I can haz freebiez
Ana posted up a lolcat to protest against the “Freebie Culture” of Second Life. I have to agree with her - I’ve never been a huge fan of people turning up in hordes to grab a freebie, and then just leave to find their next freebie fix. To me, its extremely unsustainable and as a business owner, I refrain from giving away freebies. When I do, they’re usually emblazoned with the company logo.
Freebies are usually given away by stores to say thank you to customers who are regular visitors and spend money at the store. However, it takes one person to post the details of the freebie in a Freebie group, and suddenly dozens of people turn up to grab the freebie.
It’s unsustainable for business owners if there are thousands of high quality freebies on the grid, as it leads to a culture where a large number of users refuse to buy anything and live off freebies. If content creators aren’t making any money, then there’s no incentive to release freebies. Heck, for the times I’ve released freebies, I’ve never even gotten a single “Thank You”.
Sachi Vixen has mentioned plans for store loyalty cards in the DiS group, which I’ll definitely be implementing when it goes out on sale. The people who are spending money at the store will be the ones who get the freebies as a thanks for their custom. I also plan to make certain products available at a cheap rate to new SL users (under 30 days) too.. However, I’ve no plans to release anymore freebies.
Freebies can be a good way to get yourself recognised, but they’re far too often just abused. The Fashion Feed is packed full of freebie content, and if an avatar can get an entire wardrobe for free, then they will.
So in the interest of sustainable content design in Second Life, the freebie culture needs to be nipped in the bud and set up so it can’t be abused at the expense of designer’s genourosity.
Image credit: http://icanhascheezburger.com/
[...] ~flirt~ Jewelry Expo Aqua Gift Edition - not worth 1 L$? Gwyneth Llewelyn :: The Hard Facts About the Second Life® Economy GREENE concept :: The dynamics of Dollarbies - advice for content creators Prad Prathivi :: I can haz freebiez [...]
^^
-Ana
Freebies serve a purpose. For the new resident, to give them a taste of what’s out there and available. For the established resident to say Thank You or just cause your feeling generous that day. I agree it’s gotten out of control. I think perhaps what is a better idea are inexpensive(NOT free) limited edition items. They will get folks to your store, they have to pay for them, and it’s limited in release so you aren’t bled dry.
Personally, I feel incredibly guilty if I go to a store, pick up a freebie and don’t buy anything else. It just feels rude to me. But then, most of my friends are content creators and I see the work they put into what they sell.
What does it say about us when even people who have the money to afford to pay for things snag every freebie there is or worse, copybot what they want?
I don’t get it. Creators give freebies for promotional purposes, for driving traffic to their parcel or because they feel like sharing. None of those are bad per se. Bad part comes if one expects more than stated. If you released something for free, isn’t it good that dozens of people came to get it? It seems like a reason to be happy about it, not to complain.
When you say that freebies are abused, can you really draw a line where the freebie-abuse starts?
There were very few high quality freebies when I started in SL, and those I found I was definitely grateful for. But, those were the days when you had to have payment info on file with LL, and most people in SL were adults who were happy to fork out the price of a cheap lunch to buy some lindens to make purchases. Things have changed a lot since then, too many underage users who don’t have access to a credit card, and lots of people who just don’t see the need to spend money in world. There’s a culture of entitlement now, and the expectation that things that creators have spent days or weeks working on should be made available for free grates on my nerves a little. And don’t get me started on the bitching and moaning that occurs when a designer dares to charge 1 linden for their freebie.
I’m always pleased when someone thanks me for providing a store gift, but it’s usually only one or two people out of several thousand. I enjoy making the freebies I give out, but often, providing a freebie is much more hassle than it’s worth, when you get IMs from people hassling you to make the freebie for them in a different colour, or abusing you because your limited time offer freebie is now gone etc. I know some designers have experienced much worse behaviour than that though. I really like the ideas you mentioned, it’s definitely important to show your appreciation to your customers and the loyalty card sounds great to me, both as a customer and a creator.
If I release freebies for the whole community, I’d ensure the company logo was clearly shown on them. Some people will release freebies to attract traffic, but ultimately you lose out when the only reason people are coming to your store is to bag a freebie. No designer in Second Life can afford to run a freebie store. That’s why I limit my freebies to loyal customers and friends.
