pancake

Maybe it's just me, but I'm getting a teeny bit annoyed about people using the word "exclusive" when they are selling things in SL.

If it's a group exclusive, I'm thinking people who are not in the group aren't able to buy it.

If it's a holiday or event exclusive, I think that means it won't be available after the event/holiday is over.

Apparently all it mean now is... new? Sometimes not even that.

Anyone else noticing this?
Do I just have a case of the crankies?

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Inhandra

I share your ideas about what exclusivity is intended to mean, but as I'm not a heavy shopper, I haven't noticed it being used incorrectly yet.

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Kokoro Fasching

It is exclusive between me, and anyone who may come into SL, or has been in SL, or may come into SL, or who may ask me for a copy on another grid, or another reality.

If you aren't from any of those, then you can't get it - so it is very exclusive..

Elric

SL really does mimic RL... even in marketing.

Many businesses misrepresent. The more profit oriented, often the more latitude is given with respect to the abuse of terminology in marketing. And some people simply don't understand what certain terms mean.

Sometimes I call people on their tactics but usually not (it's enough for me to just acknowledge the asshattery in my mind and move on). I just recognize that people are what they are and I trust almost no one.

I apologize if I sound jaded, but integrity and business are two words that are almost (not entirely, mind) mutually exclusive concepts no matter what world we're in. At least that's been my experience.

And... /me waves hi

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Elric

heh heh. perspective, yes indeed.

Ana Stubbs

Nope - I was disappointed to find something that I specifically bought then and there because it was a Vintage Fair "exclusive" available for sale at the creator's shop months after the event.

I figured I must have misunderstood what the term meant.

bubblesort

I had a misunderstanding like this over the word 'exclusive' with a GF once. It didn't end well.

IsaDaft Trollop

What I thought this thread was about.

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Stacey Farspire

I'm kinda guilty of this.

I've made items in colors/styles that were only available through either a mania board or hunts and would put 'exclusive' on the ad picture. And for a while, that was true. I never intended for them to be put on regular sale once the hunt was over or the board switched out. But then I decided to put both in their own separate gacha machines. So technically they are for sale, even though they say exclusive and there's the gacha randomness of getting said item you want.

I could just as easily mark the ads as "Made for..." instead of "[Mania/___ Hunt] Exclusive", but no one's complained about it. Does it bother people that much?

Ayesha Lytton

I assume exclusive means "for the duration of the event", not forever. I've been really disappointed a few times when I went to go buy something that I saw someone wearing only to find it was a limited item. From a business perspective, in SL, it doesn't make sense to limit anything when you can sell copies forever. It's a waste of the time invested in making the item. The best strategy is to make it free/cheap for a short time, get lots of them out there, then raise the price, and profit as people see it around and come to the store to get their own.

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pancake

It does bother me a little bit yes.

If it's something I want to buy anyway, no big deal.

However, if I'm buying something specifically with the understanding that it won't be available later, or won't be all over the feeds and grid, then I'd feel a bit cheated if it were.

Especially if it's a paid group exclusive. If I paid to join a group so that I could get group only colors or styles, and then saw those same ones readily available, I'd feel a bit let down by the creator and would keep that in mind for future purchases.

I do realize it's not always intentional. Time passes, creators think it's ok to put it out and don't mean any harm. I really don't think most are purposeful, we just have different understanding of the term.

I walked around a certain fair tonight and noticed that almost every store had "exclusives", some more than half their items were marked that way. I suspect we'll be seeing many of those in their regular stores very soon so it seems a little misleading to me to mark them that way because people interpret that term differently.

pancake

I agree, but why advertise it as exclusive then?

Sally Rosebud

I like limited edition items better than exclusive items, less people will have them!

pancake

I do too, but that's probably where my mistake is.
To me, the meaning of exclusive should be very similar to limited edition.

It might not have a set number of copies, but it has a set time frame or group only on requirement to purchase.

Stacey Farspire

Some of it might be popular demand, at least in the case of fairs. A merchant might originally plan to not sell it again, but might get so many requests for it later that they decide to cash in on that demand. I agree that this might miff people who want something relatively unique to the grid, who take pride in having something others can't get for themselves.

In my case, it'd just be a matter of going back and changing wording on a couple dozen ads. Some early ones would have to be redone entirely, since I stupidly didn't save the source files but that's no one's fault but mine. But that'll have to wait until I have the other major projects—including an upcoming fair and repackaging my entire stock—off my plate.

So until then, I apologize on behalf of me everywhere for not making my 'exclusive' items truly exclusive.

pancake

Awwwwwww!

As I said before, I really don't think most of it is purposeful false advertising. Just a misunderstanding of what the term means or a change in circumstances later down the road.

If it happened to me once, or a dozen times, I'd let it go but it's happening to me weekly now if not more so I had to ask if anyone else was noticing it, or if others have a different understanding of the term.

It wouldn't be the first time I was wrong!

pancake

A good example are LAP's exclusive poses at Pose Fair.

She has a sign specifically saying

To me, that's exclusive. They are also awesome poses

Now if 10 other people are marketing poses as "exclusive" but they fully intend to have them available in their store at the same price once the fair closes... I don't understand why they are using that term. I'd probably buy them anyway, so would many people, but it can be confusing.

Beezle Warburton

I'm a bit numb to misuse of the word thanks to "AS SEEN ON TV."

ONCE IN A LIFETIME OFFER!

FREE SET OF GINSU CUTLERY!

Etc.

Now, to me, one of the meanings of "exclusive" is "poorly made, over-priced, mass-manufactured rubbish."

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Aliselia Aeon

exclusive - definition of exclusive by Macmillan Dictionary

To me, it would mean available only at a certain event, or store. Unfortunately not all people will have the same understanding of a word. Also, sometimes people are just lazy when it comes to using proper terms. I would probably (if I were the merchant) say something like "Available exclusively at...*insert event or store, etc*, in order to make it more clearly understood.

I think one has to keep in mind that there are many in SL for which English is not their first language. That helps to complicate things.

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Aliselia Aeon

The word is definitely overused.

Soen Eber

I think I found it in "Kingdon's Dictionary of Non-Actionable Words" c 2010, Hubble Law Publishing, between "Exciting" and "Executive":

eku Zhong

exclusive should mean just that....
but like a lot of things in SL .. i think ppl just bandy about words because it makes their otherwise banal whatever seem more desirable...
its a pet peeve of mine..

but theres an awful lot of stuff that isnt exclusive or goth .. or zen.. or original or ...sheesh pick the word .. and i bet its misused somewhere

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Ingrid

not much

Beezle Warburton

Neko.

Ingrid

buy my "exclusive" prefabs