Selling anything in SL has similarities to selling in RL. So it’s useful to research the market you’re entering, whether that be simply wandering around SL looking at similar items for sale, or doing a more thorough market research. Think about the following:

  • What type of items are people selling in the market you wish to enter?
  • What type of extras do they have? (Be that freebies, menu systems, script enhancements that make it easier to modify the item…)
  • What permissions do others typically set on their items? (Modify, copy or transfer.)
  • What prices to they charge for items?

Once you have a feeling for what others are charging it is easier to come up with prices for your own items. If they aren’t as sophisticated or as detailed as other competitors then it makes sense to make your prices lower. If your items are similar then it makes sense to sell at similar prices, and if they are more sophisticated/more complex then charging more is reasonable. Although, if you are trying to break in to an established market, you might like to consider offering your items at lower prices initially to attract customers to buy your products.

Like RL some items will sell well and others won’t. I like to keep track of what items are selling and which ones aren’t to help me know when creating future items whether there are certain things I should avoid. In a clothing items sense:

  • That might mean a certain colour typically doesn’t sell well, so it might be best to try out some different colours instead when creating new items.
  • Or a certain style of clothing might not be popular etc.

Information like this, can help you plan what items to make next and help increase your sales by making what your customers are interested in buying. For items that aren’t selling well, you might like to put in a sale at reduced prices, to see whether you have priced yourself too high.

Don’t be expecting to make lots of money through SL, if you break even after all of your costs then you are doing well, which can be:

  • Start Up Costs:
    • Owning land (if you end up buying a plot of land).
    • Vendor system.
    • Other set up costs (for me these included putting together a nice looking avatar - skin, shape, hair etc and model poses to show off my items of clothing etc).
  • Running Costs:
    • Renting land (if you end up renting a plot of land).
    • Buying textures from other people to use in your own creations.
    • Image upload costs.
    • Advertisement costs.

As the old adage goes:

Tip #5: It takes money to make money.