplace, but I want also have a store related in my land. I have some idea about the brand and niche I pretend to offer my or others stuff as retailer. But... I plan to use gacha machines. I don't know how and how they function. I would like offer outlet stuff mine or from others, packs, vendors, but I don't know how to do it, in part because the limits with permissions of objects. Like many of us, I have plenty stuff for avi that I am not using now and I think I could sell at low price to new or old basic avatars, sometimes as gifts, but I don't figure how to do it without make a mess or go against rules or third rights. Even I have some mesh things that I don't use more, same situation.

Also, there are some stuff I am creating in my beginnings as creator and I want sell them in world and web page (marketplace and owned),but I don't want make a mess with links etc.

I also plan rent some little spaces for retailers, but I want give them some garanty about good sales in world and I understand traffic statistics are not the best measure inside the world to assure sales.

What do you can suggest me and/or advice me about if you could do a list of steps to follow as instructions?

[Pamela Galli]

This forum is for feedback re the forum.

[Chic Aeon]

13 minutes ago, Beggar Mayo said:

Hello, everyone.

I read some things around in the community, so I have some information about this topic. I hope I am writing this post in the right category about feedback, because I need feedback. The idea is to enjoy my SL and not only earn money, even is the second main objective.

I am on the way to start my shop or store. I have some concerns, doubts. I understand that today the best place to start is marketplace, but I want also have a store related in my land. I have some idea about the brand and niche I pretend to offer my or others stuff as retailer. But... I plan to use gacha machines. I don't know how and how they function. I would like offer outlet stuff mine or from others, packs, vendors, but I don't know how to do it, in part because the limits with permissions of objects. Like many of us, I have plenty stuff for avi that I am not using now and I think I could sell at low price to new or old basic avatars, sometimes as gifts, but I don't figure how to do it without make a mess or go against rules or third rights. Even I have some mesh things that I don't use more, same situation.

Also, there are some stuff I am creating in my beginnings as creator and I want sell them in world and web page (marketplace and owned),but I don't want make a mess with links etc.

I also plan rent some little spaces for retailers, but I want give them some garanty about good sales in world and I understand traffic statistics are not the best measure inside the world to assure sales.

What do you can suggest me and/or advice me about if you could do a list of steps to follow as instructions?

First off this post should be in MERCHANTS, not forum feedback which as Pam says is for telling the website folks issues that arise or features you would like to see.  

 

That being said I am sure a moderator will move it after the weekend. 

Meanwhile, you can certainly RESELL gacha items that you have either purchased or "won" at a gacha event and that might be the easiest start for you.   You can also sell gachas (won or purchased) on the Marketplace. There is even a GACHA category now.

 

If you want people to PLAY gachas with your items inside, you need to have the items be TRANSFER. They can be modify or not. You can buy gacha machines on the marketplace or make your own. There is a free gacha script on the Marketplace that while limited works fine.  Typically you do NOT sell other peoples goods in your own gacha machines  because in most cases the items need to be copy and transfer FOR YOU (as in "you made it yourself")  You can fill a gacha machine with random items but that isn't done all that often as it is very much a "grab bag" (double gamble). 

 

So far as having a shop on your land, it is doubtful many people would even come. So far as renting out spaces, the chances are even less that you would get renters. There is just too much competition. So you could either put up a shop in a Gacha Mall (there are many) or sell things in a Market stall somewhere.    

 

I suggest visiting a lot of gacha places and see what they are doing and get an idea of what might work best for you.   There are plenty of alternatives. Some folks make a fair amount of money reselling gacha items. And of course if you are an original mesh creator you can make a lot of money selling your items FROM a gacha machine --- but really, only at an EVENT, not on your own land -- at least until you have a following :D.

 

Best of luck and have fun. 

[Beggar Mayo]

Thank you. I will be following if some admin change it to the convenient forum

Edited June 29, 2019 by Beggar Mayo
Change the idea in the message.

[Polenth Yue]

I'd suggest starting small and simple. Get items on the marketplace and set up a small shop. It's nice to have the shop as events will often ask for the location in applications and it makes things look professional... but it's not where you're likely to make most of your sales.

Don't start with grand plans to open a mall. Most malls fail, so this isn't a good place to start. Work on your own stuff first before you consider selling services to others.

[Beggar Mayo]

Thank you very much, Polenth. Like Chic's, yours is a very useful comment. So, if I do a list of the "instructions" you are suggesting me I could write the first ones:

1) Get items on the marketplace to resell  (I guess full perm or at least Copy-modifiable or Mod-Transf ???????, like vendors or packs ?????, gacha ???? )

2) Set a small shop in my land in parallel to show a more professional look putting the focus in the brand and niche I want as target.

