How much linden does a typical avatar cost?

[Jovanique]

Hello! I've been thinking about purchasing some linden to change my avatar's whole entire appearance. I'm still using one of the default avatars that Second Life provides along with a few freebies for beginners, so I don't own anything which costs linden. I would like to have an avatar with higher quality items, what would that cost me? Also how much does a typical avatar costs on Second Life? 

[Talligurl]

it can vary quite a bit depending on just what you want

Edited November 14, 2020 by Talligurl

[Fritigern Gothly]

I think that it would be fair to assume that you will be spending 15.000-25.000 on a full mesh avatar, plus a wardrobe and attachments (think jewelry, or parts of the human anatomy) because unless you are a hardcore nudist, you will want to dress yourself with something nice 🙂

[PixieGirrrrl]

I think it's 7/8k + lindens for a good quality nice looking female avi and 10/12k+ lindens for a male one.

I say this because i put together a decent looking female alt for about that much, and I also looked into building a male one and worked out that's roughly how much it would cost me.

It is a little bit of a "how long is a piece of string" question though cause people might quote you less (if you pick up this free body, group gift head here etc) and also much much more if you want to go top of the range everything.

[Jordyn McGregor]

37 minutes ago, Fritigern Gothly said:

I think that it would be fair to assume that you will be spending 15.000-25.000 on a full mesh avatar, plus a wardrobe and attachments 🙂

Agreed.

Although I will put out there that Black Friday and Xmas sales will be coming up and although it's not guaranteed, I would wait and see if the bigger mesh stores join in and have discounts on their mesh body parts.

[Talligurl]

It is not necessary to do it all at once. You can get a mesh body and retain your system head, and then sometime after that start to look into mesh heads. Getting out there, talking to people seeing what others have done and asking them how they did it. There is no reason to rush to create the perfect avatar right away. 

[Wulfie Reanimator]

Are you asking how much money the most popular mesh bodies cost?
(Ranges between 2000-5000 for the body, and an additional 500-1000+ for the head.)

Or are you asking how much money people are wearing on average?
(Inconclusive, we don't have the data on that.)

Or are you asking how much you can expect to spend for a "good looking avatar?"
(Depends entirely on what kind of avatar you want, we'll need specifics.)

[Chery Amore]

I agree don't rush and demo, demo, demo.  For a good look at least 10-15k including some good hair, but sometimes there are nice sales or even give-aways. Problem is you kind of have to know what's out there to see it... and you have to have some patience. I've gone through three mesh heads before I finally really liked the one I have now. Then for clothes if you get a well known body there are lots of freebies and lots of group gifts or group join specials to start you off. If you know a look you like ask them what they have on. Remember the shape you make under it can make the mesh look really different also. You can buy skin also but many mesh heads come with skin appliers for major mesh body brands.

[Rowan Amore]

You can still pick up the free mesh head at Logo when you join the group which is also free.  She extended the offer since Caspervend was down so long.  There's also the 1L body from TMP.  I think it's a cheap way to start and learn about mesh heads and body with full function items.  Both are BOM.

Didn't someone mention that a lot of catwa skins work well with Logo?  Again, demo everything but having some free/inexpensive things to play around with would be fun.

https://ryanschultz.com/2020/10/04/version-3-0-of-the-kalhene-anya-and-alexa-bodies-a-great-bakes-on-mesh-bento-head-and-body-package-gets-even-better/

Edited November 14, 2020 by RowanMinx

[FairreLilette]

For a mesh avatar plus skin, clothing, hair, shoes, jewelry, AO and some dance animations, I'd say you could start with about 10,000 lindens.   If someone is going to add private parts, those cost money too, so add about another 500 linden plus for those.   To make a mesh avatar, it varies from some free items to what you really want and can afford.  

You can search 1 linden GIFT items and Dollarbies on Marketplace to stretch your wardrobe plus put in the word PROMO on Marketplace to find some lower priced items.

