Trying to grasp group tier better

[Kira Skydancer]

I've only just started buying/selling land. I have a land group, and a friend donated some tier to the group... so...
Total land in use: 7040 m2 - I get this, this is the total square meters of the four properties that the group is currently selling

Land Available: 7150 m2 -  is this the amount of *new* land the group could buy without increasing tier (currently $35?)

Total Contributions: 14190 m2 - so that's the total of my friend's donation, plus my own, but here's where I'm confused... I tried lowering my contribution (from around 8k to 4k) and this number didn't change.

Your Contribution: Currently set at 4,000 m2, but what is the (8192 max)? Next tier level? It used to be a tad over 4,000 before I ended up with too much land. How do I decide how much to contribute? 

When I go to my account, it has my paid tier level at 8192... $35 tier level, but my available square meters is 5216, and I really don't understand how that number is calculated. It allowed me to lower my donated square meters to 4,000 but when I do "calculate" it lowers my paid tier level and available square meters, but the button for which tier I'm at under "update tier" is unchanged at $35/mo

I also don't quite get the interaction between the tier *I* am paying and how that plays in to what the group's information shows. Heck, I'm not even sure what it means my friend donated unused tier - I'm guessing she's paying for a lot more land than her (or her other groups, right?) currently hold, so donating a portion of that to this group?

I'm not sure why this flummoxxes me so... I'm not stupid, and individually these items make sense, but I continue to have this sense that I'm Not Quite Getting how Tier works, and that this lack of information is probably to my detriment. It is quite likely I'm overthinking this...

Appreciate any whacks with the ClueBat you can provide!

 

[Quistess Alpha]

The main confusing thing is that groups get a 10% bonus tier, for example, if the total amount of tier donated to a group is 256m2, the group would be able to hold 256*1.1=286m2 of land.

[TT120]

Also, as a premium member, you get 1024m2 without any additional tier cost so if you donate that 1024 to the group, the group could actually buy or own 1120m2 of land including the %10 bonus the group gets.  When you use that calculate button on your account, it will not change the tier level, you have to do that yourself but LL will only charge you for how much tier you actually own which would include any tier donated to a group as well as any personal land you own.  That tier level indicator doesn't really mean much.  If that tier level is set for 8192 ($35) but you only own or donated 4096 ($22), You will only be charged for the 4096 level regardless of where that tier level indicator is set. 

It gets confusing with the %10 bonus the group gets because when you deed land to a group, there is an option to "make contribution with deed" or something like that (I may have the exact wording wrong) When you choose this option, it will only donate the exact amount of land the group needs to own that land instead of the whole 1024 chunk or combination thereof because of the %10 bonus.  So, if you deed a 1024 chunk to the group and "Make contribution with deed" it will only take about 922 from you.  I never use this option, instead I manually make tier contributions in 1024 chunks to help keep it straight in my head.

One last thing, whenever you make tier changes to yourself or the group, it's best to re-log to update these numbers.  The group land stuff especially doesn't always update in real time.