Q to LL.. Should I abandon my land now and go Marketplace only or wait until next month?

[VonGklugelstein Alter]

Since its obvious that nothing is being done about the horror scene you created for In world stores with your new shiny freebie gift giver you call the Marketplace, I am weighing the options of abandoning my store land and setting all my items to 1-9L on your marketplace. I promise I will keep my free 512 full of magic boxes until you enable DD.

Since the marketplace opened virtually all my store owning neighbors have abandoned their land and or set it for sale for really cheap hoping that I will buy it. I am the only one left with a functioning store in my area but sales in them are so dismal compared to SLM that its not worth the effort to maintain.

What do you think I should do?

[wrable Amat]

look at it this way.it will be cheaper to just go market place.They will never read any ones post and say "oh lord we better change this!

I do not care what any one says..this is a game...you must roll with the punches and change with the times to be able to profit.I This is my online poker..I invest my time and some money to roll the dice and see what I can make.I feel you on all of it and agree the changes are a bit 1 sided.Sure the new users got it all!! unlimited freebies and next to nothing kit made products!!

[Dora Gustafson]

If you are trying to address LL this is certainly the wrong place!
When that is said I must say in my opinion it is very odd to place a marketplace outside the virtual world when you are a virtual world (SL)

[Darrius Gothly]

Hmm .. not sure I'd characterize a web-based Virtual Goods outlet as "odd". After all, even though it has cannabalized some sales from In-World stores, it has also added a lot to overall sales. That would seem to indicate it is quite normal and even quite successful at attracting its own unique target audience.

[Pamela Galli]

Pssst -- Lindens do read this forum.  (Not that they are going to do away with the MP.)

[Darrius Gothly]

VonG,

I think the best answer for you would be "it depends". If you are selling a type of product that is easily examined and evaluated from just a website listing page then I'd say you'd be best to dump the in-world store and focus on website sales. But if you sell things that need to be "touched" to get a good feel for them then you should not abandon your in-world outlet.

For example, my line of Teleporters are the types of things that folks need to get on and test-drive to fully appreciate. I make some sales of them through Marketplace, but in-world sales are easily 50x higher. On the other hand, my slide shows do about equal numbers for the two outlets. The only products that "sell" in much higher numbers on Marketplace are my Freebies .. and they're very simplistic little gizmos that are handy to have .. sorta .. and so anemic for features that they're not even worth hanging a L$1 price tag on them.

[VonGklugelstein Alter]

 

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Darrius Gothly wrote:

VonG,

I think the best answer for you would be "it depends". If you are selling a type of product that is easily examined and evaluated from just a website listing page then I'd say you'd be best to dump the in-world store and focus on website sales. But if you sell things that need to be "touched" to get a good feel for them then you should not abandon your in-world outlet..

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I found that the majority of recent sales on MP are the lesser priced items now. People do not even get to see the better items unless they want to scroll through a hundred pages of cheapos including my lower priced items. There has been several significant changes in this pattern since I started but definetly the change on the 8th of this month has had the most dramatic effect.

Until now whenever they made such a drastic change to the SLM they reversed their mistake a day or 2 later but this time it seems that they actually are meaning to finish off all merchants that pay tier. Back in the SLX days my inworld sales were 90% now I do not think its even 1%. 

 

So there.. "it depends" on them more so than me.. I have done all I could to promote the quality of my product by making better stuff, displaying it in world, buying feature ads and inworld classifieds etc.. and as it is unless I make it all dirt cheap it will never be found or sold.

 

 

[Dartagan Shepherd]

As opposed to the days when in-world sales and prices were capable of earning merchants more.

Granted things like L$4,000 shapes were a bubble, but when someone could easily earn just about anything they wanted with camping, which was a great boost to new users with no money, in-world was more profitable than web sales today.

I think the big numbers on the Marketplace are too attractive to remedy the effect this is having on in-world shops. Like someone else said, you just go with what works and adapt.

Meanwhile the situation is in denial in favor of stats that don't show the true effects on the individual merchant in the economy.

