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New Looks for Your Avatar - Advent Favs


Chic Aeon
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I was going to post this in How Does Your Avatar Look Today and then I thought it would be fun to see other people's favorite Advent gifts (and know where they came from LOL).   

 

So here is my favorite of the day. There were LOTS OF LOVELY things out to grab, but me -- I am a casual gal and summer will eventually be here again.

 

day1-b.thumb.jpg.60d8b15c902f691b3c9e433dba181a44.jpg

 

This from BLACK BIRD LACE .  It comes with a huge texture change hud. 

 

 

Edited by Chic Aeon
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Thanks Orwar. While you were typing the reply, I found a better list than Seraphim, https://www.teleporthub.com/advent-calendar/

It is clear what the numbers mean. Advent calendar gifts when we have a group join fee up to 250 L (Minimal) and 300 L (Salt & pepper). 😡

It does not help much if the groups are free or cost a small amount. I do not have room for so many groups. So I have to join and leave their group every day. 🤬

Almost all groups cost money now. I can quit groups like Blueberry and Addams, because they have a low fee to join. I do not get group information if I do that.

Other numbers mean that the gift is free the first day and then cost something after that.

Big applause to stores that does not force us to join a group. I do not take offense if there are a small price to pay for the latecomers. If I like it, I can pay if I missed it the day before.

Edited by Marianne Little
added a few more words to clarify
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11 minutes ago, Marianne Little said:

Advent calendar gifts when we have a group join fee up to 250 L (Minimal) and 300 L (Salt & pepper). 😡

   L$500 for Backbone ...

   I feel like for the most part, it's just not worth the effort. I'd rather just pay up for something that appeals to me than wasting hours of my already busy December schedule hopping around to generate traffic like some hamster stuck in yet another consumerist ploy.

2zj.gif

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37 minutes ago, Orwar said:

L$500 for Backbone ...

That one at least has permanent 25% discount on mainstore purchases, so assuming someone was interested to buy a single 2k furniture there it's basically free. But yeah, if it's just for the gifts, it's so not worth it, L$ or time wise.

And this year seems as underwhelming for that advent stuff as the last one was, especially considering black friday/cyber monday sales that just ended. Would be great for freebie hunters, if it weren't for group/group joining fee. But as it is... ain't nobody got time for that.

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But thank you for showing more advent gifts in your blog, @Chic Aeon. It is a good help to decide if I should join a store group despite my first reaction. When I saw that Salt & Pepper has a dress in Christmas red for January 1st, I found out that it wasn't worth joining for seasonal colors. And I think it is too stressful, to go there every weekday to get giftcards for a total of 800 L. That is 3,32 dollar.

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I do think many places provide the gift calendar or holiday gifts for existing customers and group members as a thank you. I know I’ve been in a couple of groups that actually close group enrollment just before and during the gifting time. I also feel like it’s their choice to do so to make a nice holiday atmosphere for those customers. I’m not a freebie hunter so I’m not offended. No store owes me any gifts or freebies. 

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4 hours ago, Marianne Little said:

I am looking at the Seraphim list. What do they mean when it says "Fee 100 L, fee 99 L, fee 250 L" and similar numbers? They can't mean we have to join a group? I do not have enough groups for that.

Yes it does. :D.  Many calendars are group only and many have fees. There is at least one place that has a free group to join but then charges 99 lindens for the "gifts". Obviously it didn't make my list.  There is also a list on teleporthub.com and FabFree.  Fabfree grouped the place according to pay or free and 24 or 12 day calendars.   

 

There was another very lovely (and completely free but there is a group to join) bit of clothing at Black Bird Lace again.  I hadn't heard of that store before but so far it has some of the nicest gifts IMO.  I just scrolled UP and read all your comments, and yes, I do agree that "sometimes" this seems much more of a marketing and money making adventure than actual gift giving. 

 

My two favorite ACTUAL GIFTS places (both new to me are Black Bird Lace and Pink Camel (beautifully made mesh and so far kind of giant toys for adults).  

Meanwhile I will put some fashion back in here with some great fitting lingerie for today. 

