Quite possibly the dumbest thing…
Posted on 05. May, 2009 by Tenshi Vielle in Digital Life
The Lucky Chair @ Punch Drunk/Boutique in Floyd
Quite possibly one of the dumber things I’ve heard in a while (and I’ve heard a lot of dumb sh*t today) – what the crap is this? Freebie ban?
Okay. Let’s think about this. Designers who make freebies to drive sales get customers who have been known to, and may occasionally, whine and gripe about freebies. It’s “not enough” this, it “doesn’t have enough” of that, “this sucks”.
So now the response is… to enforce a freebie ban? Which is essentially designers throwing a tantrum and demanding that everyone else join them. Great. Nothing like enforcing the status quo.
Who’s going to enforce this “ban”? The grid police? Are we going to boycott anyone who doesn’t go along with this ban? Did we get a Second Life Designer’s Union I was unaware of?
Secondly, are you SURE freebies are going to collapse the economy? I doubt anything really will until Linden Lab itself shuts its doors. As it stands right now, many places are in an economic recession and even RL companies are giving away free things to drive sales. If I remember correctly, the brand Dr. Pepper recently had some hefty $1 coupons for 1 litre bottles and 16 oz bottles on the same coupon – essentially you only had to pay the tax on the product. I’m sure this really drove up sales for them, since you could essentially buy two for the same price.
And what happens when everyone’s sales start to dive because they aren’t doing a damned thing to bring some traffic in? Freebies bring in traffic. A couple ungrateful whiners are expected from the CUSTOMERS – not the designers.
Customer:
“Mooooooommm my chicken looks red.”
Designer:
“YOU SHUT UP. YOU’LL EAT IT AND YOU’LL LIKE IT OR THERE WILL BE NO CHICKEN.”
The other side of the coin:
“Oh my god. My chicken isn’t as good as Mrs. Jones. THAT’S IT I’M LEAVING. I’m obviously not good enough. *sob*”
Arrrrrgh.
If you’re that tired of your customers, of designing, and Second Life … go take a break. But don’t demand that everyone else jump off the bridge after you do.
SomeRandomChick
May 5th, 2009
I’m the typical person driven in by good freebies, and then becomes a loyal customer.
Pididdle, is at the front of my mind.
islelunasea
May 5th, 2009
I just love the ‘butthurt’ tag.
Freebies are a fantastic and lucrative marketing tool. There are always going to be those who try and game the system, and subsist on nothing but freebies, the same as those I see photocopying 100 web coupons so they can get free crackers for life. (Then bitch about the crackers)
Those ppl wouldn’t have bought the crackers in the first place. Cracker lovers who see the coupon, and think, hey, might try that… they are the ones who end up with a new favorite cracker, and everyone benefits.
Boycotting anything (unless it is the evil Monsanto, and don’t get ME STARTED on them) is something that should only be done for very extreme reasons, and not forced by tribune or group upon a mass who do not necessarily agree, or have the knowledge required to make a decision.
I understand that there are many issues at play here, but not using one of the best marketing tools available to business owners and designers in SL would be a mistake. (IMO)
marni grut
May 5th, 2009
oh this is a load of bull, some people just dont use freebie marketing to there advantage and whine when designer x does better than designer y when giving out stuff.
I wonder were this leave people like Four yip in the opinion of a freebie ban. Shes creating thing entirely for free and id imagine shes doing well out of them.
Yes some people wont spend money after a freebie, big boo they would have even been to your store before hand and wouldn’t have bought anything that freebie isn’t stopping sales. If you give out good quality products then they could be examples of quality and design that might encourage people who actually spend money.
Do you loose anything
NO
The freebie market in SL is a Real Life PR company’s wet Dream. Insainly low output cost for free advertising.
IfYouSeekAmy
May 5th, 2009
how is freebie gonna collaps sl economy? i don’t see armidi or laqroki or any other big stores in sl going out of business simply because of freebies.
