Sellers, You Are Losing Sales Because of Timed Demos

[Jennifer Boyle]

Yesterday, I went shopping for clothing. I was looking for two specific outfits that I'd seen ads for from stores that were new to me. I went to the first store, found the outfit, got the demo and put it on. I liked it a lot and was 95 per cent sure I would buy it. The outfit included a hat without hair, and I was still trying different hairs with the hat after 15 minutes, when the outfit timed out and disappeared. I instantly changed my mind about buying it, put on some clothes, deleted the demo, and left.

At the second store, I had to search for ten minutes or so before I found the outfit for which I was looking, but I found it, got the demo, and put it one. It looked even better than the picture had, and I loved it. I had almost decided to buy it. It had four different changeable textures with several colors for each. I was fiddling with the HUD, trying different color combinations, when the demo timed out  and disappeared after only five minutes. The outcome for the seller was the same as for the first one.

Both of the would-be sellers lost an almost sure sale and, likely, several future sales, because I liked their products. No matter how good their products are, I am not going to buy from people who are so disrespectful and inconsiderate of their customers. What are people thinking when they set demos to expire after such ridiculously short times? An hour might be reasonable; two would definitely be.

I'm sure there are people who would take the trouble get a demo and use it in place of the actual item until it expired. They wouldn't buy it anyway. Ethical issues aside, I wouldn't take the trouble to get, unpack, and select other items to wear with clothing that would only last hours, and I'll bet the same is true of most people who regularly spend money on clothing. It's angering people like me, who spend a lot on clothes, and would would buy something if an obnoxious timed demo hadn't angered them, that sellers need to be concerned about. When we decide not to buy an item, the would-be seller loses income. When a cheapskate who wouldn't have bought it anyway abuses a demo for a few hours, they lose nothing.

[Alwin Alcott]

of course i'm a man    and pick first before trying .. shop buy and run.
I can agree 5 minutes is short... but if you can't demo enough in 15 ... it gets a bit harder to blame the seller. In your last lines even speaking about "hours"... think that is really lots over what is reasonable

[SpiritSparrow Skydancer]

35 minutes ago, Jennifer Boyle said:

Yesterday, I went shopping for clothing. I was looking for two specific outfits that I'd seen ads for from stores that were new to me. I went to the first store, found the outfit, got the demo and put it on. I liked it a lot and was 95 per cent sure I would buy it. The outfit included a hat without hair, and I was still trying different hairs with the hat after 15 minutes, when the outfit timed out and disappeared. I instantly changed my mind about buying it, put on some clothes, deleted the demo, and left.

At the second store, I had to search for ten minutes or so before I found the outfit for which I was looking, but I found it, got the demo, and put it one. It looked even better than the picture had, and I loved it. I had almost decided to buy it. It had four different changeable textures with several colors for each. I was fiddling with the HUD, trying different color combinations, when the demo timed out  and disappeared after only five minutes. The outcome for the seller was the same as for the first one.

Both of the would-be sellers lost an almost sure sale and, likely, several future sales, because I liked their products. No matter how good their products are, I am not going to buy from people who are so disrespectful and inconsiderate of their customers. What are people thinking when they set demos to expire after such ridiculously short times? An hour might be reasonable; two would definitely be.

I'm sure there are people who would take the trouble get a demo and use it in place of the actual item until it expired. They wouldn't buy it anyway. Ethical issues aside, I wouldn't take the trouble to get, unpack, and select other items to wear with clothing that would only last hours, and I'll bet the same is true of most people who regularly spend money on clothing. It's angering people like me, who spend a lot on clothes, and would would buy something if an obnoxious timed demo hadn't angered them, that sellers need to be concerned about. When we decide not to buy an item, the would-be seller loses income. When a cheapskate who wouldn't have bought it anyway abuses a demo for a few hours, they lose nothing.

IDK.  I have not run into this, what is the sellers store?

[Kimmi Zehetbauer]

I remember one store that had demos lasting 30 minutes. A friend with me one time who's a great at scripting figured how to PK the timer, but I wasn't interested since the timed stuff I tried didn't have the word "DEMO" all over them.

[AdminGirl]

I think those timed demos are usually free from the distracting demo print/signs so you get to see what the item actually looks like. This can be an advantage because those demo signs can really prevent you from getting a full view of the product. I imagine the time limit is to prevent people from using the demos to, say, take pictures etc. For those short demos, I just take a second copy in case I need more time.

