Freebies: Get Them & Review Them (Or Not)

[Codex Alpha]

Sure it says freebie, maybe even 'gift'.

But did you know there is more than meets the eye as you happily shop inworld in Second Life, hunting out those neat little free things people hand out?

Beyond the freebie thrifts stores, you can find freebies everywhere.

Many merchants use them to lure you to their inworld stores, or get themselves in the listings on the Marketplace. You may even see these freebies labeled 'promo' as in 'promotional'.

Yes, these clever little marketers want you to see their other products, to advertise their store name, and get you to look at their paid products.

That's all fine and dandy, but sometimes 'free' and 'freebie' is synonomous to 'crap'. Sometimes you can find some real jewels.

Oh some would say "Free items should never get reviews", but I think they should.

Why, you ask?

The quality of a merchant's 'freebie' may demonstrate the quality of their paid products - so they better be good.

Crappy free furniture? Why would you buy the stores' $1000L furniture set then?

Review the freebies, grab them up by searching for $0L on the marketplace, check the copy/mod buttons set the price to $0 -$0 and see what you come up with. NOT gacha NOT rental NOT demo

Purchase the freebie, try it out, and leave a constructive review.

Even better, if you like the freebie, check out the other products on the store. If the freebie is good, probably the rest is too.

Freebies are fun to make for people, and fun to get, especially if you're new to SL and have no $0L!

Have fun out there!

 

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[ Warning: ] Many of the following member replies are accusatory, personal and toxic. Forgive them for they can't help themselves. They simply can't have a conversation without making personal attacks.

Update:

The quality of your freebie items will reflect the quality of your paid items.

I've purchased expensive items because the freebie items were amazing.

It's always good for creators to put out the best product, even if they intend it to be free. A business card is a free item you give people - but you still make it quality because it reflects on you.

This is a call for everyone to make amazing freebies, and for customers to leave more constructive reviews, and freebies shouldn't be above that, nor should you expect any less quality.

[wherorangi]

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entity0x wrote:

The quality of a merchant's 'freebie' may demonstrate the quality of their paid products - so they better be good.

 

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as a dumpster diver who has pretty much bought every 0$ garment on MP and at least half of everything else, and never met a 0$ giftee inworld that I never clicked on, and never saw a inworld freebie shop I never liked, then:

i disagree with the thought: so they better be good

when something is 0$ then its good, no matter what it is, or what condition it is in

a expectation that something given us for free had better be good, is the biggest self-entitled crybaby and judgmental whine that a person could have 

[wherorangi]

add more

entity, I dont think you have any idea at all about dumpster diving

i suggest you join a few of the larger freebie groups inworld. Bring your whines about what we get for free to the group chats and see how you get [on]

every dumpster diver in the groups will bite your head off, as we do anyone else who baws and whines about what they got free

eta [on]

[Muletta]

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entity0x wrote:

 

Purchase the freebie, try it out, and leave a constructive review.

Even better, if you like the freebie, check out the other products on the store. If the freebie is good, probably the rest is too.

Freebies are fun to make for people, and fun to get, especially if you're new to SL and have no $0L!

Have fun out there!

---

Hi Entity0x

I think I get your point here. This way, you think we can force merchants to deliver only quality freebies, I guess, to not be revealed as a bad shop ... but it will not solve the problem with bad products anyway... Merchants who sell bad products, will just stop offering freebies. 

 

 

[Syo Emerald]

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Muletta wrote:

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entity0x wrote:

 

Purchase the freebie, try it out, and leave a constructive review.

Even better, if you like the freebie, check out the other products on the store. If the freebie is good, probably the rest is too.

Freebies are fun to make for people, and fun to get, especially if you're new to SL and have no $0L!

Have fun out there!

---

Hi Entity0x

I think I get your point here. This way, you think we can force merchants to deliver only quality freebies, I guess, to not be revealed as a bad shop ... but it will not solve the problem with bad products anyway... Merchants who sell bad products, will just stop offering freebies. 

 

 

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Also: Thats what demos are for. I weed out bad products by purchasing the demo version first or going to the store (in case of furniture and houses) and test the objects there. If a product is expensive and offers no demo, I don't buy it.

[Muletta]

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Syo Emerald wrote:

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Also: Thats what demos are for. I weed out bad products by purchasing the demo version first or going to the store (in case of furniture and houses) and test the objects there. If a product is expensive and offers no demo, I don't buy it.

