The recent devaluation of the Linden Currency

[AECouture]

Seems like, for some unknow and curious reason (other than the change in the fee schedule), the Linden Currency is being devaluated in the last month or so, and that devaluation is accelerating at an alarming and unusual rate.

Having a monopoly trader that submits buy "offers" at whatever rate they want is not fair market.

Nonetheless, I believe Merchants increasing product prices accordingly would be a wise decision.

[Alwin Alcott]

Since this weeks update i think creators/sellers should start looking at their creations first... badly made stuff won't rezz anymore...thats more urgent. instead of whining about 5 linden less for a dollar.

[AECouture]

Well that was out of context, but since you brought it up. it's not only that some creators are allowed through the interface to upload bad stuff but also updating the severely outdated game engine is much more urgent than anything else.

Just the other day I bought a tie from a Chinese merchant on eBay, guess what? when I tried it on, it didn't rezz eBay still reported great earnings in the last quarter, despite whining about chinese products by people like you.. ponder that!

[Fnordian Link]

The relatively sudden and relatively rapid decline is troubling. I don't know the cause but hoping it's only a temporary phase.

From my recollection, for the longest time (several years I think), the top sell price (the one you could count on) was at L$247 for selling your L$ within a week (usually less) and L$248 if you wanted to sell within minutes. I think that crept up L$1 in recent months.

But this change of about L$10 seems to have occurred in the span of only a month. Perhaps come the start of next month (when more people generally have a bit more money) it will slow or reverse...I hope.

Any other thoughts on what this sudden trend in the L$ drop means or the cause of it?

As for raising prices--if the L$ drop is because people are buying fewer L$, raising prices likely would be counter productive at this point I'm afraid.

 

[AECouture]

You don't have to be afraid, if you sell quality products that people want.

But also I don't think it will be a temporary phase because it's a technical break down, unless the major stake holder backs off a bit, and you know who that is.

If I was a merchant I would naturally increase product prices, for example if the devaluation drops 10% increase prices in accordance to the drop. It happened in the recession, and it's part of capitalism. People who have crap products unfortunately will most likely be flushed.

It does not seem to have anything to do with Linden buying power, because a bird told me merchants still maintain the same, if not increased, buying volume.

It might have to do with the recent change in fees, which makes mechants hold on and wait to get the best bang for the buck before selling Lindens, thus selling larger periodic volumes or chunks than before, and making the market's controlling authority capable of offering whatever price those "panicky" merchants are willing to sell for. I don't blame the merchants, they will panic because they have bills to pay, and no one else, other than the controlling authority, will let them sell lindens for less than what the authority wants.

This wouldn't have happened if we have a free exchange market like before.

After all, I'm not against SL making a fair margin profit, so long as it's fair and equitable, complies with exchange matket regulations, and they invest it in things like updating their game engine, VR integration and other up-to-date innovations.

[Sassy Romano]

err who is this single monopoly trader making offers at what ever rate they choose?

 

Do you understand how the lindex works?

[Alwin Alcott]

at first... it's the sellers of L$ themself that let the market drop .. don't act like it's a external factor.

 

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AECouture wrote:

 updating the severely outdated game engine is much more urgent than anything else.

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you totally have no clue where you'r talking about. It is NOT possible to update the core of SL, and calling it a game engine states clearly you don't know what this program is.

 

"people like you" ..... /me bows for the new jesus ....

[sirhc DeSantis]

Your 'Axiom' linking 'the market's controlling authority' with 'a free exchange market like before' seems just a teeny bit self contradictory. Free market central 5 year plan 101  worthy in fact.

[Elvina Ewing]

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Alwin Alcott wrote:

Since this weeks update i think creators/sellers should start looking at their creations first... badly made stuff won't rezz anymore...thats more urgent.

instead of whining about 5 linden less for a dollar.

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selling 300000L$ at 248 used to fetch me US$1167.33. Selling it for 256 will fetch me US$ 1,130.87. Twice a month 37$ more, plus extra 28$ cashing out fees, that is like 102$ less income every month. Peanuts

[Alwin Alcott]

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Elvina Ewing wrote

selling 300000L$ at 248 used to fetch me US$1167.33. Selling it for 256 will fetch me

US$ 1,130.87

. Twice a month 37$ more, plus extra 28$ cashing out fees, that is like 102$ less income every month. Peanuts

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tell your fellow sellers.... as long they keep going up in numbers for selling their L$ you will get less ...thats simply how the market works.

It's been 300/1 in the past... perhaps thats bad, or it been too high all those years in between. But the same as in RL exchanges... from time to time, can be years... there is a clash and you'll have to swallow it.

[Rya Nitely]

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Alwin Alcott wrote:

at first... it's the sellers of L$ themself that let the market drop .. .

 

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This might be true, but you don't know that. You don't know what Supply Linden (LL's Central Bank) is doing. One thing we do know is that that they are well aware of this rapid change in the value of the L$. Many posters have mentioned quantitative easing as a reason, and that can't be dismissed.

[Iren Tinkel]

Yes, as I said before it is hard to know who exactly sells lindens and why amounts of lindens to sell is rising up. Looks like somebody got lot of cash to drop away and this merchant's panic when they offer for 258 if there is not so much for 252 and 252 will be closed in some hours - that is silly. And it looks weird, very weird. Since i follow lindex (about some years) it is the most drasctical drop down - 10 points within month. It is not good. Maybe Lindens sell their lindens?

[Robsguy]

With the decreasign user base on SL, and more peopel able to produe what they need, as well as no longer willing to put large amoutns of linden and funds into SL. Increasing product costs would not be the wise thing to do, it would actually cause firther issues on SL.

