Tiffy Vella

No...not THAT you dirty buggers...what I mean is that I'm shamefully still delivering via my magic box. So is my grandma, who sells no-copy breedables. We are beginning to sweat a bit here. I can do mine I'm sure in a week..few days tops....but what about hers? Is no copy still a big mess? HaAAALP!!

Yeah I'm aware of the issues. I've been using an adjusted (read "bastardised") freebie one for years that's meant to take customers from my mainstore down to the garden below, and vice versa. Just in case they'd like to visit, as it's pretty nice, I hope. It usually works great but the problem is that it randomly sends people from my mainstore into the neighbouring sim, and they end up ina dear friend's dungeon next door. ...way underground, and not how I'd wish to be represented professionally.

Gahhhh I'm very much a target for this. It's part of my basic introductory sentence that I use on the MP. I state that my jewellery is made of prims. This is an old-fashioned thingo I did from the start as ages back, many did jewellery which was merely a texture layer, so I wanted everyone to be sure I wasn't cheating, but making my own. From prims. Gaaaaaah we can't win!!!!

It's taken about 4 years for my store to accumulate maybe ten reviews. People just don't return to leave them, sadly. I shan't complain too much, as it's better than the stupid negative ones I see other merchants getting which aren't their fault. But I do get a bit sus over newish stores with one glowing 5 star per item. Especially if it's a hair shop, with 100+ hairs all photographed and uploaded together just a few weeks earlier. ;P

Heheh...that's quite a nice problem to have, actually

danicah wrote: But yes the quality of most of the stuff sucks, i've noticed too. Maybe i should just use some of my templates i have and make my own. Just to be safe... I agree that you should only use quality to represent your mall. BIAB stuff is notoriously either poor quality or dodgy in some way. As anyone with any nous has pointed out. Your idea to use full perm templates to make a range of gifts is much better. Just check the template maker's EULA, as most will require certain minimum permissions, and sometimes price.

Oh...BTW...I'm expecting someone to come along anytime soon and "Wallmart" this thread. I mean that in the same spirit as anyone "Godwinning" it. So before you do it...don't...you argument is irrelevant

Haven't we all had this debate over many years, and in so many different forums. The camp is and will always be divided, naturally. It can get a tad irky, too, from memory. Prices have continued to fall over the years as a competitive market tempts some to choose the quick and dirty option of slashing prices, and the next merchant be beggared. This gives one merchant a short-term advantage, but this is all. If a virtual-world-wide price cut was really the secret to stimulating the market, then we wouldn't be in this situation now. It would already be cured, merchants wouldn't be leaving, creativity would be rampant, and creators wouldn't be dumping cheap full-perms stuff on the MP. Because we have already done it. We already sell much much more for much much less, and it's been happening steadily since I've been around to witness it. So why aren't we all enjoying the benefits of our efforts by now? Why instead are many merchants losing their sims, and opting to do other things? Anyone who has been involved in SL creation for a few years has already witnessed the failure of the "sell your work cheaper and the world will love you forever" mantra. It works exactly the same in RL, too, funnily enough. No matter what you create and sell, there will always be a section of the community that will pressure you to expect less for your work- that's just how some people roll. There is such a thing as finding a sensible price point, and creating the best you can within that range.....hopefully those who can do that will always have a place in SL, as they are much needed. (editing to add that this comment is to the thread in general, not personally to you, Lukeh )

Anna1 String wrote: I'll give you a full time position if you find your way back here to the thread You're evil.

I don't think that would help us concentrate. The focus might shift to how to infiltrate the other group, and then it would get waaay worse. Anyway, best to get the smut out the way first, then concentrate on being all professional and businesswomany. ((sitting up straight, buttoning up jacket, tying back hair, trying to wipe grin off face and look serious))

Lukeh, I'd also like there to be more and better ways for all merchants to promote their work and increase sales, but I'm afraid that I'm a bit with Luna on this. Like you, I'd like there to be a way to give commerce a friendly poke, but it invariably involves decreasing the expectations of merchants further and further. LL don't care if we make everything almost free, because "free or cheap" is how they want to sell our efforts to attract more residents. Let's start promoting stores with good service, flexible permissions, excellent products, original creativity. I know your idea is nice and simple (which has it's benefits) and promotion in ways other than price cutting becomes much more complex. And I can't even pretend to have the answers; need more coffee and brains

Yay I'm in.....thanks Eliza And I really wouldn't care if any blokes wore strap on....ahem....lady parts....to come join. The more the merrier.

