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Suggestion to merchants on demos....


SweetandSassy22
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When I first came to SL I didn't know stores had demos until someone showed me after blowing L$600.  I have access to all the linden I need to go shopping, pay my tier, or whatnot.  But I too go by the motto "No demo=no buy".  I'm not going to spend my lindens on a product and hope it fits while you get my lindens no matter what.  If a customer goes by that No demo=no buy motto, you lose a sale no matter what.  You put out demos, you just might make a sale.  Say the demo cost you L$1, and the product you're selling costs L$200-L$300, you still netted a profit of L$199 to L$299.  I'd rather go that route, then lose the sale all together.  And those stores that charge L$1 for their demos, I stay clear of those too.  I'm not paying L$1 for a demo, that's nuts.  We don't go into department stores and get charged to try on clothes, so why should we pay for a demo?  I do a lot of shopping on SL cause I want to make sure my avi looks good.  But I'm not going to spend 500 for a dress when I know I can get pretty dress for half that at Kastle Rock.  Or pay for shoes at Maitreya L$750, even worse J's (under shoes in the destination guide) L$1,400 to L$2,600 for a pair of shoes, when I can go to KC Couture  and get just as pretty a pair for L$125 to L$149.  So if I was you merchants, I'd be putting out the demos.  Btw, I hope I posted this under the right topic.  I wasn't sure if it was General or here :)

 

SweetandSassy22

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When it comes to mesh I so totally agree with you!  No demo=No sale with me as well.  As a comsumer I stick to that!  And as a designer I stick to that too!  I cannot for the life of me understand what is so hard about making a demo for a product, sure it takes what another 5 to 10 mins to knock off a demo, small issue in the long run.  When it comes to system layer clothing though, a demo is hardly necessary since what you see is exactly what you get, and there are no issues with fit, even with appliers you know the fit is going to be exactly right as well so I am not so concerned with demos for those items.

As for overpriced clothing items,  again I fail to see why folks would want to pay high prices for an item that can likely be found similar for a respectable price.  But having said that, underpricing an item just to sell it and beat out the competition is just as bad.  Like back when anyone could by a store in a box, and resell the items at stupid low prices.  I would not wear anything that I am likely to see on 20 other avitars at a club lol.

But SL is a free society and folks are free to do things their way, buy what they prefer and if some designers deem it unecessary to provide demos that would be their choice.  I am sure by now enough has been said about lack of demos that they are fully aware they are losing potential sales without demos.

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Hi Tazzie :)

 

To me you hit the nail on the head.  What is another 5 to 10 minutes when you can make the profits.  And if designers don't see it the way we do, honestly, it's their loss.  The system layer clothing I agree, but I only buy mesh.  Reason being is sometimes system layer looks painted on if not done right.  With mesh, the clothes seem more 'fuller?' and has a more realistic look to it.  But when you're dealing with the alpha layer, sure the item may look great, but because of the alpha, you're still having see through parts.  And that's the reason for the demos.  I like to see the clothes and not the ground through my body lol.  

See, I hate to admit it, but I love to shop.  I almost believe it's a curse lol.  I could be exploring, but I see a store, and it's like my avi has a mind of her own and in the store we go.  And you can see at different stores the same exact items and the linden difference is sometimes unbelievable.  Those same shoes I mentioned for L$2,600, I can get at KC Couture for L$125.  And I believe the reason the reason people want to pay those outrageous prices is because of the name.  Sure, you're making the store owner richer, while the next day the consumer is crying they have no lindens.  I use search on SL and go by both MP or the Destination Guide and compare prices.  But like you stated, there was a lot said about it, now it's up to them.  They should listen to the consumers if they want the sales.  

Too bad I didn't know your store sooner.  I wouldn't of minded to linden love to help.  But I definitely will check out your club though.  I love that kind of music. :)   And I will definitely shop at your store on MP.  Always looking for clothes lol.  Take care Tazzie.