Store owners who complain about freebies for their store’s lack of sales are dumb asses. oh it’s not because of your shit sucks, it’s the damn freebies!
just because freebies are gone doesn’t mean everybody in sl are gonna spend lindens, they will simply walk around with sl default avies.
while i agree there are some shops with ridiculously high prices, complaining about prices directly to a shop owner is freaking retarded, why don’t you just go shop at other store? store owners are not gonna lower the price just because you bitch and moan about it.
islelunasea
May 5th, 2009
Marni, four Yip is a perfect example. her freebies are awesome, unique, and underscore how interesting and different her work is. I am not a freebie hunter but holy hell, I think I have every cool thing Yip ever made.
How many people flocked to Crimson Shadow last year to get Yip’s Lune-acy box, skin, horns, clothes, rat necklace, headcandle and yipsie (table)?
Did this benefit Crimson Shadow? Hell yeah. Did it benefit four Yip? I of course don’t have access to that information, but even just in word-of-mouth kudos, must have been awesome.
If you dont have the afore mentioned box, you can still get it at Yip’s boardwalk shop.
Oh Look… excellent freebies inspiring amazement and reaction, who knew.
islelunasea
May 5th, 2009
and sorry, pointing out that 7 months later Marni’s comment reminded me of Yip’s freebies and led to me mentioning it here.
How many page views would that be? Hello.
Chav Paderborn
May 5th, 2009
It’d never work anyway unless everyone agreed to do it.
I do have time for the argument that freebies have saturated the market on their own. I’m not even a massive freebie-hunter and there’s a lot of times I don’t bother going to buy things because I picked up freebies and don’t need anything else. You can now pick up several high-quality outfits a day so why would you ever need to buy anything? There’s a few shops that have given out so much free stuff that there’s nothing left to draw me into their shop, they’ve already given me so much of their inventory.
I like giving stuff away but as a ploy to get people into a shop it doesn’t work as well as it used to because there’s so much out there now for free.
Vivianne Draper
May 5th, 2009
actually…. cross posted to Prad’s blog:
So I come down squarely on the side of the freebies and the consumer in this issue. Designers in world get a lot. They make upwards of 60K a year (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/25/AR2006122500635.html) and I’ve heard tell of 6 figure incomes for skin designers. I know from personal experience that even small shops can make 20K or more. I also was in SL from 05 to 09 on a very shitty computer so don’t give me that nonesense that everyone in SL has a nice computer. A lot of people have a computer that barely squeaks by. And then there are those who play on a spouse’s, parent’s, roommate’s computer. Assuming that everyone who is in SL has a job and can afford your ‘pennies’ is a false assumption. Your ‘pennies’ might be a big deal to them.
Designers get more than the income off consumers. They get free advertising (bloggers!). Bloggers don’t get paid at all. Some of us don’t even free outfits (me!). We spend thousands of lindens at the shops and what do we get for it? We get banned if we dare to say something bad about a shop and if that shop has banlink we are screwed.
Designers making an income in SL are probably paying for their tier with that income. So most of us who do not do that are paying for our tier, or our rent, with purchased lindens. Again, don’t talk to me about how we can all afford your ‘pennies.’
And then they reserve the right to not provide customer service. If the outfit doesn’t fit its to bad — we should learn how to modify prims. If the outfit isn’t as it was displayed on the ad because the designer used photoshop to gloss over bad errors — too bad for us becuase designers don’t give refunds for non transferrable items and everything is non transferrable these days. You want to talk about entitlement? How about all you designers who think you are entitled to my lindens and if the outfit doesn’t fit or is of poor quality I can just go suck ass. Yeah I got yer entitlement right here and it stinks.
Freebies. I rarely go pick up freebies anymore and I rarely do hunts anymore because the freebies suck ass as well. I have a phrase I use for freebies — “inventory bloat.” It takes a while to look at the freebies and 9 times out of 10 I delete them. I’m tired of designers giving away their detritus as a freebie and then expecting me to feel grateful because they gave me some piece of shit system skirt with a bad texture that I’ll never wear. Or maybe I got a pair of lime green ugly sunglasses and I’m like “you expect me to wear these?”
On the other hand, when Rack had her clover hunt, I got 9 really good skins and don’t you know I was back in her store 2 days later buying more. Now there’s a freebie hunt that worked for her. At least in my case it did.
