[My stuff is broken]

Scripts are messed up, I assume because of the sim restarts. MLP a mess in particular. Anyone else noticed it?

[RIP Commerce Forum]

It's been a long ride; I have learned a lot. But the forum seems finally to be on life support. I think just because they finally found a format that is even harder to decipher than the flog was. I mean, why is the thread title scrunched up like that? Why the starkness? Is all this on purpose? I don't know.

 

[It's called customer service]

The way I would handle the problem is to trade her the broken chair for a new one. A lot faster.

[Sales.. Dead.]

Another normal sales day. I don't think there was any trend for non- Adult sellers -- just a few days where ppl were not in the mood to shop. But Adult sellers, will be interested if your experience continues.

[What are your SLM sales like when compared to XSTREET?]

Well it's hard to know, isn't it, unless we get out the calculator (which I am sure many do) -- can't just glance at the displayed number and have some idea how you are doing.

My impression is that it is about the same.

[Sales.. Dead.]

Today was a normal business day, both inworld and on the MP, so hopefully there was just some mass resistance to being in SL lately, and now ppl will resume their usual shopping behaviors.

[Sales.. Dead.]

I don't have any M or A stuff on the MP and the last few days things have been pretty dead for me, too. Today is the deadest day I have seen in months. So it might be that everyone has spring fever and is out picnicking, who knows?

 

However would like to concur about the way the MP malfunctions when searching, both MP and inventory. YOu would think that online shopping software was some brand new invention they were pioneering.

[How To Get More Legit Ratings!!!]

Well thank you Dart. I have always envied all of y'all who have partners. It's more fun and you can do a lot more if you do not have to wear every single hat yourself.

[How To Get More Legit Ratings!!!]

For that first week every single person that buys that new product,  that starts out  buried on page 123,  gets a personal IM from us thanking them for the business, asking if everything is ok and if there is anything we can do for them.

 

Good practice there, Fori, and thanks. In the past I could not have considered adding something like this to my new product release routine, because I had no partner and no help, and that is a real limitation. However, I recently hired a PT (RL) asst., so something like this is now feasible. I like that you are writing specifcally to check that everything is okay, etc., and wait for your cue to ask for the review. I have never been comfortable with the idea of a mass mailing asking for reviews, and this avoids that awkwardness.

[Real Life Health = Second Life Health]

@ Ishtara: Well I am flabbergasted (and impressed)-- yes, whoever markets this thing will become a billionaire many times over. Why not you?

[Inworld Marketing and Advertising Best Practices]

I don't know why we should reinvent the wheel. There are a number of good threads on the wiki. I forget now who it was who had a lot of great advice on her blog, and someone else added it to the wiki (since we didn't have stickies) but now I can't find it. Anyway, there is a good and a better and a best way to do things, and sometimes I am not quite sure some ppl stop and think to distinguish between them. 

 

I know this is a new format but we are not new to the merchant group, so is starting from scratch with this thread the BEST way to accomplish the task?  Or has someone not really given it much thought?

[rWarder System, PAYIN for reviews?]

 

Here is an analogy, though a bad one: It's like having basketball rules like this:  Anyone in the audience can also run up and make a basket for his team, in addition to team members. Well that is a very bad rule and ruins the game. But if you want to win the game anyway, you can't do so if you discourage your fans from making baskets for you. 

I can't blame anyone at this point for using this product -- as the rules now stand, it is the only way to battle against those who are already using it. I won't do it for a variety of reasons including it would be a hassle. 

---

Porky Gorky wrote:

 

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Pamela Galli wrote:

I think you can still pay for Picks if you want, but since they don't count for search, there is no point.

I don't see any way for LL to monitor this system's use. The only way I see to neutralize it is for everyone to use it, so everyone has a billion stars and cancels one another out. 

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When people started paying for picks I was sick of watching my search rank get relegated on a daily basis, everyone above me in search was paying for picks. In the end I gave up and started paying for picks myself. I could comfortably out-pay the people above me in the rankings and very quickly rose to the top of search again. If LL refuse to police gaming then in my opinion I was left with no other option than to beat the gamers at their own game(ing). I was pleased when picks were removed as a search factor as it rendered paying for picks pointless.

The same applies with paying for ratings. I have already started tracking and AR'ing those people paying for ratings and will continue to do so. I'll give it a few weeks to see if LL takes action and if they don't then they leave me no other recourse than to start gaming ratings myself.

I am happy to play by the rules when the rules are enforced. I am also willing to fight dirty in order to compete and overshadow the gamers. If LL do not take action against those people I have AR'ed then I see no other choice but to out-game them again. LL's history of inaction against  gamers leaves us with 2 options. Either lower ourselves to the gamers level to restore an even playing field or to take the moral high ground and reject all forms of gaming to our own determinant. I've spent years living on the moral high ground in SL. It's not an advantageous place to be. It's allot less profitable and there is a distinct smell of crap in the air.

---

 

[rWarder System, PAYIN for reviews?]

Rank by sales is also gamed, though it has to be done on an almost daily basis, since sales data seems to be taken over a very short time period  -- and all it costs the merchant is the commission fee. 

YOu can see when these are gamed because instead of working their way up, they suddenly appear out of nowhere. And the same merchant(s).

[rWarder System, PAYIN for reviews?]

I would rather have the ratings than not, but I would not be crushed it they did away with them (but doubt they would).  However, the ONLY way to keep something from being gamed is to make it not count. So my preference would be keep reviews, but not count them in the search rank algorithm.

Banning this product  -- well, that will work only if LL is willing to play policeman, which they have not shown any inclination to do regarding much else yet. They are not doing a very good job with monitoring keyword abuse, and that is supposed to be verboten.