173966431_day2-b.thumb.jpg.47d479dfb2365e8fddb9fdbcefb1bc9e.jpg

 

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2 hours ago, Marianne Little said:

But thank you for showing more advent gifts in your blog, @Chic Aeon. It is a good help to decide if I should join a store group despite my first reaction. When I saw that Salt & Pepper has a dress in Christmas red for January 1st, I found out that it wasn't worth joining for seasonal colors. And I think it is too stressful, to go there every weekday to get giftcards for a total of 800 L. That is 3,32 dollar.

Almost all the pay groups that I feature I  have joined when it was free. I did join Minimal long ago as they give out some really nice backdrops. And back then it was 50 lindens to join. I guess that I have always had a "thing" about groups. I have never had a store group and I never wanted one. When groups were NEW in SL, they were all about connecting with people. Then, some retailers came into the picture and they became a way to increase traffic (and move up in search) and then someone decided to charge a fee to join so that folks wouldn't jump around in groups so much (most all were free a decade or more ago) and things took off from there.  So I have some personal prejudices mixed in there. 

 

And obviously my idea to "sleep in" didn't turn out so well LOL.  But I am heading back to bed soon. 

 

Personally, when I filled Advent calendars (and I have ones from 2017 and 2018 up in my shop for folks that may have missed those back then) it was always free to all. No group needed.  They were always extremely popular and I didn't do it to bring in traffic. I just put out gifts in the spirit of the season.   I think many creators DO that --- a few, not so much. But each person has a choice whether to join a group or not or pay fees for "gifts".    

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7 hours ago, Marianne Little said:

Thanks Orwar. While you were typing the reply, I found a better list than Seraphim, https://www.teleporthub.com/advent-calendar/

It is clear what the numbers mean. Advent calendar gifts when we have a group join fee up to 250 L (Minimal) and 300 L (Salt & pepper). 😡

It does not help much if the groups are free or cost a small amount. I do not have room for so many groups. So I have to join and leave their group every day. 🤬

Almost all groups cost money now. I can quit groups like Blueberry and Addams, because they have a low fee to join. I do not get group information if I do that.

Other numbers mean that the gift is free the first day and then cost something after that.

Big applause to stores that does not force us to join a group. I do not take offense if there are a small price to pay for the latecomers. If I like it, I can pay if I missed it the day before.

Often for stores like Salt & Pepper and Meva - which both do have fairly large group join fees -- their advent gifts include gift cards and special items. As someone else mentioned, their advent calendars are primarily a thank you to the group members, not a general free-for-all as many of the public calendars are.  If it is a skin store, giving out new skins every day, the group fee also seems justified to me.

Only a few times have I paid a group join fee during Christmas advent calendar time.  It was always for a store that I hadn't previously known about and I decided that I liked the quality of their stuff and would be shopping there in the future and enjoying the group rewards of gifts and/or discounts.  A few times, I did so and later regretted paying the join fee.

I always leave open 1-2 group slots for short term group joins, either for a hunt or to nab a gift that is group only and I only use those slots for free or super-super cheap groups (like grabbing one of the Fabulously Free group gifts or one of the Teleport.Hub group gifts).

 

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@Vanity Fair Posting blog links related to the topic, even loosely, doesn't bother me. I appreciate it. If you did it every post and were all spammy then I would have a problem.

GROUPS... these are a mixed bag of good and bad. The motivations for forming a group varies. Some are well run  and others not so much. Some are pure spam. Some are great deals and others total rip offs. Others serve to provide limited access. Not always easy to know which are worth joining. Is there a Consumer Report for groups?

I just wish there was a way to easily keep track of which groups I paid to be in. I think it would be handy to have a popup saying you paid L$#### to join when I click LEAVE.

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2 hours ago, Nalates Urriah said:

I just wish there was a way to easily keep track of which groups I paid to be in. I think it would be handy to have a popup saying you paid L$#### to join when I click LEAVE.

I get this alert if I'm about to leave a group with join fee:

2020-12-02_Leave-Group.jpg.0e54fb1fa1cfb345d5c98cf74d414b11.jpg

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29 minutes ago, Coby Foden said:

I get this alert if I'm about to leave a group with join fee:

2020-12-02_Leave-Group.jpg.0e54fb1fa1cfb345d5c98cf74d414b11.jpg

Yeah, but that just tells you how much it currently costs if you want to join.  You might have actually joined for lots less, possibly even free.