 

For a long time things were over priced. Greed factors came into play. Tryign to cash out fror real money the main factor. However trign to make a livign off a virtual commerce isn't ever goign to be a stable factor. On other online plateforms it as atually led to people going into finicial ruins when it catchs up to them.

To attract any new potential players, commerce has to be realistic. Not over priced. Other wise like high priced stores in america, products remain on the hselves, and peopel turn more to Walmart and discount stores. 

[Vista Barnes]

Seems the main buyers has decided after seen the panic of some sellers that a good buying price is 300 L$/USD

They have moved is purchase orders from 270 yesterday to 300... 25 milion lindens.

I start to think there is a a nice speculative movement here...

The volume of lindes traded is quite stable arround 80M day, thats a good point, but seem sthat there are a volume of 150M more than useal at the selling side thats is causing the problems.

 

 

[Iren Tinkel]

Things that happen are ridiculous. While i typed recent post rate fell from 261 to 264 2 minutes

 

Offer of lindens (best rates) is about 432 millions. Really. Demand (best rates) is something about 27 millions. LOL. How suddenly happened that just within one month sellers got 430 millions to sell and buyers only want 27 of them? I dont believe that.

[AECouture]

This would not have happened if Linden Lab allowed third parties to sell and trade Lindens like before, a free market with fair competition.

Instead now we have one Monopoly trader who dictates where Linden Dollar should go, or who is dumping more volume for their own profit. or who knows, could be based on "insider" information.

Increasing prices for Quality products is way to go. Just like real life, there is Walmart like someone here said, there is Macy's and there is Neiman Marcus, each with their own customer base.

During the recession prices actually went up.

[Galathir Darkstone]

This cintinued drop IS certainly alarming. But not as alarming as any response from LL about this "fluctuation." In the past, LL has beena stabilizing force, keeping changes in the valuation of the Linden relatively constant in the short term, even if it did change over time. The strength of the L$ vs USD has weakened more in the last 2 weeks than it has the entire time I've been in SL (since 2007). a ~6% DROP in value in such a short time should be addressed by LL.

[ImaTest1488314069]

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AECouture wrote:

This would not have happened if Linden Lab allowed third parties to sell and trade Lindens like before, a free market with fair competition.

 

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This only works when third party sellers don't screw over customers.

Since they did, this can't be allowed anymore.

Thank the third party sellers for that.

They created a hassle that LL didn't want to deal with.

Can't blame LL for that.

It's not LL's fault that some people are idiots.

Third party resellers ruined it for themselves.

Healthy competition is a good thing.

LL doesn't worry about competition, they like it.

LL let it go for a while, until it was more trouble than it's worth.

Not LL's fault.

LL has plenty of other faults.

Shutting down third party resellers isn't theirs.

[Oct Oyen]

For some of us who have been here long enough should remember those days when LL had to halt the trading because the exchange rate was fluctuating like a crazy roller coaster. I'm really surprise how LL has kept the exchange rate stead for so long.

[AECouture]

why would they halt it now if they are the only Linden $ Dealer? buying low from merchants and selling high later to customers is a great deal.

[Iren Tinkel]

 

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AECouture wrote:

why would they halt it now if they are the only Linden $ Dealer? buying low from merchants and selling high later to customers is a great deal.

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I think you dont imagine even how LindeX works.

 

For now situation is really ridiculous and i even see clearly what is going on and it makes me laugh because if it would happen on real forex or like that - it was nonsense, really. For some reason only some (!) people use Lindex to Buy lindens and they speculate with it hardly. There was more buy orders before and just month ago I remember amount of buy orders something about 60 millions. Why there is no linden buyers anymore - I have no idea. Maybe some big third party dealer left, or Linden Lab was that dealer, or whatever, but in fact there is speculations now - and only them. You all can see it and even try just watching Lindex for some hours. And it is funny and stupid.

 

[MarmelaGramela Doesburg]

This is artificially inflicted by certain idiots that feel the need to be the ones that sell THEIR L$ first and one undersells the other in order to be the clever one. Or the really dumb one when it comes to the economy. As a logical result, people who have to pay high monthly USD amounts, need to sell cheap too in order to saty in business, and the downward spiral has begun.

Plus - as a friend of mine said, this maybe a result of LL's clever buy-into-the old-sim-price thing which came surprisingly close to SL2 going online soon.... so a lot of sims only needed to be funded with 195 USD a month instead of 295...as a result the need to buy L$ goes way down.

Just another Lindenlab shot into their own goal, as many times before....

[Stacey Sugar]

There's approximately L$260 million on the Lindex Exchange above historical levels of L$247/US$1. That equates to approximately $1 million US! Either there are a lot of SL content creators cashing out right now or LL is manipulating the market by dumping L$ on there. I note that within the past month or so Linden Labs has increased the minimum fee for cash out from $1 to $3. There is some manipulation going on. Where is the official word from LL about these changes?

[Flower Leleu]

There is some speculation out there that the recent high L$ transactions are due in part to some big land owners cashing L$ in order to purchase grandfathered rights on their sims.

It seems plausible. What ever the case however, there are some real idiots who are not helping this situation one bit: - Look at this example.



This is certainly not the worst by a long way. I've seen one example that was 20 points higher than the current selling rate... - my point? If you read this and cash out, consider putting your limit sell on the current value or waiting on a better value number. People who are flooding the market and panic selling at very low rates of lindens to the dollar are being irresponsible and need to be educated! (And slapped) - spread the word.

 

[Spica Inventor]

It appears that the Linden central bank is pumping extra money into the economy hoping it will accelerate 'gdp growth' mimicking the governments of the real world. If customers can get more bang for their buck as a result, then it's probably a good idea since things are still way overpriced imho. I just wish the Lindens would have given me some of that 'extra' cash to spend 'for them'. I'm very good at consuming things. :matte-motes-wink-tongue: