The Saturday Sale Announces Price Increase--Thoughts?

[Lysistrata Szapira]

Since someone posted about the Catwa price increase, I thought I'd bring up the Saturday Sale announcement that the highest price is going to go from 75L to 100L. 

What are your thoughts on that?

My thought is that if a product is a great buy for 75L it will be a great buy for 100L.  If it's a template design or a repeat of the same thing the store offers every week (I know of one store at least that just repeats the same old stuff) or poorly made, I won't buy it at 75L, much less 100L.  Conversely, I can see people deciding that 25L extra lindens is too much, considering everything in RL costs more these days.   Everyone has to draw a budget line at some point. 

I'm definitely curious to see which stores decide to bump from 75L to 100L though. Someone(s) must have been been pushing them to allow an increase.   

[Ayashe Ninetails]

Thanks for the heads up. I hadn't heard that yet.

Funny enough, that's one of my least-shopped weekend sales. Overall, I suppose the change won't really affect me much. Now if FLF, Wanderlust, Roleplay Addicts, or Happy Weekend changed, that'd hurt. I buy most of my stuff in those.

I wonder how many people know about that and will be surprised by it in a few days. I didn't see a notice posted on Seraphim's site.

[Stephanie Misfit]

32 minutes ago, Lysistrata Szapira said:

Since someone posted about the Catwa price increase, I thought I'd bring up the Saturday Sale announcement that the highest price is going to go from 75L to 100L. 

What are your thoughts on that?

My thought is that if a product is a great buy for 75L it will be a great buy for 100L.  If it's a template design or a repeat of the same thing the store offers every week (I know of one store at least that just repeats the same old stuff) or poorly made, I won't buy it at 75L, much less 100L.  Conversely, I can see people deciding that 25L extra lindens is too much, considering everything in RL costs more these days.   Everyone has to draw a budget line at some point. 

I'm definitely curious to see which stores decide to bump from 75L to 100L though. Someone(s) must have been been pushing them to allow an increase.   

It will affect me, I buy a lot of stuff from the sales, and that increase will add up across many purchases. I may need to think more carefully about what I buy, so some stores could miss out on my purchases now. That said, I can see why stores participating in the sales would ask for an increase in the sale price. This will no doubt set a precedent for other sales events to increase their prices too.

[Ceka Cianci]

Some must be wanting to make the adjustment to the fee increases on the exchange.. I can understand them wanting to make the adjustment and trickle that onto us..

But at the same time, I'm just gonna look harder at things, is this item worth it and do I really want it?

There are very few creators left that have me seeing something and me saying, I just gotta have this.. That happens to me once in awhile and I'll spend the money on them because it's just that good.. That's anywhere, not just the sales.. If something makes a tingle go down my neck, I'll head to the bank if I have to and get the items from them.. then I'm also gonna head to their store and probably end up coming home with a crap load of shopping bags..

Some stores just feel like they've only broken down fatpacks and not really knocked much off anyways, where others will give you the whole fatpack for that price..I turn away from them anyways because it's at the point that the math is on autopilot just looking at the add..

For sales, quality and price matter.. I'm not gonna pay 1L$ for crap But I'll spend on somethign worth it, so if the price goes up and they have something worth it, then 100 isn't gonna matter, just liek 1000 won't.. But if it's not worth it, it doesn't matter how low the price is.

Edited March 15, 2023 by Ceka Cianci

[Lysistrata Szapira]

1 hour ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

I wonder how many people know about that and will be surprised by it in a few days. I didn't see a notice posted on Seraphim's site.

I saw it posted on TSS' Facebook page.  If people don't follow them on FB, they're in for a surprise if a lot of stores up their prices. 

They also did not allow comments on that post which is probably understandable. They are likely to take some heat for this decision. 

Edited March 16, 2023 by Lysistrata Szapira
adding info

[Ayashe Ninetails]

18 minutes ago, Lysistrata Szapira said:

I saw it posted on TSS' Facebook page.  If people don't follow them on FB, they're in for a surprise if a lot of stores up their prices. 

They also did not allow comments on that post which is probably understandable. They are likely to take some heat for this decision. 

Oooooo, yeah, after your post, I went looking and found the notice on Facebook. I don't follow them there, so had no idea. And yep, I saw comments were turned off. This weekend might be a little...oof.

[steeljane42]

Been a while since I saw anything for 50L there, so not sure why they even bother creating an illusion of price range when it was always 75L anyway. Now with 75-100 range it's rather obvious it'll be 100. I usually buy between 0 and 3-5 things on weekend sales in total, sometimes more if it's a neutral week and less if it's all those holiday focused ones, so can't say I care about extra few L$. But if it'll the case when it's some 4 parts outfit that I might wear one time and it gets a pass for 240-300, for 400 it already might not as it's the price of top quality original mesh clothing pieces (in one color) from creators that never do weekend sales.

I wonder if that's why there was some new event last weekend, Tokyo 75 or something like that. Some of creators did the Saturday Sale before, not sure if it just aligned like that or they had a heads up and decided to bail ahead of time.