I want to know how much I actually paid to join.  If I'm so-so about a group, I'm less likely to drop it if I paid lots to join, but more likely to drop it if I got in on a free day or at a super low fee way back whenever.

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I'm do not typically like most of the 'Christmas clothing' items that creators "gift" us, but I really like this sweater from WellMade.  It is their Dec 1st gift, comes with a HUD to change it to green, and you can nab it for only 10L if you missed picking it up yesterday.

Winter wanderings

 

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5 hours ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

Yeah, but that just tells you how much it currently costs if you want to join.  You might have actually joined for lots less, possibly even free.

I want to know how much I actually paid to join.  If I'm so-so about a group, I'm less likely to drop it if I paid lots to join, but more likely to drop it if I got in on a free day or at a super low fee way back whenever.

I had to smile as I remember exactly which groups I paid for or if they were free. A RL friend tells me that I remember my VIRTUAL stuff way better than the corporeal details.    But to be fair the only groups that I have PAID to join are Minimal and Fundati.  The others were all during free to join days LOL so I don't have all that much to remember *wink*. EDIT: Before heading to bed I remembered that I also paid for Dysfunctionality.  Now I do like their product (bushes mostly) but the only reason that I joined was that they had some grasses that I wanted and the only way to get them was as a group gift -- so in effect I was paying for the grasses which I was happy to do.   Just wanted to keep the record straight LOL.   

 

You could of course keep a notecard -- from now on anyway. 

 

I have to say that there is one pay group that I have been a member of for a long time (again didn't pay to join)  that I am disappointed in the quality of their gifts.  This is the second year that this seems to be in effect -- . Before the gifts were great.   Honestly if creators don't feel like putting in the effort to make something new or simply recoloring an old release (now that is simple) I would just wish they would not have a calendar. 

I am going to hang in there for awhile longer but half way through last year I stopped going as I didn't see any point; either I tossed the pretty obvious "outake" product that wasn't worth finishing to sell or I got a gift card that I would never use -- small amount so that it was actually just a small discount.   I think, really, that designers that do this are hurting their brand more than helping it.   Maybe there are some folks that don't know how bad the quality is, but for the real shoppers it isn't sending a good message IMO.

So far this year I have found two NEW and good creators that likely no one has heard about (or a very few) and I am very encouraged by this. That was how things worked OH SO LONG AGO when bloggers were the folks that discovered the talent an let other folks know.  So it is an interesting exercise for me this year. Disappointment on one hand and encouragement on the other.   

 

I am not sure exactly how this thread turned into this commentary on groups and gifts, but threads do morph from time to time so I am OK with that. Interesting to hear different points of view.  

Edited by Chic Aeon
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The risk of leaving a group that does not cost much to join again, is that the price may have jumped up when you will join again.

7 Deadly Skins is one of those. The price for joining their group is now a noticeable 1000 L fee. They may reduce their fee after advent.

I found out that I am a member of Backbone. They had several monthly gifts up when I joined. So it was a good deal. I visited their Advent Calendar and wasn't much impressed. It is probably good stuff for collectors. I never collected stamps or dolls, so it was eyeroll for me. If I wanted that figurine for January 1st, it was 114 L (or an amount close to that ) to pay for group members. In all fairness, buying cost more for others.

But I had not joined because of the Advent Calendar, so it is ok.

Edited by Marianne Little
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38 minutes ago, Chic Aeon said:

.........

I am not sure exactly how this thread turned into this commentary on groups and gifts, but threads do morph from time to time so I am OK with that. Interesting to hear different points of view.  

It was because I started it. It has morphed from sweet, funny gifts to business for some stores. Others keep the calendars free, but only for group members. It has been such a crazy increase in "pay - for - join" groups the last few years.

Before, I could leave a group and join again, now I have to consider the cost, and as if that was not enough, the cost can be doubled, tripled or quadrupled for events.

Christmas spirit... If the stores think a Christmas Calendar is just a new way to make money, do not call it gifts, but seasonal member discounts.

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1 hour ago, Marianne Little said:

It was because I started it. It has morphed from sweet, funny gifts to business for some stores. Others keep the calendars free, but only for group members. It has been such a crazy increase in "pay - for - join" groups the last few years.

Before, I could leave a group and join again, now I have to consider the cost, and as if that was not enough, the cost can be doubled, tripled or quadrupled for events.

