Mickey Vandeverre

"Their needs to be an SL CREATOR/MERCHANT Institute program from someone like NCI and fully supported by LL to educate a resident that wants to be a SL value contributing creator merchant." if part of that process involves analyzing whether or not a person has pride or if it involves analyzing whether or not a person adds "value".....and making a determination on that for review by others....supported by LL? No way. Wrong. And sad. Surprised in your comment to a person in another thread, concerning that topic. "Their" should be "There" - - I think that might be cause for dismissal from said group. eta to verify: "7. Spell-check your note cards. You may be a brilliant scripter but your note card probably makes you look like an idiot. If you can’t write in the language intended, hire someone or at least find someone who can check your spelling." evidently not necessarily dismissal. only an "idiot."

No Stinkin' Badge??? Cool Happy New Year, Luna

" I am nor every will be satisfied with "just OK"." Are you still talking about customer service here? or have you ventured into other aspects? Do you realize that some people visit the virtual world each day, in order to be "just OK" for an hour or two? Without pressure? from an employer? from a corporation? from a co-worker? Do you realize that their joy is in an aspect or concept that might be different from your own? I asked a while back who decides what is "stupid?" Who decides what is "OK? a Bureau?

On the idea of a "Pledge" which has been tossed about..... will this include a Pledge for quality assurance? will someone be monitoring that? will it be a merchant?

To "differentiate" and perhaps protect the community from inferior products (I believe that you gave mine as an example)... and inform the community of superior quality products.... what type of marketing will your group have in place? Is that already in place? You mentioned a web site.

If you're not super clear on what I'm talking about on pricing...here's an example: For the cost of a few of your pillows, I can deliver a customer an entire room setting. How will that be addressed? You've covered unboxing, permissions, store set-up, packaging, a few other things, and I do not see a mention on pricing.

" I do care about your business as I do everyone's business" ================================================ Yes, that's clear. Again.... Where does your plan stand on pricing? In your attempt to protect the community, how shall you and your "founders" evaluate pricing? Can you expand on this.... "differentiate merchants" What is your plan to help the community with that aspect? What variables will be included?

Alrighty then, let's recap. A proposed Bureau would like to promote to the general second life public, as well as the entire world population (via web site).... that their members give "better" customer service. It will spearheaded by "founders" made up of other merchants. A big honking banner or ad would be a nice perk on marketplace or front entry. Suggestions for aspects to be monitored by said group included permission settings, packaging, store display, and more. Said group will be evaluating the quality of your products and making judgment on whether it is worthy or not. ================================== Where do we stand on pricing? Where do we stand on sales volume? Where do we stand on customer opinions? You remember......The Customer.

"I've not answered your questions because I find nearly all of your debate is targeted on me and not the idea. After seeing what you create/sell I can see why. " Interesting. I think that perhaps you just made one of my points very clear. Thank you. You know, for a brief moment yesterday, I was considering apologizing for using such a strong phrase as "No way in hell".....it was gut reaction, probably should have toned it down a bit. But No way in Hell will I watch without an opinion or with a passive opinion when I see that. That's why I'm in your thread. For the duration. Will you be inspecting the other merchant's stuff before handing out that seal of approval?

"The tie-in, is in that Market Place host Merchants. A single icon or logo can communicate meaning. The reading requirements are minimal." How convenient. No wonder Chelsea did not answer that question Suspected that. I bet it would be a really huge honking badge too, wouldn't it? And I bet some kind of deal would be cut with LL to add search significance to that badge, too, right? "Good law is good order." sweet.

Gothgirl - are you on Twitter? Weird comments you got here. People on twitter take it seriously - several from SL monitor it all day. You need links, or already there?

If you've got time to read a dang "Pledge" and be comforted (false sense of security type comfort), then you have time to read a profile before purchasing. If they have that in their profile, and it's something that sets you off, then use your own judgment, make your own decisions, without hive control. I'm not sure what you mean by second paragraph. Why would I join a team whose concept I abhor? (maybe that's a Funny!) I joined a team a while back, maybe it was a long while back, time flies, but they made something similar to a pledge in the beginning and it sounded fairly reasonable, fairly similar to my own concepts. It was a merchant style team, not set up to regulate or promise or monitor or promote to customers. Notecards started flyin' back and forth not long into the process, some roosters and hens claimed territory, (may have been all hens)....and the feathers started flying. That's been stated here in this thread by many others, concerning these type groups. That system is not going to be fair and balanced. That's fine if it's between merchants and they want to devote time and energy to scrap on power trips with each other..... (merchants are their own worst enemies, btw) .....but it's not fine to drag customers into that. And it's not fine to promote it as a "better" option over businesses who choose not to be part of the scrapping. That scrapping time could be spent on customer service! (I checked to see if there were any customer service requests before taking time to write this, btw.) I am still super curious as to how the marketplace stuff ties into this. Do you know?

Enlightening Thread! (on many levels) Thanks to all.

What do those statistics have to do with your topic? How does that tie in?

