Tag: SL Marketplace

To market, to market…

Posted on by Inara Pey

The public beta of the Second Life Marketplace appears to be up and running. I had some concerns when the beta was confusingly announced. Are they valid? Here’s a brief tour and initial reactions. More will likely come when I’ve had a chance to digest more, unless others get there first.

  • It is SL website bland, with the theme introduced with the “new look” website out in force. It’s not actually bad – just bland
  • Pretty straightforward for the shopper:
    • The search bar is at the top of the page (once you have logged in), and is hard to miss (there is an “include mature content” check box beneath it, which I assume will need to be enabled on a log-in by log-in basis)
    • Shoppers can also take pot luck and click on the large “category” picture that updates periodically (so you can get a direct listing of clothing, furnishings, etc., according to the image displayed) – which I assume links to paid item listings, although I’ve not investigated this
    • Or there is the Featured Items listing that scrolls along beneath the larger “category” picture
  • A My Marketplace option at the top of the page provides access to an individuals account and – most importantly for creators, access to one’s “store” (what were “listings” in XSL).

As I sell through XSL, this store option was of primary interest for me. Clicking on it took me to a rather long-winded ToS page I that must be accepted before one can access one’s store the first time. Some terms here may well cause ripples among those taking the time to read them, such as clause 5.4, vis: License. When you submit Content, you remain the original copyright holder. However in doing so you also grant
Linden Lab a non-exclusive, world-wide, royalty-free, sublicensable right to exercise the copyright, publicity, and database rights  you have in the Content. These rights allow us to promote, sell, and distribute your Content. While this is intended to indicate that merchants are giving permission to linden Lab to actually host their goods in order to be sold, the License does imply a lot more than that, particularly given the inclusion of the words worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable right to…., which given the angst around things like the TPVP and new SL general ToS may well cause gnashing of teeth as people take it to mean LL are claiming the right to sell what they like where they like (when in fact I would humbly suggest that the wording is intended to cover them should they opt to hive-off the Marketplace to one or more third parties to run on their behalf at some point).

There are other niggles within the ToS, which is the usual one-sided affair one tends to otherwise expect. However, I’m not going to get bogged down in minutiae here.

Once past the ToS page, one is confronted by something of a blank page, with a menu bar towards the top (beneath the banner) and a series of additional links down the left side of the page that mimic the top menu bar headings and include sublinks to the categories within each menu heading. Between them, these comprise:

  • Inventory: add new items to your store; manage the items in your store, perform bulk uploads, manage something called “coupons” (coming soon!) and generate reports
  • Orders: cancel a sale, redeliver an item and view transaction history – all of which intermittently and inconsistently kept flashing a “Coming soon!” pop-up at me when the Mouse hovered over them
  • Reports: also appears to be “Coming soon!”
  • Store Set-up: with Manage Assistants (“Coming soon!” ), Edit Store Information, Vacation Mode (Coming…you guessed it…), and View My Store
  • Help Resources: with links to the Merchant’s wiki, etc.

Looking a little more closely at some of these:

Edit Store Information allows you to enter limited info about yourself and your store. The boxes are free text, so it’s up to you what you use them for (within ToS guidelines). There are also boxes for you to include a link to a website and to an in-world store SURL.

View My Store displays your listed goods in an XSL-style format (images, name, price), with some degree of configuration in terms of the number of items displayed on a page. & limited sort options. Bland to look at, but actually smarter than XSL’s View My Listings format. As with XSL, clicking on an item takes you to its sale page, which includes an OnRez-style Revise Your Item button at the top right.

Item for Sale page - Merchant's View

Manage Inventory takes you to a clean (i.e. no images), paginated list of your goods, giving the name, number available, price, and options to Preview, Unlist and Edit. From here, Preview takes you to a Preview of a listing, similar to the image above, while Edit, rather unsurprisingly takes you to an editing screen where you can amend items….