Edited March 16, 2023 by steeljane42

[Claireschen Hesten]

Saturday sale for as long as I've been following it has been billed as a L$50-75 sale, I think i can count on one hand the number of things in the past six months to a year I've been interested in that were less than L$75. At that price point and things often sold by individual pieces I've definitely become more picky about what I spend my increasingly limited amount of L$ on. If all stores up their prices to L$100 I won't be spending at all 

[CalypsoJewel]

Considering most stores already set their prices at the max previously, they may as well set it at a solid 100.
I've already been shopping a lot less even on the weekend sales. This will likely just cut that in half even. No biggie to me.
I also don't understand why repeated virtual items need to cost so much in the first place. I understand time and whatnot(i'm an artist myself, believe me, I get it), but a majority of items tend to just be recolors of full-perm items, or photo morphs anyway.

[SorachaNicEoghain]

Yeah I'm only going to buy Scarlet Creative if this is the case. I spend waaaay too much linden on stuff I only wear once anyway 

[Stephanie Misfit]

50 minutes ago, CalypsoJewel said:

Considering most stores already set their prices at the max previously, they may as well set it at a solid 100.
I've already been shopping a lot less even on the weekend sales. This will likely just cut that in half even. No biggie to me.
I also don't understand why repeated virtual items need to cost so much in the first place. I understand time and whatnot(i'm an artist myself, believe me, I get it), but a majority of items tend to just be recolors of full-perm items, or photo morphs anyway.

The vast majority of stores participating in The Saturday Sale sell original creations. It takes considerable time and talent for these designers to create their items. I think that they are virtually giving their work away for 100L. The only thing that makes up for it, of course, is the volume of sales, and I personally hope that the designers who work hard to make things that make our Second Life more enjoyable are being rewarded with good sales on the weekend. The question for us, as consumers, is can we buy a large quantity of these sale items if the prices for them increase? I need to stop and think about the fact that purchasing 10 "cheap" items is actually going to set me back 1k. I will be perusing the list more carefully.

[CandyCole]

I have a folder in my browser containing links to all the weekend/weekly sales shown on Seraphim. I'm not in any of the SL groups as they eat into precious group spaces.

Anyway, if creators or sellers don't like the L$75 ceiling set by The Saturday Sales group then stop participating.

Equally, if I don't like any increases I will stop participating.

With inflation across the world circa 10% and declining, a 30% increase of The Saturday Sales limit (which 99.99% of sellers do/will employ) will just become the new normal.

Chances are it will be goodbye Saturday Sales. It's not about the L$, more to do with principle.

Message to the participating sellers:  Begin a new weekend group if none of the current ones are to your liking.

[Marianne Little]

Stores get around the weekend prices by selling things in small parts. I hardely see anyone sell fatpacks and sets for 75 L anymore. It is not so tempting to buy one color for 75 L, when the good options are in fatpacks.

I bought much more when I discovered weekend sales. I have become more restrictive when I see how little of it I actually use.

So what does this price increase mean? I already walk past single colored clothes, unless it is my fav creators like COCO. For furniture like Fancy Decor, they already split up their weekend items. A table, a lamp on it and a stack of books, are all priced individually. I can still buy it, if like it. It is not much of a difference from 50% sales now.

It is harder times for us all, buyers and sellers. The creators may see that the ordinary priced items does not sell so well. Customers save their money for the weekend. And the creators need to compensate for it.

[CalypsoJewel]

9 hours ago, Stephanie Misfit said:

The vast majority of stores participating in The Saturday Sale sell original creations. It takes considerable time and talent for these designers to create their items. I think that they are virtually giving their work away for 100L. The only thing that makes up for it, of course, is the volume of sales, and I personally hope that the designers who work hard to make things that make our Second Life more enjoyable are being rewarded with good sales on the weekend. The question for us, as consumers, is can we buy a large quantity of these sale items if the prices for them increase? I need to stop and think about the fact that purchasing 10 "cheap" items is actually going to set me back 1k. I will be perusing the list more carefully.

I was mainly talking in general when it comes to the pricing, not just SS. I have no complaint against those with original creations, but I have seen plenty of re-used assets in SS over the years. I've had to cut back a lot on spending with SL as rl takes precedence and things have gotten absurdly expensive in that corner. I love the sales, and while they sure beat normal prices, i'll probably just be like many others and just be even more picky.

[Trinity Blakewell]

I suppose I don't really care all that much, because I focus on 1) quality and 2) if it's something I don't already have. Perhaps I will be a bit more picky with my purchases.

 

[Scylla Rhiadra]

10 hours ago, Stephanie Misfit said:

The vast majority of stores participating in The Saturday Sale sell original creations. It takes considerable time and talent for these designers to create their items. I think that they are virtually giving their work away for 100L. The only thing that makes up for it, of course, is the volume of sales, and I personally hope that the designers who work hard to make things that make our Second Life more enjoyable are being rewarded with good sales on the weekend. The question for us, as consumers, is can we buy a large quantity of these sale items if the prices for them increase? I need to stop and think about the fact that purchasing 10 "cheap" items is actually going to set me back 1k. I will be perusing the list more carefully.

