Is Second Life impacted by inflation?

[AnnabelleApocalypse]

As a UK user, our energy bills have gone INSANE. Add onto that the Pounds weakness compared to the Dollar right now my spending in SL has dropped significantly. I downscaled my rental and I don't buy as much stuff as I did this time last year. So yes inflation is for sure affecting SL users. This is obviously going to vary quite a bit depending on geographic location. 

Prediction is that energy bills could reach over £7000 for the average user next year (currently £3549, very recently increased from £1749). At that point many people will have to think twice before even switching on their PC.

[Sid Nagy]

For a lot of Europeans it will become heating or eating.
I guess whether or not SL will not even be an issue when in that kind of a situation.

Edited September 4, 2022 by Sid Nagy

[CaithLynnSayes]

9 minutes ago, Sid Nagy said:

For a lot of Europeans it will become heating or eating.

I am in this boat sadly. On a positive note, SL does generate a reasonable extra income for me so i am thankful for that but me and my family are concerned for this rapidly approaching winter.  

[Leahndra]

I am sure SL will be impacted by inflation, especially when it comes to Europeans like me. It is getting bad and I am not spending money at any online game anymore. I need to save up for RL and just bought water canisters, propan gas bottles and more food in cans. 

I am sorry for all the creators who will be impacted too, but virtual cupcakes, soups and clothes won't keep me warm 

[Charlotte Bartlett]

On 8/31/2022 at 10:40 PM, Finite said:

Unless creative suite and/or maya go up in price or something I see no reason for in world prices to go up due to inflation. As for the exchange it hasn’t really budged. In fact I find myself getting more L nowadays. I’ve been buying at 251 pretty consistently lately where as just a few months ago I was buying at 248.

If someone is claiming inflation for raising their prices I’d find that to be very disingenuous and probably chuckle and not bother with that vendor again.

Creators who do it themselves, mostly prices are stable e.g. Adobe subscription has not gone up (still under 40 bucks a month for PS and Substance Painter) Blender is still free for those who use it etc.    But their other costs may rise, for those who have SL as a business versus hobby e.g. electric, rent etc which may put a bit of pressure on to increase income.   We also should not expect prices to remain the same always in SL cost of living raises are fair.

We also benefit hugely from the weekly sales, put something new into the sale, huge volume makes a decent profit then next.  So when you can hit volume events with low cost items it tends to even out.

The creators who use third party teams like some clothing big brands and some of those newer H&G designers who use 3rd party mesh or teams and the ones who have "staff" might find it more difficult as contractor rates are going up in the market so either they will take a bite in their profits or have to increase prices.  

Personally I try to keep mine the same because I know people have limited funds and if something is fun and creative enough it will get the volume needed in sales to make it worthwhile to do.

[Rat Luv]

On 9/4/2022 at 9:01 PM, AnnabelleApocalypse said:

Prediction is that energy bills could reach over £7000 for the average user next year (currently £3549, very recently increased from £1749). At that point many people will have to think twice before even switching on their PC.

 

On 9/4/2022 at 10:15 PM, Sid Nagy said:

For a lot of Europeans it will become heating or eating.

Everyone in the UK and Europe should overthrow the government and chop off their heads 💀🪓👍

[Maryanne Solo]

About this much.... 🤭

[Marianne Little]

On 9/1/2022 at 3:11 PM, Rowan Amore said:

It would be the ONLY reason I'd see for prices to go up.  Many people supplement the RL income from SL just to pay the bills.  Bills go up (food, gas, utilities, etc) they'd need more  income.  Many may be on a fixed income in RL so their only option would be increase revenue in SL.

The utility prices, fod and gas goes up for their customers too. So maybe increasing the prices lower their sales.

I mean, one can justify a hobby that's cheap, like SL shopping to forget RL for a while. You buy stuff that cost 50 L, if the price is suddenly 500 L, what do we do? Go to another store? Or save up and shop in the first store, but not so often as before?

Edited September 7, 2022 by Marianne Little

[Marianne Little]

I am lucky enough to live north of a big mountain range where it is no cables pumping energy south to Europe.

And our politicians work tirelessly to get cables in place, so we have to pay European prices. Damn the politicians to hell.

But what can one do? They all signed the ACER contract. A micro party did not.

We in my country laugh with scorn of the US, where you can only vote Democrat or Republican. We have many political parties. But the result we get after every election, is that the government is formed by only one of two big coalitions. And we can't see a difference between them. New government, same as the old. 

But it is me rambling. Back to SL economy. Even if we have low electricity bills where I live, filling up the car tank cost twice as much as it did 12 months ago. And food prices increase too. I am not sure if I can justify for myself, to pay Premium again. And PPlus is exorbiantly expensive.

I might start to rent half as much as I do now. And I will reduce shopping too, so I believe the creators have to survive on weekend sales, and hope they sell many cheap items instead on one expensive.

Electricity prices, like in Europe, will be a nightmare for me.