[Odaks]

I'm with @Jennifer Boyle on this. Timed demos are nothing but a irritating nuisance! The number of times I've been hunting through inventory looking for shoes that I could match, for example, when POOF! - the demo times out. When I get irritated about something, I, too, just walk away. Life is too short to piddle about with these sorts of annoyances.

(While I'm having a moan, "*****Fackup Fushions DEMO*****" circling around me, obscuring the view of the item, doesn't go down very well either.)

 

[LittleMe Jewell]

Most of the timed demos I've run into have a 10-15 minute time on them, which usually is long enough for my needs.  The 5 minute ones irritate the hell out of me.  Regardless of how long the time is, if the demo expires before I'm finished with it, then it is an instant No-Sale.

Edited August 5, 2020 by LittleMe Jewell

[Bree Giffen]

I like to save demos as a reference for items to buy. Kind of like a wishlist. Sometimes when I go back to those demos to buy something I can no longer see timed demos. Usually I’ve forgotten what the item looked like and delete the timed demo and move on to untamed demos to decide what to buy. I don’t feel angry or annoyed but timed demos just tend to disappear from my buying decisions. 

[FairreLilette]

47 minutes ago, Tarina Sewell said:

IDK.  I have not run into this, what is the sellers store?

I have run into 5-minute DEMOS but there is no need to name names here, me thinks that anyways.  

I choose to write DEMO on my stuff for the most part.  

For my furniture DEMOS, I just put my store name plus the word DEMO all around.  No one could take a picture but I think the potential buyer gets to see what they need.  

As far as making DEMOS, they all don't work the same.  Since my HUDS include all colors such as 100's of colors HUDS and could turn to black and erase the word DEMO I have written on there, I also alpha out bits on the AO so part of the actual item is missing in the back for instance.  Yeah, you don't get to see the whole thing, but what are sellers supposed to do?  I could have put a timer or alphaed out a bit on the AO itself to where part of the item on the demo is actually missing.  I chose no timer.  It's not easy to make these demos as you would think especially if you use the 100's of colors systems as I do.  

Edited August 5, 2020 by FairreLilette

[Qie Niangao]

I've actually come around to preferring timed demos to the ones that come with lots of junk hanging off them (or much worse, with parts missing/incomplete, or worse of all, with "DEMO" watermarked textures).

But yeah, five minutes is too short. I don't get all that annoyed by timeout as long as I can just unpack a fresh copy without needing to return to where I got the demo.

(I buy almost exclusively from events, so I grab demos of everything I want to try, teleport somewhere they'll rez quickly to try them on, then return to buy if any of the demos pass inspection. So if I've teleported away and the demo times-out, unless I can just unpack a fresh copy, it's pretty doomed.)

[Silent Mistwalker]

Timed demos = no sale and lost customer. 

I will not buy from merchants who use timed demos no matter how good the quality. What I buy doesn't depend on just quality. My mood at the time plays a large part. Which means if I can't keep a demo in my inventory to try another (maybe better) day, I won't buy and I will move on to other creators never to return.

[Lyssa Greymoon]

This is where having a short attention span pays off. I'm okay with a demo that lasts four minutes longer than I'll spend inspecting it. Not so good with demos with demo textures that end up looking better than the ones they used on the paid version. I was thinking about throwing demos that don't reveal deal breaking flaws into the pet peeves thread, but here is good too.

[Ansiri]

Think about the positive side, you get free automatic strip clothes.

[Jennifer Boyle]

4 hours ago, Alwin Alcott said:

In your last lines even speaking about "hours"... think that is really lots over what is reasonable

What do you think a seller would lose by doing that?

[Jennifer Boyle]

3 hours ago, Bree Giffen said:

I like to save demos as a reference for items to buy. Kind of like a wishlist. Sometimes when I go back to those demos to buy something I can no longer see timed demos. Usually I’ve forgotten what the item looked like and delete the timed demo and move on to untamed demos to decide what to buy. I don’t feel angry or annoyed but timed demos just tend to disappear from my buying decisions. 

In my case, I may be shopping for a particular type of item and simply run out of time for SL, so that I have to continent another time, which could be as long as a few days later.

[Orwar]

   I don't really mind timed demos, 5 minutes should be all you need to put it on, look at it, try it out with your AO a little, and get a sense of it. What I do mind is when I'm in a store, trying on a demo, not noticing it's timed, and suddenly I'm naked.