Christmas spirit... If the stores think a Christmas Calendar is just a new way to make money, do not call it gifts, but seasonal member discounts.

I have most of my group notices turned off (not land groups or blogger groups of course) so I don't know for sure, but I do know that in the past 7DS has had free group join BEFORE Christmas and other give away months. And yes, the fee is normally MUCH lower than 1000.  Other groups in past years have raised the group fee during Christmas and I get that.  

 

Also on your comment yesterday about Salt and Pepper. There are (in theory ) clothes on the 1st and 24 as well as the WEEKENDS (I am reading that to be Saturday and Sunday of each week) so there should be more actual items besides gift cards.  I don't think all that many people join groups to get the gifts. I hope not, but of course that is their choice. And some folks LOVE gift cards :D  -- just not me LOL. 

 

 

 

 

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O.K., I just posted a blogpost with my picks for Advent Calendar gifts for December 3rd (just Google "ryan schultz blog", and you'll find it easily enough).

Oodles and oodles of nice gifts today (some days are like that!), including hair, skins, dresses, a lovely rose wreath for your hair, and even a couple of Ugly Christmas Sweaters™! The one from Entice is especially HIDEOUS. I won’t show it to you here, you have to go over to Entice and see it for yourself. I have to give the designer credit, though…you have to truly work at it to come up with something so horrible!

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23 hours ago, Vanity Fair said:

[Moderator Edit: Advertising Post Removed

I think it would be really good to actually post your pictures here.  This IS supposed to be a community  thread with photos.  Just saying.  And we are NOT supposed to "shame" here so NOT GOOD.  That brand has been making free Advent calendars (with free group) for years as well as Christmas photo contests with very big prizes.  If you don't like today's gift then toss it. There is a board with photos of all the gifts to be given away. Just make note of the ones that you like and go then. It really couldn't be easier.  

 

I will post mine  my favorites HERE in a bit.  Still waiting on some places to put theirs out.  And friends to gather. 

 

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OK here is my pick of the day. For the guys (woot guys).

 

Fashion Fantasy for Men Black Sweatpants (the underwear is a BOM layer).

and this is the 7 Deadly s{K}ins - BOM ERYO Stone which I believe will come on other skin tones and maybe facial hair or body hair? Don't know yet. Nice skin. Great sweats. A good day for the guys.

PS I am not going to post my picks here every day. That wasn't the point of the thread, but apparently not many folks want to show off their finds :D.  Tis OK. 

 

2090469821_day3lead.thumb.jpg.0b05e92db32cec3b5973860413867017.jpg

 

 

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2 hours ago, Chic Aeon said:

PS I am not going to post my picks here every day. That wasn't the point of the thread, but apparently not many folks want to show off their finds :D.  Tis OK.

I like seeing your pick each day here - your pics here and associated blog is what sent me to Blackbird Lace.  I didn't check them out on my first pass through the Advent listings, but you showing the gifts sent me there. Tuesday's time was scarce and so I was really picky where I went that night.

Most of my unpacking tends to happen on the weekend, simply because the weeknights tend to be more hectic for me, time-wise.  So, most of my "finds/favs" will also be on the weekend.  Yesterday was actually a fluke.  When I went to WellMade to grab yesterday's gift, they had a picture of the one from the 1st (that I had already nabbed, but not unpacked).  I had been debating what outfit to change into, but was still in the previous day's dress. I thought the sweater was super cute and it prompted me to unpack it and make an outfit right away.

Edited by LittleMe Jewell
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13 hours ago, Marianne Little said:

7 Deadly Skins is one of those. The price for joining their group is now a noticeable 1000 L fee. They may reduce their fee after advent.

7DS does free group join every few months, otherwise their group would not be so enormous. 😉

My lucky chair alt is doing an advent challenge where she puts together a new look every day with the Firelight hair and 7DS skin. She's rocking the Virtue outfit today, which is decidedly more classy than the Entice lingerie she started with:

quarterly_067.png

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I have some favs today! Well, one is actually from a couple days ago. Same issue with not having enough time to unpack every day.

These pajama pants make me way too happy for no reason at all. Or maaybe because cats. Cats for the win! These are from Eclectic Stars (Dec 2nd giftie... I think).

And the little guy on my head is today's gift from Mishmash Fusion!

Lazy morning

 

Edited by Littoralis
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