2022 Black Friday Sales in Second Life?

[Stephanie Misfit]

Here is another Flickr gallery of Black Friday sales, this one has about 180 stores

https://flickr.com/photos/lovelessheart/galleries/72157721258418571/

 

[Vanity Fair]

Thanks, Stephanie! I was scrolling through the list, and saw this news about Nuve:

As part of their Black Friday celebrations, the Nuve skin and cosmetics store has a free group join from Nov. 21st to Nov. 25th, 2022.

If you do not already belong to this group, join it now, and you can pick up countless free group gifts of skins (head plus body), eyebrows, eyeshadows, and lipsticks.

Also, if you join the group, you can visit the Nuve store once every seven days to click the panel at the front desk and GET L$75 IN FREE STORE CREDIT!

You can accumulate the store credit since it does not expire, and you can use it on anything in the store! I love this, and I wish more stores did stuff like this (ERSCH does it too, monthly free credit if you join their store group, but i'd love to hear if there are more stores that do this, thanks!).

[Katherine Heartsong]

10 hours ago, shireena1 said:

Skin addiction (sheer sim) has the wrong landmark, you end up in someone's house.

I just rummaged their closet, took all the size 8 shoes that looked pretty, and TPed back home.

Was that wrong?

Edited November 22, 2022 by Katherine Heartsong

[MystikalGirl]

This explains why so many people have been camping at Lelutka.   Yet, poor AK is empty, and they are having their sale now.  Everyone wants those alt heads.  The real fun is when they give away the free one and nobody can get in, except the usual suspects. The people who think camping out on a sim makes them cool, but it does not. It makes you a Scrooge and you deserve to have 3 ghosts visit you and carry off to the Nether region where you will be forced to watch the View for eternity.

Happy Black Friday Hunting everyone.

[Katherine Heartsong]

Dupe post, my bad ...

Edited November 22, 2022 by Katherine Heartsong
duplicate

[Ayashe Ninetails]

43 minutes ago, Vanity Fair said:

Thanks, Stephanie! I was scrolling through the list, and saw this news about Nuve:

As part of their Black Friday celebrations, the Nuve skin and cosmetics store has a free group join from Nov. 21st to Nov. 25th, 2022.

If you do not already belong to this group, join it now, and you can pick up countless free group gifts of skins (head plus body), eyebrows, eyeshadows, and lipsticks.

Also, if you join the group, you can visit the Nuve store once every seven days to click the panel at the front desk and GET L$75 IN FREE STORE CREDIT!

You can accumulate the store credit since it does not expire, and you can use it on anything in the store! I love this, and I wish more stores did stuff like this (ERSCH does it too, monthly free credit if you join their store group, but i'd love to hear if there are more stores that do this, thanks!).

I absolutely second this. Nuve is fantastic and very generous! Their makeup and eyebrows are super cute, too, and they're one of the few creators still offering skins (including fantasy and group gifts) for Catwa HDPro.

 

21 minutes ago, MystikalGirl said:

This explains why so many people have been camping at Lelutka.   Yet, poor AK is empty, and they are having their sale now.  Everyone wants those alt heads.

I demo'd a few of the AK heads. They're so nice and I love the new elf and mermaid ears (vampire ears also included)! I'm honestly stuck between picking up one of those or grabbing a new Lel head. Kind of in wait and see mode to see if other stores discount their heads, too.

[Vanity Fair]

1 hour ago, MystikalGirl said:

This explains why so many people have been camping at Lelutka.   Yet, poor AK is empty, and they are having their sale now.  Everyone wants those alt heads.  The real fun is when they give away the free one and nobody can get in, except the usual suspects. The people who think camping out on a sim makes them cool, but it does not. It makes you a Scrooge and you deserve to have 3 ghosts visit you and carry off to the Nether region where you will be forced to watch the View for eternity.

Happy Black Friday Hunting everyone.

See, I don't get this. Akeruka now has a line of ADVX heads which work with LeLutka Evo X skins, and they're nice heads! They tend to have a giveaway of heads every 6 months or so if you join their group for L$150; my alts have picked up at least 12 Bento heads (male and female) each in the years they have been members of the group, and it works out to like L$12 per head over the past 4-5 years, which is a real bargain! I don't know if Akeruka is going to continue to give away Bento heads like they used to, though. But it was L$150 well spent, for sure!

I wonder how Catwa feels now that LeLutka has taken over the Bento head market. Catwa HDPRO never really seemed to take off, did it?