Freebies are abused when a designer puts out something for their customers to pick up in their stores, or make available in their groups, and then people visit the sim to get the freebie, and then just leave. Or they join the group, collect the freebie and then leave the group.
Thats a very good post, Prad. And you bring up some very good points. I’m not going to comment too much further here because I’d like to organize my thoughts a bit more first, but this is a topic I’ve been thinking about covering on my blog, as well.
I think freebies are important. But I also see your point, and have heard similar complaints from other designers. I’m one of the ones who live off freebies for the time being. But thats because of the state of the economy right now, and my trying to figure out a way to make some extra money in here. Before I gave up my home and land in SL a month or so ago, I was spending several hundred linden a week. So I don’t feel too badly for taking advantage of freebies now. I miss shopping, and hope to be able to do that again one day.
Anyway, I imagine I’ll be linking back to this post when I do get a chance to blog about this, if thats alright with you.
Nika
I don’t see any abuse in spreading the word about freebies (though if a designer requests that hunt lists not be passed out, or lucky chair letters not called in groups, it is only appropriate to respect that), or even joining groups to collect a freebie and then leave.
There are ways to stop people from doing this. Lock the group for two weeks after sending out a freebie, for example; its far more doable now that messages time out faster. Or use a subscribe-o-matic that doesn’t redeliver to new signups. If such measures are not taken and no one is circumventing anything I don’t see the abuse. In the end, it is a way for someone to check out the products from a store, and they may or may not become a customer.
Abuse, for me, is when (as mentioned above) someone complains about the freebie, complains if it is a dollarbie instead, or in any other way inconveniences the creator in relation to a freebie. The only appropriate response is a ‘thank you’ to the creator (though if the creator isn’t right there or talking in the group when a freebie is picked up, I can see why people wouldn’t IM to say thanks; I’d be concerned about flooding the person).
However, while I don’t think it is abusive of anything to pick up a freebie and not necessarily become a customer, I do agree that the proliferation of freebies on the grid may be a problem. I joined in June 2007, and free, quality skins did not exist, for example. Today, yes, you can absolutely get by with buying nothing at all.
Of course, the question is whether those people who get by that way are the kind who would buy things if they had to, or would they just not bother and maybe leave SL altogether? Its a little like the whole music/movie/etc piracy question: how often does the piracy actually lead to lost sales? Or are the majority who download illegally people who would never have bought the things anyway?
I am sure that some sales are lost to people who could have been consumers but who now just hunt freebies, but I am not sure how large the number is.
I freely admit that I am one of the peopel who’s first wardrobe (and current wardrobe) has a high percentage of freebie items. I try to have goo freebie etiquette, I never go looking for a freebie wearing a million prims, I cam rather than walk so I dont run into people, and yes if i notice the designer is sitting there I will thank them. By and large I don’t im and thank every designer because I just dont want to bother them.
I think you are also forgetting a segment of SL society who for whatever reason can not purchase lindens regularly nor work full time in SL. As a uni student I fall into this catagory. On the joyus occasions where I have an abundance of linden, where do you think I spend them? At the store that I’ve never been to because they either don’t give freebies or give one that have their logo plastered all over them ( I don’t wear logo clothes in RL. Why do it in SL)? No, I go to a place that I know does good work, and the only way I know is with freebies I’ve previously acquired.
On the “what’s in it for the designer” end, you’ve just put yourself in my mind for the eventual day when linden buying isn’t an object for me (come on graduation!). Of course there are some exceptons to this, meaning there are some stores that I have freebies from that I adore, but will never shop at regularly because I am not comfortable spending that amount of linden.
A number of designers have taken to doing lucky chairs or special sales. This seems to work both in increasing traffic over a sustained period of time, and keeping the worst freebie hunters at bay. The holiday hunts also serve this purpose.
And though I have never gotten a freebie from you personally, on behalf of all us freebie hunters, Thank you very much for your generosity.
Interesting post, one that puts us at the middle of the wider debate about whether, over time, pretty much everything becomes “free”, and speaks I think to whether the Lindens properly support the idea of enhanced tools and technologies in recognition that over time “items” become commodities.