Edited November 14, 2020 by FairreLilette

[Jennifer Boyle]

1 hour ago, Talligurl said:

It is not necessary to do it all at once. You can get a mesh body and retain your system head, and then sometime after that start to look into mesh heads. Getting out there, talking to people seeing what others have done and asking them how they did it. There is no reason to rush to create the perfect avatar right away. 

If you take it a step at a time, then you don't have to learn as much all at once, and at each stage you'll find that some of what you already learned helps you.

If I were in your position, I would start with a mesh body because the mesh body is a bigger improvement over the system body that mesh heads are over system heads.For me, the most important characteristic of a body is support by clothing makers. I got Maitreya for that reason, and have been completely satisfied. Not only are plenty of clothes available, but the body keeps getting better, and the tech support is good.

You should be able to get a basic wardrobe of nice clothes without spending much if you look for promos and group gifts.

At that stage, I'd just enjoy and learn for a while, perhaps while demoing mesh heads when convenient.

Then select a head after you are comfortable with the rest of it.

My estimate for mainstream body, head, and adequate but not huge wardrobe is L$12,000-15,000. That is assuming some effort is put into finding nice clothes that are not too expensive.

[PixelBerry]

If your planning to stay in Second life for a long time then yeah you should probably invest in a good avatar, it is of course not necessary and by choice.

However if you feel like it's just a temporary thing then I would suggest not to invest in it, making a decent looking avatar can be really expensive depending on what you buy.

I don't know if your a female or a male but I will give you some suggestions regardless.

In the long run I would not suggest on buying the first or the cheapest things you find, especially when it comes to bodyparts.

When it comes to a body I would suggest Maitreya if your a female, and Signature gianni ( At least from what I know. ) if your a male as they are the most supported bodies out there, you will also most likely find more freebies and group gifts for those bodies which saves you some money as you don't have to invest in clothes and other things if you find something for free that you like.

• Maitreya body: 2750 Lindens.
• Signature gianni body: 4000 Lindens.

When it comes to heads it really depends on what type of face you want, but I would suggest taking a look at the Lelutka store as they have permanently lowered their prices for their Lelutka evolution line, there are both female and male heads. Why I suggest Lelutka is because the function, the quality and the animations are all top notch for what you pay, and is not lacking in any way I would say, compared to other heads that I feel like you need to invest in extra stuff for it to be working properly.

• Lelutka head: 3990 Lindens.

Everything else you will have to do some research, please try demos before buying anything to make sure that you will like the items that you buy.

I would suggest taking a look on the marketplace, put the sorting on best selling and you will most likely find promo products that are decently priced.

Also do not rush when your making your avatar, take your time.

 

Other bodies you can check: Slink hourglass, Belleza freya, Female Legacy classic or perky, Male Legacy classic or athletic ( There are others, but aren't as supported. )

Other head stores: Catwa and Genus.

Skin store suggestions: Pepe skins, Amara beauty, Deetalez, The skinnery, Stray dog, Bold & beauty and Mudskin.

Hair store suggestions: Magika, Stealthic, Doux, Yumyum, Tram, Moon and Dura.

 

 

[Dafadilia Wayfarer]

On my main account my entire mesh avatar was 3000L.

My one alt I spent about 200L.

My second alt I spent a total of 100L.

All are full mesh, bento and BOM...

I kept my alts as low cost as possible because I enjoy seeing what I can put together. Something that is actually beautiful. I blog and take photos with all three of them. The cost above doesn't include clothing items, accessories, etc, but my alts mainly stick with freebies. You can put quite a pretty avatar together that is low cost with some patience while you look through different blogs and learning how to put together the look you want.

 

[Chic Aeon]

3 hours ago, Jovanique said:

Hello! I've been thinking about purchasing some linden to change my avatar's whole entire appearance. I'm still using one of the default avatars that Second Life provides along with a few freebies for beginners, so I don't own anything which costs linden. I would like to have an avatar with higher quality items, what would that cost me? Also how much does a typical avatar costs on Second Life? 

You can obviously spend as much or as little as you want. There are no rules. 

