Paulo Dielli leaving SL. Thanks to all friends.

[Maryanne Solo]

and erm... sorry, what's that got to do with me?

My post was specifically written that way because there was some negativity directed at him.

[Marianne Little]

I think Celestiall has a point here. If you don't develop your products constantly, you can not live on glorious times past. This goes well with what the OP say about not having enough RL time. Furniture, builds and clothing has developed so much during these years.

Take a hammock that is sold with 3 animations, one for a couple and one for single lay. This one cost 170L. Now, if you type in "hammock" as a search word on the Marketplace, the top return for hammock has a menu for couples and single sits,10 animations, it has much better sculpts and it cost 10L.  Very few people would buy the 170L hammock, so I guess search has not so much to do with it. If you are willing to spend 150 - 200L, you can find hammocks with very large menus, up to several hundred animated animations, for cuddling, relaxing and adult activity. 

And there are harder times in RL and fewer people are willing to pay for land in Secondlife, it also narrows the market. It simply isn't so many customers left, and those who are looking for furniture may be more careful about what they buy. They are simply looking for the best buy, it might not be so many impulse buyers. This will probably hit the small stores hard. Those who can afford to push hard and set out qualty promos are simply taking over the market. 

[Rene Erlanger]

If that particular seller paid the going rates for FP animation and granted the proper permission rights to those 10 animations by their respective creators....no way should they be sellling that Hammock  for just 10L!

 If they had created those animations themselves (very doubtful)..and knowing how much time it takes to create a single animation...they would not be selling that Hammock for such a low price even as a loss leader. Just to get a rough idea...a full perm animation sold by Creator and supplied with their own T&C's would be around 300 - 500 L (prices have dropped incredibly over last few years)....so 10 animations is likely to have cost between 3-5K Lindens!

It would be foolhardy to sell product for just 10L (would need 300-500 sales to break even) ..thats ignoring other costs like a full perm sculpty and time spent creating the item.

I guess if the seller has 100's of products, he/ she could afford to take losses on a few "loss leaders" to attract people to their MP Store.

[Celestiall Nightfire]

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Maryanne Solo wrote:

and erm... sorry, what's that got to do with me?

My post was specifically written that way because there was some negativity directed at him.

---

and erm, sorry...but my comment was not "about" you.  I was replying to the words that you directed at the OP. 

You wrote: 

Maryanne Solo wrote:

"The only thing that matters Paulo, is that you had fun".

You were telling the OP, that the only thing that matters is that the OP "had fun".  Which, if you read the OP, is clearly not the case for the OP. 

[Perrie Juran]

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Marianne Little wrote:

I think Celestiall has a point here. If you don't develop your products constantly, you can not live on glorious times past. This goes well with what the OP say about not having enough RL time. Furniture, builds and clothing has developed so much during these years.

Take a hammock that is sold with 3 animations, one for a couple and one for single lay. This one cost 170L. Now, if you type in "hammock" as a search word on the Marketplace, the top return for hammock has a menu for couples and single sits,10 animations, it has much better sculpts and it cost 10L.  Very few people would buy the 170L hammock, so I guess search has not so much to do with it. If you are willing to spend 150 - 200L, you can find hammocks with very large menus, up to several hundred animated animations, for cuddling, relaxing and adult activity. 

And there are harder times in RL and fewer people are willing to pay for land in Secondlife, it also narrows the market. It simply isn't so many customers left, and those who are looking for furniture may be more careful about what they buy. They are simply looking for the best buy, it might not be so many impulse buyers. This will probably hit the small stores hard. Those who can afford to push hard and set out qualty promos are simply taking over the market. 

---

This really does raise some interesting points. You do have to keep up with the times, or as you stated " .......develop your products constantly."

But this also highlights one of the problems with the Market Place.  A seller doesn't have to really make an In World investment outside of a place to set their magic box nor do they really have to make  a serious investment in "developing" a product like the 10L hammock you mentioned. 

Did that seller make their own animations for it?  Did they make the sculpts?  Or did they just cobble together full perm freebies that they found and now after an hour or two of work they are underselling those who really do invest time in "product development?"

My reflex action if I was looking to buy a hammock would be to grab that 10L Hammock. 

I do not know what that seller's time is worth to them, but sell 250 hammocks at the current market exchange rate and they have made $10.00 U.S.  With actually no serious investment involved.

Maybe you don't perceive this as a problem.  I know that I don't know an easy solution to it.  But if genuine developers are finding themselves pushed to the rear of the bus by the problems with search, I can see them easily saying 'to heck with SL.'

There is an axiom, "when you limit your choices, your choices will become limited."

When people started shopping at a certain 'big box' retailer in RL, many smaller stores went out of business.  Shoppers said, I can buy it for less at the 'big box.'  Ten years later, this particular 'big box' carries 1/3 less SKU's (individual items).  Rather than having a choice of three brands to pick from, you only get two to choose from.  And if you really want that third brand, the small store no longer exists that used to carry it for you.

As I said, I don't know the solution, but it is a real problem.

 

[Marianne Little]

*Rene and Perrie, I wonder if your definition of a homecooked meal is that you have to hunt the animals and grow your own vegetables?

What does it matter if they design all from scratch? And the argument about prices is not valid, you can buy full permissions animations legally, not stolen, for much less. I was just looking at an engine with 158 animations for 4500L. Unless the reviews is all fake, this is real stuff and not stolen. It is not hard to find products with reviews: "This is just a repacked freebie!" 

Now, taking out 10 cuddle animations in a nice promo and sell 450 hammocks, then you have your costs covered. The smart seller would also sell the whole engine in another hammock that looks just the same, and price it higher. Every sale of those is profit. Every sale of theirs is also marketing, if a popular beach use their stuff, it is seen. And they make it harder for the other sellers, by taking a bigger part of the market and establish a customer base that may use them again. This makes other furniture sellers grind their teeth, of course!

Even if you buy prefab sculpts and animations, you still have to work on nice textures, take out and add on animations, install the engine, test and adjust the product and make sure it looks attractive, and take some pictures that present the hammock so people can not resist buying it. Composing an attractive product is also a skill. Marketing is also a skill. I would guess that most SL merchants that fail lack the ability to make things really irresistilble. 

PS. This particular seller has a inworld store too. Some merchants are actually big on both the Marketplace and inworld.

[Rene Erlanger]

That's why i mentioned being sold for 10 L as a "loss leader" to attract customers to other products in their MP store front. (otherwise it would not make sense)  It's not a new concept in SL...especially with a zillion products listed on Marketplace.....one needs to get seen somehow!.

[Perrie Juran]

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Marianne Little wrote:

*Rene and Perrie, I wonder if your definition of a homecooked meal is that you have to hunt the animals and grow your own vegetables?

PS. This particular seller has a inworld store too. Some merchants are actually big on both the Marketplace and inworld.

---

Not at all, nor did I mean to say that this particular merchant had no In World presence, etc.  I was speaking in very general terms.

Part of my point here was that there are many people, especially newer folks, who have no idea what it may have took to get that product to their SL home from original concept all the way to delivery.

To compete profitably in any market, RL or SL, can be and usually is a ton of work. 

[Mickey Vandeverre]

Hey Paulo, best wishes in your new adventures.  It's always an adventure, isn't it?

Man, it was a rough ride the last few years, trying to recover from the search issues. (and a few others, to say the least)  I admire anyone who tried to hang on, and put in the extra hours trying to get back on feet.  Maybe some did, maybe not. 

LL did not listen, and that's for sure.  And they lost and are losing some warriors with passion and commitment.

It was very courteous of you to let your customers know your plans.  Good man.  Cheers