Market Place

[Drayke Newall]

1 hour ago, Sid Nagy said:

Coding these possibilities is relatively easy I guess. But who is going to regroup all the existing merchandise?
Still existing merchants will grumble a bit, like with every change, but  what with all the former merchants who called it a day somewhere in the past and left their junk online.
That's why I'm in favor for a brand new marketplace, with a better keyword and category system and better listing features. Of course with a grace period to change to the new marketplace.
The existing merchants will grumble a bit, like with every change, but they will use the grace period to change to the new marketplace.
The ghost merchants will go into the history bin, where their stuff belongs in the first place.

Add: An LL should code something in that new MP like if the merchant isn't online for a year, all their stuff is taken offline, only re-deliveries still possible IMHO.

And while they are at it making a new marketplace, make it so that it is similar to Caspervend where a creator can link a vendor to their marketplace store and have all the deliveries, redeliveries and uploading of listings managed through the marketplace website. Would reduce script usage in SL vendors, would allow for a streamlined delivery system that is sorely needed in world and would give incentive for people to actually have both especially if the offer a discount to MP fees if you have an inworld store as well.

[Silent Mistwalker]

6 hours ago, Sid Nagy said:

During the time I had an inworld store, I payed a higher percentage in rent\tier than the percentage that LL is charging me at the moment on the marketplace.
There is no such thing as a free lunch. Merchants have overhead costs, no matter how. Just like in RL.

And since inworld search is still a pain in the *** (a lot worse than the MP search), I think most merchants are better of on the MP.
Or at least should continue on the MP when having an inworld shop.
Each item listed is a (cheap) advertisement.
 

I don't have anywhere near the issues other people have in SL. What works for you won't necessarily work for someone else.

I do my shopping the old fashioned way. 

Advertising in SL is a joke.

[Lindal Kidd]

21 hours ago, Sid Nagy said:

During the time I had an inworld store, I payed a higher percentage in rent\tier than the percentage that LL is charging me at the moment on the marketplace.

The other plus (for merchants) on the Marketplace is that you don't pay for anything until you make a sale. With an in-world store, you have those fixed costs every month, whether you sell anything or not.

[Jennivive Grumpypants]

On 4/13/2022 at 1:26 AM, Drayke Newall said:

The problem is that it is near impossible to find stores these days in world as there is no directory or malls for them to be found easily. When the MP started and business's jumped ship to MP and abandoned their in world stores everything shifted and the MP became the directory.

This has continued today whereby people search marketplace first, find the item and then go in world to view the item. Unless some form of inworld shop directory is made or massive malls come back (they wont) then not only will creators suffer but you will also get posts like the OP asking where the stores are gone.

You have to know the stores name or you get no-where in inworld search and even if you do it's like playing pin the tail on the donkey hoping the search listing is correct.

I am with @bigmoe Whitfield and am not going to go hunting stores especially with the terrible new inworld search. I have tried to do that for the past three days with a friend that joined and they in the end just gave up and couldn't bother hopping around anymore especially when even inworld search shows there is supposed to be a store, tp there and then find yourself falling from the sky as the shop has closed or moved with no new landmark given.

Meaning having to then tell the new user if that happens you then have to go to the search listing, click the user name and go to their profile and hope they have a land mark in the pics or description.

That said, in my searches with this friend over the past few days, even I have noticed that MP listings have reduced a lot.

:ETA:

It also doesn't help that for some reason LL have (by the looks recently - at least I can remember it being 200+ pages when I searched last year) capped the search pages of marketplace to 105 meaning if you search for something general or go to a category for a look (with no search parameters) you only get a max of 105 pages of items despite their being over 300+ pages for that search.

For example, there is at current post 64,950 female skins listed when you go to Avatar Components>Avatar Skins>Female Skins (scrap that just dropped by 7 :P). This would mean that at 96 listings per page there should be over 667 total pages of items for that category. Instead there are 105 only meaning 10,080 items are only EVER shown without very specific searches or filters. I feel sorry for those creators that are getting dropped off without realising it.

Sometimes the only way I find a new store is from Youtube or a freebie blog or forum, Like Fabfree or omega. Althogh I wear a Legacy body, I can still wear Matreya clothing, sheos, and slink shoes. It makes it conveient for shopping. Thanks for your reply. X

[diamond Marchant]

On 4/13/2022 at 7:26 AM, Silent Mistwalker said:

I don't have anywhere near the issues other people have in SL. What works for you won't necessarily work for someone else.

I do my shopping the old fashioned way. 

Advertising in SL is a joke.

Second that emotion. I shop alot and love to browse so I check Seraphim everyday for new events. I also click things and find the creator and then use their picks.

[rasterscan]

MP's great and being able to 'see inworld' clinches a lot of sales in my experience.

[Cali Souther]

I shop MP a lot!   I also shop in world,  but at the stores I already know about - since as everyone has agreed - the inworld search is crapola!   

If I'm making a large / expensive purchase,   I will find it on MP then check it out in their store - if they have one.  This is especially true of landscaping and houses.

 

I vote YES to cleaning up the MP,  and giving us the ability to refine searches that exclude specific vendors.   Some vendors post a LOT of very similar items and it can really fill the page.

 

 

[So Whimsy]

On 4/13/2022 at 10:26 AM, Drayke Newall said:

T

:ETA:

It also doesn't help that for some reason LL have (by the looks recently - at least I can remember it being 200+ pages when I searched last year) capped the search pages of marketplace to 105 meaning if you search for something general or go to a category for a look (with no search parameters) you only get a max of 105 pages of items despite their being over 300+ pages for that search.