 

Here is a post from earlier in the year where I made five  four looks for I think a linden a piece at most. So you don't NEED to spend money to get a good looking avatar. 

 

https://chicatphilsplace.blogspot.com/2020/03/2020-avatar-makeover-four-looks.html

I suspect that some of those items are no longer available, but you get the idea.

 

Edited November 14, 2020 by Chic Aeon
adding info

[Yuumo Ichibara]

For your main avatar, I’d say L$15000-20000. Half of it is for your mesh head and body, the other half is for your skin, hair, AO, and wardrobe but that really depends on how active and sociable you are, and what kind of lifestyle or work you are into. Also, are you male, female, or wish to be both? A few of my dearest friends, especially those who roleplay, are happy to wear the same hair and outfit all year round because they feel it is the best representation of themselves. Nowadays I feel like doing the same and just save the money for furniture and rent.

These were my initial expenses when I upgraded to mesh:

Maitreya Lara: L$2750
Genus Baby Face W001: L$5500 (they are now priced L$3300 since reopening and the Genus Strong Head W001 is still available as a group gift at the mainstore, and in my opinion it is the best free mesh head and the only Genus head you will need)
Base skin and body applier: L$1299 + L$295 at DeeTaleZ
Hair: L$345 per pack at monso
Full makeup BOM layers: L$99 per set at MUDSKIN
Full bento AO: L$2990 at Vista Animations (Tuty also sells very nice bento AOs for L$450-950, but some animations look quite awkward)
Totally optional but I wanted to be anatomically correct, so ... L$1990 here
The remaining L$4732 I spent on my initial outfits, one for each occasion (1 everyday look, 1 formal, 1 corporate, 1 traditional kimono, 1 clubwear, 1 swimwear)

If you are making a male avatar, here is the breakdown of items and costs when I assembled one for my man:

Belleza Jake: L$2999
LeLutka Kane: L$3990
Base skin and body applier: L$800 + L$350 at RAONHAUSEN
Hair: L$300 per pack at Dura
Full bento AO: L$2990 at Vista Animations
Totally optional but we are married and I love realism ... L$1450 here

For an alt, in case you will make one, just take advantage of gifts, giveaways, outlet stores, and weekend sales. 2 of my alts started with GENUS Strong + Lucybody Atenea (L$0 midnight mania here and it can fit 85-90% of clothes made for Maitreya) until I decided to level them up for model photography. Do not give your credit card info to your alts! Just spoil them during their rezday or every time they win at Game of Homes lol

[Danielle Atheria]

4 hours ago, Fritigern Gothly said:

I think that it would be fair to assume that you will be spending 15.000-25.000 on a full mesh avatar, plus a wardrobe and attachments (think jewelry, or parts of the human anatomy) because unless you are a hardcore nudist, you will want to dress yourself with something nice 🙂

Agree. I've spent about that much on mine.

[Cinos Field]

I don't really see it costing more than 10k for body, head, wardrobe and such.

Assuming human female, you get the body for ~3k, the head for a similar amount (or free, there's a lot of great free heads, some as promotions). You can get a nice outfit for some 1-2k if you spend some time looking. Hair, skin, both maybe 500 each. Genitals, if you're into those, have high quality options from 500 to 2000.

The key is to not buy something just because it's the most popular brand, except perhaps the body so you get lots of clothes. Unless you specifically like the most popular brand, anyhow. And there's a lot of optional extras you could get, but don't need to look great.

[Nalates Urriah]

There are ways to look at cost and there are efficient and inefficient ways to acquire L$.

I suspect some want to get the most for their money. Others likely feel the amounts are small enough it does not justify the time to figure out how to get the deals. The Lab doesn't hide the ways to save US$ but they don't exactly make it obvious either. One needs to do some research and be familiar with the different ways to get L$.

If you are going to get a better looking avatar, consider how you'll use that avatar. If like Oz Linden, you change your appearance once a year... or maybe every other... then you are looking at a one time cost. This means you only need to consider the cost to acquire L$. Buying from the Lab is safe and if you do, you have two choices.

