Czari Zenovka

Let us know when you do that. I'll be first in line to post it in my store. And then in my new location since I have to move soon...thus, as you did recently, recognizing the genious of your idea.

Rival Destiny wrote: I did this myself until I had to move my store from one quadrant of my sim to another. Having the MP as well as my profile, I no longer feel the need to rely on this method. I note my store location in my profile as well as referring customers to MP to get my store location. Landmarks are one of the first things I delete in my inventory together with unnecessary notecards as these accumulate so quickly. If I want to visit a creator's store, I always go to their profile. (Emphasis mine.) I like to keep a small, neat, organized inventory, thus I quickly delete duplicates and extraneous items and, as you said, lm's and notecards are two of the worst inventory clutterers. I, too, always go a business owner's profile to tp there; for clubs I bring them up in search and tp that way. I also have the lm to my store in the majority of my profile picks, especially the ones referencing my business. You know what drives me nuts? If I am talking to someone, let's say for example I meet someone out dancing, and during the conversation they say, "Hey, I'd like to come to your store, can you give a lm to me?" This happens to me regularly. I used to say that it was in my profile picks for my store listing, but several people still insisted on a lm. I have no idea of the psychology of this...but now...I just hand them a lm. I do think when I delete all the current lm's from my products (I have them embedded in the notecard instructions), I am going to go sans lms and just list my MP location, which has "see item in world" in the listing. Or I may even say something like, "My in world shop location can be found on my profile pick #x." I definitely like Toy's idea and do think it would make life way easier for business owners, which wasn't the point of my response - I'm just dumbfounded why people ask for lms after I tell them my store location is in my profile. Something did just occur to me - the lms I did keep were to places that maybe I discovered on a hunt and wanted to remember it in case I wanted to return. Since I would see maybe 100 stores on a typical hunt, I couldn't remember their names so I would take a lm and put them on notecards with each notecard being the category of the shops. This kept the lm inventory clutter to a minimum. I recently purchased "Travel Agent" sold by Zanara Zenovka and LOVE IT. It is a much cleaner way to organize the lms I do want to keep as well as providing a snazzy way to easily tp to the locations using the HUD. Maybe that's why some people request lms.

Toysoldier Thor wrote: I moreso need fellow merchants - whom this would benefit greatly - to help make sure that LL is fully aware of the value of Virtual LMs for oru community as well as so many others to expand / improve the SL experience. An idea in this regard - There is currently a jira to bring back last names. Some person made a sign that people can rez in their stores, clubs, etc. that when touched will give a notecard describing the issue and pointing the person to the jira. One sign is very catchy, it shows 3 SL avatars, a tiger, a human, and a child, iirc with the words "Please Sir, may I have a last name" a la "Oliver Twist." I have one in my store. If you created something to this effect, I would be most happy to display it in my store. Another idea is to add it to our profiles. As fate would have it, this morning I received notice that my shop landlord is selling the sim. So, I'll be going through all my products and replacing lms soon. And I have a relatively small number of items. It's still a major PITA!

Sassy Romano wrote: Nor can a merchant on Ebay give anything other than positive feedback now. It's either nothing or positive. That's not right either is it? Whoa!!! I haven't purchased anything on eBay for years but back in the day I looked at the merchant's rating as a general guide. That is...unbelievable it can now only be positive. (Hit the enter button too quickly...) Sassy posted: I've been merchant and buyer on both Ebay and SL and you get people who are dishonest on both sides so while it's irritating when there's a clear situation in our minds, it could be argued that LL stay out of it is the right thing. I experienced the reverse in another *coughs* virtual world and will say I prefer LL stay out of pure resident-resident disputes; not talking about things that break the TOS. In that "other world" it is pretty much run by one person. (It has since been incorporated with 3 people listed as the corporation, but from what I understand, the founder's word is still "law.") In my case, one of the residents who owned (at the time) 4 sims there loved to continuously bash SL in their forums. As one who enjoys SL but, at the time, was considering opening my shop there as well, his constant bashing was annoying, and it wasn't just a casual "SL sucks" it was long, involved posts on the subject. I posted one time that if people were considering trying out this vw, his posts could paint the world in a bad light if one thought he was representative of the residents. I tried pointing out that many people enjoy both worlds. His response was - If you love SL so much, then leave here. Okkkaaaayyyyy. I sent an IM to him inworld and said, You know what...I think I'll take your advice. Next thing I know, I get an IM from the world's owner chastising me for "harassing" him and it was something she absolutely would not stand for. She continued by saying that many of the people in (that world) had been burned in SL so it was natural for them to feel that way. (Ok, feeling that way and posting lengthy "I hate SL diatribes" on the forums are two different things.) I got the impression that her IM was a veiled "warning." That did it. Not only did I not set up my business there, but did not remain a resident myself, and told several friends about the incident. I only step foot in that world now on request of a good friend. So, yes, LL staying out of petty resident disputes is a good thing. (Not saying this is what your situation is.)

