Mickey Vandeverre

The nail and hammer example is perfect. That's what I'm saying on the 25L item. Charging over 50L for that is not in range for the product. What Ralph needs to do is to.... rather than get frustrated with trying to sell one 500L golf club in a sea of several hundred 20L golf clubs with duped reviews..... package an assortment of golf clubs together, and let that price for a larger assortment drive it up toward page one over the 20L items. (yes, based on price - but not in the way he is always complaining about

Josh Susanto wrote: 30 or more reviews, especially if they are overwhelmingly positive, are almost certainly not due to longevity. If reviews are key to getting things on the front page, you can just do it the way those other people probably did; send a message to memebers of some kind of group telling them what to say and letting them know for how long the thing will be offered for free (or you can just pay them to buy the thing and review it). If ralph wants those products off the screen, though, maybe he should just contact all those reviewers and pay them to remove their reviews, or he can similarly abuse his own social network for spurious reviews as you might as well. Meanwhile. it's VERY clear that if ralph understands the difference between quality and price, he's working very hard to convince us otherwise. Maybe I can explain it this way... If a hardware store sells both nails and hammers, each hammer will cost more than any one nail, regardless of the quality of the items. If the store has 100 kinds of hammers and 100 kinds of nails, the best nail will still cost less than the worst hammer. Some SLM merchants sell the equivalent of a hammer. Some sell the equivalent of a nail. ralph is trying to define what may be some of the world's best nails as "lousy hammers". well heck yeah, they're all positive, and all the same names, and if you check profiles, most look similar....and they dominate the first 14 pages! holy cow, Ralph opened a can of worms on that one. I adjusted one of my listings and hit page 6 right away, but I would not normally use that keyword - it's a bit of a stretch. But by god if the person selling the same dang things is using it on the first 14 pages.....I'm bustin' it out. If someone wants to flag, fine, but they better get their fingers hoppin' on 50 other listings with interesting reviews. (when I drop g's in my words...I ain't too happy) That blows Ralph's theory off on that particular keyword phrase. I'm going to go further. He's talking about Price being a problem. That item that just now hit page 6 with a tweak sells at 25L and that's a competitive price for that item. That item should not sell for 100L. The item he identified on page 14 is a grouping of items that sells for 145L. on the 25L item....I sold 438 - no reviews. That's not totally out of the ordinary. And it hit page 6 (and keep in mind that something else is going on with those pages! - see above) on the 145L item....I sold only 142. that's the one on page 14, which is not that far away from page 6, considering the above problem....which indicates that a larger price will get more traction than amount of sales. (but I already knew that when they don't have the algorithms all screwed up, which I have a thread here somewhere, the week they were messed up) That's not really jiving with Ralph's problem on pricing. And the above problem on reviews....if corrected....would change up the whole game entirely. By "longevity" Josh....I mean that they've been on the market long enough to garner quite a few sales. Really mean sales amounts - but if you consider the item that I've got that made it to page 6 right now, with 438 sales - I can't really run an effective experiment on a new product and get close to that number of sales within a week. Looks to me like Ralph has another issue to deal with. (and I've had that issue all along - we all have - and we have threads on it here)

ummm...hey Josh...I was lining up the experiment, and was planning on using the keywords that he removed. so was doing some research on that first page. I can't really achieve first page next to a product that has 30 or 80 reviews - that's due to longevity. Probably can't do that in a week, unless they are scoring for price, in which I would need to use the box of (that particular item) on page 10, which already has a wee bit of longevity (that phrase is an oxymoron I think)...then just pump up sales on that one. but can perhaps compete with the items that have 2 or 3 or 5 reviews, and those are the ones that Ralph said had "saturated" the first pages of that keyword phrase, and well..... wee bit of research there on the reviews, and Ralph's issue ain't "price" on those pages, if you get my drift.

well geez...that was just kinda rude. took half the conversation with it, but totally used to that here. Lemme think on this for a few hours.

holy cow - the post I was going to use keywords from was removed. wazzup with that?

Yep, that's the post I wanted - great keywords there. Since I have to make and package new product - need a bit longer than end of week - kinda slow on that. And would like to do several - at all different prices. Might need weekend to pull that off, but will let you know when packaged and in magic box on market. Also - throw in a google challenge, so I can see if I can make it to page one on google search too.