Instant Buy
You just buy them. Done. You can go spend them.

The thing is this is NOT the best deal. Today (11/14/2020) you'll get L$240 for US$1. Plus there is a service charge on each transaction, US$1.49. That knocks it down to L$210 per US$1. The more L$ you buy the better the exchange because of the service fee. You want to get all the L$ you think you'll want in one transaction.

Best Rate Buy
With this option you buy and wait... may be... you can't know.

This option is like a real life currency exchange in the commodities markets. Scroll down and see the pending buy and sell orders. Notice the sellers want to only give up L$240/US$1. As I write there are L$125,000 waiting to be sold at that price. The buyers want to get L$249 for their US$1. Orders for L$2,700,734 are pending at that price. Those pending orders are filled on a first come basis. You'll have to wait for L$2.7 million to be bought/sold before they get to your order if you buy at L$249.

I hope it is obvious the Instant Buy is just grabbing the best rate for L$ waiting to be sold when you place an order. You give up US$ for for instant gratification. 😏

If you buy L$ at the seller's ask of L$240 there is no wait. However what may not be so obvious is in the range of 241 to 248 things are happening. There are no pending orders. So, if I place an order to buy L$ at 248/US1 I will have a pending order. I'll have to wait until some seller decides to give up their $Ls for my US$s. In my experience  that happens in hours not days. But, there is no guaranteed ETA for the transaction. That is up to the sellers.

The closer you move to the 240 price, the quicker your order will be filled.

On a US$50 buy order being willing to wait can get you an extra L$450. That can be a couple of dresses, tops, a small fat pack...

The Problem
However... consider when you get this nice looking, even HAWT, avatar are you going to be able to resist dressing it up? If not, you are looking at an ongoing cost. I cant resist. Shopping, dressing, and photos in SL are a good part of my activity in SL. I sell some stuff in SL to reduce my cost too. So, I have an ongoing cost.

 Addams' top & shorts as a mega pack is $L1,200 (on sale L$800) or individual items about L$200 each.

I change outfits at least once a week and on occasion several times in a day. When I found I was spending over US$100 per year I looked for a way to get that cost down. I decided a Premium Membership was my best choice. In addition to selling some stuff in SL. Consider. a Premium Membership's cost.

• L$1,000 signing bonus
• L$300 per week stipend
• Other non-cash benefits

L$1,000 + (L$300 * 52) = L$16,600 or US$69.17 at todays exchange rate for sellers. That takes the annual membership of US$99 to $29.83. I cannot rent a home on SL for $29.83/year (L$7,160). For $30/year I get the various benefits and home. I want the home so it is a deal for me.

There are residents in SL that have ways to get whole regions for way less than the standard region rental rates. I'm not there yet. 

My point is that like RL when you learn the system there are ways to take advantage of it and get more for your dollars. Free markets are great.

 

[simplemint]

I'm still rather new to SL, I've only been here for around a month, but I personally don't think that you need to spend much money to get a decent avatar.

I am using a free Ruth 3.5 mesh body that I picked up from a store in-world, but I believe it is sold on Marketplace as well. It fits most Maitreya clothing. I am strongly considering purchasing the Kalhene Anya, which includes a head + body (including hands, feet, skin, nails, and other add-ons) for $1795 on marketplace, which also fits most Maitreya clothing. 

My skins were either $1L or $0 L. Pink Fuel and 7 Deadly s[K]ins both have free skins if you are under 30 days, and 7 Deadly s[K]ins has midnight mania/lucky boards you can enter into as well. FabFree has a great list of newbie gifts.

I paid $0 for my GENUS Strong Head (which I believe is still free if you join their group) and $1L for the LOGO head mentioned earlier. 

This is a resource for free hair. Sintiklia and NYNE in particular have a lot of hair to choose from for free, and I think they're fairly high quality. 

