Renting land on mainland

[xicadelik]

Hello im still fairly new to the game and i apologize in advance if this has been asked already but i submitted a ticket and they must be either very busy or simply ignoring either way I just bought more land to expand the land i own on the mainland (i was lucky enough that the land was right next to my already owned land and i can join it together, once i figure out how to do this)  the questions i have are when do i start getting billed for this? i know "rent" will be due every month as now that i'm well over my premium of allotted land i gotta pay after expanding but i am wondering how the billing works does it come right out of my registered saved card on here like auto-pay? and if so is there a way to shut that off and just pay whenever i get the chance before bill is due of course also can i just pay in advance?? maybe a few months or is it possible to pay out a whole year kinda like when i got premium im also scared of what would happened if i were to be late on a payment? or forget to pay?? would there be a penalty like extra fees?? or worse could i lose my land be "locked-out" if anyone has some answers for me id really appreciate it!! thanks

[animats]

9 minutes ago, xicadelik said:

does it come right out of my registered saved card on here like auto-pay?

Yes.

12 minutes ago, xicadelik said:

Can i just pay in advance??

Yes.

You have both a Linden dollar balance and a US dollar balance with LL, and you can see both when you're logged into the Second Life web site.

The Linden dollar balance is for buying things in world, from the Second Life Marketplace or from vendors in world. Land is also usually sold for Linden dollars.

Linden Lab's own membership charges and land charges ("tier") are in US dollars, and come from your "USD balance". If you don't have enough USD balance, your credit card is charged.

You can buy Linden dollars with USD, or sell Linden dollars and get USD. Costs about 5% and the exchange rate is about L$250 = 1USD. But LL will not sell your Linden dollars to pay a USD charge.

This is complicated because there are people doing business in Second Life, making money and withdrawing it. You can withdraw funds from your USD balance and get paid via PayPal, which has another 5% service charge.

13 minutes ago, xicadelik said:

I'm also scared of what would happened if i were to be late on a payment or forget to pay? Would there be a penalty like extra fees? Or worse, could i lose my land, or be "locked-out".

Here's the official policy. If you get into a past-due status with LL, getting things untangled is reportedly a major headache and involves lots of time on phone hold.

[xicadelik]

ah thank you so much for your response so basically leave a healthy amount of Lindens in my SL account to avoid getting a direct charge into my bank account sounds easy enough ooooo i understand now thank u! thank u

Edited July 22, 2021 by xicadelik

[Alwin Alcott]

10 minutes ago, xicadelik said:

 so basically leave a healthy amount of Lindens in my SL account to avoid getting a direct charge into my bank account

no, your L$ balance won't cover tier fees, you will need to have enough L$ sold to get a high enough USD balance.
Keep in mind .. if you sell L$ and again buy ... the USD balance will also be the first place where LL gets the money.. if you sell L$ for covering tiers, and buy L$ you will need to check every month before the due date if there's enough left.

Edited July 22, 2021 by Alwin Alcott

[So Whimsy]

When you sell Linden the USD amount will go into an escrow. If you want to transfer those USD to your paypal you will have to do a process credits. If you want to pay your tier then leave the USD in the escrow as that's where it will take funds first.

[Sister Nova]

4 hours ago, xicadelik said:

Hello im still fairly new to the game and i apologize in advance if this has been asked already but i submitted a ticket and they must be either very busy or simply ignoring either way I just bought more land to expand the land i own on the mainland (i was lucky enough that the land was right next to my already owned land and i can join it together, once i figure out how to do this)  the questions i have are when do i start getting billed for this? i know "rent" will be due every month as now that i'm well over my premium of allotted land i gotta pay after expanding but i am wondering how the billing works does it come right out of my registered saved card on here like auto-pay? and if so is there a way to shut that off and just pay whenever i get the chance before bill is due of course also can i just pay in advance?? maybe a few months or is it possible to pay out a whole year kinda like when i got premium im also scared of what would happened if i were to be late on a payment? or forget to pay?? would there be a penalty like extra fees?? or worse could i lose my land be "locked-out" if anyone has some answers for me id really appreciate it!! thanks

 

If you look at your Account - Account summary page you will be able to see when your payments are due. You will see your premium a/c subscription renewal date at the top, the middle part details your L$ balance and your US$ balance, and then the bottom shows details of your land holdings. The ‘peak square meter usage’ figure shows the level you will be charged at for the month and the bottom ‘next bill date’ will show when the payment will be taken. This day is the same every month and the day is established when you first buy land in excess of your initial 1024sqm allowance from your premium benefit. If you bought the extra land on the 20th, then you will be billed on the 20th of the following month.
 