You got your info into the sig! Here's what you need to make it link, this was handy info from Darrius, who hangs out here now and then - start the typing with <a href= then plug your page address right after the = then add >Club Name or whatever title you want to appear then end it with </a> and that will make a nice little link like I've got in my sig hopefully I did that right

Let me ask you this - If you have a failed product, and you're not sure how to use it or set it up....would you rather deal directly with the merchant , or would you rather submit a report to a hive of their best friends? Not to mention, people who think they are exceptional and above the rest?

What I have written is a personal opinion, and some examples from past. No, It really doesn't mean Jack. You process people's opinions, as food for thought, then you make your own decisions. I've aready got a pledge on my marketplace pages. I do not need a group of individuals to monitor that. Heaven forbid, golly gee, good grief. Posting that does not mean a thing unless you attach action and reputation to it. A badge does not supply that. A back-up hive does not supply that. But to a customer, it sure does imply that it does. And it also implies that those who do not have it offer less. I'm not sure what the marketplace has to do with this topic.

Which group is pretending that everything is fine in the marketplace? Where the heck have you been hanging out? I want to go there.

Writing it and slapping a badge on your front entry doesn't mean Jack. And if you believe that, you're going to get bamboozled. I have no way of knowing if it is "most" or "some" and not sure what that has to do with anything. A group will not have any effect on that number. You don't sell, so I'm not talking about your house. And if you buy....I would be more concerned for you as a buyer if there is a group slapping a badge on their doors, and handing you some bogus guarantee. It's simply a Power Play for additional Promotion, at the expense of other merchants, as well as buyers. I'm all for Promotion, but not that kind.

I don't ever want to see a Power-Seller type tag here. One of the draws, from day one, is that this place is about as level a playing field as you are ever going to come across - in physical world - or on the Internet. That's a great way to make people feel good after being beaten up all day in the physical world. It's a great draw. When you log into marketplace, there are no tags to identify which store is selling more. Yes, your search placement will indicate that, but everyone has a shot, a chance at that. If they study a bit. That's exciting! No, they could not pull that off at all right now, as they are definitely not a power service provider. People selling just a few things, or people coming in to sell out of affiliate vendors in a little shop spend a ton of time here - I know, when I log in, they are lit up on my friends list every time - ton of time here. And they buy a ton of stuff in the store. And they are having Fun. If I want to come in for a week and be aggressive on marketing and play shark, (Tari's term) - I will. If I don't feel it that week - I won't, and no one will know. At the moment, no entity or club or bureau is monitoring that. I hope that it stays that way, or it takes the joy away for a few. And it might be more than a few.

Purging the inactive - not so sure about that. People drop in when they feel like it. "Valid merchants" - tricky stuff there. Freebies kept to a minimum implies the entity controlling your business practices. Hope they don't put someone like Ralph in charge of that. As much as their glitches and faux pas wear me out on a once a week basis, they've got one heck of a draw and one heck of a cool niche in that we don't have to meet any quotas or time-stamps or be under constant pressure. Read Tari's comments above - that's what it means to a lot of people - that's their joy. Mine too. eta: The other day I saw someone very devoted to SL tell a merchant that if the only reason they came to SL was to run a business and make a profit, then basically they are not welcome and shouldn't be here. No one is going to change that concept for a lot of people. That's your base. That's a pretty common philosophy.

Restrictions - Model - Monitoring - Guidelines - Bureau Merchant - Non-Merchant Even in a fully blown, professionally run system like ebay and etsy....I don't recall every seeing a merchant versus non-merchant separation. Granted, ebay has the Power Seller - suppose that could be considered a separation maybe. Pretty sure a ton of ladies on etsy would be quite ticked off if that system ever classified them as "non-merchants" holy cow. And this is ExploreWorld - Fantasyland - AdventureWorld - whatever you want to name it. You get to be whatever you want to be, whenever you want, pretty much your own design, your own call. That would not set well.

Yes, definitely Mick is ok. (much more pleasant than the other names) Having Fun = Cool - not so sure many clubs make a profit. I've never managed a club, but used to go to a lot. The ones that were fun for me were the ones that had a neighborhood feel, kinda like that Cheers bar on TV. They knew your name when you walked in, and a drink ready for you. (even in virtual) They were also very friendly to anyone new that arrived. They were not Cliqueish. And they made newcomers feel very welcome. There was always some kind of event going on, it seemed. I'm not sure how to get traffic anymore, kinda out of the loop on how people are doing that now. And I guess that depends on when you will operating the club? What time of day do you want the traffic, because I don't think that anyone gets it all day long anymore!

Hi Pammymy - you might not have any suggestions yet, because maybe people don't know anymore. By successful, do you mean making a profit, having fun, huge traffic, or all combined? Slap a honking ad banner in your forum profile and that will help a bit

Dartagan Shepherd wrote: There may be less of a need for establishing a level of trust for merchants, depending on what LL's idea of "things for merchants and landowners be more profitable" as Rod announced in that last blog post. Supposedly coming in 2012. Hopefully those are solid tools and establishing what separates a merchant from a non merchant rather than another way to nickle and dime more money from merchants, thus decreasing profits. Would like to see some detail on that soon, entirely vague and "hurry up and wait", but if sooner, I would hold out to see how that pans out. What do mean separating a merchant from a non merchant? Sounds dangerous.