[rWarder System, PAYIN for reviews?]

I think you can still pay for Picks if you want, but since they don't count for search, there is no point.

I don't see any way for LL to monitor this system's use. The only way I see to neutralize it is for everyone to use it, so everyone has a billion stars and cancels one another out. 

And btw I would rather not see it named for two reasons: 1) I am sure I am not the only one who had never heard of it, so it is getting good advertising and 2) although the mods are apparently fine with some products/creators being named and shamed, they may delete other threads.

[Boosting Sales in Marketplace]

If LL gave us any tools with which we could evaluate results, I might be more inclined to keep enhancements. Like, at least before we could see if any of those clicks resulted in sales. 

I feel like I buy them just out of a superstitious fear of what might happen if I discontinued them -- so I started discontinuing them today. But then I have no way to tell if views are affected, do I? I can't compare. 

[What are the sig banner dimensions?]

Lost the thread where I saw it, once upon a time.

[Rehash - Notification of Reviews]

Ohhh cool!  Yes, there it is -- why it has no button like "Friend XXXX" I can't imagine.

[Rehash - Notification of Reviews]

Ai -- how did you ever find that link??? I looked and looked the other day how to send someone a PM but no luck.

We had that function here for a while but then they realized that it was some security threat, along with siggys (so that was disabled for anyone wanting to make one who had not already). 

 

[What store layouts have improved your sales?]

Thanks, this has me thinking. I already have room groupings in the model homes. So...should I redo the furniture section and get rid of all the room groupings and put all the sofas, etc. together? And save some prims??

I do have all the accessories grouped as well as in room settings, just not the furniture pieces.  Oooh this is going to be a hard decision.

 

Btw, I do have both types of customers. Most want to buy things and put them together themselves -- that is their creative occupation in SL.

Some want to buy a whole house full of furniture however I have it set up, which I do not have packaged (just kitchens, baths, some dining rooms). But I am slowly working on getting rooms packaged so they can buy those.

 

[Relevance and Most Populer ! Does anyone know how these work.]

Relm, if you search for red shoes you get everything red and every shoe.

Now, about a year ago Xstreet got itself fixed so that 2/3 of the search terms had to be present for an item to appear in the search results -- thus both red and shoe would have to appear in an items keywords.

But with the forced migration to MP, that crucial bit of progress (and so much more) went out the window.

[My Beefs With SLM...]

 

Yanni, I did not know there was anyone else but me who does what you describe -- I have an introductory sale announced to customer group, and never put anything else on sale for the very reason you say -- it is a slap in the face of your loyal customers who buy your stuff regularly (and yes it irritates me when it happens to me).  And I do agree that it is a good marketing strategy -- customers come to understand that the prices are stable and not hyped (like they are in RL). They don't feel like they are getting gyped if they buy full price, if the full price is a fair price.

I never participate in hunts or anything like that, either. My gifts go to my customer base; they are not advertised to anyone but my group. They are a reward for loyalty.

All these things are exactly the opposite of the usual advice ppl hear -- join hunts, have sales, lower your prices, get blogged, etc. 

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Yanni Hinterland wrote:

The freebie mentality is pervasive  and growing every day.  While I believe that some freebies are good for promotions I think the whole hunt, freebie, lucky chair, 60L bargains etc have gotten way over used as marketing tools.

I personally wont go down that road myself.  I will offer a preview sale to my loyal customers but will not have the pervasive sale everytime my revenue drops a bit .  I feel to put an older item on sale after my loyal customers have paid full price for it is just a slap in their face so I dont do that.  I get irritated when I pay full price for something only to see it on sale a few weeks later.  When that happens I just dont buy full price from that merchant anymore. I just wait for it to go on sale.

It is my opinion that when you offer discounts, sales etc too often the customer begins to expect it and will in fact just wait until the item they want is on sale or free which actually undermines the merchant in the long run.

hunts have never really been any benefit to my sales.  They mainly attract people who will rarely buy items.  I have tracked all those that have gotten gifts I have given in hunts, or free items and less than .01% have ever bought anything.

The only value I see in those is the potential that someone else might see them wearing it and ask where they got it, come to the shop and purchase something.  That of course is impossible to track. lol

Most customers have no clue as to the amount of work that goes into creating goods here and even some of those that do dont really care ......they just want it....for free or dirt cheap.  That leaves a small portion that do actually understand and care.  I have a hunch that most of those are either models who need top items or creators themselves.

Between the copybotters and freeloaders my guess is that the actual full price paying consumer base is a relatively small percentage of the overall SL users.

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[Welcome to the Merchants Forum!]

 

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Ai Velde wrote:

*wanders in bumping into things* Is this where the commerce folk are now posting? Pamela? Ami? Porky? Are you all here? Where are we all at now? This is it, right?

I FEEL SO DISPLACED. Looks very cool and shiny though. I'll get used to it, just... want to be sure this is the right spot. LOL

/me takes Ai gently by the hand and leads her toward the light ahead...

(Psst, roll call is being taken now in the Merchant Inner Sanctum!)

---

 

[My Beefs With SLM...]

Excellent post, Yanni -- and coming from a customer maybe the team will listen to how important it is to have a search mechanism that returns relevant results in exactly the way you describe. We were all excited a year ago when the Xstreet search was fixed like this -- but that was all swept way with the MP.

[How much time do you spend on your SL Business?]

Just want to say that my family all were extremely disapproving of me "becoming a computer game addict" -- but boy have they all changed their tunes now. All 100% on board.

The "business" part of the job is in a way kind of fun too, because it is like playing a game -- Lindens are the points earned. This is the first job I have ever had in which if you worked extra hard and did a really good job, ppl wanted to give you more money. I think I like it.