Be aware, if you ever buy any land that puts you into the next tier bracket, even if you only own that extra amount for even just a minute, you will be charged at the higher rate at the next bill date. You can set a radio button in the Land Manager - Land Use Fees page as to the maximum amount you would wish to hold, and then if you ever try to buy over that amount you will receive a warning that you will incur higher fees when you try to do so. If you set the button for a higher level than you currently hold you only get charged for the amount you ACTUALLY hold in that month’s period.

I have never loaded money onto my US$ balance, and have always just had the monthly amount deducted from my chosen payment method on the due date each month. That date becomes ingrained in your mind, especially if your land holding level fluctuates from time to time. When considering buying land, especially if it would put my tier up, if there are only a few days before the bill is due, I’ll wait until after the payment has been made in order to save some money on that current cycle, and happily pay the higher amount for having it an entire month on the next cycle.

[LittleMe Jewell]

If you want to maintain a USD balance so that the card/account does not get charged at the time the fees are due, there are two ways to do that:

1) Sell L$ -- there is a 3.5% fee for this, so take that into account when deciding how much to sell.  When you sell L$, the proceeds remain in your USD balance until you choose to do something else with them.

2) Put in a Limit Buy order for an absurd exchange rate (300 L$ for 1 US$) and then cancel the transaction.  The buy order will pull from your payment method and when you cancel the buy order, the money will be refunded to your USD balance and sit there until you choose to use it or LL takes it for Premium fees and/or monthly Tier.

 

If LL bills for any fees and the money is not in your USD and if they cannot get the money via your payment method, then they will lock you account until said fees are paid.  You will not lose your land unless you don't pay those fees.  You do get a grace period -- at least a month, maybe a bit more.

Edited July 22, 2021 by LittleMe Jewell

[Rabid Cheetah]

12 hours ago, xicadelik said:

[a lot of questions]

"[D]oes it come right out of my registered saved card on here like auto-pay?"

Yes.

"[I]s there a way to shut that off?"

Yes.  Go into Billing Method and delete the credit card.

"[C]an I just pay in advance?"

Not directly.  What you can do though is sell your $L's.  This will give you a positive USD balance, from which fees are drawn first before your credit card gets billed.  Depending on how high your USD balance is, you could have less to pay from your credit card in a given month than usual, or even the entire month's fees covered.

[How do I get enough $L to sell to cover all my fees?  I only get $L 300 per week for being Premium.]

You didn't ask this, but should be told this.  You can either earn $L's from selling stuff or your services, or buying them directly from Linden Labs.  Any buying or selling of $L's will come with small transaction fees.

"[W]hat would happened if I were to be late on a payment?"

You'll have up to 30 days to pay a given fee.  Linden Labs will email you if they are unable to bill your credit card or if no credit card is on file.

"[What if I] forget to pay [or can't pay within 30 days]?"

You won't just loose your land -- YOU'LL LOOSE YOUR ACCOUNT.  None of the money you've spent on furniture, clothes, or anything else will be refunded.  If you open a new account, you'll have to buy all this stuff all over again, or do without it.  Others have mentioned calling Linden Labs to see if you can work something out.  I don't know if that can be done or if the account deletion is automatic.  Either way, if you get into a situation like that, it's best to contact Linden Labs before the account is deleted, not after.

[Any other tips?]

Sure!

• Plenty of folks short on funds will delete their payment info, let their account become past due, then make sure to pay what's due after the due date but prior to the end of the 30 day grace period (and immediately remove the billing information after payment is made so that they don't get charged for the next month's fees in a few days).  It's all a matter of your cash flow.
• Deleting your billing information lets you control who you'll pay, and when.  You certainly want to pay your real life landlord before your virtual one.
• Since you're on the annual plan, I'd suggest you switch that over to monthly right now.  You won't be charged until next year when your subscription runs out.  But let's say you forget about the fact that you're gonna get charged in July 2022 for your membership fees.  Wouldn't you rather have an unexpected twelve buck fee than one hundred dollars?  "B-b-but I need that hundred for my REAL WORLD rent!  WTF am I gonna do?"  Don't get into that sort of situation.