For this two suggestions I found these links I think can be helpful for me and others and I am planning now broadcast too my own experience for latin people. And I know I will get more kind suggestions from the community.

https://disfrutasl.wordpress.com/2011/12/10/consejos-para-iniciar-una-tienda-de-ropa-en-second-life/

 

[Polenth Yue]

5 hours ago, Beggar Mayo said:

Thank you very much, Polenth. Like Chic's, yours is a very useful comment. So, if I do a list of the "instructions" you are suggesting me I could write the first ones:

1) Get items on the marketplace to resell  (I guess full perm or at least Copy-modifiable or Mod-Transf ???????, like vendors or packs ?????, gacha ???? )

2) Set a small shop in my land in parallel to show a more professional look putting the focus in the brand and niche I want as target.

No, I meant putting an item on the marketplace, not buying things to resell. So to clarify:

1) Make an item to sell.

2) Take a picture of that item.

3) Create a vendor picture/advert with your picture of your item.

4) Place your item on the marketplace so that you can sell it.

5) Also place your item at your shop for sale.

There's a lot of work involved in those steps. You need to decide on the target audience. You need to know what permissions and price you want to use. You need to decide on branding for the vendor pictures. You need to decide how you want to sell things (whether you'll sell boxes directly or want to use a scripted vendor system). Which is why I suggest starting small: make one item and sell that item.

Then do the whole thing again with a new item.

[Beggar Mayo]

OK... Perfect! Now, about what Chic said:

On 6/29/2019 at 6:08 PM, Chic Aeon said:

Meanwhile, you can certainly RESELL gacha items that you have either purchased or "won" at a gacha event and that might be the easiest start for you.   You can also sell gachas (won or purchased) on the Marketplace.

I am not quite sure about the steps to resell. I reviewed the links I shared, very useful, but maybe I am little dump and need figure the best way and steps, same way, to search in market place stuff to resell. I think I could follow the steps listed by Polenth and also combine with some things to resell from my store. Said that, I have to say that I am looking for male stuff designers (clothes, hairs, body parts, gacha, etc), to include in the stuff possible to resell)

[Lexbot Sinister]

I think the first and foremost you need to figure out, is what you want to sell.

 

Is it re-selling gacha items? What is your plan for profit, will you play gacha machines and hope for a rare that you can sell for more than you have spent? That is going to be a gamble and you can not count on breaking even.

 

Are you going to buy fullperm packs, and re-sell those?  Most of the time, the original creator doesn't permit that, at least not without you making some new textures and alterations. There are still "business in a box" pack circulating around, they are OLD and i would be very skeptical if you happen to find one somewhere. Don't fall for it.

So then it comes down to, what is the skill you are offering? Being a merchant always comes down to having a marketable skill. Either it's being a great organizer, with a ton of knowledge how to market events etc, or it's an actual creative skill that you can apply to make things to sell.

If you want to sell things, you need to figure out what you want to sell, and why people would want to buy it from you.

Everything else is secondary, you need to figure out step one first.

[Beggar Mayo]

6 hours ago, Lexbot Sinister said:

I think the first and foremost you need to figure out, is what you want to sell.

Thank you very much Lexbot. I think I have detected some needs between avatars and, answering your questions (mine too) I plan:

1. To find some fullperm stuff that can satisfy such needs to resell, some could be get from gacha. I am thinking also about vendors and/or franchises.
2. To find a way to resell as outlet some old stuff I have in my inventory that, even I don't use it, I know could be useful for some people instead of just throw it away.
3. This meanwhile I am learning how to create my self some stuff to satisfy such needs, since I am developing some skills.
4. Principal objetive, offer to people good quality and cheap stuff, since I also have in mind an specific target. I am interested in understand also how this 1L1H offers work I would like to use it more or less often combined with other kinds of events.

So, in synthesis, my idea is, to develop my business in parallel with my self development and getting enough profit to, at least, make my tier and account self sustentable.

Edited July 3, 2019 by Beggar Mayo
I forgot say something

[Lexbot Sinister]

On 7/3/2019 at 10:29 AM, Beggar Mayo said:

Thank you very much Lexbot. I think I have detected some needs between avatars and, answering your questions (mine too) I plan:

1. To find some fullperm stuff that can satisfy such needs to resell, some could be get from gacha. I am thinking also about vendors and/or franchises.
2. To find a way to resell as outlet some old stuff I have in my inventory that, even I don't use it, I know could be useful for some people instead of just throw it away.
3. This meanwhile I am learning how to create my self some stuff to satisfy such needs, since I am developing some skills.
4. Principal objetive, offer to people good quality and cheap stuff, since I also have in mind an specific target. I am interested in understand also how this 1L1H offers work I would like to use it more or less often combined with other kinds of events.