Edited November 22, 2022 by Vanity Fair

[Vanity Fair]

You know, it never would have occurred to me that people would actually camp out at LeLutka, just to be able to partake in the Black Friday sales.

I mean, sure, make that your last location before you log out, and then log in with your client set to your last location, but camping out? No.

[Ayashe Ninetails]

28 minutes ago, Vanity Fair said:

I wonder how Catwa feels now that LeLutka has taken over the Bento head market. Catwa HDPRO never really seemed to take off, did it?

It's not getting as much support these days, no. The price may have something to do with it (are they still like 6,000L...yup, 5900L), maybe, though Catwa Queen HDPro was free, and it's the human head I use most. I adore it, but shopping for it takes a lot more effort than Lel, that's for sure. I won't give it up entirely, though, until absolutely forced to. It shapes so nicely and makes for some wonderful avatars.

Lel is nice, too. I just feel it's more limited in the sliders. AK feels like it fits somewhere in between, I think. 

[Trinity Blakewell]

So...which types of items do you pounce upon at Black Friday Sales in SL, and which do you hold off on?

I think mesh heads at 50% off is a pretty good deal, but folks might want to take into account that Lelutka has put out gift heads for the last two Christmases (limited time only) and Akeruka does the group gift thing.

I don't think I'd be jumping on skins unless it's a brand that I absolutely loved which also avoids weekend sales (most of the major brands participate and many brands feature their new skins on weekend sales). 50% off ends up being several times the cost of  paying $L50 - $L99 for a skin. An exception to avoiding skins that I can think of...if Velour's body skins are included in their sale, it would be a good time to scoop up new shades, or body skins for that additional mesh body (if you have one).

Makeup is featured so prominently in the weekend sales that I would tend to avoid it on Black Friday, except for a really good deal like what is going on with Opulein right now (and their skin available for EvoX and ADVX heads is also a great deal).

Clothing and Accessories are another mixed bag for me...there may be some good deals out there, but again if its a brand that is always present on the weekend sales, and if they typically put new or updated items on sale, those weekend sales are going to be less expensive. On the other hand, if it's a brand that I really like that doesn't participate in those weekend events, I may check out their Black Friday sale.

I think if certain top-tier bands of hair on sale I will check them out...but unfortunately of those top 5 or 6 brands, I have most of the styles I like (IMO those brands are Truth, Doux, Wings, Magika, maybe Ade and/or Steathinc - the brands where the texture is so good you can almost pick out individual hairs).

I buy most of my shoes these days at KC Couture since they sell fatpacks on the weekend sales. I would likely avoid stores that sell individual colors on Black Friday.

While home furnishings are often featured on weekend sales, some of the best brands don't participate, or participate rarely. So if there's a brand on sale with items I want, it's a good time to head over and check them out. Some of their groups are very generous with gifts, and often free, so its a good opportunity to join at that time.

[steeljane42]

3 hours ago, Vanity Fair said:

You know, it never would have occurred to me that people would actually camp out at LeLutka, just to be able to partake in the Black Friday sales.

I mean, sure, make that your last location before you log out, and then log in with your client set to your last location, but camping out? No.

Last year those 3 regions Lelutka had just to give away their freebies were camped out too, even if there was nothing else at all, just boards to grab those. So they had to put out the time based eject orbs (10 minutes I believe, which is way more than enough to get the board rezzed, grab the gift and tp out).

It's not exclusive to Lelutka and black friday sales, though. I see it at the big shopping events all the time. It's understandable when people don't want to leave after finally getting in on the opening days, so they demo things right there, which might take a decent amount of time. But when I grab some demos before work, then go to work, get home and finally log to SL, demo things home, get back to the event to buy what I want to and still see same people I saw there like 10-12 hours ago, standing at the exactly same spots... yeah.

3 hours ago, Vanity Fair said:

I wonder how Catwa feels now that LeLutka has taken over the Bento head market. Catwa HDPRO never really seemed to take off, did it?

They did not. Even freebie Queen is 15th on the Lucia's stats list with below 5k users detected (Lel's female freebies Lilly and Kaya are 20.5k and 18.8k). HDPro "retail" ones are just nowhere to be found, with 500 to 1.5k entries on the same list.

Personal opinion, (obviously), but that seems about right. Even price aside, and before Lelutka reduced price from 5k to 4k during all that early 2020 stuff it was almost the same, they are just not good. The "revolutionary" features that apparently were worked on for ages are just good old deformers and (again, in my opinion), they look even worse than older Catwa heads, and I really dislike old Catwa heads. The infamous duck lips on the most popular few, cartoon-ish animations, rather terrible HUDs and so on. If anything I'm surprised they got as popular as they were back in the days, pre-bento and early generation of bento ones.