Then there’s customer loyalty. I have the entire catalogue of many stores in my inventory and I haven’t received a blasted thing for my thousands and thousands of lindens (which by the way translate into hundreds of dollars). If I were to spend at a brick and mortar real life shop what I spend at some of the shops in SL, I’d get personalized service. I DO get personalized service. There’s a gal at Nordy’s that calls me when something good that she thinks I’ll like comes in and she holds it for me until I can come in. Sometimes she’ll even drop it off at my house for me to try on and then if it fits and looks good I can just call her cause she has my CC number. You think I get that from ANY designer in SL? Oh hell no.
This is a two-way street but from where I sit — the designers have the better end of the bargain. Its debates like this that make me want to quit shopping in SL.
Allala
May 5th, 2009
Jeebus!!! Pfffffffffff just don’t give out freebies if you don’t want to you selfish buttheads. If your product is good enough we’ll dish out the cash for it. SHEESH! If you’re mad about another designer giving out freebs it obviously means they’re better than your creations if their free item poses competition to your costly designs.
Allala
May 5th, 2009
P.S. Marni and Tenshi, I miss and love yous mucho-ly and I’ll be back in action when I finish school. I graduate in a week, yay! <3
islelunasea
May 5th, 2009
I understand what you are saying, Chav, and why some designers are concerned.
That said, I am likely the perfect middle-ground marketing target in Sl and I can honestly say that I walk by freebies and go spend $L. I could not care less if 2/3 of SL was free, I will buy what suits me on a whim.
The people who live on freebies are not the ones who would be spending the $L anyway. Shops who give away most of their inventory for free are only shooting themselves in the foot, that is their own error and should not affect other shops that are creating good content.
If a designer has fresh and well made new products appearing often, I will be drawn in and spend my $L.
This is not supposition, this is me, and I am a customer, and freebies will not make me stop spending my $L.
Sileny
May 5th, 2009
I write for a “free” blog (which also shows inexpensive and full priced items) and getting all those freebies does not change how many Ls I spend. No matter if I get 300 great freebies a week or 10, I still have spent all my Lindens by the next payday anyway, haha. The people I have met in SL who follow and care about SL fashion and whatnot are collectors of sorts; whether it be free or full priced it’s all about just getting all the cool stuff. For example, how many long black hairs with Betty Page bangs do I have? So many I have no idea. Some were free, some I bought. But next time a really cute one gets released I am probably still going to buy it
Same with mouth foods. (Now everyone go make me some awesome mouth foods to buy teehee)
Katey
May 5th, 2009
I give freebies because I like doing it and the traffic boost doesn’t hurt either. If I didn’t like doing it, I wouldn’t. My store does fine, I don’t really need to worry about whether or not I’m gonna make tier, I have no reason not to give a little back.
The last freebie I gave out, I did actually notice a hike in sales figures.
I dunno, I just think it’s a personal choice that creators should be making quietly for themselves, because there is no wrong answer and there is no right answer. Pissing and whinging about customers entitlement doesn’t really accomplish much except make you look butthurt.
admin
May 5th, 2009
Oh! I just teared up. HI ALLA MISSED YOU! <3
Chav Paderborn
May 5th, 2009
“Designers in world get a lot. They make upwards of 60K a year”
So if we make less than that we don’t have to give out free stuff?
Ana Boogers
May 5th, 2009
50% of my sales consist of dollarbies.
When FreeStyle posted things about my freebies, I made upwards of 2 to 3k a day in just 1L sales.
And for every person who buys a freebie, they usually tp several other friends in, who, in turn, click the subscribo or buy stuff themselves.
Designers shouldn’t spoil it just because one person thinks that they can get by on just freebies. Because I guarantee they WILL be a repeat customer. And just think how many potential customers they’re losing just because they think it’s a horrible idea?
PFFT.
I buy freebies to test the quality of a designer before I put my L’s into their store.
Yeah, i’m done ranting.
In the end: I will not be joining this grid-wide freebie ban.
I am anti-freebie-ban.
Fukmi Sideways
May 5th, 2009
“‘Designers in world get a lot. They make upwards of 60K a year’
So if we make less than that we don’t have to give out free stuff?”
The article is a couple of years old I think. While I know some that make a full time living, I really don’t know that many who do. In defense of designers…there is a lot of time, effort, and expense involved in being a reasonably successful store owner. Are some greedy? Sure. But that doesn’t mean we all are. Some of us are just trying to cover our costs and have a little extra so we can feed OUR shopping addiction.