So, in synthesis, my idea is, to develop my business in parallel with my self development and getting enough profit to, at least, make my tier and account self sustentable.

1. Gacha things are never fullperm, and nearly no fullperm objects can be resold as-is. That means you have to make substantial changes or/and additions to the objects yourself. Also when you re-sell pullperm objects, you have to abide by the ToS of the seller of the fullperm pack, which usually at minimum means you need to change permissions to copy/mod/no trans. Keep that in mind in your business model.

2.  Things in your inventory need to have at minimum "trans" permissions in order to be sold or given away. If they are no trans, then it doesn't matter if you use them or not, you can't transfer them to another avatar.

3. That is a good idea!

4. Not sure what you mean with 1L1H.

[Beggar Mayo]

On 7/5/2019 at 11:43 AM, Lexbot Sinister said:

4. Not sure what you mean with 1L1H.

1L1H is a "system"?, hud or whatever to promote commercial stuff in world. Is a way to attract customers to your store offering quick promotions of sutff sell at 1L just during the next hour. In my experience as more or less customer is more attractive than discounts. Discounts are good way to promote and sell stock but this method helps also with traffic almost like happen with gifts, but gifts are sell at 0L, this way the merchant, the creator of 1L1H and customer got a piece of the cake

[Bitsy Buccaneer]

On 7/3/2019 at 9:29 AM, Beggar Mayo said:

Thank you very much Lexbot. I think I have detected some needs between avatars and, answering your questions (mine too) I plan:

1. To find some fullperm stuff that can satisfy such needs to resell, some could be get from gacha. I am thinking also about vendors and/or franchises.
2. To find a way to resell as outlet some old stuff I have in my inventory that, even I don't use it, I know could be useful for some people instead of just throw it away.
3. This meanwhile I am learning how to create my self some stuff to satisfy such needs, since I am developing some skills.
4. Principal objetive, offer to people good quality and cheap stuff, since I also have in mind an specific target. I am interested in understand also how this 1L1H offers work I would like to use it more or less often combined with other kinds of events.

So, in synthesis, my idea is, to develop my business in parallel with my self development and getting enough profit to, at least, make my tier and account self sustentable.

Neither vendors/franchises nor gacha resale really work with promo events or definitely not with 1L1H. With gachas, you have to buy the items individually at a certain cost (and with no guarantee of which one you'll get). Sell them for less than the pull price at the machine and you'll lose money.

With vendors/franchises, all you get are the vendors themselves and all the risk and expenditure of trying to sell from them. You pay for the land to rez them on and get 20%-45% of any sales. The rest goes to the creator. The vendors are scripted so you can't change the price. If the franchise has a promotion, it probably won't be suitable for your own event. It will be whatever the franchise decides to do.

1L1H requires you to have the right and ability to sell an unlimited number of copies of an item for 1 linden, essentially giving it away and hoping for volume sales or people making additional purchases. It's for things you make yourself. It won't work for either franchises or gachas.

The things you can buy full perm typically have restrictions on how you can sell them. Selling "as is" is always forbidden, you have to add to it in some way - they're components for building and creation, not stand alone items. Some FP creators have a minimum price or restrictions on how their components can be used in promotions and gifts. Too many people giving away or selling similar items for next to nothing undermines the ability of others to sell.

1L1H only makes sense after you've built up a large selection of your own items. Start with that. Franchises may seem like a way to fill up a mall and generate more sales, but they're not. You still have to do all the promotion work, you're constrained in how you can do that, and many shoppers will be turned off when they see yet another franchise. You'll be better off joining with others, where everyone is promoting the area and hopefully bringing in customers who'll look around a bit.

Edited July 21, 2019 by Bitsy Buccaneer

[Beggar Mayo]

On 7/21/2019 at 4:29 AM, Bitsy Buccaneer said:

The things you can buy full perm typically have restrictions on how you can sell them. Selling "as is" is always forbidden, you have to add to it in some way - they're components for building and creation, not stand alone items. Some FP creators have a minimum price or restrictions on how their components can be used in promotions and gifts. Too many people giving away or selling similar items for next to nothing undermines the ability of others to sell.

1L1H only makes sense after you've built up a large selection of your own items. Start with that. Franchises may seem like a way to fill up a mall and generate more sales, but they're not. You still have to do all the promotion work, you're constrained in how you can do that, and many shoppers will be turned off when they see yet another franchise. You'll be better off joining with others, where everyone is promoting the area and hopefully bringing in customers who'll look around a bit.