Dilbert Dilweg wrote: In RL you have to prove the preponderance of the evidence in court. Same in SL And as a general note. It is NOT okay to rip anyone off in SL. I love the phrase "preponderance of evidence." No clue why - English LIt. undergrad., somewhat of a "wordsmith," and probably too much time watching Court TV. *Grins* And what Dilbert said - it is not ok to scam someone in SL. Whether they are brought to justice (court talk again) or not, it's still morally wrong.

HI iCade. Years ago on the old forums a woman began a thread in the Resident Answers section asking for "Advice on Sales." Thus began a thread that ran for approximately two years and ended only when LL closed down those forums to usher in this new format. I was just starting out with a SL business at the time and read/posted on that thread regularly. Many people who had fledgling businesses back then and now have thriving businesses posted there, as well as others who had been successful and helped those of us beginning. The thread can be found archived here: http://forums-archive.secondlife.com/327/ac/274749/1.html The reason I mention this is that through that thread I met a woman named Jojogirl Bailey who, at that time, had owned a SL business for 4+ years and was pulling in approximately $500 USD/mo, after all in world expenses including shoes. (She always made note of that...lol.) Her genius was in marketing. Based on the questions she received from posters in the thread, Jojo began holding informal discussions/classes on SL marketing, based on what she had learned by trial and error over the years. When I follow her tips, I always make sales. On the subject of location she said that it made absolutely no difference where the store was located. If one didn't market/promote the store it didn't matter how fabulous the merchandise was - it had to be found. As far as I know she did not list on any online markets such as OnRez or the original Xstreet; her info/success was based on in world sales. (Things have changed over the years with LL pushing the Marketplace so heavily, but her marketing tips are still relevant.) I went to her marketing discussions each time she offered them. Inevitably many people would comment that they felt being located in a good "traffic" area was the most important thing to selling in world. Jojo always responded that if one gets a random "walk in" then consider that a gift but depending on "traffic" alone for sales didn't work. Jojo's store was located on mainland, in the sky. Arranging inventory in a clever manner and using snazzy business "tools" was not her forte - she was successful because of her skill in marketing. She also spent a great deal of time in her store, greeting people when they arrived, offering to help, thus many customers became her friends - and not just "friends" as in being on her "friends" list. When I would hang out with her she was invariably in her store so I went there and chatted with her while observing customers arriving regularly and being warmly greeted by Jojo. Over the years I've had my store in several mall-type locations, some on mainland, others on estate sims. My current free standing store is located on an estate sim that is a combination of residential/retail with no theme. I just received notice from my long time store landlord that she will be selling her sim in the next 2-3 weeks so I will be moving my store to the mainland parcel I rent as my home and workshop. I have lived on this sim most of my 5+ years in SL and on this particular parcel, which I adore (it is a corner parcel bordered on two sides by Linden oceans), for a great part of that time. I enjoy going to stores that are located in the sky as Jojo's was; many businesses that I visit currently, even very large well-known ones, are as well. For me, I think lag is less higher up, and why I have always lived and had my workshop as high up as possible. On mainland, it is a way to distance the store from possible neighboring builds that are eyesores; however even in that situation I have seen mainland ground level stores that are surrounded by very clever landscaping that one would have no idea what is just beyond the borders. I am interested in how stores are set up and always cam around to see what is beyond the store parcel and am sometimes amazed at how well a store owner has created a sense of "separateness" and serenity on their parcel. I've also seen some lovely store builds in the sky, including entire towns, that if you didn't know otherwise by looking at the altitude on the viewer, you would swear was located on an estate. The short answer to your question, from my experience and that of my mentor in marketing - it absolutely makes no difference where your store is located; making sure people can find it by marketing does! If you skim through the URL of the "Advice on Sales" thread you will eventually come to Jojo's posts where she starts sharing her marketing tips. She also gave permission to those of us who attended her classes to share the notes with anyone so if you, or anyone, would like those, please send an IM to me in world and I would be happy to share.