Freebies are just like any other marketing technique — it becomes less effective when it oversaturates the market. And, it seems to have. This is not unlike the complaints made about gridwide hunts.
Having said that, banning freebies/dollarbies is silly. It’s reactive, not proactive. If you don’t like what they are doing to the industry, find a new way to promote your business. Get people excited about buying your product. Just my opinion.
Syler Morgwain
May 5th, 2009
Tenshi I think this article is very articulate and makes a great point that freebie culture isn’t a disease that will infect and bring down the content creators. Thank you for speaking up.
I think there are a couple of things that were overlooked by these designers. First and foremost, the RL economy is in a huge downturn right now and that for certain will be echoed in SL. I know there are customers out there who are going to gripe, but that is the same in RL business. People exist who will try and take advantage or just are never satisfied, but its is essentially throwing the baby out with the bathwater when you let those few people ruin the whole idea.
I think we also need to recognize how freebies are a walking advert for stores. I wouldn’t have known about a lot of the stores I shop at without freebies leading the way. So because of freebies, stores now have my business. And lets just pretend for a second we lived in a freebieless SL. Basically we would be in a world where we have opened the flood gates for promoting even more content theft, because there are people on here who just won’t/can’t spend money.
Just because someone has a computer and downloads a *free* game, does not necessarily mean that they have extra cash to spend on dressing an avatar. By eliminating free or dollarbie clothes, it would essentially create a world where only the ones who have enough money would be able to make their avatar look decent. The rest would be relegated to freebie island goods. This seems to go against the purpose of SL in creating a community where you can be/do/look like anything you want. We should be bringing people together and helping those to learn instead of creating a separation between those who have money and those who don’t.
Alexx Usbourne
May 5th, 2009
I totally agree that freebies are a great way to test out a designer’s products. I can’t tell you how many L’s I’ve spent in places where I’ve gotten a freebie from a hunt and gone back to buy more.
If someone wants to give out a freebie, it’s their Linded-God-Given right to! And I will accept it, happily…I may or may not fall in love with it, but I’ll be damned grateful.
/me steps down from the soapbox.
Ohcomeon
May 5th, 2009
There’s nothing wrong with freebies. I have no less than 20 free outfits in my store, and very regularly set random items in my store to free, or either very cheap. I’m very generous with group gifts and even just handing shit out if people happen to be in my store. Half the fun of making things is having people enjoy them.
But if you’re going to give me grief for being a content provider, for working hard and wanting to make money doing it, you can kiss my ass.
Entitlement attitudes are the worst. Oh boo hoo hoo, you can’t afford lindens because you’re not making money in the game. You know what? Go make your own things then and quit trying to make everyone feel they owe you something.
Oh and you can’t have it both ways. Either we’re all lying about how much we make and we certainly can’t be making 1-2K a month or we’re all rolling in the dough and should be handing out things out for free now.
customer
May 5th, 2009
i am so sick of whiny designers
instead of pointing fingers at people “hunting” for freebies, maby they should try to look real hard at their stuff and ask them self, is my stuff really worth buying ? in many cases the answear is NO. so many really have to upgrade their skills… i want quality
i see a freebie like a buisness card.. i rush in, get the freebie leave again to avoid the crowd and i might not even look at it right away it might take days or weeks even months (yeah my inventory is a complete mess but i know the ins and outs
).
When i find the time to look at it i will be judging you by what i see, if i do not like it or it is poor quality, i will not even bother to go to your store and it will be deleted (you did not loose a thing, you might even gained 1 L$. If i like what i see and the quality is good i will come back that is for sure
Lavea
May 5th, 2009
“So I come down squarely on the side of the freebies and the consumer in this issue. Designers in world get a lot. They make upwards of 60K a year (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/25/AR2006122500635.html) and I’ve heard tell of 6 figure incomes for skin designers. I know from personal experience that even small shops can make 20K or more. ”
Apparently we need a financial manager because I have never made enough to make it worth cashing out my lindens. I’d really love to know how it’s done.
