That said…

I agree entirely with this post from both ends, as a creator and as a consumer. The things I look for (next to quality) are a follows:

-Do they have a landmark
-Do they have their name in the product title & items.
(For instance- I put +>A&A<+ before my product title, Sn@tch puts :::Sn@tch:::, Tiny bird writes tiny bird etc etc. Helps keep things organized! I like it best when things have the name in front of the item as well- when it doesn't, it just looks sloppy to me, but I'm really picky…)

Anyway- probably not entirely relevant, but hey…
♥

First of all, yes, I’ve always been a freebie whore. I was extremely lucky in that the reason I even came into SL was because of a job offer, whereas most have to hunt long and hard to make their Lindens. But even so, this is currently my only steady source of income and thus I’m extremely tight with my L$. I scrounge through XStreet for every freebie and dollarbie with remote value to me. I recently got addicted to Hunts, but at the same level as Darkley—I keep maybe 1% of what I find, not because of quality (which is often very good) but quantity. Being a money-tight guy in SL is worlds harder than being a money-tight gal (unless you -want- to look like a ghetto trash wigger/chav or grunge-will-never-die hobo, in which case you’ll be swimming in clothes).

Anyway, I digress from the story I wanted to share. I’ve also recently started hitting up the Midnight Mania boards offering stuff for guys. Being anti-social and having a slightly older computer, I usually don’t wait for shops or the people in them to fully rez. Go in, slap the board and or/grab any freebies offered, and leave. I went into a shop today to look at a bracelet on the MM board there and at first took no notice of the other person there—the owner himself.

Next thing I know he’s calling out to me, and I checked the local chat. I had just gotten off of work and hadn’t switched out my group tag. We strike up a conversation about where I work (an estate agency I’m not gonna plug here), how he used our sandbox sim when just starting out, etc. etc. and ends up offering me any item from his store free of charge.

I take my time and pick out a really great belt, talk with the guy some more about the lack of menswear in SL, and end up the encounter with buying two more items, subscribing to his update group (and snagging another great free gift in the process), placing his store in my picks to help him spread the word (I’ve put the SLURL in the website field here. He’s just starting into clothing, and even though the selection is small at the moment, the quality is top shelf and the prices very budget-friendly) and most importantly, making a friend.

The moral of this story, folks, is that none of this would have happened if it weren’t for freebies.

I think there is a huge ‘OMG U DO FREEBIES’ thing going on where if you do it for a hobby, even if you go back and shop, you get branded as someone who never buys something. It’s a pretty terrible thing if you get enough people trying to brand you for doing something you like (though it is very common on SL anyway, not even just for freebies).

Overall I think this was a very good post on the stand for what things are. I may not always take the time out to thank people (because I’ve had creators be unhappy that I capped their IMs just with a thank you themed message). But I really hope people take a look at things and break the sterotype that tags the people that enjoy freebies or hunts.

There are probably a dozen shops that I have on my ‘go to’ list due to a freebie I have received at some point and time from them.

Many freebies are not what I am looking for and I do just delete them.

But there are those gems….oh and they are so lovely and I am a very thankful recipient.

I try to always send an IM to the designer who blows me away w/ his or her generous gift.
And let them know how very much it is appreciated.