Well, I hope this all helps!  🙂

Edited July 22, 2021 by Rabid Cheetah

[Sister Nova]

1 hour ago, Rabid Cheetah said:

[What if I] forget to pay [or can't pay within 30 days]?"

You won't just loose your land -- YOU'LL LOOSE YOUR ACCOUNT.  None of the money you've spent on furniture, clothes, or anything else will be refunded.  If you open a new account, you'll have to buy all this stuff all over again, or do without it.  Others have mentioned calling Linden Labs to see if you can work something out.  I don't know if that can be done or if the account deletion is automatic.  Either way, if you get into a situation like that, it's best to contact Linden Labs before the account is deleted, not after.

Goodness! I’ve never heard of this happening… could you cite the source please Rabid? I have known of instances where a person has been locked out of their account for defaulting on land payment, but never deletion.

[LittleMe Jewell]

24 minutes ago, Sister Nova said:

Goodness! I’ve never heard of this happening… could you cite the source please Rabid? I have known of instances where a person has been locked out of their account for defaulting on land payment, but never deletion.

The account gets locked approx. a month after going delinquent and if the money is not paid after  roughly 6 months, the account is deleted.  

My mother came on to SL for a few years.  She got sick and stopped coming on.  She never downgraded her Premium membership or renewed her payment method expiration date.  Shortly after her payment came due and wouldn't charge because of the expired card, her account was locked (roughly 30 days after original payment was due, I think).  She ignored the emails as she was still sickly and didn't care about SL anymore.  Approx. 6 months later her account was deleted -- proven by the fact that when I try to pull up her web profile, I now get "That name is unavailable".   It was somewhere between 1 & 3 months (if I remember correctly) that her tier donation disappeared from my land group.

Edited July 22, 2021 by LittleMe Jewell

[Sister Nova]

11 minutes ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

The account gets locked approx. a month after going delinquent and if the money is not paid after  roughly 6 months, the account is deleted.  

My mother came on to SL for a few years.  She got sick and stopped coming on.  She never downgraded her Premium membership or renewed her payment method expiration date.  Shortly after her payment came due and wouldn't charge because of the expired card, her account was locked (roughly 30 days after original payment was due, I think).  She ignored the emails as she was still sickly and didn't care about SL anymore.  Approx. 6 months later her account was deleted -- proven by the fact that when I try to pull up her web profile, I now get "That name is unavailable".   It was somewhere between 1 & 3 months (if I remember correctly) that her tier donation disappeared from my land group.

Absolutely terrifying!

[LittleMe Jewell]

5 minutes ago, Sister Nova said:

Absolutely terrifying!

If she had cared, she likely could have contacted LL Billing and worked it all out within the 6 months before her account was totally gone.  The wiki even has comments saying roughly that -- to contact Billing if you have payment issues.

[xicadelik]

14 hours ago, Alwin Alcott said:

no, your L$ balance won't cover tier fees, you will need to have enough L$ sold to get a high enough USD balance.
Keep in mind .. if you sell L$ and again buy ... the USD balance will also be the first place where LL gets the money.. if you sell L$ for covering tiers, and buy L$ you will need to check every month before the due date if there's enough left.

ahhh ok thanks for clarifying this 

[xicadelik]

4 hours ago, Rabid Cheetah said:

"[D]oes it come right out of my registered saved card on here like auto-pay?"

Yes.

"[I]s there a way to shut that off?"

Yes.  Go into Billing Method and delete the credit card.

"[C]an I just pay in advance?"

Not directly.  What you can do though is sell your $L's.  This will give you a positive USD balance, from which fees are drawn first before your credit card gets billed.  Depending on how high your USD balance is, you could have less to pay from your credit card in a given month than usual, or even the entire month's fees covered.

[How do I get enough $L to sell to cover all my fees?  I only get $L 300 per week for being Premium.]

You didn't ask this, but should be told this.  You can either earn $L's from selling stuff or your services, or buying them directly from Linden Labs.  Any buying or selling of $L's will come with small transaction fees.