I really enjoy freebie hunting and seeing how far I can stretch my lindens. FabFree and Ryan Schutlz's blogs are both excellent resources for freebies. The group for TeleportHub is $10L but gives you access to a number of group gifts. I also have fun hunting, which can be quite inexpensive as well depending on the cost of each hunt. Going through freebies does require a bit of a discerning eye as obviously, quality can vary, but I believe it's possible to build high quality avatars using freebie or near-freebie items. 

[FairreLilette]

18 hours ago, simplemint said:

This is a resource for free hair. Sintiklia and NYNE in particular have a lot of hair to choose from for free, and I think they're fairly high quality.

I put out free hair a lot in SL and all kinds of freebies.  Right now I have a free hair for all and anyone who would like one.  Look for my teleport in my PICKS in my profile.  The hair free is on the floor in a box that says FREE HAIR on the box.  I have two stores there right next to each other so be sure to go next door as I think my tp will land you in my Gacha Game booth - but the FREE HAIR is in the store next door.  The free hair is copy and modify and you can resize and tint it too - it won't be available after Thanksgiving though.   Plus, my stores are in a Discount Mall with lots of stores.  Take a look around at some of the discount items in the stores in the Mall if you have some time; some are not a bad price at all.   And, check my booth about Dec. 1st or so as I will probably put free hairs out for Christmas.  You have to tint and re-size with the built-in SL tools though as my hairs don't come with any gadgets or scripts.  If you don't know how to use the SL built-in color picker or how to re-size without a script, ask in Builder's Brewery group how to do that as the tools to do these things are built into every object in SL; but some people don't know that.  So, ask in Builder's Brewery group.   

Edited November 19, 2020 by FairreLilette

[Maryanne Solo]

Slink Physique. 
The "crowd" in their "keep up with the joneses" eternal challenge forgets 
this body led the field regarding BOM implementation and is absolutely superb.
Less popular lol. 
😂🙄

[Gage Wirefly]

4 hours ago, Maryanne Solo said:

Slink Physique. 
The "crowd" in their "keep up with the joneses" eternal challenge forgets 
this body led the field regarding BOM implementation and is absolutely superb.
Less popular lol. 
😂🙄

I agree. Slink was also first to market with a mesh body in general if memory serves.

[FairreLilette]

16 hours ago, Maryanne Solo said:

Slink Physique. 
The "crowd" in their "keep up with the joneses" eternal challenge forgets 
this body led the field regarding BOM implementation and is absolutely superb.
Less popular lol. 
😂🙄

It was most likely because of the feet and hands not being attached.  All those different feet cost a lot too; and, especially when one is new, Slink is quite confusing.  Just look at the prices of all those feet selling individually on Marketplace.  This is probably why Slink lost it's popularity; newbies don't get it, and Maitreya is just a better deal and easier to understand.  Slink should just put out a bundle and get rid of selling separate feet for 675L each foot style or thereabouts, plus 890L for hands.  

I know there is a bundle now but there wasn't a bundle for a long time.  I loved Maitreya from day one but the feet and hands really sold it.

What's really bugging me is that the old templets, the one's needed for BOM, the nipples are off center for most mesh bodies, so many skin makers are only making a tattoo for the face instead of a whole skin.  Maitreya has the nipple built into the HUD too choose from now (under advanced in the newest menu) so they 'could' make full BOM skins and just include a notecard to use the nipples in the HUD - at least for Maitreya.  I think BOM FULL skin (not face tattoos) could reduce the SL lag from these behemoth polygon bodies IF skin makers will start to make full BOM skins and then all of us would have a much better SL.  

Edited November 22, 2020 by FairreLilette

[RitaCallisto]

22 hours ago, Gage Wirefly said:

I agree. Slink was also first to market with a mesh body in general if memory serves.

Wowmeh, then Slink, I believe.

[Rowan Amore]

19 minutes ago, RitaCallisto said:

Wowmeh, then Slink, I believe.

And wasn't wowmeh shut down for DMCA right before Slink released their body? Also phatazz?  I always wondered about the timing on that.