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Exactly! Much better way to do it, than to spend the entire day, with reviewing freebies :matte-motes-smile:

[wherorangi]

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Syo Emerald wrote:

Also: Thats what demos are for. I weed out bad products by purchasing the demo version first or going to the store (in case of furniture and houses) and test the objects there. If a product is expensive and offers no demo, I don't buy it.

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yes

 

[Bitsy Buccaneer]

Some creators give out freebies to generate interest or demonstrate the quality of their work or because they get a kick out of doing so. Some give away substandard items since the upload fees have already been paid and someone might have a use for them. Or silly little things that were fun to make but are never going to sell. Or older goods which are now technically obsolete but still have fans. (There's a fair bit of that on marketplace you know.)

Plenty of reasons. Probably best not to judge an entire body of work based on one or two free items, especially since we're all working on different economies of scale.

I'm all for quality freebies and I would probably still boycott the fancy azz store that used to give out system t-shirts with their store logo as hunt prizes if I could remember the name of it and bought much fancy azz stuff. But c'mon. If something is free, it's free and if it's not for you, move on. It might be exactly what someone else wants.

[Pamela Galli]

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entity0x wrote:

Sure it says freebie, maybe even 'gift'.

But did you know there is more than meets the eye as you happily shop inworld in Second Life, hunting out those neat little free things people hand out?

Beyond the freebie thrifts stores, you can find freebies everywhere.

Many merchants use them to lure you to their inworld stores, or get themselves in the listings on the Marketplace. You may even see these freebies labeled 'promo' as in 'promotional'.

Yes, these clever little marketers want you to see their other products, to advertise their store name, and get you to look at their paid products.

That's all fine and dandy, but sometimes 'free' and 'freebie' is synonomous to 'crap'. Sometimes you can find some real jewels.

Oh some would say "Free items should never get reviews", but I think they should.

Why, you ask?

The quality of a merchant's 'freebie' may demonstrate the quality of their paid products - so they better be good.

Crappy free furniture? Why would you buy the stores' $1000L furniture set then?

Review the freebies, grab them up by searching for $0L on the marketplace, check the copy/mod buttons set the price to $0 -$0 and see what you come up with. NOT gacha NOT rental NOT demo

Purchase the freebie, try it out, and leave a constructive review.

Even better, if you like the freebie, check out the other products on the store. If the freebie is good, probably the rest is too.

Freebies are fun to make for people, and fun to get, especially if you're new to SL and have no $0L!

Have fun out there!

---

To preserve the OP before he starts editing. 

The purpose of a review is to let people know whether a product is worth the cost or not -- ie to save people from wasting money.  When there is no cost, there is no danger of wasting money, so no reason to leave a negative review other than just enjoying s******* all over someone's gift. Which some clearly relish doing.

And notice the "more than meets the eye" bit -- like there is some hidden, nefarious motive of which unsuspecting gift recipients may be unaware and fall prey to.

Has there ever been a more subjectively mean spirited fount of bad advice in this forum as this one?

 

[Rhonda Huntress]

There are some good points in there too.

> you like the freebie, check out the other products on the store.
That is what most group gifts are intended to do.  If the free gifts fit your body then their other products probably do as well.

 

If you want to be a freebie hunter, free loader, dumpster diver or whatever, going through the Market Place is quick but you tend to miss all the fun.  Hunts, Midnight Mania, Lucky Chairs and others are fun to track down with others.  And there are some wonderful groups out there just for these activities.  There is a lot more to be had that item count alone.

[Pamela Galli]

Is there really anyone here that would need to be told to check out the products of a store whose freebies you like?  This is just a thinly disguised continuation of his ongoing crusade to justify himself after being criticized for leaving scathing reviews on freebies.

[Rhonda Huntress]

I know.  I have seen his other posts.  However I like to encourage  positive behavior.

[Phil Deakins]

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Pamela Galli wrote:

Is there

really

anyone here that would need to be told to check out the products of a store whose freebies you like?  This is just a thinly disguised continuation of his ongoing crusade to justify himself after being criticized for leaving scathing reviews on freebies.

---

He did? Why would anyone do that on things that are free?

Reading his post, it did occur to me that a website of reviews on particulary good freebies would be a useful thing. As I read his post, I thought that might be what he's leading up to, but it wasn't. Then I thought that such a website probably exists. I do remember a blog that specialised in freebies, but that's not the same thing at all, unless it's designed in a particularly suitable way.

[Pamela Galli]

There is FabFree, don't know if it is only for inworld. But as you can see from the thread title, it  all about justifying leaving reviews on freebies, not about freebies.

[Phil Deakins]

Yes, I understood that. The idea of leaving scathing reviews on freebies had escaped me until you mentioned.

