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MadamG Zagato · 01-21-2009, 12:27 AM

Since LL has acquired OnRez and XStreet, will you continue to spend advertising money there if LL is to acquire the profit from it? This means banner ads and enhanced listings.

Also, do you foresee LL integrating their "Featured" classifieds into the front page of XStreet?

**Circle Widdershins** · 01-21-2009, 01:40 AM

I really don't know which way I will go. I haven't yet paid for advertising on XStreet, which is probably why my sales there are pretty small beer.

It will depend on how they get combined. A combined [SL Classified's + XStreet enhanced listing] would deffo get my attention. And of course it all comes down to how much it costs, and would the return be worth it.

There was no Pie Option

Bellissa · 01-21-2009, 01:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Circle Widdershins

I really don't know which way I will go.

In my eyes this is a loss not a win.

~B

Aodhan McDunnough · 01-21-2009, 01:57 AM

I have no issues with it. It's essentially just a change of where the money will go.

Bellissa · 01-21-2009, 02:59 AM

It's a change in who controls it. I have issue with that.

Customer service had a great reputation. I don't expect that to continue.

Xstreet customer service not only dealt with the merchants issues as soon as they could but dealt with numerous 'buyers' who the merchant should expect to have to deal with now.... I don't have issue with that, but I just know it's not going to be as smooth as it was and the ones the customers are going to take it out on are the merchants.

Surprise!

~B

Lewis Luminos · 01-21-2009, 06:16 AM

I don't like the idea of LL having control of Xstreet. That, combined with the closure of Onrez, is a blatant monopoly and they're not even bothering to hide it. I will be closing my Xstreet store and, I guess, ceasing to sell at all because it's just not worth the expense.

Tya · 01-21-2009, 06:32 AM

i don't advertise

**Sarah Nerd** · 01-21-2009, 06:46 AM

I've advertised on slexchange quit a few times. As long as prices don't get worse, I'm sure I will again in the future.

nimil blackflag · 01-21-2009, 06:56 AM

i really don't think this is the part to worry about.. i have bad feelings about this merger though.. right now we are just going to see how it goes. if it looks like the ship is sinking we'll pull out.

at the moment i have pulled all of my earnings out of xstreetsl just to make sure my money doesn't disappear suddenly. we hardly ever advertised our stuff on xstreetsl though.. so not too worried about that change.

Galen McGinnis · 01-21-2009, 07:15 AM

Business is business, get on with it, do what makes you the most. This isn't some grand ethical dilemma like child labour or environmental damage.

Persephone Milk · 01-21-2009, 07:24 AM

I will continue to advertise and offer my products on SLExchange. It has been a moderately productive part of my sales strategy for years. It doesn't bother me that Linden Lab is going to profit from my sales. I pay them over five thousand dollars a year anyway. I don't see how them making a few hundred more from me would get me to pull out.

That said, I am not happy about this. Not so much because I think they will ruin SLExchange. They won't. In time it will become tightly integrated into the viewer and this will be a plus, especially for newer residents. It will make it easier for people to find products they want, and will likely increase sales over all.

What bothers me is that Linden Lab has said repeatedly that they believe services like this are best innovated and run by residents. I came believe this as well. I was hoping - rather than buy out SLExchange and shut down OnRez - that they would create a means by which these services, and others, could integrate themselves into the viewer. Perhaps a set of web services, interfaces or protocols, search tool plug ins - something that would encourage more innovation and creativity, not stifle it.

I am sure the owners of SLEXchage are making a nice sum on this sale, and that they are not unhappy at all. That isn't the point. This becomes a monopoly. Nobody else is going to want to create a competing service, once this one is integrated into the client. So, by doing this, Linden Lab has effectively shut down innovation in this area. I believed them when they said they didn't want to interfere in stuff like this.

All of that said I do understand why they feel they need to do this. Let's face it. If you are in world, and you want to buy some leather boots, the search tool is just about useless for this. This is very frustrating for me ... and it makes the new resident experience horrid. I am sure their goal is to make it easier for people to find the things they want, and they have never really done a good job helping people find products.

In the end, this will very probably work well. I just can't help but wonder if will discourage other innovations in the process.