For example, there is at current post 64,950 female skins listed when you go to Avatar Components>Avatar Skins>Female Skins (scrap that just dropped by 7 :P). This would mean that at 96 listings per page there should be over 667 total pages of items for that category. Instead there are 105 only meaning 10,080 items are only EVER shown without very specific searches or filters. I feel sorry for those creators that are getting dropped off without realising it.

Holy crap I never even noticed this, thanks for mentioning it. Dayum that sucks >.<

[Sid Nagy]

To be honest, I never waded trough 100+ pages to find something on the MP.
I always try to find new relevant search words if that what I'm looking for doesn't show on the first 5 or 6 pages.

[Drayke Newall]

4 hours ago, So Whimsy said:

Holy crap I never even noticed this, thanks for mentioning it. Dayum that sucks >.<

Yeah, neither did I until I saw how few things were listed and wondered why so started to find out. It must be something new as I can remember seeing lots more pages last year.

4 hours ago, Sid Nagy said:

To be honest, I never waded trough 100+ pages to find something on the MP.
I always try to find new relevant search words if that what I'm looking for doesn't show on the first 5 or 6 pages.

I have and quite regularly. Like I mentioned keywords dont show up the right things at all - with some not even adding them. Yes it is bad for creators sales not to put the right keywords or categories but also bad for SL as a whole as it means users never see them.

For example, I was editing a new furry avatar for myself and needed to find hair that suited its design. Furry heads are hard to find hair for due to the muzzle interfering and the head size usually being harder to get to work with rigged mesh hair (hence why many furries still use sculpty hair).

To find one (I really wanted mesh but went after so long for sculpty) you cant just search for a style as people name the hair things like Varsity or after names of people like Dustan. This means that you have to wade through over a 100 pages.

[Sid Nagy]

On 4/15/2022 at 4:28 AM, Drayke Newall said:

Yeah, neither did I until I saw how few things were listed and wondered why so started to find out. It must be something new as I can remember seeing lots more pages last year.

I have and quite regularly. Like I mentioned keywords dont show up the right things at all - with some not even adding them. Yes it is bad for creators sales not to put the right keywords or categories but also bad for SL as a whole as it means users never see them.

For example, I was editing a new furry avatar for myself and needed to find hair that suited its design. Furry heads are hard to find hair for due to the muzzle interfering and the head size usually being harder to get to work with rigged mesh hair (hence why many furries still use sculpty hair).

To find one (I really wanted mesh but went after so long for sculpty) you cant just search for a style as people name the hair things like Varsity or after names of people like Dustan. This means that you have to wade through over a 100 pages.

The MP is a pain at times, good creators aren't always good at marketing their stuff.
And because the MP has no financial risk for merchants, they keep tons of hardly ever selling stuff online, just in case.
I'm no exception. Some items I sell weekly, some not even once a year. But who knows what tomorrow brings right?

Result: Tons of hardly ever sold clutter on the marketplace.

 

Edited April 18, 2022 by Sid Nagy

[Anna Nova]

If you want to sell to me, YOU have to get my attention.   I don't do searches, YOU do marketing.  Most marketing, however, pisses me off so much that I will NEVER buy that stuff.

Marketing is hard.  Marketing does NOT equal Advertizing.

I buy most of my clothes in SL by using a 'what's she wearing?' HUD on someone wearing something I like a lot.  Then I get loyal to the brands I like.  I also get a lot of 'where did you get that fabulous xyz' IMs.  Word of mouth is the best publicity there is.

[Phil Deakins]

On 4/13/2022 at 12:03 PM, Ceka Cianci said:

I never pay attention to the one and five star.. If all they have is five star, then I just don't read any of them.. I'll give the review pages a glance for the in between ones though..

Aaaw. I only have 3 items in the marketplace and, until just a few days ago, none had been reviewed by anyone. Then out of the blue a most fantastic 5 star review was posted. It's the only review and you won't even read it 🥺

[Lindal Kidd]

I went to your store, @Phil Deakins. I didn't leave a review because I'm too darn cheap to buy a security system when I already have several and don't use any, at the moment. They look like Good Stuff though.

I do have a question: Can you create separate private lists for different spaces/levels?

[Phil Deakins]

16 hours ago, Lindal Kidd said:

I went to your store, @Phil Deakins. I didn't leave a review because I'm too darn cheap to buy a security system when I already have several and don't use any, at the moment. They look like Good Stuff though.

I do have a question: Can you create separate private lists for different spaces/levels?

Thank you. Your question is a good one, and, off-hand, I don't know the answer, but I don't think you can. I'm gonna check now though, and post back.

ETA:
I have the answer, and it's almost no, but not quite. The Levels system has its own 'Private' list of agents, and so does the Spaces system. So in the LevelGuard, multiple Levels can be set as private, but they all use the same list of agents. The same is true of the SpaceGuard. Multiple Spaces can be set as private but there's only one private agents list. The CombiGuard, which is the SpaceGuard and LevelGuard combined, has 2 private agents lists - one for the Spaces and one for the Levels. So each Level and Space can't have its own unique private agents list, but 2 areas, 1 Level and 1 Space, can have separate private lists.

I think that answers you question, Lindal.

Edited April 19, 2022 by Phil Deakins