Edited September 7, 2022 by Marianne Little

[Alwin Alcott]

On 9/4/2022 at 10:01 PM, AnnabelleApocalypse said:

Prediction is that energy bills could reach over £7000 for the average user next year (currently £3549, very recently increased from £1749). At that point many people will have to think twice before even switching on their PC.

 ( the Netherlands) until may i paid 0.27 € cts for 1 m3 of gas to heat the house ... after that dat my contract expired, got no new one offered, and pay 2.27 € for 1 m3 ... and it's going to rise even more after past weeks 30% raise of import costs for gas.

electricity per Kwh went from 0.07 /0.06 to 0.62/ 0.57 ( two seperate for day and night use)

Renewal of premiums is not longer a question...

Edited September 7, 2022 by Alwin Alcott

[Finite]

1 hour ago, Marianne Little said:

The utility prices, fod and gas goes up for their customers too. So maybe increasing the prices lower their sales.

I mean, one can justify a hobby that's cheap, like SL shopping to forget RL for a while. You buy stuff that cost 50 L, if the price is suddenly 500 L, what do we do? Go to another store? Or save up and shop in the first store, but not so often as before?

I figure a lot of the more established creators have already discovered selling for less yields more anyways. I wouldn’t have a way of proving this or anything. Just from observation it seems most of the veteran creators tend to be cheaper than new comers or less established creators. For instance, just a couple weeks ago I saw a new vendor. Well I don’t know if they are new, just new to me and I never saw them at this event before. But anyways, they were selling a top fatpack and pants fat pack separately for 2500 each. And I’m thinking what a way to drop the ball at a pretty popular event that your outfit would be far more expensive than anyone else here. Granted, it was a nice outfit but not thrice as nice as other things there.

[Marianne Little]

6 minutes ago, Finite said:

I figure a lot of the more established creators have already discovered selling for less yields more anyways. I wouldn’t have a way of proving this or anything. Just from observation it seems most of the veteran creators tend to be cheaper than new comers or less established creators. For instance, just a couple weeks ago I saw a new vendor. Well I don’t know if they are new, just new to me and I never saw them at this event before. But anyways, they were selling a top fatpack and pants fat pack separately for 2500 each. And I’m thinking what a way to drop the ball at a pretty popular event that your outfit would be far more expensive than anyone else here. Granted, it was a nice outfit but not thrice as nice as other things there.

It will be very hard for newcomers. Power stores like Addams and Blueberry are often in the weekend sales, with fatpacks for 60 or 75 L.

They are not mega fatpacks, but up to 10 pants with patterns, or ten of single colors, same with the tops and shoes. A pack of ten pants, ten tops and ten shoes, 3 x 60 L, it is very cheap. It is clothes I already have lots of. How many blue jeans do I need? So I have mostly stopped shopping there. But when I go, the stores are always filled with people.

[Finite]

50 minutes ago, Marianne Little said:

It will be very hard for newcomers. Power stores like Addams and Blueberry are often in the weekend sales, with fatpacks for 60 or 75 L.

They are not mega fatpacks, but up to 10 pants with patterns, or ten of single colors, same with the tops and shoes. A pack of ten pants, ten tops and ten shoes, 3 x 60 L, it is very cheap. It is clothes I already have lots of. How many blue jeans do I need? So I have mostly stopped shopping there. But when I go, the stores are always filled with people.

 I generally comparison shop everything to Fashionatic. They have similar fashion and quality  (and i think price?) as blueberry. I've been buying from them off and on since like 2017. The creator mostly is original mesh however does mix in the occasional pre-made. They typically do many part ensembles (generally 4-5 piece outfits) for around 2400?. So it's very hard for me to look at a relative new creator of similar quality and buy their single piece for the same price that someone else I am more familiar with sells megapacks. And FN is at the very high end of what I'd be willing to spend for fatpacks as it is.

 I generally hit up the events so by the time they hit the 60L shelves I already own them. Just livin and a learning lol. So lately, Ive been doing the weekend sales and trying to contain myself to just the big quarterlies (which seem to happen all at once....)

I didn't intend to derail the thread into some shopping convo lol. I was in the car getting ready to leave work when I was typing previously and never finished my point. Where I meant to go was that I think now would be a good time for newer or less established creators to tinker and experiment with how they value their pieces when consumers are less inclined to drop money into a game.

[Marianne Little]

23 minutes ago, Finite said:

----

I didn't intend to derail the thread into some shopping convo lol. I was in the car getting ready to leave work when I was typing previously and never finished my point. Where I meant to go was that I think now would be a good time for newer or less established creators to tinker and experiment with how they value their pieces when consumers are less inclined to drop money into a game.

I think that discussing shopping in SL is very relevant to inflation. In times where people has less money to use, they cut down on entertainment before they buy gas or food. SL is entertainment.

I have been waiting to see the new, large Linden Homes. It is a fact, that they need to exceed my expectations, if I shall pay PPlus.

Will LL see fewer people renew their Premium? I believe that will happen. And landlords may see more people renting small, cheap plots because it is what they can afford. 

[Finite]

21 minutes ago, Marianne Little said:

Will LL see fewer people renew their Premium? I believe that will happen. And landlords may see more people renting small, cheap plots because it is what they can afford. 