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SweetandSassy22 wrote:

...  And those stores that charge L$1 for their demos, I stay clear of those too.  I'm not paying L$1 for a demo, that's nuts.  We don't go into department stores and get charged to try on clothes, so why should we pay for a demo? ...

Before condemning those stores charging L$1 for a demo, I'd just like to note that many (not all) of these stores immediately refund that L$1 purchase price.

I believe this charge is only there as a marketing tool in those cases,  keeping track of how many avies are trying on the demos.

As for any store NOT refunding the L$1 spent, I fully agree with you, and won't be spending a penny to try on an outfit item.

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There's a logical reason why you may get charged L$1 for something.  SL offers us two ways to sell things in world.  When you click on any object, they are represented as the Buy and Pay options.

If the Pay option is available for the item, it can be configured to offer you a range of prices. A scripter can use the Pay option to build a vendor with complex menu that may offer you a choice of different items at different prices. Or she may create a tip jar or donation box that lets you decide how much you want to pay.  The only limitation is that the Pay option doesn't let you choose to pay ZERO.

The Buy option is much more restrictive.  If you make a vendor with Buy, you have to set a single, specific price.  A scripter can't make a vendor that lets you decide what to pay. In fact, a Buy vendor doesn't even need a script. The option is set right on the General page of the Edit tool when you set up the vendor.  It can offer to sell you something for L$0, however.

It's up to a merchant to decide which style of vendor to use.  A Pay option vendor is much more flexible and can be especially attractive if the merchant has a lot of things to sell at different prices and can't afford to use her valuable prim allowance to rez a shop full of individual vendors.  A Buy option vendor is much simpler to create and set up -- it doesn't even need a script -- and it can be less confusing for customers than a vendor with menus and buttons.  I suspect that many merchants don't even realize that choosing a Pay vendor means that they can't offer items for L$0. It's possible to script a Pay vendor to refund L$1 payments immediately, but those are tricky and they present some security risks.  If a merchant is aware that she can get (or write) a script that does that, she may still decide it's too much trouble.

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Yes that explains the vendor issue;  but not Market Place.  On Market Place you can have a demo for 0, the choice there to charge 1L is entirely up to the seller.  And if you are tracking sales through the transaction log the 0 sales still show up there.  Even if  you use Casper Vend inworld your free demo sales still will show up on your sales page, and your SL transaction log if you tie them together.  

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Yes, that's quite true.  Marketplace is entirely different.  My comments only apply to in-world vendors, which is why I said that right at the top.  In Marketplace, a merchant isn't bound by the distinction between Buy and Pay.  It's also true that a merchant can buy very flexible, safe vendor scripts that use the Pay option and give an instant refund to the customer for a L$1 purchase.  You've named one of them.  That's an additional setup cost for a merchant.  As I pointed out, it's one that new merchants may not be aware of or may deide not to use for other reasons.

I'm not trying to defend the practice of charging L$1 for a demo.  L$1 is only 4/10 of a penny, but it's still an annoyance, especially when you know that many shops don't charge you anything at all for a demo.  The only reason I posted a comment was to explain that it's a more complex issue than it seems, and that there can be good reasons why merchants charge a non-refundable L$1 (other than being nasty :smileywink: ).

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I never was able to transfer a L$1 demo.  That's one thing I look close at.  It was always copy/mod or just copy.  @Dana.  I never got my L$1 back.  That's another thing I look closely at is my transaction history.  That's why I won't shop at those stores, or the stores that don't have demos.  Bottom line of my post was that if the merchants had demos they could probably make more sales.  You merchants are one of the backbones to SL.  I love to see you guys make it.  You merchants are wonderful people.  And thank you for being there.  Nothing worse than having a naked avi lol.  Good luck to you guys.

 

SweetandSassy22

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You're correct than generally you can't transfer a demo.  What you can do though, on the MP, is buy a 1L demo as a gift for someone else.  This is probably not a big enough feature to justify 1L demos, but I have used this functionality a couple of times to send a demo to a friend :)

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