   I think that in a way, it's preferable to some of the other demo variants. Showering the product's textures with a weave of red text spamming 'demo' can make it really hard to tell what's actually behind it, same as some of the demo signs attached to your avi being extremely poorly placed (like, if you're demoing a hair with alphas in it, and you get a circular thing around your head with alphas for a floating 'demo' text so you can't actually see yourself wearing the hair).

   If you need another 5 minutes, you can usually just unpack it again to try it - but then the demo needs to come unpacked, some vendors just give you the folder already unpacked, which can be a little annoying. Sometimes, especially if it's an outfit with several pieces to it that you want to see by themselves and together, 10 minutes might be needed. 

[bigmoe Whitfield]

If you sell the product copy/mod,  the demo needs to be copy/mod, if you include a timer with this,  handy dandy notebook of black listed sellers I just you too,  pretty simple weeding out certain sellers.

[Arielle Popstar]

1 hour ago, Jennifer Boyle said:

  5 hours ago, Alwin Alcott said:

In your last lines even speaking about "hours"... think that is really lots over what is reasonable

What do you think a seller would lose by doing that?

Probably lose a sale considering some only wear an outfit to one outing before it is trashed. Why bother buying it if a demo will last long enough for that.

10-15 minutes seems reasonable to me to allow enough to time to see if its possible to colour and style coordinate with other accessories. 5 minutes is nowhere near enough time and to my own chagrin, I don't have the patience to go through the process of having to grab another copy through the Marketplace.

[Rhun DeCuir]

Timed demos are annoying, but still better than no demo at all.  I don't care how nice it looks in the picture, if I can't try it on, no sale.  And there are some major well known menswear merchants who don't get a dime from me because of no demos.

[Paul Hexem]

If you need more than 15 minutes to make a decision, you might have to do some self reflecting.

 

6 hours ago, bigmoe Whitfield said:

If you sell the product copy/mod,  the demo needs to be copy/mod, if you include a timer with this,  handy dandy notebook of black listed sellers I just you too,  pretty simple weeding out certain sellers.

Did you just suggest that demos should be copy and mod? Why, so you can remove the "demo" portion and use it as the full product?

[AdminGirl]

6 hours ago, Jennifer Boyle said:

What do you think a seller would lose by doing that?

If a nice outfit can be demo'd for a full hour in all its paid version glory, that's enough time for someone to use that outfit for, I dunno, say a quick date? Or to take pictures for their flickr, or other ways of actually using the outfit beyond demoing purposes. You might not but others might.

[Jordyn McGregor]

12 minutes ago, Paul Hexem said:

If you need more than 15 minutes to make a decision, you might have to do some self reflecting.

If I demo at all, 2 minutes is more than enough time.  

[AdminGirl]

8 hours ago, Lyssa Greymoon said:

This is where having a short attention span pays off. I'm okay with a demo that lasts four minutes longer than I'll spend inspecting it. Not so good with demos with demo textures that end up looking better than the ones they used on the paid version. I was thinking about throwing demos that don't reveal deal breaking flaws into the pet peeves thread, but here is good too.

I've actually encountered demos that looked way better than the paid version because the demo print overlay improved the colors somehow. So I feel more comfortable with timed demos.. just have to remember they're timed though - a few times I put on a demo, walked away for a bit, then come back to find my av nekkid in the middle of the store 😨

ETA.. Just realized Orwar said the same thing. At least I'm not the only one 🙄

Edited August 6, 2020 by AdminGirl

[Marianne Little]

9 hours ago, Jennifer Boyle said:

What do you think a seller would lose by doing that?

I agree with@AdminGirl. No need to buy the clothes at all. One hour? More than enough time to accessorize and take pictures to post on Flickr, the blog or any other place. Two hours? A whole evening in SL for many. Long enough to attend a concert, a dance, a date.

Many people in SL wear an outfit 1-3 times. Even if the demo can't be worn more than once, taking a few demos would mean 0 need to buy it.

15 minutes is considerate. Asking for hours is like demanding you can rent the outfit for free.

True, 5 minutes is not enough for me if it is lots of HUDs and color combinations to try.

Not giving a warning in chat, that the Demo will expire, is stupid because as others said.... oops. 😲

[bigmoe Whitfield]

4 hours ago, Paul Hexem said:

If you need more than 15 minutes to make a decision, you might have to do some self reflecting.

 

Did you just suggest that demos should be copy and mod? Why, so you can remove the "demo" portion and use it as the full product?

MM often times if I can make adjustments to the colours of the item and such,  that would be why, I ask for those permissions.   I do not fool with no mod no copy items much.