Stephanie Misfit
May 5th, 2009
I don’t think there are a large number of designers who look down on people who hunt for freebies. If they looked down on freebie hunters, they would never have provided gifts in the first place. I think that an increasing number of designers are just fed up with the appalling behaviour of a minority of freebie hunters, and due to their frustration with this there’s the potential for everyone else to miss out.
I don’t believe that a ban on freebies would be something many designers would sign up for, and it certainly wouldn’t be effective, but for designers who are really sick of the problems releasing freebies has created for them, it may be the way to go on an individual level. If it causes you enough stress that you don’t want to log on or make stuff, absolutely you should stop doing it. To those of you saying that designers are whinging, you really don’t need to look far to find examples of the crap some of them have had to put up with as a result of sharing gifts. This is an ongoing issue, and it’s been discussed many times in the past.
In terms of the impact of the high availability of quality freebies on designers’ sales, I can only speak from my experience as a customer. I spend much less money in world now that so much stuff is available for free (there were bugger all freebies when I started). I shop primarily for fun, to pass the time, and often it’s just as much fun to go shopping for freebies as it is to shop for items I need to pay for. Now that’s just me, but if a lot of other people are also spending less in world because they can get a lot of items for free, ultimately this will have an impact on sales for designers.
Ann Otoole
May 5th, 2009
The old tired designers don’t like the idea that we have found ways for our new and so very superior talent to become known eh?
Basically if nobody wants to buy your crappy old tired polished turds then by all means leave and don’t let the door smack your ass on the way out. Go on over to blue balls or whatever it is and discover your mad skillz are nothing compared to what is required for that system rofl.
Nothing like the flock of sheep getting in line. Had the golden child said freebies are good the little girls would be crooning about how good freebies are. It is pathetic. So are attention whores. Especially assholes that don’t even have a stake in a business sector yet try to stick their noses into the business of the business they are not even part of rofl. That is exactly the sort of people that got us to this current farce of an adult content debacle.
I give away over 20,000 gifts a month. (Average for the past year) I think I need to find a way to double that.
Ann Otoole
May 5th, 2009
Oh and I do so love to hear assholes call freebies garbage as they help themselves to stuff like the boots and hat I gave away only to see in 2 weeks they ripped the sculpts out of the cache and started selling cowboy boots themselves. Yea those nasty freebies. Oh damn nobody needs their nappyass zebra boots because they already have reptile boots for free from me! These damn freebies suck damnit! The freebies are ruining the economy! We must revolt against the freebies!
Such is the mentality of a lot of these whiners.
Stella
May 5th, 2009
How is it ruining the market if the people who get the freebies but never buy wouldn’t have bought anything anyway. I don’t run to stores because I get a “freebie” message unless I already know they make good stuff. I do explore and visit new shops around the ones I do go to. If I take a freebie and like it I’ll probably buy something right then and there just as a thank you for the freebie or atleast try to come back and get something later.
Ann Otoole: “Oh damn nobody needs their nappyass zebra boots because they already have reptile boots for free from me!”
lol@ nappyass zebra boots
Renee Harvy
May 5th, 2009
Not everyone is in retail for the same reason. Four Yip is an excellent example of someone who clearly is here for the joy of sharing her artisitic genius. I personally get a huge bang out of giving stuff away. I see freebies and cheapies as a great marketing tool, but they are also the way to get my work disbursed to the widest audience. It’s just a thrill to see people appreciate my work.
However, I make rent on my stores on even a slow day. And I make some spending money every good one. And that’s all I’m really in it for. I don’t need to make a living from SL. I understand that some people do, and just as people are panic-stricken in the real world with a shrinking economy and massive decreases in consumer spending, there is panic in SL. I’m not at all sure that a freebie boycott is the answer, but I understand the desire to try and find things that can be fixed. Some designers that I think a lot of are on the list as supporting the boycott. I’ve had to give ithe idea serious consideration because of that.
Allala
May 6th, 2009
Ana I <3 you also!!!!
darkley
May 6th, 2009
There are lots of people with entitlement attidues, from freebie hunters, to content creators who think they can dictate what other creators do
Shanessa Vendetta
May 6th, 2009
Come on they are doing this tried old discussion again. It seems every once in a while someone jumps on their soapbox and screams FREEBIES ARE THE DEVIL!! and the masses throw up their fists in unison and scream “here here” Whatever, I don’t know how many great stores I’ve found just because some blog posted a freebie from them. Good example, The lion hair from FOAM made me pop into a store I didn’t even know existed. When I got there I went gaga over the The Performer I hair and bought up the brown pack.. Tell me how that hurts the SL Economy??
