Affiliate Boards

[funkilicous]

Hello all Im thinking about using affiliate but most contain 10+scripts not sure if this is the right forum but do the scripts constantly run? Some say they cause major lag. So my question is should I just try the old fashion route and try to rent the buildings out or go with the boards?

[Jennifer Boyle]

I can't answer your question, but one thing to be aware of is that affiliate vendors occasionally fail to deliver, and, when that happened, the customer will expect a refund from you, since you will be unable to deliver the item.

[Zanara Zenovka]

Just find out which brand of vendor they use - there are several newer efficient ones that only use one script.

[funkilicous]

Thank you all for responding If I may ask another question I want to start a small freebie shop but none of the freebie stuff I get have textures,how do these huge freebie places do it?

[Sassy Romano]

---

Jennifer Boyle wrote:

I can't answer your question, but one thing to be aware of is that affiliate vendors occasionally fail to deliver, and, when that happened, the customer will expect a refund from you, since you will be unable to deliver the item.

---

Just to add that this isn't universally true.  Good ones will permit the customer to self redeliver and better ones will allow the affiliate to see their own sales logs too. 

[Tari Landar]

---

funkilicous wrote:

Thank you all for responding If I may ask another question I want to start a small freebie shop but none of the freebie stuff I get have textures,how do these huge freebie places do it?

---

You can take your own pictures of the items. That's how a lot of people do it.

But if I may add something here(and it might not be a popular opinion, sorry), I would shy away from reselling(this includes giving for $0-$1L too) all the freebies you find elsewhere. I say that because everyone and their mother, is already doing it. It won't make people like your place more than another. I'm guessing you at least want to draw people in, hence the desire to give something nice. My advice is to either find unique freebies(that you have permission to resell, and that is a VERY important bit of info, always check that you have resell permissions please) that don't already exist in every other freebie store/lot on the grid. OR, an even better solution, contact merchants. I know it seems odd to contact people you've never spoken to before, on a whim and ask for free items, but I assure you it WILL work if you do it right.

I've responded to people who've asked both here on the forums, as well as in-world, looking for items to either give to patrons, or in some cases resell even. I personally, don't look down on people who contact me asking me for "free stuff" as it were. Why? Eh, I like supporting the little guy, probably because I still am one and will likely always be a small fish in a big ocean. I know how hard it is to get a business up and running, so when I get the opportunity to help someone else out, I do. Let us not forget it's also advertising for the merchants who participate too, so it's really a win-win. You may find some merchants who disagree and aren't willing to help. Eh, it happens, you move on to the next one. As long as your approach is at least somewhat professional(l33t speek will not help in this case, if english isn't your first language please be prepared to tell the merchants you are contacting up front about this, they'll understand trust me, be concise about what you intend to do with the items and why you want them, invite the merchant by way of a slurl or LM to visit where you'll have their item(s) out, things like this will tell merchants you're serious and not just out looking for free junk from every merchant you can find).

That is, assuming you can't make your own merchandise(also a grand idea, it never hurts to brush up on/learn some building skills and create that which you'd like to offer).

[Chelsea Malibu]

Giving away someone else's freebies is never a good idea, selling them even worse.  It is for this very reason I have had to set my freebies up in Group Givers to limit just one per person.  Wish I didn't have to but people like you farming freebies forced me to have to go that route.

[Jennifer Boyle]

---

Sassy Romano wrote:

---

Just to add that this isn't universally true.  Good ones will permit the customer to self redeliver and better ones will allow the affiliate to see their own sales logs too. 

---

Thanks for this info.

[Tari Landar]

I don't think it's wise to assume someone is "farming freebies" simply because they want to offer such a thing to *their customers. Nor is it ever wise to assume the worst of someone right from the word go(this is my personal opinion, like it or not, I'd rather assume the best of someone and be proven wrong down the road than assume the worst and be proven wrong-because the latter would make me a bit of a jerk, at best).

There are plenty of people who create things specifically so that others can give(or sell) them, that includes freebies as well. Personally I don't see anything wrong with offering free items, and places like freebie stores that offer nothing but freebies-at least the general idea of it. What I do have a bit of an issue with(personal beef, is more like it) is the places that all offer the *same stuff that can be found elsewhere. That, I don't find productive, or even helpful really. But offering items that residents-especially newer ones, though they are definitely not the only ones who can/do/will benefit, can get at little to no cost has been profoundly helpful to many all across the grid over the years. The presumption that offering them makes one somehow a lesser individual or at the very least someone doing something terrible, is a very poor one indeed.

Maybe you, personally, have never benefitted from any freebie whatsoever(I find that hard to believe, though I won't assume, so I'll take your(generic) word for it) and been able to pass that benefit on to another, but there are lots all over the grid who do just that. They seem to do a fine job of it too. Just because there may be a bad apple in the barrel, doesn't mean they've all gone sour!