Now, this opens up a can of worms. And I’m going to start with a few fundamental beliefs of my own: first, people need to get paid for their work. The ideas of crowdsourcing, open source, and the “everything for free” mentality (evidenced in what’s happened to music, say) often seem to run on the premise that, in a networked world, everything will become easy to copy, everything will be easy to distribute, and the result of all this is that everything will become free.
What bothers me about this is that the value and economic drivers become obscured. Things like brand value and equity, the value of information and the lack of transparency on what information is stored, and the higher order services are obscured when all we do is talk about “free”.
Second Life is like a giant lab. What we see in SL is often mirrored or ahead of what happens in the real world. Freebies and the cost and price of goods are an example of this. In a world where the user base increases and the asset servers groan with so many thousands of pairs of jeans, the number of objects and the number of content creators means that basic ‘goods’ become commodities. So, I’d propose that jeans, to use one example, were once valued and something that you’d pay more for. Over time, they trend towards free because, well, they don’t wear out, they just get lost in inventory maybe.
So why do people pay for them? They pay for items which, really, by all rights, should be free (because there are so many of them, and there are fewer and fewer innovations) because of a “higher order” of content: accessibility, for example - you pay for them because someone has created a store and gathered together objects in one place which makes your shopping more efficient - one stop, one look, easy to find in search, whatever. The second reason might be branding: in SL fashion, the desire to wear the latest “styles”, be associated with brands, etc.
The base commodity: an item, is basically free. I mean seriously, how many jeans can there be? So what I’m paying for is access and intangibles.
So what does this mean for content creators? It means that the value that gets built into an enterprise, a store, a product line, etc gets built into stuff like location, search optimization, branding, community management, promotion, etc.
Think Nike: the shoes cost next to nothing to make. What you’re paying for is the brand association, access, and other intangibles.
Kevin Kelly is one of the proponents of the “free” trend. He said some time ago:
“As crackpot as it sounds, in the distant future nearly everything we make will (at least for a short while) be given away free—refrigerators, skis, laser projectors, clothes, you name it. This will only make sense when these items are pumped full of chips and network nodes, and thus capable of delivering network value. ”
I’d agree with that. One of the most transformative technologies, I believe, will be the 3D printer. This will represent the ultimate commodification of goods, and the ability to make and buy “stuff” for basically nothing.
So where does this leave content creators? I’d propose that freebies are like plugging a dam with a toothpick. It’s a response to a world in which the cost of goods, their commodification, has approached zero. What it points out is that SL has moved past being solely an ‘object economy’ and is now deriving value from the bundling and unbundling of objects with services, branding, promotion, network effects, promotion, community management, etc.
The content creator who gives out freebies as a way of trying to attract visitors is taking a short cut, really. A content creator giving out ‘appreciation freebies’ is working on network effects, branding, and customer relations.
What troubles me, however, is that if the object economy becomes (has become) commodified, and the way to survive is at a higher order, I’m not sure I see the support infrastructure from Linden Lab to facilitate this.
Put it this way: there is still room for innovation. You can still make something new and startling. But these options dwindle over time. The only way they open up is through new tools (sculptys, for example). But the tools for customer management, mailing lists, group notices, etc. are hacks at best, unreliable at worst. Linden Lab needs to spend more time, I think, on helping content creators manage the intangibles and higher order aspects of running an in world business: list management, commerce tracking, search optimization, whatever.
Freebies on their own are a symptom. What they say is that “Hey, I need to get visitors, I need attention, because it’s harder and harder to compete. What used to be really valuable (a hugger, say) is now ubiquitous, and the room for innovation has decreased. I SHOULD be getting attention through branding, community relations, and information management systems, but the tools to do that are so clunky, difficult and time consuming that, well, maybe if I throw some freebies out there I can grab some attention for a bit.”
Perhaps make freebies exclusive to new resident, say less than 30 days old. A well known skin designer used to, or perhaps still does this. That serves to bring new customers to your store and help people to decide if to invest in sl for the long term.