Rufferta wrote: Is your space set up so that your customer can move around and maintain a calm sense of body ownership? Some examples: store fixtures oversized so that customers feel like Alice in Wonderland unless that was your intention); merchandise packed together so tightly that an avatar can't 'walk around' (One store was not only cluttered, but had merchandise stacked in front of the doors. While I was outside using my camera to see things, a number of customers dropped in and hovered just below the ceiling - guess they'd been there beore). Another store had gaping holes in the floor and falling beams - help! (Emphasis mine) I've been going around to more stores lately to see how other merchants set up particular types of merchandise, price ranges for merchants who sell products comparable to mine, etc. I was in one very nice store today - excellent products, very well laid out store but... The store was 500m in the air, which wasn't the issue. Personally I like homes/stores up high - I find less lag than at ground level. Of course that's dependent on sim, personal PC specs, etc. Anyway...this store had an interesting hot tub. I'm not particularly a SL hot tub fan - I think I saw way too many poorly made free ones when I first began SL...lol...so if one "beckons" to me, it has to be something special. I make myself comfy in the hot tub (pillows were provided as well as a "TV" to watch). Was thinking how clever the build was, then stood up to leave and promptly fell through the tub and through the floor of the shop!!! To do that, both the hot tub bottom and floor would have to be phantom I would think. Fortunately I quickly went into fly mode, flew back up, cammed into a chair in the store and sat to return and continue looking. Beware of beckoning hot tubs. *Nods*

MoiselleErin Teardrop wrote: seasonal stuff offered year round? Doesn't bother me. I know some people in SL might live their SL life as if it were summer or winter year round. Seems a good idea to offer items for those customers. I tend to live in SL as if it were spring/summer all the time. That's an interesting perspective...but makes total sense to me since I keep one world setting on constantly so my avatar lives in perpetual day. In RL I actually prefer the night but the SL settings I use were the ones suggested by the designer of my skin so of course I want to look my best at all times. Of course now with so many generations of SL viewers, not to mention all the TPV - I may look like a walking lump of clay for all I know. Kind of how people wearing mesh currently look to me. Ah well...

Deja Letov wrote: I would definitely leave them posted up. One of my items, a ice skating rink i actually sell year round. If I took it down cause I thought it would annoy people, i'd be out many thousands of lindens. Besides it is just Marketplace and that's a catalog, so why not just leave it there Working on taking the seasonal items out of storage - spent today on Christmas welcome mats. Wow!!! I didn't realize that I'd made so many changes in my product presentation during the last 8 months. Relisting included: *Making new ad photos since I now use a template *Changing permissions since I switched from Mod/Trans to Mod/Copy *Tweaking the item descriptions Then I went in world and: *Updated the packaging *Tweaked the mats themselves cosmetic-wise since my building skills have improved *Replaced the script with an updated, much better version *Updated the information/instructions notecard Finally loaded them into my Magic Box (hanging onto it until they pry it from my clenched hands...lol), went through the synching process and...woot!!! one batch of seasonal products uploaded. Based on iCade's mention of liking winter, plus half of the world is currently experiencing winter, I took one of the mats out of the holiday category and put it in the appropriate home & gardens sub-division, as well as putting it in my in world shoppe. I think I'll sleep well tonight. The experience was a bit of a stroll down memory lane, remembering when I first learned to build this, or do that with a script, etc. Up next - Christmas trees and wreaths. Maybe I should have a "Christmas in August" sale. Hmmmm....

Dillon Levenque wrote: I didn't go back and read the Community Standards just now so maybe political messages are okay here, but I really hope they don't become a trend. Isn't what we have to put up with on the television and in/on other media enough? I really hope the GD forum does not become a place for RL politics. This ^^ I hear all I need to about the elections in RL. I'd rather not come to my SL and get high blood pressure here as well.

Darren Scorpio wrote: In my experience after 100 you start getting problems. However magic boxes will stop working in October and will be permanently replaced by Direct Delivery. Unless this lil problem doesn't get worked out by then: Limited Quantity Support (Merchant does not have rights to copy the items for sale): This is currently being worked on. Magic Box migration will not be required until this is supported. (Note that Merchants can sell items that have next owner rights set to “No Copy”.) From the July 31, 2012 update by Commerce Team Linden http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Merchants/Marketplace-and-Direct-Delivery-Update/td-p/1462915

I recall seeing a location somewhere within the SL Marketplace help pages that listed all the tags that CTL had thus far compiled. I've looked all over and now can't find it. Does anyone have this page bookmarked by any chance? Thanks. :)

I've been working on editing some items in my MP store for the last two hours and have not had any problems.