That would be a ton of fun! Which post of text should I use for the keywords? just give me a specific post # from this thread. I'll find a pretty pot that I can describe with the text.

he's not gonna take you up on that. I might, and get a potted plant to page one by end of week eta: ooops...nope. not gonna attempt that, as my own store page one is saturated with potted plants as it is already. Time would be better spent on another type product that is not on page one at the moment to show a broader range of items, as it seems that they tend to shop from your own page one (of course we do not have sufficient tools to confirm that) now...if we had categories within our own store, off to the left....perhaps labeled Plants, Flowers, Patio Pots....etc.....then it would be fine to work that angle, as they could continue to shop from your store by choosing that category. But as it is....I think they generally shop from first few pages. Now....how those potted plants got to page one of my own store....really did not have much to do with a "potted plant" search evidently, or competing with 9L products or free products. The 35L plant sells a zillion times more than the 5L plant, and has all year long.

I think that Ralph is just after our marketing secrets Be sure to leave the most important parts out, so that he gets thrown off track when experimenting. Just tid-bits.....toss him a bone or two....

well, like I said....what the hell! Suppose it adds some pleasure while watching us analyze and guess.

lol, Josh. Not sure if it's conspiracy. Often the way of the world. Was in a few of those circles at one time or another myself. Just did not announce it in public.

Sassy Romano wrote: Josh Susanto wrote: Seriously, I'd love to see the rest of you meet with Brooke and/or her team in my total absence Some of us do Josh. ahhh yes...well that would explain the smug and disrespectful part when we continually ask questions about issues. Not sure if it's wise to announce that and break some code of silence and taunt with it, though. Might be cutting off hand that feeds you behind everyone else's backs. hmmmm.... But what the hell....when you've got that extra assistance and coddling....wisdom not necessary!

You are pizzing into the wind unless you give some examples.

to be honest....no, it really doesn't make a ton of sense. Keep trying to remember a venue I've been involved in concerning retailing or wholesale or marketing where a group of people get together and insist that there must be certain price points...but just can't come up with an instance. So find it really odd. I suspect that Ralph does it for entertainment. Not sure what you mean by people "acting in their own interest." Would think that people act based on what brings them fun or joy or money. Different needs for different people. Different price points bring different experiences for buyer or seller. Again....if you're doing great, then it shouldn't be too much of a concern for you.

ok, cool...glad to hear that you got back on track. I really didn't see much of a future for busting it out further, so at that time reduced significantly, and now in hobbyist mode, I think they call it. about 30 minutes a day. Guess I got confused at what you were saying here: "Well, I'll agree with Ralph, but not fully. If many insecure merchants panic everytime they have a bad week, it is not good for the economy as a whole. From an individual stand point tho, ultimately, merchants will only make themselves less and less relevant over time. Of course, you can't really paint with such a broad brush, but in general term, this is true. Even if they make the best products on the market. Why? Because, the lower they charge, the more they flood the market with their products. So, they make no real money, and the market is saturated with their products. Eventually, they will dry their own business up, and have to rely on an influx of new customers just to pay rent,unless they keep pumping out new stuff on a regular basis. It's just not a sound business plan. When your customers walk around and see every1 else with the same thing, you can bet they will likely seek out another creator who does not sell so cheap to ensure they don't walk into a party wearing the same dress than half the girls there, lol. Personally, in 5 years, I've only lowered the price on about 4 products since i started, and most of that happened the 1st year. I would much rather add more to the product, than lower the price, mostly to respect my past customers who paid that price for the product. Oh, and, of course, I send all the past customers an update." If you've not experimented with different price points....not really sure how you can make some of those statements. On the products that I have go out every single day....I have no problem with all their friends seeing it and wanting it as well, so not sure why one would knock that type of plan. Lots of times when this discussion occurs....many assume that those testing different price points are taking other merchandise and marking it down, and I think that's a wrong assumption. Some run promo prices on new products, and market it specifically at the promo price for the duration....and gotta say, that's a ton of fun! Also, you called Chelsea's statement on BS....and I thought she was spot on concerning a few things. I guess we will never know the picture as this forum has become like a club for a few folks, and we never really get the entire picture. I would love to hear from others. But I suspect that the new arrivals now have different spending habits and different lifestyles than perhaps two years ago. Not convinced that they are settling in and establishing as many residences as they used to....but perhaps just exploring and socializing without all the trappings. And perhaps the homes are becoming smaller. Sounds like they had an increase in the offers for the Linden Homes. I remember the old days when people used to bust out for mansions all day long. In fact, had a really good business selling those. Not the case any more, though. Certainly not for that price I used to get! But we'll never really know for sure...not enough people participating in this forum to get a decent picture. That's one of the reasons I went on to other things. Not a ton of fun if you are isolated in your workshop without input from peers, and all the collaborating. Most true business people I know left, and it got really lonely on that part. So anyway...was having hard time figuring out what your dilemma is, since you say you are a top earner. What's your dilemma? Why would it concern you what the others are selling their products for?