Dancien Graves · 01-21-2009, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Persephone Milk

In the end, this will very probably work well.

I have great doubts that anything LL touches goes very well.

Aki Shichiroji · 01-21-2009, 09:37 AM

Ultimately, with the remaining SLX staff being transferred over to LL anyway, the money is essentially going to the same place. If you were spending money on ads and enhancements on the site to begin with, I don't see how it will be much different after the merger.

That said - I agree very much with Persephone's viewpoint that removing these two sites from third party hands is blatantly monopolistic, and I do believe that innovation around these types of sites is bound to stop.

On top of that, do we *really* need another search engine added to the client, when 'Search> All' and the other tabbed searches are there already? Or does this mean a complete overhaul of the search system? (Not that a complete overhaul of the search system would be ALL bad, mind you, but having seen how the implementation of the Google search module to SL went over, that makes me leery)

jacqueline trudeau · 01-21-2009, 10:14 AM

LL, Anshe Chung ... LL, Anshe Chung ... LL, Anshe Chung ...

I don't know ... tough call there.

Jahar Aabye · 01-21-2009, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bellissa

Customer service had a great reputation. I don't expect that to continue.

Xstreet customer service not only dealt with the merchants issues as soon as they could but dealt with numerous 'buyers' who the merchant should expect to have to deal with now.... I don't have issue with that, but I just know it's not going to be as smooth as it was and the ones the customers are going to take it out on are the merchants.

Surprise!

~B

Dunno, my experience with the XSL support was not that good. It took them several days to delete loads of spam from our product comments pages. That's completely unacceptable.

Rhonda Huntress · 01-21-2009, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Persephone Milk

What bothers me is that Linden Lab has said repeatedly that they believe services like this are best innovated and run by residents. I came believe this as well. I was hoping - rather than buy out SLExchange and shut down OnRez - that they would create a means by which these services, and others, could integrate themselves into the viewer. Perhaps a set of web services, interfaces or protocols, search tool plug ins - something that would encourage more innovation and creativity, not stifle it.

Something like this?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doubledown Tandino

I have, and will always continue to use Metalife to buy and sell anything. I never got into xlstreet (slexchange) or onrez. It takes the entire experience out of being in Second Life.

Here's why I use Metalife over the product buy/sell sites:

a) Metalife charges NO fees, EVER. Free to sell, and they don't take a cut. Why pay Linden Lab a percentage of ALL your profits?

b) Anyone can search and buy items, anytime, instantly, through the metahud or metakiosk without going to a website. Why goto a website and use a clunky search?

c) ANYONE can sell your items you've created FOR YOU.

d) Metalife is NOT Linden Lab owned.

So, that's my recommendation. You can pick up the free metatools kit here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Amydria/60/153/503
Or by clicking a metakiosk or metavoter you see anywhere inworld.

Check out their site: www.meta-life.net

I have never used meta-life and honestly had never heard of it until today. I am just saying these people are about to have a hard time keeping up with the official LL processes. Why go find a HUD when the tool will be incorporated in every broswer attached to the grid.

Aminom Marvin · 01-21-2009, 02:32 PM

I've avoided XStreet as much as possible for the last six months due to its part ownership by anshe chung and shit business policies. I'll probably post more or my products, and advertise more now, because the way I see it, though LL has a poor record, Virtuatrade's is worse.

**Io Zeno** · 01-21-2009, 02:37 PM

If Apotheus is going to be a Linden then he is still getting the money in a way, heh.

Persephone Milk · 01-21-2009, 06:24 PM

Recently, XStreet and OnRez rebranded themselves ostensibly with the intention to broaden their reach to service other grids, and potentially other virtual worlds / MMOs. I can't help but wonder if Linden Lab was driven to this decision at least in part by the desire to thwart (or control) that evolution and prevent alternative grids/worlds from gaining an advantage.

**Psyke Phaeton** · 01-21-2009, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Persephone Milk

Recently, XStreet and OnRez rebranded themselves ostensibly with the intention to broaden their reach to service other grids, and potentially other virtual worlds / MMOs. I can't help but wonder if Linden Lab was driven to this decision at least in part by the desire to thwart (or control) that evolution and prevent alternative grids/worlds from gaining an advantage.