Will do! Thanks Deja

Toysoldier Thor wrote: I am interested as well.... < me dawns his "Woman" avatar and sneaks into this exclusive club > Welcome to the virtual world of SecondLife where many of SL's roaming women on the grid could be men PS - dont worry.... one of your joined female avatars will not be me Oh gawd- I knew this can of worms would come wriggling along soon

Wow, you are a nerd for numbers, but yes this is interesting. I'd like have similar info for my store. I often wonder if the few hunts I've been in have helped at all, by tempting hunters to revisit later. Deja, did you make the survey a dropdown box, with ticky buttons for answers? (I've never foisted one of those on visitors, but wonder how on earth else to go about it.)

Another interested person here

I like tipping too, and usually do, but not always. I don't if I turn up midway through a DJ's set, especially if it's the last 5-10 mins, and it's a DJ/club I don't know. I feel a bit embarrassed then, but hope that the regulars know that I just walked in,and wasn't hanging about getting free entertainment. I hope that''s never taken personally. If I hear good stuff, I'll be back. I always tip live singers/musicians as (ducks the cabbages) they deserve it more than djs. Sorry. I expect that someone will educate me better, and soon For me.....a live performer....$L100-$L300 ................DJ................................$L50 - $L100 ...................Building classes (most important to tip for).........$L100- $L300 ( the best classes are free....but it's really important that they are supported) ........................anyone who asks for Linden Love... $L0 and heaps of invisible scorn heaped down upon their soul I do skim it back if I'm at a club and they want a tip for dj+performer+club+host, because it really adds up. I used to hate tipping hosts/hostesses because I thought "why the hell do they deserve money just for copy/pasting "Good evening Ms X" to me but I've come to know that good hosts do a lot more than that to make the club smooth-running, and it's not always visible. Anyway...tipping is not in my RL culture...but I've grown to see it as a part of the thingo that greases the wheels of SL, and keeps it going for us all.

Some people need to enjoy an online 'game' that is entirely open-ended. That's SL to me- an experience where I don't have to run around like a rat in a maze picking up rewards. There's heaps of things in SL for people who want to make their own goals, and there aren't many places which give us this chance. That's why SL is so different, and won't appeal to all. I'd visit WoW, and other games, if I could just run about, explore, take pretty pictures and make things, but I fear that instead there'd be pre-set tasks that might stifle the experience. I know others love this kind of gameplay, because they thrive on being handed opportunities, and having measurable goals. I fail at it though. If you like goals, and traditional gameplay that gets rewarded, try a few SL games perhaps. Like the Wilderness, board games, racing, zombie shooting, that gem collecting game (whose name excapes me atm, sorry), warbugs, I know there's heaps of ideas. Or just quit if you don't like it.

Complete tangent to topic......plz excuse Last week I had a call from someone who said they loved a necklace of mine, but wanted it resized to petite size. I explained that I don't yet cater to petites, and that my things could all be shrunk, but only so far. She persisted that she wanted this necklace but in petite size. I assumed that she owned it, as I sell sets, not just necklaces on their own. I asked her several times about the name of the thing she was wearing, but she couldn't say. I kept trying to help her, to explain how to make it smaller, as I sell modifiable things which are shrinkable, but she couldn't do it. After 20 minutes of stress, I finally found out that the necklace wasn't made by me, was somebody else's no-mod thing. GAAAAAAAHHHH. Czari Zenovka wrote: Melita Magic wrote: Even offering a sim or freebies one can run into this type of behavior. Enough is not enough for some who you will cross paths with in SL (or also RL.) We have to create strong boundaries, especially those of us who tend to be 'softies' or endlessly patient. It's too bad those types of customers can't get a sense of perspective. For most I recommend a note card of instructions for common issues, and refer them to google if they need a translation. <snip> ETA after reading OP's latest post: If you haven't yet (I do not look up profiles when people post here so I do not know), then, put a customer service panel in your picks or in the first page of your profile. State that you will attend to customer service issues as your personal time permits, and if they have not heard from you in (reasonable time - I would say 48 to 72 hours) to send you a new IM or new note card, in case it was capped. The above made me think of an "interesting" experience I had awhile back with someone. I give complete, clear instructions on how to use, resize, etc. my products on the included notecard. At the end of the instructions I add, "I will make "Housecalls" at no charge if more help is needed" and provide the best way to contact me. I also have (or had...now I can't recall) that same line in my MP listings. The main thing I wanted to emphasize is my customer service. So I get an IM from (I thought) a customer one day saying he can't get his drapes to hang straight and could I go to his house and fix them. I responded that I would be happy to, but would prefer to meet him at his house so I could show him how I aligned the drapes. He said he was rarely at the house but it was "open" so please feel free to go over anytime. Okkkaayyy...kind of odd and part of me wondered if I was walking into a booby trap...lol. I did go over and began looking for the drapes he purchased from me that he wished fixed. As it turned out, he had not purchased drapes from me or any other product (confirmed by checking my sales transactions) but had a set of drapes from another merchant that were indeed hanging at an angle. I sent an IM to the person telling him that the drapes were not mine and he needed to contact the merchant from whom he purchased them. His response was "Oh." /facepalms