Another example.. Tuli and her delicious skins.. She teases us with a skin from her new line once in a while. After I get a taste of what her new pack looks like I end up rushing to her store and buying up yet another bunch of skins from her. It’s called good marketing people.. Go to business school.
Ponder that for a moment all you freebie haters >.<
*Steps up on her soapbox* I say boycott the ones who are boycotting!!! VIVA LA RESISTANCE!!
Ann Otoole
May 6th, 2009
I don’t sell streetwalker hooker clothes so I doubt the boycott will have any impact on me at all rofl.
Polero
May 6th, 2009
As a (very) new designer I’ll continue giving out freebies, which are NOT substandard work, I see them as representative of the rest of my stuff – why get a name for making crap stuff?
Only been in business a week, and would still be unloved and unvisited if it were not for a couple of freebies I’ve had on offer – which have led to real sales, so am going to continue to do what works for me, and suggest others do the same.
Miss Jay
May 6th, 2009
NEVER EVER LET SOMEONE OR SOMETHING TELL YOU HOW TO RUN YOUR BUSINESS, YOU MAKE THE DECISIONS NOT THE OTHER “DESIGNERS” WHO WHINE THAT THEY LOSE BUSINESS BECAUSE BECAUSE YOU SELL A PRODUCT FOR FREE OR FOR A DOLLAR.
Dancien
May 6th, 2009
New Dan Rule: If your store doesn’t have freebies or some time of new avatar system, I’m not blogging you.
Anastasia Trefusis
May 6th, 2009
I just made a huge long comment on this over there but the gist of it…
- I don’t HAVE to spend money in SL, anything I buy for my avatar with my RL cash is a luxury I choose to buy.
- RL businesses have to advertise. Consider your free gift as advertising, it just costs you a lot less.
- If you give a free item to one person, or one million people, it doesn’t cost you any more. Marvel of SL. All it costs you is your time.
- If you whine and complain about customers, they will go elsewhere.
- There is a LOT of competition for my lindens, this is not 2004 when there were only a handful of good creators. There are a lot of good content creators out there. Why should I give you my lindens any more than the next one?
- In SL you can’t try on most things and you can’t return them, free gifts are a way to let customers try out your product. See what the quality is like, and if your product suits their style.
-in SL I don’t NEED to buy your product. I don’t really have to have another pair of jeans. My clothes don’t wear out and I don’t need them to keep warm. So why not offer some incentive to the SL consumer to part with those hard earned lindens?
- In this economy, it is more important than ever to give consumers some motivation to spend money in your store.
- Many new people will find your store as a result of hunts and your freebie getting blogged somewhere. Some will return to spend. Most will not. Just like in RL
- You have to speculate to accumulate.
- Don’t assume just because you were the hot shizz a few years back that this will always be the case. Just like in RL there will always be new “designers” nipping at your heels. Your product needs to be good and it needs to be seen. And honestly who really looks at SL fashion mags, don’t waste your money there. Bring people to your store. Let them try your product.
- SL design runs the gamut, just like in the real world. Some “designers” are merely copying rl designs, some are just retexturing full perms items, some are really creating their own work. Your work has to be good quality, a fair price, and appeal to at least some segment of the population. And in SL that’s a pretty wide style selection.
- Getting ticked off with customers who think your work is overpriced? If a lot are saying it, maybe it’s true. I have seen a lot of rip offs in SL. Crappy “gowns” with bad textures and smudgy details for thousands.
Those darn thigh high boots being sold as original designs for way too much.
Oh boy I could just keep going forever but RL beckons.
Something to keep in mind. We don’t “need” your product. It’s not rl where we need shelter or clothes to keep warm. The whole SL ecomony is built on people spending some of their disposable income on something purely for entertainment.
No one “needs” another pair of jeans for their av. So as “designers” you need to give us a reason to give you our money.