[Rya Nitely]

Freebies can also be given out of pure generosity. When a merchant's intent in giving something away free is for this reason only, then it's bad manners to give it a bad review. It was given as a gift.

I believe in the old saying 'don't look a gift horse in the mouth'. If you don't like the gift just throw it away quietly or shove it to the back of your closet, like any polite person would do.

You chose to take it for free, and nobody forced it on you. The merchant/product does not deserve your bad rating.

Personally, I think it makes absolutely no difference to the success of my stores whether I have freebies or not. I do in some stores and not in others, but when I do it's because I'm being generous, and for no other reason. I've been lucky to have received mostly 5 star reviews for my freebies, which is the customer's way of saying thank you - most people in SL are decent.

[wherorangi]

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Phil Deakins wrote:

---

Pamela Galli wrote:

Is there

really

anyone here that would need to be told to check out the products of a store whose freebies you like?  This is just a thinly disguised continuation of his ongoing crusade to justify himself after being criticized for leaving scathing reviews on freebies.

---

He did? Why would anyone do that on things that are free?

Reading his post, it did occur to me that a website of reviews on particulary good freebies would be a useful thing. As I read his post, I thought that might be what he's leading up to, but it wasn't. Then I thought that such a website probably exists. I do remember a blog that specialised in freebies, but that's not the same thing at all, unless it's designed in a particularly suitable way.

---

all of the major groups inworld have blogs. They are invaluable. The biggest inworld group has over 20,000 active members. That is people who log in at least weekly, if not every day

the groups are all about everything. Who has new gifts out. Whats on MMs, whats on the chairs. What specials are out. Who is having a sale. What fairs are open, what hunts are on. Where can I find this or that. What mesh do ppl recommend I should buy, etc etc

i get about 200 notices every day now from shopkeepers who post thru the groups I am in

the No.1 rule in the groups is: Dont complain about stuff that you got for free. If you dont like it then delete it. Whining and moaning about stuff that someone gave you out of the goodness of their heart, is the surest way to get banhammered from the groups

a thing about these groups is that most people do have actual money, and they spend it, heaps and heaps. Hunting, hitting boards, waiting for chairs, going to the fairs and sales is a activity. We do it bc we like shopping, and have fun while we do

and we gets heaps of stuff as well. Lots of it we dont keep either. I have gotten heaps and heaps and heaps of stuff. I only got about 6K in my inventory tho

+

other thing

the last advice we ever want to give to a new person is to tell them is ok to complain about free stuff. Is the fastest way for them to end up with zero friends, and get banhammered from more places and groups than any other way

it has nothing to do with 'rights' or 'free speech' or stuff like that. It has everything to do with being gracious

 

 

 

[Pamela Galli]

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wherorangi wrote:

---

the last advice we ever want to give to a new person is to tell them is ok to complain about free stuff. Is the fastest way for them to end up with zero friends, and get banhammered from more places and groups than any other way

it has nothing to do with 'rights' or 'free speech' or stuff like that. It has everything to do with being gracious

 

 

 

---

This is exactly why I bother responding to entity's sour, negative posts: he advises people -- esp new ppl -- to be suspicious, negative, and mean-spirited, on the grounds that most other ppl in SL are, particularly merchants. Thus there is something sinister even about giving gifts, and merchants who do that should not be allowed to get away with it! 

[Rhonda Huntress]

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Phil Deakins wrote:

He did? Why would anyone do that on things that are free?

Reading his post, it did occur to me that a website of reviews on particulary good freebies would be a useful thing. As I read his post, I thought that might be what he's leading up to, but it wasn't. Then I thought that such a website probably exists. I do remember a blog that specialised in freebies, but that's not the same thing at all, unless it's designed in a particularly suitable way.

---

 

 

There is FabFree and FreeStyle thatr I can think of off the top of my head.  Plus most SL fashion blogs include a freebie section, too.

 

 

[Rufferta]

I agree with your article in part, but I don't believe in giving bad reviews to freebies because - well, I give out freebies, and I would be crushed if someone told me they thought they weren't very good.

I also think that if a merchant gives you an especially nice freebie - something you really like or that you can actually use - you should send a thank-you note. 

 

[Sassy Romano]

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entity0x wrote:

 

The quality of a merchant's 'freebie' may demonstrate the quality of their paid products - so they better be good.

Update:

The quality of your freebie items will reflect the quality of your paid items.

---

I rarely subscribed to the freebie thing, it's the same effort to (intentionally) make a freebie.  At least where wholly original content is concerned, compared to just slapping on a lime green texture on a template item for example.