The Edit page itself is vastly cleaned-up and easier to use than the old XSL – but is not without niggles. It would be nice, for example, that if a store SURL is entered in the Store Information page, it is by default carried over to all listings associated with the merchant. After all, the majority of people, I would guess, will have a URL to their flagship store – and having to re-enter the SURL over and over again seems to make a mockery of including it in the Info page (which is likely to be little-read. Of course, there will be some who’d like to send people to their different stores in-world – but by including a default, LL would save the majority additional copy/paste work.

I’d also like to see any website URL from the Store Info page carried over to individual listings, particularly as we’re limited to 2,000 character descriptions, so it would be nice to point to a web page where more info can be given.

A nice touch with the edit screen and the item display page is the inclusion of a FEATURES list, which appears on the finished listing as a tabbed item. This allows you to list specific features of the product for easy reference. Just a shame it is limited to 5 features, which really isn’t enough in this time of feature-rich products.

There are niggles, however: permissions set in XSL don’t appear to be carried over  – all my listings came out as being set NO COPY, NO MOD, NO TRANSFER – so I had no option but to edit every single item and reset the permissions. Also, the price of feature listings are now recorded on a page of their own, rather than in the listing options themselves. This means one is has to inconveniently open up a separate page and check the prices rather than simply reviewing and selecting when creating a new listing.

I’m sure others will find more and have deeper views on the merchant side of things, but this is enough for now.

On the customer side of things, Search still seems as hit-and-miss as ever….but again, if my listings are anything to go by, people will have a lot of tweaking still to do, so sharper keyword usage may help.

The new shopping cart is liable to cause some angst. No more quick visits to XSL, find your item and click to purchase. Now you have to follow the “web standard” of dropping things into your cart and then going to the checkout…

The shopping cart

This arrangement does have its advantages – especially when buying multiple items – but how many of us do? Be prepared for grumbles. Certainly, having more flexible payment options is a good step forward – but those paying in “real” currency, beware the hidden charges!

Overall, it’s not a bed attempt. Again, I really cannot see why they couldn’t allow so text formatting in the shape of BB code or even HTML formatting  – or why animate gifs have been banned. Neither would do a lot to damage the new layout; indeed, one could argue they’d actually brighten what is otherwise a terribly flat, bland affair when browsing.

There is a lot still to be done, given this is only “Beta” – and I hope LL have learned their lesson with Viewer 2 and won’t suddenly start ramming SLM at all and sundry. Certain things do need fixing & explaining, such as the “find your fav stores inworld” link….which currently takes you to the SL sign-up page *Ahem*. There are also rather a lot of “coming soon” items – some of which I would have thought would be “here already”, given they are needed by merchants (transaction histories, as an example); but providing they come along before SLM is declared “fit for action”, they shouldn’t be too much of an issue.

ADDENDUM

Since starting this piece, I got sidetracked into fixing my own listings….as such I missed the emerging thread on the Beta, wherein several major issues I’d overlooked have been raised.

Surveying Content

Posted on by Inara Pey

I’m a content creator. I’m not a major player; I’d don’t build as a “business” I build because a) it is creative, and I can build better than I can paint or draw in rl;  and b) the things I make are comparative quality-wise with other items in the same market categories and so selling them helps offset my land costs.

So… being something of a small fish, I was surprised to find an e-mail from Pink Linden (she who is “in charge” of XStreet and commerce). Here’s the content:

Second Life always seeks to improve your experience with us. In order to improve that experience, we are surveying merchant opinions to understand more about how you sell virtual goods now and how you might like to sell them in the future.

The survey presents several concepts that are example of ways Linden Lab might be able to further support Second Life merchants and the inworld economy. None of these concepts are currently on our development roadmap, they’re just hypothetical scenarios that we’d appreciate your thoughts on.

Please take the survey (link below) and give us your input. It should take about 10 minutes to complete.

Follow this link to the Survey:
[removed]

If you have questions about the validity of of this survey, I invite you to contact me in world.