Freebies are a blessing and a curse. There really is an overwhelming number of great freebies in world now. When I started SL there wasn’t as much but enough to get me looking slightly less newb til I figured out where the stores where and how to shop efficiently. As a designer I love to throw gifts around but I do worry I’m hurting my sales. I’d love more ideas and options of ways to promote customer loyalty. I do see freebies as an important promotional item, as they do get people in the door the 1st time. I will continue to offer basic freebies and lucky chair items. In addition to this I’ve started offering a reduced rate limited edition item each month. Trying to find the middle ground in the freebie world.
[...] Prad Prathivi wants to nip freebies in the bud: [...]
[...] 23, 2008 by baileylongcloth After reading Prad’s post this morning, and then seeing all the comments something occurs to me. The idea of [...]
My reasons for giving away free and $1L items is completely different than stated in your blog. When I first started there was pretty much nothing for new players except all those system freebies that we cringe out now a days. I am using my giving to Pay It Forward for those that did help me out in those early days and hope that those I am helping will one day do they same. I remember what it feels like to have no lindens and wanting to wear pretty things.
If it makes them happy, I have no problem with groups, blogs, friends sharing that information.
Like Stephanie mentioned, my problem comes from the recent wave of entitled people who feel it is their right to demand things because you gave them someone for free. Over the past weekend, Laynie and I held a hunt and I cannot tell you how many IMs I got from people demanding that we tell them where we hid our candies. We are offering these items because we can and not because we have to. Apparently this has gotten lost somewhere. Designers do not have to give freebies/dollarbies/cheapies, we choose to but when people treat us like they are entitled to it than it makes the whole thing feel sour.
I agree with what you’re saying here. Which is why I complete support and am a member of) such groups such as Tuli’s group or M&R Cupcakes which give away a number of high quality freebies on a regular basis, but require you to pay to join the group. They are getting something for their work, and also making sure that people who join the group are actually serious about it and not just joining for the freebie and leaving.
Why should we get something for nothing? I think there should be more groups like this.
[...] by Teagan Blackthorne on October 23, 2008 Prad Prathivi’s recent blog, I can haz freebiez brings forward people’s ideas and feelings regarding freebies. However my feelings on [...]
OMG, Stephanie Misfit, EVERY word you said ditto. Ditto ditto ditto LOL. This topic has really got me thinking….
Yes, Teagan, the problem is the horde of people who enter a store with ‘expectations’ on freebies.
I have many people who join my group in periods when for some reason someone blogged of a group gift and then leave after picking it up, have loads of people TPing in just to grab free items… but I am not bothered by it, cause it’s something I can predict the very second I send the gift out or place the box in the store.
I was lucky I never met anyone who was not polite. Only had people teleporting in and, to my ‘Hello, welcome:)’, answered ‘oh, hello… I came for the freebies’. But gladly most of the times I would get a ‘Thank you’ before they left.
But now too many people are reporting bad behaviour of freebies-shoppers, and if this will become the trend, then maybe something should be done. I would honestly try to avoid facing a “shouldn’t this be 0L$”-situation!
I don’t like freebies - not because of some ideological perspective or concern for the consequences of a freebie culture. The reason I don’t like freebies is because everyone else around me seems to end up wearing the same damn thing, and I don’t want to look like everyone else. I learnt this lesson very early on from shopping in huge freebie outlets when I’d start roaming the grid later and keep seeing other people wearing my dress, what a faux pas! It doesn’t matter how high quality the freebie is, I want to look like me, not someone else.
When I ask someone where they got an item they’re wearing, I don’t ask because I want the identical item cause then I’d end up looking like them and lacking originality. I ask because I like the quality and style and want to see what I can dig up at the same place.
There’s a second reason I avoid picking up freebies - I don’t want to stand with hordes of other people trying to get at it or stand around for ages waiting for my letter to come up. Really not a way I want to spend my time in world.
Early on I realised I had to just put up with this state of affairs until I figured out a way to make lindens, and I was always grateful from the word go to anyone who gave me something free or even better gave me a linden.
My exception these days for using mass-distributed freebies is if by wearing them I show my affection and appreciation to the maker or the brand - such as my Crown & Pearl necklace: It represents my favourite bar in SL and a talented friend who made it, and anyone who asks about where I got the necklace will get a full and happy explanation.
It’s been an interesting post to read and some interesting responses, I will be following this topic.