It is fruitless, long-term, to try and control something that is open. This will become clear if they buy something else that also supports OpenSim.

**Psyke Phaeton** · 01-21-2009, 07:16 PM

There is an alternative path here. What if LL is setting up to skim profits from SL and OpenSim based grid sales?

Rooke Ayres · 01-21-2009, 08:48 PM

I've got no problem with the merge. I've never had a problem with XStreet SL. I've never advertised, but I've always felt that the tiny percentage of my sale was worth the service they provided.

To sum it up, I'm good with it and will continue doing business as usual.

Maybe if LL ties XStreet SL in with Search, the XStreet SL merchants might get more traffic. That would be nice if that happened. No complaints there.

Lo Jacobs · 01-21-2009, 11:01 PM

Mainly I'm just worried that it's going to start taking two weeks to get my money to PayPal again. I really hate that. I really really hate that.

AlterEgoTrip Svenska · 01-22-2009, 06:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rooke Ayres

I've got no problem with the merge. I've never had a problem with XStreet SL. I've never advertised, but I've always felt that the tiny percentage of my sale was worth the service they provided.

To sum it up, I'm good with it and will continue doing business as usual.

Maybe if LL ties XStreet SL in with Search, the XStreet SL merchants might get more traffic. That would be nice if that happened. No complaints there.

You know something, I wouldn't have a problem with the merger either if they didn't just kill off OnRez, for me that was a wasteful act that shows the possiblity of a better product can't be allowed to survive up against the popular format.

Which one was bigger, why didn't they let both merge or both remain seperate, why aquire something only to kill it?.. ect..

There is one thing someone brought up which holds validity to the topic and that is, they bought OnRez because it was the other viable option had they just bought only SLX, and perhaps this alone is why I don't want to start doing buisness with SLX.. I feel as though it were forced on me and that my illusion of choice didn't mean anything to them.. and obviously they see the bottom line, which is reasonable, but to a point I am certain they could have had unpaid mentors looking after both projects.

I have option three as an off world web based site, mentioned here Apez.. the vending systems ARE quite flexible but then they do take 5% and their shopping interface at this time off world isn't very pretty, but is NOT as ugly as SLX.

for all of the people who want a new choice.. perhaps we should polarize and start looking into newer options. Its only a question of how we really feel about the situation and its true, if this change didn't hit home so badly, I certainly would have not cared as much.

I will also take off my property off the 30 linden a week search.

Parker McTeague · 01-22-2009, 08:01 AM

I don't mind giving LL my money. If it gets me results I'll pay them for advertising. I already pay for a classified ad, so why not?

View Poll Results: Will you contiinue to spend money on advertising at XStreet if LL gets the profit?
Yes I will	27	49.09%
No I won't	14	25.45%
No and I will pull my current banners/enhanced listings also	5	9.09%
Other see response	9	16.36%
Voters: 55. You may not vote on this poll

01-21-2009, 12:27 AM	#1 (permalink)
MadamG Zagato Banned Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 1,788	Questions for XStreet Merchants Since LL has acquired OnRez and XStreet, will you continue to spend advertising money there if LL is to acquire the profit from it? This means banner ads and enhanced listings. Also, do you foresee LL integrating their "Featured" classifieds into the front page of XStreet?

01-21-2009, 06:16 AM	#6 (permalink)
Lewis Luminos The Gingerbeard Man Ginger Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: UK Posts: 3,599 My Mood: SL Join Date: 08/11/2008 Blog Entries: 16	I don't like the idea of LL having control of Xstreet. That, combined with the closure of Onrez, is a blatant monopoly and they're not even bothering to hide it. I will be closing my Xstreet store and, I guess, ceasing to sell at all because it's just not worth the expense. __________________ -- Just Add Ginger -- -- Plurk -- -- last.fm -- -- flickr --

01-21-2009, 07:15 AM	#10 (permalink)
Galen McGinnis Making His List Vampified Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Federal Relocation Program Posts: 466 My Mood: SL Join Date: 9/22/2007	Business is business, get on with it, do what makes you the most. This isn't some grand ethical dilemma like child labour or environmental damage. __________________ "... There is no such thing as Paranoia. It's all true." - Hunter S Thompson