For me the premium would be last to go. I did give up my private land plot and donated my 2048 to a community a few of my friends manage. They gave me a plot to live on and the 650L a week or whatever it is is enough to  satisfy my shopping habit when things get a bit tight. In the US it hasn't been as bad as Europe. Our gas has dropped significantly but I am curious how that will hold up in the winter. We'll see I guess.

[Jackson Redstar]

I tend to look at it that the state of the RL economy (for me, that is mostly based on the USA) affects the SL economy alot, in that in poor economic times and high inflation, people of SL are just going to spend less on a "video game" - gas for the car or a shopping spree in SL? In the industry I work in in SL I can see alot of slowing down of spending in SL due to record high inflation and gas prices in RL. I haven't particualry noticed things or items get more expensive, and for the services I do, my charges haven't changed in years

[Love Zhaoying]

Question: If the price of L$ were generally tied to inflation, couldn't it be done in such a way that merchants would not be as impacted? 

Example: 1) Inflation happens; 2) LL raises cost of L$ (yeah, yeah, "but the L$ market controls that", whatever..not the point); 3) L$ are "worth equivalently the same" because of #2; 4) Merchants sell items for same "prices" as before, but since "cost of L$" went up with inflation, merchants make the same equivalent income/profit. And 5) Merchants would not need to raise their prices.

[Sid Nagy]

4 hours ago, Alwin Alcott said:

 ( the Netherlands) until may i paid 0.27 € cts for 1 m3 of gas to heat the house ... after that dat my contract expired, got no new one offered, and pay 2.27 € for 1 m3 ... and it's going to rise even more after past weeks 30% raise of import costs for gas.

electricity per Kwh went from 0.07 /0.06 to 0.62/ 0.57 ( two seperate for day and night use)

Renewal of premiums is not longer a question...

Vattenfall, one of the mayor energy suppliers in NL as you know, yesterday announced another 50% raise of energy prices...
And the government will come end of September with plans to do something about it..... next year.
☹️

[Sid Nagy]

1 hour ago, Jackson Redstar said:

I tend to look at it that the state of the RL economy (for me, that is mostly based on the USA) affects the SL economy alot, in that in poor economic times and high inflation, people of SL are just going to spend less on a "video game" - gas for the car or a shopping spree in SL? In the industry I work in in SL I can see alot of slowing down of spending in SL due to record high inflation and gas prices in RL. I haven't particualry noticed things or items get more expensive, and for the services I do, my charges haven't changed in years

Yup. the sales numbers of my SL store go in the direction of the basement not the sky. My over the thumb estimate is at least 50% less sales over last month than could be expected.
If people massively start to ditch their land with the same percentages because of their RL economic situation ..............

Edited September 7, 2022 by Sid Nagy

[Rick Nightingale]

I don't sell much (can't take money out due to RL situation/tax etc) but have had a fairly constant earning in SL for years. I've also added quite a lot more to my store over the last year or so. Always made enough to cover membership for two and a bit of land.

The last six months has been my lowest earning for a long time, by a large margin.

And yes, in Britain prices are becoming ridiculous for everything. We should be self-sustaining in gas and almost in oil, but the companies moved out all the storage and most of the refining so we have to sell to Eu, then buy back at Eu prices. Of course the big companies make a fortune doing it this way but the country can't look after itself the way it could a few decades back.

[Ceka Cianci]

I've been sorting my inventory all day today seeing what I have.. I don't think I'll be spending much anymore.. I have so much stuff in there that I really don't need to be wasting my money on more of what I already have plenty of..

This won't be like the last time when the world economy was in trouble, where SL had booms.. It's gonna be felt good here in the in world economy this time..

Get your updates and re-deliveries on things that may need it now while they are still there to get..

 

[Austin Damiano]

Don't let exploitative corporations control the narrative that the working class asking for a living wage is leading to inflation. They're not. These same corporations have had record profits during this pandemic and yet are doing everything they can to make sure that everything is blamed on people asking for a wage that they can live on.  They buy the politicians and the media to make sure that capitalist will brainwash the "common people".  Don't let them convince you that you are the problem. 

[Persephone Emerald]

I wonder if LL might speed up removal of the old Linden Home regions?

They're obviously expecting more people to move to the new Bellisseria ones. Might this be because they've already seen a drop-off in ownership of mainland and islands?  I expect people will be dropping their extra Premium alts as well. $ 100/ each will help pay their winter heating bills.

[Jaylinbridges]

My alt's Premium is up for annual renewal in 4 days.  He is dropping back to a Basic member tomorrow.  My RL rent increased $100/mo this month, and food and energy are up about $50/mo, so I need that $99 for RL.  Living on fixed income is never easy. I kept my mainland shop w/ the 1024 sqm Premium acct, hoping that sales cover expenses this year.  No more Belli home, it was abandoned yesterday.

[Freckles Fairelander]

I spend more time in SL when RL is tight and/or prices go up overall. Redecorating my parcel is actually one of my favorite artistic things to do to decompress from something stressful in RL, so a premium membership is worth it to me for that.