Did a poll on if freebies are a showstopper a while ago. Prok was - dunno if she still is - saying they ruing the ‘entrepreneurship’ amongst newbs and other residents. Quite an interesting discussion. Still not sure about my opinion. :d
I don’t get it either, what’s the problem?
People goes to your store and takes the freebies and not the “stuff for sale”? Well, the freebies are meant as a promotional tool, to increase visits in the store, and that’s what they do.
People who really likes the products will buy them for sure, i’m with Landbase about that. The ones that take the freebie and don’t buy they won’t buy anyway.
I agree with Stephanie that people can be quite a dork (yeah, ppl is like that), and that’s is a personal marketing decision, but well, i think taking off the freebies won’t give you more sales and just will reduce your visits. Just my two eurocents.
[...] SLbusiness, SLmarketing Today i was reading a couple of posts in the blog of Prad Prathivi and Ana Lutetia where they express some concerns about the use of freebies as marketing tools. They [...]
As I posted on Ana’s blog too:
I don’t agree with your opinion. I grab freebies and still spend tons of cash on stuff. To me a freebie is a good way of getting to know a designer by trying out something before I buy more from the designer. So if you never let people try some of your work, how will they know that they like it? Especially when everything is photoshopped before it’s put on sale.
Most of the bloggers that blog outfits either get them for free to promote them or photoshop their asses off to make their blogs look good. So how can I, customer who is willing to pay for quality clothes know if the clothes I buy are any good then? By spending a lot of money (because let’s face it, we buy stuff with real money that is virtual!) to conclude that the outfit isn’t all that?
So unless you give people freebies or a demo to let them try your work (just as you can check out clothes in store before you buy them) don’t judge all the freebie grabbers all at once. I’m sure there are people who only grab freebies and nothing more but I bet theres an even bigger amount of people, like me, that simply wants to see if they like a designer before spending money.
So I would like to thank those designers who do put out freebies for their customers because they thank us for shopping with them and make us able to see their work first before buying.
I made the big damn mistake of quitting my RL job in May, so I’m not the high-rolling rockstar I used to be. When I alert my blog readers to free stuff, it’s my attempt to help out poor broke suckers like myself. I can’t drop $4,000 L on a Tres Jolie gown anymore. **weeps**
I want to give a gigantic crushing hug to the designers who offer freebies, simply because many of the items are quite beautiful these days and they help me, a poor starving soul, feel lovely even though I’m broke.
Also, when “new residents” approach me and say, “Hi. I’m new. I have no money for clothes. Can I have $500L?” I hand them a notecard with the links of freebie blogs and a giant inflatable duck and say “This is all I have.” Ha haaaaaa!
That aside, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve ventured to a new-to-me store to pick up a freebie I’ve read about, LOVED the items there and subsequently become a regular customer. So some could argue that occasionally giving away quality freebies is a good PR/marketing tool — it raises consumer awareness of your brand and allows them to “sample” your product. Yeah, you’ll always get the moochers, but chances are good that you’ll also gain some appreciative customers.
Or maybe we’re all greedy pigs.
And now I have to go grab those free “Stoned Eyes” at EarthStones.
I am a notorious freebie whore.
However, I also spend in excess of L$10,000 a month on clothes, furniture, and unfortunatley, tier. Sometimes I pop in, grab the freebie and go. But most times, I look around and sometimes even buy other items that are not free. I would *never* even think of being rude to a designer. If the designer is in the shop, I always thank them for the freebie. If the freebie turns out to be crap, I just delete it and make a note to never go back to that shop.
So, what to do with rude people who think they’re entitled to freebies, or people who pop in and pop out without looking around? Here are my suggestions: one, if you really want people to look around, do what Ivey of Sn@tch and Digit Darkes do - mark an item among your displayed items down and then people are forced to look at your other stuff to find it. Don’t just put it at the TP point with a big flashing freebie sign. Second, if freebie hunters are rude to you, ban them from your shop and mute them. They’ll never be paying customers anyway and you’ll get a modicum of satisfaction from at least muting them. And before you mute them you can tell them exactly how you feel about their attitude.