The only freebies that I ever offered were ones that either worked with something else, i.e. added value to a paid for product, or items that were never finished, never going to be finished but might have had some value to someone.

As such, the first statement quoted above is true "may demonstrate" but the second does certainly not hold true.

I preferred people to come to my store for the rapier wit, interlaced with charm and sarcasm but always excellent customer service.  Well, there was this one time when I failed, maybe a couple of times but otherwise, no freebies!

[SabaothMastema]

Just gotta say. If you disapprove of the freebies that are out there then there is a very consttuctive way to change that......make better ones and give them out yourself. Otherwis if its free then why complain if it's subpar? Only reason to make a bad review on a freebie is to offer constructive criticism. Even then you could just IM the merchant and say it.

[Persephone Emerald]

Whenever you buy something on MP, it's nice to leave an honest review. If the product is good, then a good review helps both the creator & those who might buy it. If the product is bad, a bad review may dissuade someone else from wasting their money & time on buying it. Even free items cost us the effort to delete them. Also, if you think a freebie is actually stolen from another creator or if a cheapie is elsewhere a full-perm freebie that's supposed to be free, then put that information in your review.

[Tamara Artis]

Hello everyone, nice theme!

I had a friend, student who used to learn how to create mesh objects. Every time I saw her she was wearing one of her creations, some were good, some not so good. Many of those items ended up on the market as freebies, she said she knows they are not really good, but she feels bad deleting them and why not offer it as a freebie on the marketplace? Maybe someone would want it. In  this case leaving a bad review for something created long time ago might harm the merchant because their skills improved. 

Someone else might put out a freebie as a way of marketing their products and choose only best item! 

When reiewing items one must be objective, read the description, see if the item can be adjusted or maybe the body shape needs to be adjusted for a better fit. 

Interesting is how people leave reviews on my freebie items but not so much on the paid ones. I leave review if the item is specially good and i see its a new merchant not so known or if the item is really really bad! 

[Codex Alpha]

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Muletta wrote:

Hi Entity0x

I think I get your point here. This way, you think we can force merchants to deliver only quality freebies, I guess, to not be revealed as a bad shop ... but it will not solve the problem with bad products anyway... Merchants who sell bad products, will just stop offering freebies. 

 

 

---

 

Hello Muletta, thanks for your response.

I am not asking anyone to be forced and neither am I making a solid and emphatic demand that only quality freebies be made.

This is mainly a topic to address the statement made that "Freebies should not be reviewed", and I pose that they are not above reviews.

I believe freebies should be a true gift, with no less quality than paid products (with all things considered, as stated in a recent post - many freebies are from antiquity). I am not an idiot, and I take all the exceptions to the rule into consideration, before making a statement.

I love getting freebies, and I love giving freebies, and I love giving good freebies. It's my part to giving back into Second Life what I got when I was first broke in SL and getting freebies myself. I also made many purchases from vendors who gave out freebies - because their freebies were amazing.

In my opinion, it is a good thing to both receive and give out reviews on any product, regardless of price. Since the item is being used by the merchant to get attention, will get attention and probably future sales, why do many feel they are above the review system or think somehow they are some Great Benefactor? I was an SL newbie once, so this topic is to the SL newbies, and to sensible people.

I have left many reviews on a variety of priced products, free or not, constructive and honest. Many of them have also been taken down because the merchant went mental - this discourages people from reviewing.

I've also received much appreciated reviews on my own, which I use to improve my products, or include features in updated versions. I've even updated a 'free' product to a recent version as my Blender skills have developed, and updated all other products as well with what I've learned.

 

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Rufferta wrote:

I agree with your article in part, but I don't believe in giving bad reviews to freebies because - well, I give out freebies, and I would be crushed if someone told me they thought they weren't very good.

I also think that if a merchant gives you an especially nice freebie - something you really like or that you can actually use - you should send a thank-you note. 

 

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 I never said people should give bad reviews to freebies - the reviews must be constructive. Freebies are not above reviews, and I stated why.

Also, any freebies that I found practical,and purchased paid items because of it - I've always sent them a note telling them...

I also leave a review on their freebie, and the products I subsequently purchased.

However, I conduct myself fairly - I have the balls to leave reviews that are constructive and honest. You shouldn't be crushed by constructive criticism.

Reviews are there for both sides. One cannot expect every review to be 5 star - instead just read it for what it's worth, improve the product.

There is also a reply form to the review if the merchant has any issue with it.

Good day