[Chelsea Malibu]

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Darrius Gothly wrote:

VonG,

I think the best answer for you would be "it depends". If you are selling a type of product that is easily examined and evaluated from just a website listing page then I'd say you'd be best to dump the in-world store and focus on website sales. But if you sell things that need to be "touched" to get a good feel for them then you should not abandon your in-world outlet.

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Another example would be items like I sell.  You really don't get the benefit seeing them in 2D as others make similar products that are what I consider 2D.  However, what you sell is mostly 2D textures for 3D models.

In the end, (and please don't take offence to this) you have to better then your competition to succeed. Just having stuff and offering it at a low price does not mean it will sell.  You are competing with the likes of TRU which is run by professional Photoshop artist and 3D Concepts which most don't know is actually Marlin Textures, one of the most successful texture companies for 3D modelers and architects outside of SL.

If you can find a niche that you know you can outdo everyone on the grid with, then you pour everything you have into it and then push, push and push.  It takes time and moreover, talent.  Use both to your best, understand retail and seo and then market the hell out of yourself.

I guess what I am trying to say is just this.Sometimes it just mean trying harder and stop blaming the MP.  :matte-motes-big-grin-wink:

 

 

[Darrius Gothly]

Chelsea? Was that reply meant for me? Cuz I don't sell textures if so.

[Melita Magic]

What is best for YOU? That's what you should think about.

Don't wait for what others will do. 

[Chelsea Malibu]

Nooo Darius, I was agreeing with your point on needing to show some things in world. Sorry if that was confusing.  Von sells textures it seems if I am correct.

[Darrius Gothly]

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Chelsea Malibu wrote:

Nooo Darius, I was agreeing with your point on needing to show some things in world. Sorry if that was confusing.  Von sells textures it seems if I am correct.

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No worries .. I'll forgive you .. THIS time. LOL

[VonGklugelstein Alter]

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Chelsea Malibu wrote:

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Another example would be items like I sell.  You really don't get the benefit seeing them in 2D as others make similar products that are what I consider 2D.  However, what you sell is mostly 2D textures for 3D models.

In the end, (and please don't take offence to this) you have to better then your competition to succeed. Just having stuff and offering it at a low price does not mean it will sell.  You are competing with the likes of TRU which is run by professional Photoshop artist and 3D Concepts which most don't know is actually Marlin Textures, one of the most successful texture companies for 3D modelers and architects outside of SL.

If you can find a niche that you know you can outdo everyone on the grid with, then you pour everything you have into it and then push, push and push.  It takes time and moreover, talent.  Use both to your best, understand retail and seo and then market the hell out of yourself.

I guess what I am trying to say is just this.Sometimes it just mean trying harder and stop blaming the MP.  :matte-motes-big-grin-wink:

 

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This has nothing to do with competition btw.. and my product line is also not a factor. I am sure this affects other types of product types as much as it does me.  How would you feel if somebody came around and started dumping sculpt or mesh chandeliers that are better than yours for 1L to the point where nobody had a reason to go look at yours in world anymore because who cares about losing 1L?

 

oh and.... neither of them 2 ding'a'lings are my comptition , just a FYI.

 

[Mickey Vandeverre]

I'm going to turn in another piece next week, VonG.

It's not related to the price of things on marketplace at all though.

It's related to the inworld search constantly being flipped upside down, and it's related to how I view the direction of the virtual world venue going, and related to how I see a new user experiencing that first few hours.  Did fair amount of research on that.

Yeah...playing around with the search again, might be a fairly easy thing to do...maybe just a few hours of time...but the entire year proved to be a colossal waste on that, and not risking any more time on it.

Was fortunate in fact that parcels were purchased piece by piece.  Have to say....very liberating, and a ton of pressure off back when I turned in some pieces last week. 

I made a new avatar to open a new business...since they make it difficult to add a separate product line within your store (not waiting around on that)

Chose a pretty blonde avatar that would actually be just fine and dandy without any new skin or clothing, no cost....and this is one hour into experience at welcome center

 

doesn't look very EXCITING to me....even knowing what is around the corner and what I had lined up....

and haven't logged that one in since then.

probably have to spend a few hours in tech forum to figure out how to get her skin and clothes going....

and the whole experience of meeting a ton of new people at the welcome center....

well look at it. 