Thank you in advance for your time,

Pink Linden

The link in question lead to a multi-page survey relating to XStreet, merchandising and what Linden Lab “might” do (and I’ve long ago learned that “might” in Lindenspeak tends to mean “will”). And it makes largely horrifying reading. To summarise:

  • LL are considering introducing an in-world vendor system that will provide a “guaranteed delivery” and “comprehensive sales statistics” that will allow merchants to sell the goods they have listed on XStreet in-world. The lab will take between a 10-15% “commission” on all sales passing through these vendors.
  • LL are considering a “cross listing service” whereby you can sell your item in-world, on XStreet and get a featured classified for 5-10USD per item you chose to have in this promotion.
  • LL are considering establishing a mall where merchant of any size can have a store for “free” (as in no tier), but LL will take a 30% commission on each and every sale.

Even if the above are being posited as being mutually exclusive to one another, they are all insidious.

  • In-world vendor system: err, these already exist and supplied by a range of in-world creators. Think Hippo, think Jevn, etc. So Linden Lab are now proposing extending their content creation efforts (which started with prefab sims) to compete drectly with established names in SL. Is this the thin edge of the wedge? Even the terminology “guaranteed delivery” is offensive as it is suggestive both that a) other systems are not as reliable (they are, almost ALL failures to deliver goods can be attributable to failures within the SL infrastructure rather than external websites) and/ or b) these vendors will magically circumvent said failings in the SL infrastructure.
  • Cross-posting: many content creators are not in it for the business, they are here for pleasure. As such, a $5-10 US DOLLAR (not Linden Dollar) per item would cripple their ability to “make” money. Thus, LL are immediately creating a favoured nations status of classified ads and promotions only available to those merchants with high turnover, while the smaller merchants are left to struggle onwards.
  • LL-defined mall: again, another opening to LL-defined and controlled content. And that’s assuming it would be “a mall”. Practically speaking, were any decent number of merchants to sign up for this option, LL would have to think seriously about multiple malls in order to (among other things) a) avoid crippling lag; b) provide sufficient space for creators (they promise to support “everyone”, so just 4 or 5 builders of residential properties are going to represent a massive investment in land area). And again, how many store holders will benefit? How many actually have 30% of their income floating around to justify taking up space in the “mall”? What about any existing stakeholdings in land they have? Again, high turnover merchants may benefit – but what about the smaller people. And there’s more: how is this “super mall” or mall network going to be promoted? What impact will it have on existing malls and stores? With (no doubt) MOTD banners point to it, e-mail drops to users, etc., just how much interference will it cause to other businesses of this time?

Beyond this, one has to question how any of these ideas will sit with some of the “content management roadmap” proposals. For example: Merchant A meets all the criteria outlined in the “roadmap” (has an account in good standing, has a turnover in excess of X, etc.), and goes through all the pain of registering as such. Merchant B however, forgoes sign-up because he does not have an account in good standing but opts to use “LL certified vendors” and/or take a slot in the “LL certified mall”. How do buyers distinguish between the two? Both would appear to be equally-well “certified”….

Some have said that even if enacted, these proposals will be voluntary, not mandated, and so they don’t present a “risk” or aren’t a matter of concern.

Wrong. While the programmes may not be mandatory (so those screaming about having to shell out more money can calm down) – the fact remains they will create more of a two-tier content retail environment. The are also setting a precedent for further direct competition with merchants – today vendor systems tomorrow houses or furniture or (God help us) “LL certified BDSM toys”? The mind boggles at the potential avenues for direct competition this opens up for LL.

True, were any one of these proposals (and I do rather suspect that, in typical LL “tried and trusted” “programmes” in the past, it’ll be more a case of were all three of these proposals rather than just one or two of them) to be implemented, the impact on in-world commerce would be initially small – but it would be cumulative over time. And it would be the smaller merchants hit the hardest due to their inability to compete with those who can afford LL’s effective patronage.

Then there is the risk of abuse – the risk that unscrupulous merchants can use these proposal to their advantage simply but throwing money at LL. As mentioned above, people can gain the appearance of being “LL certified” simply by using so-called “certified tools”.

