How are you setting your pricing these days?

[Chelsea Malibu]

In the past we always set our prices as high as the market would bear and in the beginning, we got pretty much whatever we wanted as competition was low.  I think back on our beds we could sell for 12k or more and other items such as bad hair for 500L. 

When I first posted stuff on SLExchange (now Marketplace) and SL Boutique, I found if I charged too little, I would drop down in search as there where preferences for higher price items in their search. At that time I moved my price for my ceiling fans up from 200k to nearly 300k and my sales shot up along with my search ranking.

Today, I dropped all of my prices by about 30% on MP and this weekend, I will do the same in my stores.  The first time I have every changed my pricing and realized the reason I had these prices was because of the SLX search.

My sales have always been good and I consider the quality of my wares with the service I offer as reasonable for the price I charge.  I really have no reason to lower my prices anymore than I had reason to charge what I did. Business is good so I want to pass this along by lowering prices where it is actually more important to me to be able to share my hobby with those who appreciate what I do.

We did this at SexGen and volume more than made up for the reduction in price and I am hoping this is the same with my Lighting and Design store.

Has anyone else experienced this and what are your prices like versus when you first started selling?

[Rya Nitely]

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Chelsea Malibu wrote:

Business is good so I want to pass this along by lowering prices where it is actually more important to me to be able to share my hobby with those who appreciate what I do.

 

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An affordable SL is a much more attractive and happier place to which more people will come and stay. More people -> more customers -> more business. A major reason people leave is because it's too expensive. More people -> more customers -> more business.

We've been going since late 2008 and our prices are about the same as then. I want people to be able to buy our things without it being a huge financial decision. Some people think that when you convert the currency to RL money it's such a small amount, but these small amounts add up. We know this as merchants, so of course it does for customers too. Many people are addicted to SL and will spend beyond capacity. 

I'm just glad I can keep this as an enjoyable hobby and not out to grab every cent I can. I know for others the situation is different.

[nikita Jefferson]

All our fashions are very reasonable,we have always had prices on the lower scale

Our skins we sell at a third of most high end skin shops,i say high end only referring to the price and not nec. the quality

I have always believed skins are way overpriced on sl,

we sell ours at a reasonable affordable price,and when someone buys a complete avatrar they can choose another and get it for free,,,,,,,,,on the skin side,buy a set of 8 skins and get a 2ns set free of your choice free.

I don't sell on the marketplace,i have some items i put there long ago but in the thousands upon thousands of item on the MP i get lost in it so i don't reallyy care for the MP,,,,all its done is mess up inworld business.

 

[Ry0ta Exonar]

When I started my skin shop 2 years ago, I set the price for them lower than well-established skin stores' as a new comer and still keep that price now.

I'm selling also shapes to match each skin line and when I set the price for them at first comparing the time spent on making skins to that on making shapes. It took me about 2 months to finish my first skin (I might be slow), so the price of shapes was set less than one-tenth of the skins'. (Actually it would be less than hundredth part of it, though) But some people suggested me that I should mark up the price because many people would think cheapies are bad quality, so I raised the price 3 times higher. Still about one-third of well-established shape stores', though.

[nikita Jefferson]

You are right about some people equating price to quality,but thats a fools game to think like that,i have taken demos at other skin places to compare quality to mine,so many times i shake my head when i put their shape on,some people have a strange perception of the female body,then i put the skin on and shake my head again and wonder how they can ask the price they do for what they are selling.

Some skins shops put lovely air brushed pictures showing the skin,looks nice but you never look like that when you buy it

What you see on my displays is exactly what you will get,no surprises,I include a shape with all my skins,so if they use the shape with the skin they get exactly what they saw on the display.

 

 

[Blaze Nielsen]

There is enough free stuff in SL now so that you never HAVE to buy a single thing ever again. More clothes, more houses, more beds,  more boats, more of everything than you can ever imagine is free. But, there are people who enjoy the shopping experience. They enjoy high quality and are more than willing to pay for it. I've been in business in sl for six years now and learned if you build superb products, people will pay higher prices. I think all merchants need to evaluate their brand for the long term. Position yourself where you feel most comfortable with your skills and your business plan. Personally, I don't lower prices, I just continue to build better and better products.

 

[Josh Susanto]

My pricing is pretty consistent.

New items price at 1L.

After I sell at least 20 of them, I increase the price to 9L.

Do I need to explain why?

[Phil Deakins]

I haven't lowered or increased my prices since I started the business in 2007, but I didn't set them in the way that you did. From the start, I adopted the attitude that I'd rather sell 11 items at 100L than 1 item at 1000L. It worked great, and it earned me between US$4000 and US$5000 every month.

I wouldn't feel comfortable lowering my prices because I wouldn't feel comfortable facing people who had bought the items not long before, when they'd cost more. And even if I didn't face them, I wouldn't like customers to feel wronged by me because they'd paid more yesterday than they would have had to pay today. Fortunately, my prices are such that most of my stuff can't be reasonably lowered.

I've never sold in the marketplace, or in any other such thing, so I've never come across the "rankings by price" thing that you mentioned, so it's never affected me.

[Chelsea Malibu]

Actually Josh, you do...lol.

What are selling for 1L and why? or what I guess I'm most curious about is why not more? or why not jsut for free?