01-21-2009, 07:24 AM	#11 (permalink)
Persephone Milk Musical Alchemist My heart is drenched in wine ... Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Florida Posts: 3,065 My Mood: SLShopper Ads: 1 SL Join Date: October 5, 2004 Business: Musical Alchemy	I will continue to advertise and offer my products on SLExchange. It has been a moderately productive part of my sales strategy for years. It doesn't bother me that Linden Lab is going to profit from my sales. I pay them over five thousand dollars a year anyway. I don't see how them making a few hundred more from me would get me to pull out. That said, I am not happy about this. Not so much because I think they will ruin SLExchange. They won't. In time it will become tightly integrated into the viewer and this will be a plus, especially for newer residents. It will make it easier for people to find products they want, and will likely increase sales over all. What bothers me is that Linden Lab has said repeatedly that they believe services like this are best innovated and run by residents. I came believe this as well. I was hoping - rather than buy out SLExchange and shut down OnRez - that they would create a means by which these services, and others, could integrate themselves into the viewer. Perhaps a set of web services, interfaces or protocols, search tool plug ins - something that would encourage more innovation and creativity, not stifle it. I am sure the owners of SLEXchage are making a nice sum on this sale, and that they are not unhappy at all. That isn't the point. This becomes a monopoly. Nobody else is going to want to create a competing service, once this one is integrated into the client. So, by doing this, Linden Lab has effectively shut down innovation in this area. I believed them when they said they didn't want to interfere in stuff like this. All of that said I do understand why they feel they need to do this. Let's face it. If you are in world, and you want to buy some leather boots, the search tool is just about useless for this. This is very frustrating for me ... and it makes the new resident experience horrid. I am sure their goal is to make it easier for people to find the things they want, and they have never really done a good job helping people find products. In the end, this will very probably work well. I just can't help but wonder if will discourage other innovations in the process. __________________ . Musical Alchemy - Fine Musical Instruments by Persephone Milk See me on SLEx, My Blog, and at My Store

01-21-2009, 01:57 AM	#4 (permalink)
Aodhan McDunnough exp(ln(Gearhead)) Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Philippines Posts: 6,394 My Mood: Beer Tapper Gone Wild Champion! Apprentice : Dairy Queen Champion! SLShopper Ads: 2 SL Join Date: March 28, 2006 Business: Aodhan's Forge Blog Entries: 2	I have no issues with it. It's essentially just a change of where the money will go.

01-21-2009, 02:59 AM	#5 (permalink)
Bellissa Lurker Extraordinaire Fringe Dweller Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 116 My Mood: SLShopper Ads: 15 SL Join Date: 05/07/2005 Business: Neptune's Kiss - Jewelry & Emotions	It's a change in who controls it. I have issue with that. Customer service had a great reputation. I don't expect that to continue. Xstreet customer service not only dealt with the merchants issues as soon as they could but dealt with numerous 'buyers' who the merchant should expect to have to deal with now.... I don't have issue with that, but I just know it's not going to be as smooth as it was and the ones the customers are going to take it out on are the merchants. Surprise! ~B

01-21-2009, 06:32 AM	#7 (permalink)
Tya Gone makar-rasa Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 3,809 SLShopper Ads: 71 Blog Entries: 12	i don't advertise

01-21-2009, 06:56 AM	#9 (permalink)
nimil blackflag Junior Member Lab Rat Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 8 My Mood: SLShopper Ads: 14 SL Join Date: 6/11/06 Business: LuNi Designs XBOX Leaderboard: 39^th	i really don't think this is the part to worry about.. i have bad feelings about this merger though.. right now we are just going to see how it goes. if it looks like the ship is sinking we'll pull out. at the moment i have pulled all of my earnings out of xstreetsl just to make sure my money doesn't disappear suddenly. we hardly ever advertised our stuff on xstreetsl though.. so not too worried about that change.