These are bad ideas.

The only idea that potentially has merit, and the one I’ve not mentioned so far, is the “Merchant Marketing Program” which, in the LL spiel:

would provide exclusive use of branding systems, customized store systems (such as a custom URL/SLURL and web storefront), and automatic consideration for large scale promotions. Also included is a data dashboard to enable you to track purchases in real-time. Customer service tools such as AvaLine mean that you are always able to talk with your customers.

Membership in the merchant marketing program would be available at a cost of $10-100 USD monthly, depending on sales volume.

Providing people with the means to break out of the god-awful XStreet listing environment and present their goods in a branded, manageable web store is clearly a valuable and viable option. What is more, the fact that the commission charged is based on sales volumes means that this option becomes as affordable to small merchants (who may already be paying around $12 a month for promotional listing on XStreet to get noticed) get a dedicated storefront and URL they can promote themselves any way they like for potentially the same cost. For merchants operating large land areas, the option is equally attractive: land holdings (and associated tier) can be reduced in favour of a custom on-line store, with the need to retain only land sufficient enough to demo goods to those who wish to view before they buy.

Beyond these specific proposals, a final issue I had with the survey was it’s sheer intrusiveness. LL demanded to know, for example, my gender, age range, the hours I spend in SL, my preferred activity (singular) while in-world (I regard my interests here as being divided between building (+scripting / texturing), role-play, socialising and exploring – yet I could only define my time in terms of just one of these). It is hard to see how such questions could have an impact on any decision to implement one or more of these proposals – so why include them.

At the moment, the vociferous (and partly ill-informed) firestorm over on the LL blogrum related to this survey is a little over the top. BUT, by the same token, that yet another “marketing specialist” in LL is pushing an agenda that comes across as potentially hostile to some sectors of the community, people should be aware of these suggestions, and have a right to be concerned.

Shifting the paradigm?

Posted on by Inara Pey

Yesterday, a rumour started that Linden Lab were making moves on XStreet SL (formerly SLexchange) – the successful web-based “out-world” shopping facility created by Apotheus Silverman.

Some dismissed it as nothing more than a disgruntled employee from XStreet stirring the waters. However, Linden Leb themselves have confirmed the situation – and the fact that they are taking over / shutting down OnRez.

This is nothing short of a major paradigm shift in Linden Lab’s business, and now fully explains why the Alphabet Lindens (M (Kingdon), Z(danowski), T (Hale) et al) have been going on about the importance of content. Simply put: content generates continuous commerce far more than land sales, which rise and fall (albeit with bigger profit margins) depending on such vagaries as rl market conditions, user ebb and flow, the level of trust people have in LL and the most recent farago spawned by LL.

Content, on the other hand, is a steady-state exchange, and while Linden Lab makes money through the LindeX each time we purchase our Linden Dollars, they are missing out on a revenue stream represented by XStreet, where the company takes a percentage of every transaction made – and the transaction figures are pretty impressive. Thus, at a stroke, LL get this percentage – and are free to raise it as “market conditions” demand.

But really, this matter cuts deeper than a simple “money grab”.