All you old schoolers feel entitled to make a bunch of money in SL? Well making something in SL or in RL does not guarantee you will make money. You are not “Entitled” to get paid just because you produce something. You are blessed to be doing something you probably really enjoy, and making some money off it. If you can make it into a business that supports your RL, more power to you. But you are not entitled to it, any more than making a dress in your basement at home entitles you to a show at Bryant Park.
Renee Harvy
May 6th, 2009
Lots of very valid points there Anastasia!
Blvd
May 6th, 2009
I don’t usually comment on this kinda stuff but there are some things I’d like to say. I have been a member of Second Life since Nov. 06.
-I’ve shopped at Artilleri numerous times, but honestly, I had forgotten about the shop. When the new outfits were released to the Gnubie store and I heard about it on a blog I picked them up. Then, I took my 4 alts over to the shop and bought some new outfits. Sometimes OLDER members of SL change styles, and forget what a place sells. ( I feel like another good example of this is Gala skins. First THING I bought in SL. She gifted the Nightshade and the pink skin. Do you have any idea how many times I went back and bought more?)
-As a member of 2 years, sometimes I don’t always want to spend a ton of cash of my alts, so I’ll check the freebie blogs to pick up some decent stuff. Thats how I found Romi skins, which I bought for an Alt and my main.
I am NOT a fashionista. I do not go to every store that Uma blogs, or search thru Ana’s credits to find out where she gets her stuff. I’m in SL to have fun and play dress up. I do not have the TIME or the funds to roll into every store, pick up demos , and search thru store inventories. I use the freebie “culture” to demo their products. I run in, pick up the good, and see if its a style or quality I like ( this also leans towards the point that if you are giving shitty freebies or something no one is ever going to wear, I wont be coming back). If a freebie is being given out that is crap, I feel like its a waste of my time, its insulting. This is FREE marketing with almost NO cost attached to it. Its not difficult to shade something a different color in PS and call it a group exclusive. I’ve used PS. I feel like these designers are out of control. And I will be banning the freebie banners. They complain that the flood of freebies is ruining their sales. No, THEY are ruining their sales by not being innovative, competitive or marketing well. They want to stifle these businesses that are thriving by using freebies as advertising and its absurd and reminds me of a monopoly. There are plenty of places that don’t give out freebies but are doing well, or have a freebie wall that brings people in. The more I think about this the more upset I get about it. The designers that are thriving from marketing like this are under attack. I think I saw something similar to this in the news recently : http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/22/time-warner-and-embarq-cant-compete-with-city-owned-isp-trying/ . If this was about impolite freebie grabbers it would be a personal decision and not a calling for a ban.
My message to designers: stop whining , pick up marketing and remain competitive.
FUUUUUU
@Vivianne – Amen!
Fidella Faulds
May 6th, 2009
A lot of freebies I get are not necessarily crap, but just not my style. I appreciate the hunts, but I am more likely to look for a list of participating shops and only go to the ones that I know. I think a lot of what’s happening is the ridiculously huge grid wide hunts. 500+ stores cannot possibly be to everyone’s tastes, and I absolutely won’t visit them all…I already know there’s not going to be a lot that I’ll keep.
Now here’s something I find to be totally amusing. The upcoming VIP Keys hunt, that you have to buy into for L$250. That’s about $1. And it seems like a great solution for everyone…the vendors get to split the proceeds, and hunters who participate have been promised nice items for their time. Win-win! Or not! The very same people who say they like freebies because they are more likely to buy from designers are bitching about a dollar! And I believe there’s another “hunt” like that one coming up in June. Frankly, I like the idea, mostly because the designers will be rewarded for putting up quality items, and I call that good marketing.
It’s like paying into a group that releases items in the notices. I belong to at least 10 of them now, and am not at all disappointed. Tuli, for example…I have received far more than the L$250 fee to join the group. Or katat0nik – MORE than generous than her requirement that you buy a measly couple hundred from her in order to belong to the group. Both these designers have my loyalty forever, and i really DO spend my lindens in their shops because of the way they treat their group customers. Again, I hear people say they won’t participate in a group that charges. I don’t understand that. Why shouldn’t the designers get rewarded at least minimally for giving us such fine products? Like I said, win-win.