01-21-2009, 09:37 AM	#13 (permalink)
Aki Shichiroji Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Toronto Posts: 1,886 My Mood: SLShopper Ads: 14 SL Join Date: 7/22/2006 Business: Organica	Ultimately, with the remaining SLX staff being transferred over to LL anyway, the money is essentially going to the same place. If you were spending money on ads and enhancements on the site to begin with, I don't see how it will be much different after the merger. That said - I agree very much with Persephone's viewpoint that removing these two sites from third party hands is blatantly monopolistic, and I do believe that innovation around these types of sites is bound to stop. On top of that, do we really need another search engine added to the client, when 'Search> All' and the other tabbed searches are there already? Or does this mean a complete overhaul of the search system? (Not that a complete overhaul of the search system would be ALL bad, mind you, but having seen how the implementation of the Google search module to SL went over, that makes me leery) __________________ Also See: Portfolio \| Blog \| Flickr \| Illustration

01-21-2009, 10:14 AM	#14 (permalink)
jacqueline trudeau dot commie Breakin' prims in the hot sun Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Shantytown Posts: 4,488 My Mood: SLShopper Ads: 4 SL Join Date: 07/15/2005 Business: Trudeau Classic Sailing Yachts	LL, Anshe Chung ... LL, Anshe Chung ... LL, Anshe Chung ... I don't know ... tough call there. __________________ Trudeau Classic Sailing Yachts

01-21-2009, 02:32 PM	#17 (permalink)
Aminom Marvin Notorious Griefer ffffffffffff Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 422 My Mood:	I've avoided XStreet as much as possible for the last six months due to its part ownership by anshe chung and shit business policies. I'll probably post more or my products, and advertise more now, because the way I see it, though LL has a poor record, Virtuatrade's is worse.

01-21-2009, 02:37 PM	#18 (permalink)
Io Zeno Meh SLU Supporter Stoking the fires of Hell Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: New York City Posts: 17,182 My Mood: Blog Entries: 1 Awards: 1	If Apotheus is going to be a Linden then he is still getting the money in a way, heh.

01-21-2009, 06:24 PM	#19 (permalink)
Persephone Milk Musical Alchemist My heart is drenched in wine ... Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Florida Posts: 3,065 My Mood: SLShopper Ads: 1 SL Join Date: October 5, 2004 Business: Musical Alchemy	Recently, XStreet and OnRez rebranded themselves ostensibly with the intention to broaden their reach to service other grids, and potentially other virtual worlds / MMOs. I can't help but wonder if Linden Lab was driven to this decision at least in part by the desire to thwart (or control) that evolution and prevent alternative grids/worlds from gaining an advantage.

01-21-2009, 07:16 PM	#21 (permalink)
Psyke Phaeton Senior Member SLU Supporter Running 'round in Circle's Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 7,185 My Mood: SLShopper Ads: 1 SL Join Date: 12-Oct-2003 Business: PDS HomeSecurity Orb - Security Orbs since 2004 Blog Entries: 4	There is an alternative path here. What if LL is setting up to skim profits from SL and OpenSim based grid sales?

01-21-2009, 08:48 PM	#22 (permalink)
Rooke Ayres Teh Hippie... Will work for LOLs Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: The Top of California Posts: 1,347 My Mood: SLShopper Ads: 16 SL Join Date: Dec 30, 2006 Business: The Rooke's Nest	I've got no problem with the merge. I've never had a problem with XStreet SL. I've never advertised, but I've always felt that the tiny percentage of my sale was worth the service they provided. To sum it up, I'm good with it and will continue doing business as usual. Maybe if LL ties XStreet SL in with Search, the XStreet SL merchants might get more traffic. That would be nice if that happened. No complaints there. __________________ Have a good one! Visit The Rooke's Nest on Good Vibrations Island. Bold Jewelry, Glasses, Pendants, Art, and Shiny Things

01-21-2009, 11:01 PM	#23 (permalink)
Lo Jacobs Kitten Fuzz Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 2,664 SL Join Date: May 2004 Business: Luster Blog Entries: 17 Awards: 1	Mainly I'm just worried that it's going to start taking two weeks to get my money to PayPal again. I really hate that. I really really hate that. __________________ MY STORE//MY BLOG//FLICKR//EMAIL

01-22-2009, 08:01 AM	#25 (permalink)
Parker McTeague little glowing friend Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 1,152 My Mood: SLShopper Ads: 9 SL Join Date: September 28, 2004 Business: Park Life Modern Homes and Interior	I don't mind giving LL my money. If it gets me results I'll pay them for advertising. I already pay for a classified ad, so why not? __________________ also you can read my blog!

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