  • “out world” sales hs been a booming market, particularly on XStreet, which is approachable, well-laid out, and has three important elements: user feedback, its independent forums and – most critically perhaps from LL’s perspective: a search engine that works. Shopping on XStreet is popular because it is easy. Whatever you want is relatively easy to find. The current tool provided by LL is not user friendly. Shopping using it can be a frustrating mix of keyword experiments and pot-luck Tps. Thus, people use XStreet straight from the comfort of their own (SL) homes. And even if they do visit a store in-world, chances are the SURL came from XStreet more readily than LL’s search tool.
  • XStreet provides LL to “showcase” content. Shopping in SL is very granular. It’s about objects. It’s easy to get individual items – lounge furniture, garden furniture, individual chairs, tables, etc. But what about coalescing products into related groups. For eample: want to buy a house right now, and furnish it? You need multiple searches with the LL search tool, and pot-luck on shop visits to assess item quality. Now, with the XStreet tool comes the ability for them to provide a search tool that lets you readily find houses and all associated content (furnishings, beds, kitchens, etc.), all from a single “high-level” search. In many respects, this is no bad thing – so long as LL don’t start showing favouritism as to which content creators get to be flagged for these “high level”, one-stop searches
  • Xstreet is a “trusted” brand. While nascent opensim grids have a way to go before they are in any way “trusted” or “viable” (although some show promise and could well mature into 2010). Hence, a good choice for content creators from elsewhere to use to sell their wares in the future – thus LL have squarely staked out a claim to potential Opensim “emerging markets” and income they may generate. There’s even a case, as Dusan Writer points out, for the Xstreet acquisition to re-open the doors to LL’s “interoperability” with Opensim grids in terms of service provisioning.

All of the above could spell positive notes for all; so what if LL are taking a piece of the action: a new, properly-granular search engine that delivers results based on criteria / keywords can only help improve our search experience. Similarly – and with certain caveats – the “one stop” searches for related items could go a long way to rerducing user frustration. And having a trusted, viable “out-world” sales channel could well help the more viable Opensim grids get their acts together fiscally and “corporately”.

But there are downsides.

For a start, XStreet is perhaps the last large-scale bastion of free (forum) speech on SL. We’ve already seen how LL have coralled freedom of expression on their blog and their own forums. Expect the same in XStreet – assuming the forum survives. Which I doubt.

Also…content sales provisioning is not an awfully big step from control of content for sale. Zdanowski talks about “exciting times” for merchants, and the opportunities for “partnerships” with LL. And herein sounds a note of danger. We’ve already seen one behind-closed-doors partnership deal suddenly pop-up in terms of the USS sailing deal.

One could argue that that situation was somewhat different – true. But the precedent it set applies nevertheless. It demonstrates that LL will align themselves with whoever they feel is of the most use to them, and the heck with anyone else in the same game. Thus the worry here is that in moving into content sales, SL will seek to leverage the larger, more established (and “acceptable”) businesses to further the attraction of XStreet to SL users – at the cost of the smaller merchants and businesses, who are left struggling to gain visiablity against ill-defined “acceptance criteria”.

Prokofy Neva – in one of her more lucid posts – also raises some valid concerns on the acquisition – and some very interesting points (particularly Zdanowski’s real estate background and LL moving into the “real estate” business). Again, they’ve dabbled in the past with “prefab sims” on a small scale (Mos Ainsley of OpenSpace imfamy and its cousins spring to mind), so one does wonder what is coming next: a move towards prefab sims to compete against private island sims?

“Yes, ladies and gentlemen, LL announces the prefab Homestead! Buy your sim through our online store, and simply choose your preferred house from Column A, lounge furnishings from column B, bedroom furnishings from column C (etc)- and remember! all the merchants listed in this offer are LINDEN APPROVED!”

Sounds fanicful right now…and may remain that way….but the thought is worrying.

Prad Prathivi, writing in Metaversally Speaking puts it most succinctly:

“By acquiring both XStreetSL and OnRez, Linden Lab have essentially wrapped up the monopoly on marketplaces, and have once again showed us who Daddy is. As a company which can already use our content as they please in world (as per the ToS), and now demonstrating that they can acquire such resources as these popular marketplaces, does this mean that the Lab are looking to clamp down on the innovate market, and enforce their control in the name of profit?”

Indeed.

And what of more adult content? We’ve had the age verification farago once….but now even Phil Rosedale is tacitly admitting Teen Grid is a bust and hinting that it may be “merged” with the main grid (his comments that the main grid will be “for all ages” made at the recent Metanomics event). One cannot help wonder whether a darker side of content control is in the offing: who’s to say offerings made to whatever XStreet morphs into under LL’s management will not have to be vetted for “grid suitability”….. and if it fails to pass muster, it doesn’t get to be listed…?

And whither then?