If $1 is too dear for people to come up with, do what my friend and I do. Join fishing tournaments. We pay our tier with our winnings, we buy clothes, and we both got our VIP Key passes already.
I guess I’m saying I understand the designer’s frustration with the entitlement crowd, and I hope some new strategies will be employed that make things work out better for everyone.
Ann Otoole
May 7th, 2009
Given I can’t really comment on the pris blogs without getting attacked all I could say over there is this:
What is the number one item in this list:
http://trendwatching.com/briefing/
Kira McCallen
May 7th, 2009
Sounds like the shop owners need to practice the advice I give out as a mentor. “If someone is bothering you, mute them.”
Simple. That’s it. You don’t Have to have that 1 customer. And they’ll never know you’ve muted them. You can even play dumb.
Just mute the .01% that are truly harassing you about your quality/style/abundance of freebies, and carry on. You’ll feel much better.
Winona Karu
May 7th, 2009
Not that I feel entitled to freebies because I don’t, but if I saw that freebie ban sign in a shop I would immediately exit without even looking. When a designer gives away a freebie it makes for good customer relations because it says, I appreciate you guys. The other day I was in a store and the owner was there cheering people on for getting camping items and winning the items in her lucky chair, and I made my mental note that this is a place that I would be happy to spend my lindens. There is nothing worse in my book than a designer that puts themselves above everyone else just because they know how to use Photoshop. In fact, I have run in to some real biotches and a-holes, and I won’t go to their shops, not even for a freebie. Also, if it were not for freebies, I would not have a new favorite skin designer, so yes they do work. So to those designers that think they should be banned, please whine silently about them and don’t give them out, but don’t advertise the fact that you don’t want to give them out because it makes you look like the ass.
Lila Axel
May 7th, 2009
In the real world we receive free samples of lotions, perfumes…we have testers all over the place…we get to try on clothing in fitting rooms before we drop our credit cards and hard earned cash at the register……. I see freebies in second life as an extension of that, at least for mine and Niki’s store. We are giving people a taste of the quality of textures, the prim work, and layers that you will get. Some people are just negative nancy’s and feel the need to complain about anything and everything. You cant escape that kinda of douchbaggery…not even in SL.
Alexx Usbourne
May 7th, 2009
@ Ann–thank you for a great link!
Adding to that, IHOP had a free day, KFC had a free day…it works. If it didn’t, people/marketers wouldn’t do it. Especially in this challenging economic time, you need to dangle a carrot for people to shop.
Ziggy Quirk
May 9th, 2009
My point, which no one gets because they read the concept of “Freebie ban” and are too busy shitting themselves to pay attention to the rest of it, is this: No one has a right to abuse or hassle a designer for freebies. Ever.
No one has a right to IM a designer and call them a selfish bitch because they don’t have a freebie out at the moment. No one has the right to demand that products be given away for free.
Somewhere along the line the attitude to freebies went from “Wow, thanks for that!” to “You bitch! I hate you! I’m telling all my friends I hate you because you don’t have enough freebies!”.
Ballsax
May 10th, 2009
Oh Ziggy Quirk I remember you were the creator who made that terrible yt plea telling people how sl was going to be if people kept thieving and when approached with how many stolen mp3s or programs you have on your computer you deleted it I don’t think your logic is very strong.
It’s true no one has the obligation to give out freebies but a freebie ban over being a bit asshurt is ridiculous. People spend a lot of lindens on others’ creations and the outrage isn’t not receiving freebies it’s the way it has been presented.
As a punishment.
Sure there are some people that just slurp up freebies and never buy anything but a lot of people spend and spend and spend; Punishing them over some retarded, ignorant person iming you to ask
“PLZ CAN IZ HAV DROSS 4 FREE” is redundant and rude. Not everyone is like that and freebies for most are a bonus, lower quality than the rest of the products that actually cost Lindens and are nearly always something small.
If creators want to take away all rewards for being a good customer they’re both stupid and have way too big of an ego to ever run a fully successful business in secondlife.
Ziggy Quirk
May 10th, 2009
At the time I made the video I had about 7,000 illegal mp3s, which I no longer have due to a hard drive crash.
I also had a copy of Dreamweaver I didn’t pay for.
No one asked me that actually, I deleted the video for other reasons.