Finally, I’ll tell you what makes me spend my lindens - one, excellent quality; two - a generous designer who gives a monthly freebie; and three - here’s the part where I start spending - a sale at said shop. I already know the quality; I’m used to visiting monthly for the freebie; and a sale is a great incentive to spend, spend, spend!
There - that’s my two lindens worth.
[...] can jump to personally attack someone on their own blog. Yesterday two blogs, Ana’s and Prad’s started a discussion about freebies in SL. Now I don’t know Ana other than what I read on [...]
[...] and are they worth giving / getting? (a small collection of posts on this topic can be found here, here and here, the last link will lead you to AnaLutetia’s blog, and holds even more links) I know [...]
Dusan Write for me hit the nail on the head. I’ve been in SL over 2 and 1/2 years now… and content quality has increased tenfold…even over the last year…but the tools to run a business or say a gallery are so arcaic, and time consuming…a freebie is a definite short cut… I won’t even go into the dinosaur event posting system LL provides…
I spend thousands, tens of thousands a month …and it’s not just my tier fees…Sometimes there’s a Ship i just have to have… or landscaping items that make everything else pale in comparision… but I also like a freebie…and a quality one..i’d be willing to pay for that said “freebie”…i’ve never complained about paying a dollar or ten dollars… nor would I ever have the odacity to ask for a “custom” freebie, unless I was willing to pay the going rate for a custom. If someone says they do not do custom in their profile..i never ask.
I would say thank you to the designer and have on numerous occasions for anything “free” i may be given.
And as far as “logo” wear for freebie…Instant trash can… I could give a crap about where i bought it… as long as it is QUALITY!
Giving away freebies is a great way for a “Noob” designer to get noticed. Even if the store is “small” and there’s not alot on the shelves … i know “great” when I see it… and I’ll be back…to spend my hard earned lindens…and oh yea..cool freebie..wait till I show my friends!
@ Teagan Blackthorne…
The hunts to me are a different breed of freebie..and yes all sanity is lost once you decide to do any “hunt”… Personally i’ve seen a sense of entitlement across the board in sl.. not just for wanting freebies, but wanting recognition, fame, status.. it’s crazy…and it’s the new wave of sl users after some of us who have been here when 5,000 was a HUGE day for logins.
I was witness to the “Vain Grid wide hunt” that started the other day… all sense of sanity and appreciation for the hard work that was done setting up that hunt, much less the work the designers did giving away their hard earned hours of creating… it amazes me the sense of entitlment… smh…
It’s to a point on a hunt that you might as well change it to a “walk” or “crawl” and just give them the damn freebies when they get to the store…(being sarcastic here)
What part of “hunt” does the population not understand???
I thought it was interesting..and actually a good idea when one business owner said the first notecard or conference chat about location I see, i’m stopping the hunt…and damn if she didn’t.
I say Go for it..) Perhaps more should do this.. or really just put the freebie in plain sight with a NEON FINGER.. pointing to the box…here it is…here it is… I hope you didn’t strain yourself tping here!!
I’m still in favor of the regular freebie process…but it’s the HUNTS that are out of control.
Ok… steps off my soap box!
thought it was interesting..and actually a good idea when one business owner said the first notecard or conference chat about location I see, i’m stopping the hunt…and damn if she didn’t.
This was in regards to a completly different hunt, not the Vain Hunt.
I’m glad to see finally somebody else speaking out against freebies so I’m not the only one.
The only way to discourage freebies on all perm is to deliberately sell them to get the person to stop believing they are Lady Bountiful helping newbies — and forcing other people to tier and advertise their products. If they want to be Lady Bountiful, put it out on all perms and ENCOURAGE resale to REALLY help newbies.
Clutter that is not transferrable will rarely be something I will encourage people to get as newbies, or get myself. It’s just a way of forcing me to tier the view of your creations without you paying rent. I won’t be doing that.
People who don’t charge for their items have a deep-seated inferiority complex which they cover up with a horrid superiority complex about their supposed “magnanimousness” to newbies. It’s all fake.
Prokofy, your claim that “People who don’t charge for their items have a deep-seated inferiority complex which they cover up with a horrid superiority complex about their supposed “magnanimousness” to newbies. It’s all fake.” is one that I actually find rather too broad and quite offensive, almost to the point that I thought you must be joking… are you..?