Happy Toshi wrote: Cant beleive they are forcing us to get rid of the boxes I rather just use my box and them leave it alone... Annoying as hell You and me both...needing a new PC aside. You and I are a minority though, I think.

I tried all the above instructions from both posts and, although I can get the door to open to the left, it does not close all the way. (I am also using several animations within the closet.) I am starting to understand the various configurations from playing around with it and will work more with it when I have more time. At present it is something I am building for a hunt that starts soon, so will leave it opening to the right. Thank you, Rolig and Ceera, for your help. I really appreciate it.

Ceera Murakami wrote: To make it hinge on the opposite side, you would need to rotate the prim for the door 180 degrees on the vertical axis and move it to the other edge of the door frame. It's almost certainly a path cut prim, where the center of the prim is actually at the visible hinge 'edge', and the other half is cut away. This also means the door might need to be retextured, if it is different on front and back, since what was facing out wil now be facing in. In addition, you'd need to make that change in the script from positive to negative for the swing angle, so it opens outward in the new position. === You could instead rotate the door prim 180 degrees on the axis that goes front to back through the door, and move it to the opposite edge of the door frame. No script changes needed, but the textures on the front and back of the door will be upside down, so you will need edit that to flip them on the vertical axis of the door. That will work as long as there is no writing on the door, since the effect of flipping the texture will be to make it a mirror image of what it was before. Thanks, Ceera. Yes, it is a path cut prim. Thank you so much for the info...heading back into world and start tinkering with it again.

Rolig Loon wrote: You have two choices: (a) Follow the directions in script #2 and change integer DIRECTION = 1; // direction door opens in. Either 1 (outwards) or -1 (inwards) from 1 to -1. (b) Flip the door upside down. The two scripts are working together. Script #1 gets its commands from script #2 by link_message Using method (a) I thought that would just make the door open toward the closet, not the hinge, per se, be on the opposite side. (b) I tried moving the door around but I might have rotated it on another axis instead of flipping it. Will give (a) a try. If that doesn't do what I want, then will make sure I turn door upside down instead of rotatating that...although now that I think of it I'm pretty sure I did try upside down. The door opened to the left then, but would not totally close back; it stayed partially open which is why I thought there might be some mysterious rotatation thing I need to try. Thanks Rolig - my region had a restart but will go back in and play with this some more.

I learned to build a free-standing wardrobe in a class years ago. The door opened and closed with various animations between each open/close. This has worked flawlessly, except - as one is facing the wardrobe, the door opens to the right, which seems opposite to RL doors. I would really like to have the door open to the left. I tried to read about the various door rotation designations in door scripts and ended up with a headache! I'm hoping there is one or two parts of the script that will cause it to open to the left instead of right and many thanks in advance for any help. The first thing that I find odd is that the door contains two door scripts. I wouldn't think I need but one, however I tried taking each out and trying just one of the scripts, but without both of them the door doesn't open and shut. So the first script called "Closet Door" is: default { link_message(integer sender, integer n, string s, key k) { if ( s == "OPEN") { llSetLocalRot((rotation)llEuler2Rot(<0, 0, 300>*DEG_TO_RAD)); } else if(s == "CLOSE") { llSetLocalRot((rotation)llEuler2Rot(<0, 0, 180>*DEG_TO_RAD)); } } } The second script called "Closet Door (local rot)" is: // improved door script by Ezhar Fairlight // features: automatic closing, workaround for rotating out of position, // doesn't mess up when moved, adjustable direction (inwards/outwards) // updated for SL 1.1 damped rotations, small bugfix // ********** USER SETTINGS HERE ********** float TIMER_CLOSE = 5.0; // automatically close the door after this many seconds, // set to 0 to disable integer DIRECTION = 1; // direction door opens in. Either 1 (outwards) or -1 (inwards); // ********** END OF USER SETTINGS ********** integer DOOR_OPEN = 1; integer DOOR_CLOSE = 2; vector mypos; // door position (objects move a tiny amount // away from their position each time they are rotated, // thus we need to workaround this by resetting // the position after rotating) SetLocalRot(rotation localrot) { llSetRot(localrot / ( (ZERO_ROTATION / llGetLocalRot()) * llGetRot())); } door(integer what) { rotation delta; rotation rot; llSetTimerEvent(0); // kill any running timers if ( what == DOOR_OPEN ) { delta = llGetLocalRot() * llEuler2Rot(<0, 0, DIRECTION * PI_BY_TWO> * 1.2); SetLocalRot(delta); } else if ( what == DOOR_CLOSE) { delta = llGetLocalRot() * llEuler2Rot(<0, 0, -DIRECTION * PI_BY_TWO> * 1.2); SetLocalRot(delta); } } default { // is closed on_rez(integer start_param) { // reset, so we store the new position llResetScript(); } state_entry() { mypos = llGetPos(); // remember where we're supposed to be } touch_start(integer total_number) { door(DOOR_OPEN); llMessageLinked(LINK_SET,0,"open",NULL_KEY); state is_open; } moving_end() { // done moving me around, store new position mypos = llGetPos(); } } state is_open { state_entry() { llSetTimerEvent(TIMER_CLOSE); } touch_start(integer num) { door(DOOR_CLOSE); llMessageLinked(LINK_SET,0,"close",NULL_KEY); llSetPos(mypos); // workaround for tiny movements during rotation state default; } timer() { // it's time to close the door door(DOOR_CLOSE); llMessageLinked(LINK_SET,0,"close",NULL_KEY); llSetPos(mypos); // workaround for tiny movements during rotation state default; } moving_start() { // close door when door is being moved door(DOOR_CLOSE); llMessageLinked(LINK_SET,0,"close",NULL_KEY); state default; } } This one has notations that seem to be instructions of values to use...but I don't get it. :/ What values do I need to put where to get the door to open to the left, please?