I've been talking like a businessperson to you from the start, and never any malice intended; quite the opposite, but I fear you aren't listening. Now you are frustrating me, and I have to take my own advice and take a deep breath, haha. We all get horrible customers, just sometimes. I think they happen more and more, generally in sl, but it's also a rl thing. I run a rl business too, and notice that my customers aren't so nice anymore...they aren't the small town familiar polite people anymore, and that's hard. I find that at the quoting stage, people are arses, but once they've accepted it's not so bad and they turn human again It's happening in sl too, and to be honest it's way easier to deal with them here. Forums are handy. There's a few I pop into daily SL-wise for my news and to discuss issues. You might find them useful

Yes, 16 You are spot on re the translators. I use google translator when needed. It's not perfect but helps so much I find it best when sentences are short, and contain only one idea.

HisaDrug wrote: Not argument perhaps but its weird to me that you look at my personal profile n present it to public n say you wrote oh fuk this fuk that, thats gonna affect yer customers. "Yes, it will. I'm sorry to say that. Even though I'm trying to support you here, because you asked. Shoot the messenger." Sure I agree wit you if thats the case. But customers would contact the shop owners no matter not, cos of the products, not based on how the shop owner wrote his profile. Thats just a really ridiculous thing to say. My post is about HOW THEY DONT COOPERATE ME COS THEY HAVE NO PATIENCE TO LISTEN TO ME IN THE FIRST PLACE. Not me, not the owner, not the shop keeper who has no patience. This is like repeating myself over n over n this is so strange !!! lol "Customers reach you through your profile, and everything that is written in it. That is how SL manages it, and it's the first thing people see. I am not ever judging your life.We all deserve fun. We all have private lives. Yes, it's not right that you get judged on how you present yourself. This is why so many merchants have alts. Here's the secret..make an alt. Decide which acount to run your business on, and give that one the respectable profile, with lovely English and no feisty personal stuff. And yes some customers are **bleep**. We know that. We all swap hugs for that " Yer first few posts were very helpful I appreciated very much. I even copied n pasted em on my memo so I can look at it again, n then idk now I need to change my profile n how i think out loud or how to behave n how to speak properly like a public speaker just becos I have a shop? Im a friendly person no matter how strange my profile might look to some ppl, most of the time ppl dont even look at it. If they did they woulda stumbled upon my feed to look at the pictures. "I want to be helpful, because I can tell that you aren't a horrible person, and certainly not untalented, or anything like that. I think you are nice, and try to do the right thing by your customers. You care and want to learn." Now I understand this forum is just a personal exposure n set out for flaws becos ppl wanna look at the negative than positive. But I'll really end it up at this point n im sorry if i sounded harsh but take a look at all those ridiculous replies. on top of that now ppl sniff at my profile n say ok Im doing it wrong becos some shyt I wrote, n its gonna affect my personality. "Forums are just that..an open opportunity. I see that as a gift. They offer truth, and also silliness, and great support." Sorry I dont know how to do multiple quotes. I suck.

Sassy..you put that so well..it's what I've been learning gradually, but don't know how to say it Lots of my SL customers are in the US, but that's not my culture..not what I grew up with. Here in my RL, customers are a lot more passive, and don't complain. It was hard at first in SL, and a lot more challenging because that's how many US customers are. They confront. They force me to meet issues, and I've grown to really appreciate that. I don't appreciate rudeness, of course, but I do like a customer who states what they like, if it's honest feedback and not entitlement. It makes me get better.

Oh. Mah. Gawd. You did the "think" thing. You are sooooo going to the devil. Also, This is so cheesy now, but I still say "my bad".

Ceka Cianci wrote: by the time this thread is over..there won't be much left to say hehehe I'm too scared to write anything now. (does a little closed up mouth emoticon) grin