Recently in Money SIGH :( Category
I don't really celebrate this time of year, honestly. I just hope everyone's having a nice weekend.
The Vanity Universe skin fair seems to be going okay - I enjoyed setting up the booth there and hope the crowds are having fun with all the great skins to peruse. Plus that means even more people know about Nora! Yay!
I've come to a conclusion, though, I think. No, I'm not planning on closing Nora permanently. It did cross my mind - because I simply am finding myself elsewhere, more often, trying to get back into my first love: art. Okay, so, traditional art. SL is it's own realm of "art".
So, this is how it's going to go down!
Sonata(*sniff*) will be sold within the next couple of months, and in the meantime I'll be passing out a LM to the new store, which I'm setting up now. There'll be a LM giver at Sonata as well, soon. I thought about just throwing everything up on SLEX, but I think it's beneficial and easier for customers if there is still an in-world presence for Nora.
This really won't affect Nora too much, it'll just be in a different spot, but it WILL still be around! I can go back to working on my boots and nail polish at my own pace without fear of "making my SIM payment". You live, you learn!
Thanks to all you Nora Patrons for your support!
Oh! And if you haven't already switched over to the Subscribe-O-Matic group from the regular Nora group, please visit Sonata and subscribe if you'd like to keep receiving updates! I'm closing the group at the end of March, and it'll free up a group slot for you too!
(SIM details if anyone cares:
Sonata
Class 4
Mature
$195 per month
[does not include any objects/prims])
PXP highlighted a specific vendor system recently, called "VendeX". It immediately caught my eye, since I had just been vendor-shopping. This was a lot different, though, and you'll see why. Maybe you've already heard of it!
Here's an excerpt from the creator(Sol Columbia)'s description of said product:
VendeX by SoLur Industries
VendeX is a market indexed vendor system where prices are set in US$ and goods are sold in L$. This allows the freedom to set one price on an item even as the L$ varies in value. Set the price in US$ and never worry again about the value of the Linden dollar again! Please have a look at the pictures for some graphical information.
Once an hour, the server is refreshed with up to the minute financial data from the Second Life Lindex page. In turn, the vendors themselves request the latest conversion rate once every 24 hours.
There are three components, the VendeX server(no copy/no mod), the vendor script (copiable), and the settings notecard wich accompanies the vendor script in each vendor.
Vendex is available for sale at SoLur Industries stores in Igbo, Couture Isle, and Celestial City for $L1000 (and soon on SLX and SLB).
Firstly, this isn't a networked vendor; the server component is used to update the soul feature of using this system: $L->$USD fluctuations. Now you can sell your wares with the comforting knowledge that you're staying ahead of the Exchange Rate Game. If you choose to do so, that is.
This idea presents the Second Life community with even more to think about. Just how does $L/$USD exchange rates affect our time in SL? Detrimentally? Positively? Not at all? It's always been there, exchange rates, in the undercurrent of marketing, waiting to be grasped and molded to the money-conscientious individual's whims. However, now, we're taking that and putting it in the face of the consumers. The ones that spend their $L, whether or not they cash out. This exposure isn't selective, though, and that is where the VendeX system will meet its biggest threat.
Not only is the vendor taking advantage of the exchange rate game, but he's showing any customer or potential customer that that is what is important to him. Ethics enter into the picture, next, and then he may have one helluva debate on his hands. Are vendors in Second Life prepared to show their customers just what is important to them? Are they prepared to bare themselves in the face of skepticism, praise, economical interest, and drahma? It looks that way. Their success isn't in their hands in this matter. It's in the hands of everyone out there with $L in their virtual pockets, ready to spend.
We'll see, won't we?