not really sure which comments you are responding to...you keep responding to yourself. you must have heard that all my posts get deleted. if it was to me...no, did not say that you were ignorant. You were relating price point choices to an aspect that I rarely consider. maybe others do. that's great that you got your business back in line. Last time I chatted with you....you were getting ready to pull and fold?

Price point is about marketing, Medhue. You might be surprised running the numbers. Unless you've experimented with many price points you're hardly in a position to judge what the numbers end up being. Actually suspect that's what is happening with new log-ins. Running the numbers. That works.

Interesting you should mention that, Josh....because I was really curious about this, and in fact become more curious every time Ralph runs his theory, and everyone else chimes in with their own theories.... so made some new avs and spent some time being a Noob. Hung out at the hubs for a while. I want to talk to Ralph about this....but he seems to be fixated on one particular aspect and you never can get him to veer off toward another angle.... you know what I mean?

yo Ralph....just read the Mr. Rodvik's report, and he says that August was the highest growth month for new users in 4 years (or something like that). so evidently things are AOK. describe your target market a bit, and maybe we can help you get back on track. you're not catering to all the oldbies stuck in a time warp that write blog rants 5 times a week....are you? surely you have some items to spare at 5L to 25L that would appeal to all the new users? sounds like there is a bunch! can we get you back on track with that?

**Privacy - like eating and breathing - is one of life's basic requirements. ~ Katherine Neville All violations of essential privacy are brutalizing. Katharine Fullerton Gerould** wow, so you HAVE been following. Good for you! for a minute there, thought you had head stuck in sand again.

you should really get out of your workshop more often, Ralph. looks like some other issues are going to be kick in gut for next few months, totally unrelated to pricing. I kinda feel sorry for LL this month. spin-hype not really covering up the voices.

This has always been an issue for some. There is a rather lengthy thread here, where it was discussed why some people ask for notecards to assure contact. s'poze it only matters if the forum moderators have an issue with it. or perhaps someone has fallen out of graces with the "system."

Things look like a mess to me, Lasher. Just hangin' out for a few months to see if the tide changes. Doubt you're going to get significant change with the current ceo concerning marketplace. No indication of interest there.

Not sure what the case is here.... but many have been waiting (what seems like an SL lifetime - much longer than 90 days, which is by most standards an SL lifetime)..... for store categories and the ability to offer several lines of product within one store. and it ain't happenin'. so you may see people open new shops with inventory all ready to go. and they won't be names you recognize probably. they will have to use a new avatar, as the current system is not able to handle another store for the same person. so just be aware that in some cases, a brand new avatar with a full line of inventory is not necessarily some kind of scam. because of that....do not support your idea on age or hindering alts.

Hi Jo - that happened to some avatars that I had not logged in for a long time. Use this thread for some fixes: http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Avatar/I-am-a-cloud/qaq-p/1047543 what worked for me was to go to Advanced Menu - choose Character Tests - then choose Test Male or Female - and you will end up with a default looking character - then put back on your skin and stuff. if I remember correctly, the inventories did eventually load without having to do anything special. they've got some kind of glitch going on there - several have mentioned it with avatars that have not been used in a long time. I'm not sure if there is a Jira for it or not, but technically challenged and can't write one.