There is no shortage of kind and well-meaning people in SL, trying to help new people out. It is unambiguously and completely incorrect to say what you said above, if you’re projecting your own feelings if you made and handed out freebies, then that’s one thing. But to say that about everyone is to ignore the huge and generous community spirit that I see operating in SL every single day.
I’m hoping you weren’t being serious though… hoping.
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http://sevenstarsworld.wordpress.com
I agree with you totally
Entitlement is the issue here, as was stated. When people feel that they deserve something, even if they’ve done nothing to earn it, there is a problem. If you’ve noticed, there are only 25 group slots. Some designers will give away things through their groups, and people didn’t want to fill up all of their slots with designers, thus the subscribe-o-matic was born, allowing the limit to be exceeded and more freebies to circulate, well, more freely. This is an integral part of the freebie culture. The freebies aren’t the biggest reason for economic issues - indeed, Teen Grid has very few quality freebies, and its economy is in the garbage anyways. Giving a few things to newbies is a positive, but when they are given everything and earn nothing, they cause a problem for us all. It used to be that freebies were items that didn’t quite work out as planned, or had a flaw, or were out of style. Now they’re full, perfect outfits that could sell for much more. A solution to this?
If you’re a designer, put out a little sign saying that you release freebies out of the goodness of your heart, and that if the taker appreciates it, they can drop you a donation in a nearby donation jar. I know this works in other areas. For example, take the album “In Rainbows”, put out online for free in the artist, Raidohead’s, shop. They put the price as “Pay as much as you think it’s worth”. So try it, designers - set a price as free, drop a donation jar nearby, and put up the sign. Then report the response to it back. I’d be interested to see how it works out.
Honestly, even a “Discounted” section is better for us than a freebies section. As much as I appreciate freebies, I like to let the designers know that I like their work, and support them. People should be grateful that there are people who put so much time and careful work into making objects, clothing, and all other manners of goods, for them, and to say that they appreciate the work, but not enough to pay for it, is rude.
“People who don’t charge for their items have a deep-seated inferiority complex which they cover up with a horrid superiority complex about their supposed “magnanimousness” to newbies. It’s all fake.”
I truly hope that was joking. If not, it’s an extraordinarily patronising and offensive remark. I sell my items, but I have absolutely no issue giving them away as presents or as a helping hand to residents.
I have also given away cash gifts and enjoyed stuffing sploders when they were legal. You may call it a superiority complex. I prefer to call it philanthropy.
I like the idea of giving the freebies away to loyal customers.
But what constitutes a “loyal” customer? Someone who has purchased one item? Or will you need to have purchased several items…or be a monthly customer? I don’t think the number of freebies is going to harm anyones economy out there if you have a quality product to begin with. If you’re a good designer, people will buy your stuff. Period.
I’d rather pay for something well made. Same goes with where I choose to live or anything else in this game. Let’s face it…for the most part, quality freebies are a rare find. Or maybe I’m just not looking in the right places.
On a tangent…
And don’t get me started on the bitching and moaning that occurs when a designer dares to charge 1 linden for their freebie.
My bitching and moaning isn’t about the charging 1 linden; it’s about calling it a “freebie” when it costs one linden. I personally don’t have a problem with freebies or $1L items or any of it, though I can see how it can be problematic. I do however have a problem with calling an item something it’s not.
Noa made a very good point and one I definitely use. If there is no freebie, how do I know the designer is as good as the photoshopped pic on the box ?
I can only talk from a scripters viewpoint on this and my work is often free / I very often get a ty (not always) as my distribution is in scripting groups when someone has asked for it. I charge for custom work but never for code I have already written. This isn’t because I don’t value it. It is because people learn from it. If I set it to no modify / it then prevents people improving or creating something new based upon it. I have a luxury that perhaps builders/designers don’t to never be out of work because of the constant new ideas people have without the ability to even know if its possible - let alone code it. So I am unaffected by freebies as it is my ability to create, not what I have created that keeps me paying my rent.
I have no use for a shop for distribution, no spam landmarks to give out, no groups to get people to join, and no reason to bug/spy on my clients as its a completely different business model that relies on customers returning. This won’t suit a lot of business’s in SL but it works fine for me. So my freebies will always be free.
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