Mostly, I agree with all of this.

A 33% price increase -- which, in practical terms, is what this will mean -- is pretty hefty. I don't begrudge (most) creators the money, and I get that hard times for us are hard times for them too, but it's certainly going to have an impact on my buying. 

Part of that will be psychological. L$100 just "feels" like a lot more than L$75. It's one reason that stores will sell things at $5.99 rather than the more logical $6.00. I think, too, that L$100 feels like crossing a line from "this costs so little I really should just buy this" to "this will make a bit of a dent in my available cash. Do I really need it?"

Were I a creator offering items in that sale, I'd either sell at L$99, or find a different way (such as splitting up goods) to increase my returns.

[Orwar]

   It already was one of the pricier weekend sales, FLF and L$60 Happy Weekend Sales will now have their ceiling at roughly half that of TSS. It also feels pretty stingy to refer to the increased fees as the reason, someone a little more clear-headed than I pointed out that only L$2 out of the increase would cover the fee changes, the remaining L$23 is just padding to the profit margin. On principle, I will personally stop browsing TSS. I mightn't ignore the sale vendors if I go to a store because they listed something in a different sale that I decided to check out, or if it's a creator I follow elsewhere, but raising the prices by 33% when the economy is the way it is and the increased fees for us consumers to buy the L$ to begin with honestly just feels wrong.

15 hours ago, Lysistrata Szapira said:

Since someone posted about the Catwa price increase

   Price decrease! 

10 hours ago, Stephanie Misfit said:

The vast majority of stores participating in The Saturday Sale sell original creations. It takes considerable time and talent for these designers to create their items. I think that they are virtually giving their work away for 100L.

   TSS has never been a dedicated release event though, and has no sort of 'limited quantities only' rules to it; the vast majority of products that go in any sales are ones that were released prior and is now discounted to get a few more sales out of a product that's too far back in the backlog for any large amounts of people to spot it. It's the exact same thing with video games, $60 for thousands of work hours isn't how the consumer should look at it, it's 'how many hours of entertainment will that $60 get me'. If it's an older video game, putting it on a big steam sale for $20 will get a lot more people who would otherwise have given you nothing give you something for something which you had already done.

Edited March 16, 2023 by Orwar

[colleen Criss]

I just posted to Twitter about the prices of some of the hair creators are asking for. Some want you to pay extra for stylers too. If you want 300L to 500L  for wigs I want the styler with it. So I have not attended Access after seeing the prices posted on Seraphim.

what's happened at C88 didn't they use to have a cap?

I'll wait on sales that are ACTUALLY sales. Or I just won't buy. It's virtual goods ffs.

[Love Zhaoying]

13 minutes ago, colleen Criss said:

I just posted to Twitter about the prices of some of the hair creators are asking for. Some want you to pay extra for stylers too. If you want 300L to 500L  for wigs I want the styler with it. So I have not attended Access after seeing the prices posted on Seraphim.

what's happened at C88 didn't they use to have a cap?

I'll wait on sales that are ACTUALLY sales. Or I just won't buy. It's virtual goods ffs.

At least you don't have to pay them again every few months like RL!

[Coffee Pancake]

Guess I will be spending a lot less on the weekend sales.

[PixieGirrrrl]

I agree with a lot of the above! 100L feels like a lot more than 75L, and although it's only a 25L price rise, it will make me think twice before purchasing. However I totally understand the reasons behind why creators want to charge more. It does make Happy Weekend sales way more appealing though. I expect like others have said above, I will just be more careful with my spending. 100L items will add up quickly! 

[Maitimo]

I rarely follow the L$75 sales anyway; I have a few favourite stores that participate in the L$30, L$35 and LS55 sales so I will be sticking mostly with those. 

If I'm in the mood to spend L$100 I'll be at Hilly Haalan's instead.

[Claireschen Hesten]

3 hours ago, colleen Criss said:

what's happened at C88 didn't they use to have a cap?

When C88 was originally a small event created by the person behind and located on the region of the store ”The Sea hole" it was an L$88 event, now i can only think of two/three stores at most that do sell things at the original L$88 price point 

[Psyche Starling]

25 minutes ago, Claireschen Hesten said:

When C88 was originally a small event created by the person behind and located on the region of the store ”The Sea hole" it was an L$88 event, now i can only think of two/three stores at most that do sell things at the original L$88 price point 

I think even a year or so ago, I used to see more stores doing like one color at 88L and then the rest at regular price, but I feel like I don't see that much anymore either.

[Ceka Cianci]

They may also think users just buy more lindens as well and it may not seem like a jump.. but for those that stick to saving their stipend, they have those users thinking really hard now.. One thing that doesn't go up but has gone down in Stipend.. Many only get 300 a week and many only can spend stipend..

To them it doesn't feel like a quarter in change , it feels like a heck of a lot more like dollars..

So I think they will feel more than a pinch with those users, which it doesn't even feel were considered.

Edited March 16, 2023 by Ceka Cianci