3 hours ago, Vanity Fair said:

Akeruka now has a line of ADVX heads which work with LeLutka Evo X skins, and they're nice heads!

What is nice and what is not really depends on the preferences. It can be seen if you read my and Ayashe's posts one after another. She likes the Queen head, I wouldn't use it even if someone would paid me money to. I don't dislike Akeruka heads personally, but don't like them either. Kinda like Genus ones before that. And I saw people really liking their LAQ heads too, while to me they always do look the same and have some kind of a "doll" look (in a sense of a doll toy) that I really dislike.

---

As for the sales themselves, since it happened to be a thread about those - yep, looking towards those a lot. We have no RL sales here at all during that time which would be worth checking, so I will be focusing on SL ones instead.

I saw some people find it stressful,  but for me it is not. I tend to prepare and organize things a lot. All the demos that I liked, but didn't get right away go to either weekend sales or big sales folders, depending on what they are and what creator made them (some do weekend sales, some do not). There's a notecard with furniture/decor/other rezzables list within big sales folder too, where I add some things that I think might be some use, but not something I want/need right away.

So when the sale hits I just go through the list and avoid most crowded stores for the first day of the sales as it's just a waste of time to try and get in, when there are so many other stores.

But I realize not everyone keep such lists, or even capable of doing so, so I can see how it can be stressful to try and get in everywhere, try demos and return to buy things in time when there will be hundreds of stores to check. It also would be even more difficult if I had more than one avatar I need to shop for, I can only guess the amount of headaches to get 2-3 (or more) of them through the sales. And some people have way more than 2-3 active avatars, so yeah, that sounds like a painful experience.

Edited November 22, 2022 by steeljane42

[Blaise Glendevon]

2 hours ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

It's not getting as much support these days, no. 

I was about to say that there wasn't a head released since Queen, but that's not right. There was a Catwa HDPro head released at Skin Fair this year - and I'm just now hearing about it. I guess they feel like they don't have to advertise, but it doesn't matter if you're the market leader. You still have to sell people and remind them that you're current. 

[Ayashe Ninetails]

6 minutes ago, Blaise Glendevon said:

I was about to say that there wasn't a head released since Queen, but that's not right. There was a Catwa HDPro head released at Skin Fair this year - and I'm just now hearing about it. I guess they feel like they don't have to advertise, but it doesn't matter if you're the market leader. You still have to sell people and remind them that you're current. 

Sasa, I think? I forget the name. Lemme peek...wait no, Flona is the newest. I think Sasa came out right around the same time as Queen.

 

14 minutes ago, steeljane42 said:

What is nice and what is not really depends on the preferences. It can be seen if you read my and Ayashe's posts one after another. She likes the Queen head, I wouldn't use it even if someone would paid me money to.

This is very true, but definitely don't go by me. I think most people would agree with your assessment about Queen, but I do a *lot* of face shaping to fit mods like bento tusks and whatnot, so what I look for in a head is probably very different from the average user. Things like that work a bit better on my Queen head than my Lel ones, and I can get quite a few interesting fantasy looks with it. I like it for the versatility, basically.

 

37 minutes ago, Trinity1776 said:

So...which types of items do you pounce upon at Black Friday Sales in SL, and which do you hold off on?

Heads, accessories, food, and furniture/decor, mostly. Makeup, skins, clothes, shoes, hair, anims, and backdrops are usually cheaper for me in weekend sales.

[Trinity Blakewell]

Just checked out some of the sites with Black Friday listings....Velour's body skins are 30% off.

[Trinity Blakewell]

Some other sales of note...

Landgraff...70% off. They have some really nice eyes (EvoX, Omega, and BOM). Check upstairs where they have some eye packs for really cheap (recommended: pick up Santiago for $L21).  BTW - they are unisex, even though most of the example images are male.

Hideki (home furnishings)...everything $L40.

 

 

[MystikalGirl]

Catwa and Genus sort of fell off the map.  Lelutka just vaulted over them both as #1   And yes they camp., Sadly.

[Marianne Little]

Loft & Aria are so expensive that 50% off is still enough to pay. They had a Black Friday sale last year. They are not on the "Sneak peak" list from Seraphim yet.

I saw that Black Nest is going to have a sale, so I hope it is 50% off. 

I have a few things I want to buy from Avani...

If Fancy Decor has a sale, I want some there as well.