Thank you very much for your opinions. Even some makes me feel little frustrated. Develope builder or designer skills don't happen from night to day, need time, so if apparently market place and stores in world are most of them supported by creators, for good or bad, this means that retailers don't have certainty to open a business here. Perhaps I am reading in the wrong way the suggestions. But now I am concluding:

1) Be a creator and sell your stuff through market place (first option, following the steps enlisted above) and with a tiny store in world (second option) on your own land.

2) Don't waste time and money getting vendors and franchises to retail, no matter if it sounds like a good and virtuous way to sell and work as a commercial team to promote others creations.

Am I right?

[Bitsy Buccaneer]

1 hour ago, Beggar Mayo said:

Thank you very much for your opinions. Even some makes me feel little frustrated. Develope builder or designer skills don't happen from night to day, need time, so if apparently market place and stores in world are most of them supported by creators, for good or bad, this means that retailers don't have certainty to open a business here. Perhaps I am reading in the wrong way the suggestions. But now I am concluding:

1) Be a creator and sell your stuff through market place (first option, following the steps enlisted above) and with a tiny store in world (second option) on your own land.

2) Don't waste time and money getting vendors and franchises to retail, no matter if it sounds like a good and virtuous way to sell and work as a commercial team to promote others creations.

Am I right?

Some people do alright with reselling gachas. It's a risk though and probably takes a good understanding of the gacha resale market to succeed in.

But yes, sales here are primarily by creators rather than retailers. Most of us get into it because we just like making things or we can't find what we want, so we learn to do it ourselves. Collaborative building used to be the mainstay of SL, people contributing their different skills and ideas to bring a project together. Nowadays, more of the work is done in external programs like Blender or GIMP but there's still an ecosystem of full perm components you can draw on to help. That can be very satisfying, a lot of fun to play with and much more manageable to learn.

Since you want to promote others and be part of a team, have you thought about becoming a customer service representative or other type of assistant with a brand you love? It might be a better fit with your current skill set and you'd probably learn a lot about running a shop in SL.

[Beggar Mayo]

5 hours ago, Bitsy Buccaneer said:

Since you want to promote others and be part of a team, have you thought about becoming a customer service representative or other type of assistant with a brand you love? It might be a better fit with your current skill set and you'd probably learn a lot about running a shop in SL.

I will think about very carefully, because I am not thinking "promote" others being part of a team, but is nice idea, but not as "customer service representative" because I would like build my own. Thank you very much.

[Kweopi]

3 hours ago, Beggar Mayo said:

 I would like build my own.

tell us more about your skills in

1. Texturing -> photoshop or gimp - there is a huge market for this. Most of the mesh bodies creators offer designers kits so you can make skins , tattoos , hair bases etc.

2.Mesh modeling --> Blender, maya etc. Biggest market of all .Your imagination is the limit...

3.Scripting ( like chinese for me but there are people who make big money on this.

 butthe most important, the motivation. Why are you doing this . Just to have a source of income? Easy peasy.. get full perms,modify them ( some meshes came with dae files so you can edit them to look as you want, combine items from different creators to find a nice new look, ad your own textures , an you will have products to sell.

  to have a succesful store, put your soul in it, make things you are proud of and be at least 25% unique.

[Bitsy Buccaneer]

5 hours ago, Beggar Mayo said:

I will think about very carefully, because I am not thinking "promote" others being part of a team, but is nice idea, but not as "customer service representative" because I would like build my own. Thank you very much.

OK, I misunderstood your 2) above then.

[Beggar Mayo]

On 7/23/2019 at 1:22 AM, Kweopi said:

tell us more about your skills in

Well Kweopi, answering your questions, although I am not an expert I have skills:

1) Texturing, using gimp and other tools related.

2) Mesh modeling (learning). Most of all using Scketchup (free tool not pro) to do building parts and similar stuff. I know Blender but is the day that I can't dominate it, still learning, slowly.

3) Scripting. I have some notions. Still learning

About motivation, YEAH! I am motivated to develope my skills, my business and my ideas. About your suggestions with full perms stuff, yeah! I got some stores selling these ones as my favorites and have an especific plan with some of their products already.

 

[Alwin Alcott]

i would advice for the shop... don't make it too big, huge buildings will make your customers feel lost in it. ( and your neighbours will hate it at mainland when it's at ground level)
If you expect your store to be huge, and high traffic, be kind to your sim, and be sure to have a lot of land to respect your neighbours and use of resources.
No big walls filled with vendors from floor to ceiling, use scrolable vendors with related items, saves a lot of space and keeps your store look tidy and spacy even when it's small.

Depending on the items you want to sell, some stores use only demo's inworld and sell the original by links to MP.