"[W]hat would happened if I were to be late on a payment?"

You'll have up to 30 days to pay a given fee.  Linden Labs will email you if they are unable to bill your credit card or if no credit card is on file.

"[What if I] forget to pay [or can't pay within 30 days]?"

You won't just loose your land -- YOU'LL LOOSE YOUR ACCOUNT.  None of the money you've spent on furniture, clothes, or anything else will be refunded.  If you open a new account, you'll have to buy all this stuff all over again, or do without it.  Others have mentioned calling Linden Labs to see if you can work something out.  I don't know if that can be done or if the account deletion is automatic.  Either way, if you get into a situation like that, it's best to contact Linden Labs before the account is deleted, not after.

[Any other tips?]

Sure!

• Plenty of folks short on funds will delete their payment info, let their account become past due, then make sure to pay what's due after the due date but prior to the end of the 30 day grace period (and immediately remove the billing information after payment is made so that they don't get charged for the next month's fees in a few days).  It's all a matter of your cash flow.
• Deleting your billing information lets you control who you'll pay, and when.  You certainly want to pay your real life landlord before your virtual one.
• Since you're on the annual plan, I'd suggest you switch that over to monthly right now.  You won't be charged until next year when your subscription runs out.  But let's say you forget about the fact that you're gonna get charged in July 2022 for your membership fees.  Wouldn't you rather have an unexpected twelve buck fee than one hundred dollars?  "B-b-but I need that hundred for my REAL WORLD rent!  WTF am I gonna do?"  Don't get into that sort of situation.

Well, I hope this all helps!  🙂

This was very helpful!! thank you so much for the extra tips ❤️ very much appreciate it 

[xicadelik]

8 hours ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

If you want to maintain a USD balance so that the card/account does not get charged at the time the fees are due, there are two ways to do that:

1) Sell L$ -- there is a 3.5% fee for this, so take that into account when deciding how much to sell.  When you sell L$, the proceeds remain in your USD balance until you choose to do something else with them.

2) Put in a Limit Buy order for an absurd exchange rate (300 L$ for 1 US$) and then cancel the transaction.  The buy order will pull from your payment method and when you cancel the buy order, the money will be refunded to your USD balance and sit there until you choose to use it or LL takes it for Premium fees and/or monthly Tier.

 

If LL bills for any fees and the money is not in your USD and if they cannot get the money via your payment method, then they will lock you account until said fees are paid.  You will not lose your land unless you don't pay those fees.  You do get a grace period -- at least a month, maybe a bit more.

thank you! very interesting ways to go about it ill keep it in mind

[Rabid Cheetah]

3 hours ago, Sister Nova said:

Goodness! I’ve never heard of this happening… could you cite the source please Rabid? I have known of instances where a person has been locked out of their account for defaulting on land payment, but never deletion.

Word of mouth/reading profiles for folks' new accounts, a long while ago.  Perhaps things have changed since then, perhaps folks exaggerated, or perhaps I misunderstood the time lapse between lockout and account deletion.  Needless to say, I've never risked going beyond the thirty day point myself; I've got one of those old accounts that still gets $L 400 per month, not $L 300, which would be a shame to loose.

[Prokofy Neva]

13 hours ago, Sister Nova said:

Goodness! I’ve never heard of this happening… could you cite the source please Rabid? I have known of instances where a person has been locked out of their account for defaulting on land payment, but never deletion.

Rabid is wrong about this.

If you don't pay for a premium account, and you change it to non-premium, you will still have it indefinitely. it will go from premium to free if you owe nothing on it and managed to switch it.

But if you have tier on it and don't pay it, after 30 days it is locked, you cannot access it. But the account is not destroyed.

You can come back even years later and pay the balance and restore it. There is no guarantee the content will still be in that avatar's inventory; the Lindens may have said that at some point but my experience is that it is still there.

I just restored an account I had let lapse 10 years ago, and all the content was in place, prim shoes, prim hair and all kinds of wild old stuff. I paid the amount owed on it and restored it to premium status.

Seems to me this did not work once with an account I had re: the content, I think because it wasn't premium. But this time it did with an old premium. Ask the Lindens to be sure.