I think I will buy furniture this year. I got three demos from Lelutka, but... I like my head, so why buy another one. 

 

[Maitimo]

12 hours ago, steeljane42 said:

What is nice and what is not really depends on the preferences. It can be seen if you read my and Ayashe's posts one after another. She likes the Queen head, I wouldn't use it even if someone would paid me money to.

I love the Queen head, and would not even be considering switching to something else, if they used the EVO-X template as well as the classic one. It is literally the perfct shape for me. But, with the market as it is, if I want to continue getting new makeup and stuff, I feel like I have no choice but to switch to something on the EVO-X template.  

I'm glad that everyone has different preferences though. Otherwise we'd all look the same. Like Meta.

And, Lelutka should re-start their regions right before the sale starts. That'll take care of the campers.

Edited November 23, 2022 by Maitimo

[Katherine Heartsong]

13 hours ago, Marianne Little said:

Loft & Aria are so expensive that 50% off is still enough to pay.

I saw that Black Nest is going to have a sale, so I hope it is 50% off.

If Fancy Decor has a sale, I want some there as well.

Yes to both Black Nest and Fancy Decor, my go-to spots.  Add Apple Fall in there and home furnishing and decor is pretty much covered.

And I agree about Loft&Aria. Some nice stuff but my goodness, seriously expensive.

[Trinity Blakewell]

If you're not familiar with Avant (home furnishings), this is a good time to check them out. Avani is offering group members early access to their 50% off sale, and their recent generous group gift (a  dining room collection) is right at the landing point!

[Marianne Little]

3 hours ago, Katherine Heartsong said:

Yes to both Black Nest and Fancy Decor, my go-to spots.  Add Apple Fall in there and home furnishing and decor is pretty much covered.

And I agree about Loft&Aria. Some nice stuff but my goodness, seriously expensive.

The Loft&Aria group is not less than 600 L to join. Nice group gifts, by all means... Pretty stuff, but nothing big that really stand out. I would have joined for 200L. And they sell small decor for 200-250 per piece. I saw a nice bathroom shelf, but it and the decor on it is over 1000L, and well, I am not going to spend that. I will probably buy the shelf itself. If it is a sale.

Not like Avanis free group, as already mentioned. It is a huge dinner set gift with a lot included. And Avani has also a whole corner of nice small decorative gifts. 

I saw that Black Nest's sale is 50% off, also last releases. That is good, some stores does not price down the last months items. Black Nest's sale  does not start until the 26th, I think.

I have so much Fancy Decor, but I want one of their latest bathrooms.

 

[Marianne Little]

Kraftwork has started their sale, but August -> today's releases is not included.

[Trinity Blakewell]

1 hour ago, Marianne Little said:

The Loft&Aria group is not less than 600 L to join. Nice group gifts, by all means... Pretty stuff, but nothing big that really stand out. I would have joined for 200L. And they sell small decor for 200-250 per piece. I saw a nice bathroom shelf, but it and the decor on it is over 1000L, and well, I am not going to spend that. I will probably buy the shelf itself. If it is a sale.

 

Loft&Aria also did that terrible thing where you had to pay for each part of a bathroom vanity  (so, sink and vanity base were priced separately). In general, I consider their newer stuff overpriced, but occasionally pick up a piece or two.

Most of us who have been around a while buying home furnishings in SL know that there are designers who are very, very good to their loyal customers/group members (like Kraftwork, Fancy Decor, Apple Fall, and now Avani) and those who are...not so much.

[Stephanie Misfit]

On 11/23/2022 at 9:39 AM, Marianne Little said:

Loft & Aria are so expensive that 50% off is still enough to pay. They had a Black Friday sale last year. They are not on the "Sneak peak" list from Seraphim yet.

I saw that Black Nest is going to have a sale, so I hope it is 50% off. 

I have a few things I want to buy from Avani...

If Fancy Decor has a sale, I want some there as well.

I think I will buy furniture this year. I got three demos from Lelutka, but... I like my head, so why buy another one. 

 

You are in luck. This one will send me broke, I think. I also love Fourth Wall and got a few things at their sale, although I had recently bought quite a bit of stuff full price so did not need so much there.

 

[EliseAnne85]

Blueberry has 50% off many items on MP now.  If you want to find all the ones on sale easily, put a price for 99 to 125 lindens and there are a lot. The place to put a price in is along the left side column of the MP page for those who don't know.   Edit - I just checked and there are some 650 L fatpacks on Mp also.

Edited November 24, 2022 by EliseAnne85