You be the Judge.

[VonGklugelstein Alter]

haha my AV is not far beyond that stage except for the thing driving it is far more advanced, wicked and evil since it started..

 

sorry to hear about that.. it Irks me when I see people who put in a ton of effort have to take steps backwards because of circumstances beyond their control.

 

you still have your main store though , right?

[Mickey Vandeverre]

yeah...will keep main store, but it's on a really small parcel.  added very slowly over the years, but always kept the parcels separate in case some had to be turned in.

was kind of a bummer all those years not having estate rights to the entire sim....and the estate owner was really cool and offered me that option a few weeks ago to try to work with me.

but the environment just did not look good, so turned a few in and passed on that deal.  plus, who knows how long we're going to be out of business when the direct delivery goes into place.

it's been HUGE relief not having to pay for an entire sim last few weeks.  although the separate parcel thing may not score you well enough in an inworld search now (I really don't know right this minute - but in past there was a time when the separate parcels were punishment)....

but might be the way to go for someone now if they see uncertainties.  just add and subtract as you can and make sure you give out only one LM to main store...and hang on to that location.  I messed up and put several LMs into the boxes that would take them to other parts of the store ....which will be the parcels being removed now.

[amarock Amat]

umm..like amazone is a retailer..outside a retail store?

[Lyra Blackthorne]

For me my inworld main shop generates at least 95% of my profits, even with the higher costs associated.  The Marketplace is just an alternative stream much like we have products on our walls but also offer vendor shopping and a few remote locations.  We want to to provide our products across venues so the customer can shop in their preferred manner. 

But, if I was going to abandon a revenue stream I would leave the Marketplace way before leaving our inworld location.  The Marketplace generates less revenue and there are also more negative service issues for clients using it.  Too, I don't think the Marketplace helps build customer relationships or brand loyalty.  If you can afford to float your business for a bit, maybe try working your inworld shop and client base a bit more; developing relationships, groups, marketing, advertising etc.  But, if funds are short this is not a quick fix; it takes time to build a presence

[Clyde Lindman]

To the OP:

I went the route you are considering a year ago when I could no longer find my store in the new search whereas it appeared at or near the top of the old search in what I considered key fields.. I however was able to sell my land, at a huge loss of course, but I still got something for it. I took it one step further and cancelled my premium membership since I use mainly TPVs and LL refuses to give you any support if you use one, so why pay premium??. So LL is out my tier and premium membership.

I sell 100% on the Marketplace and while gross revenues are down a bit, expenses are 0 so the net profit is way up. I've found a nice quiet sandbox to work in and so it goes. In closing the store, though, I could no longer offer the useful freebies I acquired over the years from other scripters and was able to offer at my store with their (the creators') blessing.

Even though I do spend a lot of time on OS Grid, I have no intention of leaving SL. I'm just in a holding pattern right now waiting for LL to get it's act together so that it would again be an atrractive platform in which to invest time and money.

[Poenald Palen]

For textures, to be honest...I think I would use the marketplace IF I can find what I need. Now, if I knew you had something that I wanted, I would go to your place.

There is a famous texture sales person and they made a HUD catalog (no ,I dont' use it BTW) and basically....they got creative and found a way to get to the customer when they most needed it...as they build. So, their catalog offered a tool, a service and some would use this instead of hopping around. I don't use this, and would prefer using the web because it works faster than in world for loading the textures.

So, for textures...I like the web solution, unless I know you have something and then I buy due to worry of failed delivery. I also have visited peoples places who gave away free sample packs, just because I found the LM. But this is rare and I buy very little and didn't even use the project....I dump a lot of projects after building a few bits and figure it is a lost cause due to time, design directions or it doesn't match ect. with other parts I wanted to make blah blah. SO, I am not the best judge of this! But, if it means anything...I like the convenience and the web is faster, but some love those HUD htings way back...these days? Not sure.

[AgnitioLoricatus Xevion]

Personally, unless the price is extremely low, I will not buy anything without being able to see it in world first, unless it is a store from which I have already bought several items and have come to trust that their quality is satisfactory. So in some cases it may be best to keep the in world store as well.