Deja Letov wrote: Hey Czari...are you doing mostly MP sales or are your numbers both in world and marketplace. I was just thinking that when I saw your graphs bcause mine include in world and marketplace as well, but I wonder if these other guys posting are purely MP since that seems to be the main complaint. I *think* those numbers are both in world and MP, but it's pretty much MP since that constitutes 98% of my sales.

Josh Susanto wrote: Thanks. That's a bit spotty, and I must admit it shows almost the opposite of what I expected. Has there been any change in the way you've been using listing enhancments? I don't use any MP listing enhancements at all and never have. The only thing I use is the ability to find my in world store in search. I was interested to see that the majority of my sales each month (at least for those 4 months; I'm interested to compare them to the same months of 2011) take place on one or two days of the month.

I have not had this happen personally, but over the years I have read threads about copybots and copybotted items. The first thing that has to happen is the original creator of an item that is copybotted files a DMCA which is a "take down" (ie. take down/out all the copybotted items from the copybotter). Sometimes creators have no idea their items have been copybotted, thus don't fill out a DMCA. I've heard of other creators who are aware of their item/s have been botted but for whatever reason don't want to go through the DMCA process. If a creator files a successful DMCA, then the copybotted items are removed from the copybotter's inventory (iirc) as well as anyplace they are trying to sell them in world and on the MP. I have seen posts of items *poofing* from people's inventories that they later found out, usually via the forums, that were botted items. I have never heard of a person who was not the copybotter but unknowingly had copybotted items in inventory being banned. The items are just deleted. There have been a few high profile cases of copybotting (thinking here of the original creator of a certain sex bed). That went through a fairly lengthy legal process. As a result, anyone who had the animations that were botted from this creator in any furnishings...not purchased from him...were "broken" by LL. I honestly don't see any cause for concern UNLESS you know an item was botted, in which case the proper action is to contact the original creator (how would you know it was botted if you had not seen the original) and at that point it is the creator's responsibility to proceed with a DMCA...or not. Hope this helps.

Tari Landar wrote: As a customer it doesn't bother me in the least. I like to browse, so seeing seasonal things doesn't really annoy me. As a seller, I leave mine up year round, beause I sell seasonal stuff year round. I've sold lots of halloween, and even winter stuff all summer long, lol. (Emphasis Mine) GREAT to know, Tari! I've been deactivating my seasonal items after each season. Based on the responses here, I'm going to activate them. Great to know they do sell year 'round. Many thanks, Tari.

Thanks so much, iCade. It looks like the responses are falling toward keep seasonal items posted - or in my case set them back on active.

Thanks to Deja I can now post graphs! Woot! Here are my monthly sales from April - July 2012. While trying out the other graphs, based on sales per item I should become "Czari's Drapery Emporium."

Well, here's the answer one merchant received from LL: http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Merchants/Delivery-Partially-Failed-Resolution/td-p/1613015