Originally Posted by Cindy Claveau

You make great stuff at a good price, Miriel, so I don't mean this to sound critical in the least. But have you pondered the actual hourly rate you're getting for your labor?

Originally Posted by Vaelissa Cortes

First off, I only make things as I want them for myself, if they sell, so much the better. I really like to get my items out there to the masses and see people enjoy them, but I know I can profit quite a bit from it, so I set them up for sale.

For most of my items, I check for similar and price mine about the same or a bit lower. I also believe in getting value for your money, so I make things copy & mod and toss in all possible variants and often include the ability to add your own tints to the touch menu and what not. Doing this has been especially popular with my trees .

I set most items at a bargain impulse buy price range and try to offer more than any competition feature-wise. Everything has free updates too, and I often toss in little items that go with the main one. Like for my top hat I tossed in a quickie sculpted cane and a halo for my angel wings, etc..

In short, I go for maximum "bang for your buck".

Originally Posted by Io Zeno

You know, going on Miriel's puzzle hunt (I got all the jewels, btw, haha) made me look again at the pricing on well made jewelry. And man alive, it is really overpriced, to me. I mean, a lot of people are charging 800L and up for what she charges 300-400L for (or gives away). I used to think she underpriced her jewelry but you know, there is no way I am spending 1k on a necklace that she and others charge half or less for. Yes, I know working with tiny prims is time consuming. But so is making sculpty anything or a lot of other things. They aren't really jewels, they are all plywood under the texture, ahem.

Originally Posted by Io Zeno

Now I don't even know why I wanted it, lol.

The older I get in SL the less I spend, I'm afraid, unless it's an alt I get enthused about. I know Io has an inventory full of shit she never wore more than once.

Originally Posted by Cindy Claveau

Tekeli-li charges about half what most of the better jewelers do, and his complex prim stuff is all scripted for color change. I can get a really well done fantasy bracelet there for 115L, or a complete set (headpiece, earrings, bracelets, necklace) for 400L.

Originally Posted by Cocoanut Koala

Well, because we can't try on (clothes), we're apt to get stuff that doesn't look so hot on us - just like rl.

And if you're like me, you might go on binges that are . . . kinda ridiculous. Especially during sales. I have probably ten evening gowns - out of a couple dozen! - that I haven't even worn yet, and probably never will!

On the other hand, a girl's just gotta have new stuff. The full closet without a thing to wear phenomenon is just as real in SL as it is irl.

I like Little Rebel for both variety and price, and lots of casual things with personality.

Course, part of my problem is that most of the time I'm getting my hands dirty, with lumber and paint and suchlike, and it just doesn't feel right being dressed up doing that.

coco

Edit: There are demo clothes?

Originally Posted by Io Zeno

If only we could demo clothing, I would save myself a lot of wasted money and buy a lot more at the same time.

Originally Posted by Ran Garrigus

People should mention it more to clothing makers. Like I said, Adam n Eve has demos of just about all their clothes. I believe Blaze has demos on at least some clothes too. I need to double-check that, though.

It's a lot of extra work and extra texture uploads, of course, which is probably why most don't do it. But I think it really helps when you're considering purchasing something expensive.

Originally Posted by Mourna Biziou

Crack is a horrible drug.

Originally Posted by Io Zeno

But you can't price by the hour of work in SL or everything would be outrageously expensive.

Originally Posted by Chav Paderborn

I do sometimes wonder about the number of people in SL doing hours of graphics/modelling work for pennies.

I'm terrible at pricing things. I just picked a number I'd pay and make myself stick to a pricing scheme, otherwise my prices would be all over the place. I've thought about lowering prices and hoping to sell more, but people tell me lower prices somehow put people off. Sometimes I go "It took me hours and I'll probably only sell one of it. Damn right it's 100Ls!" Plus I'm now sharing a shop with other people and don't want to undercut them. Which has at least stopped me just pricing everything at 5Ls. Maybe I could do a sale sometime to get that out of my system.

Originally Posted by Eata

When I started I undercharged (1200 instead of an average price of around 1500). Since then we have slide up the scale as things become more complicated to the max of 2000.

I never was so sure about undercharging but you can always increase with more products. People will connect higher prices with a higher quality product regardless of actual quality, at least for the initial sale.

Originally Posted by Io Zeno

You know what, this is also true. If your stuff is priced higher than average people will think it may be special. If it really is, then I guess you have just made a good market for yourself. However, you will not have the volume of impulse purchases. People will think about how much they really want it first.

Originally Posted by Mourna Biziou

Yes, my dad has another saying. (I love his sayings, so shoot me. ) "You can price yourself right out of business."
The obvious meaning is that you can price things too high and no one will buy them. But he also uses it to mean that you can price things too low, thereby lowering the inherent value.

Originally Posted by Io Zeno

For popular items like clothing you can make up for it with volume, if you price it low. But then I would suggest you make your inventory quite large. If you only have a few very special things, then you can price it higher.