Shopping in Second Life (4-10-2021)

And where shall I begin?

In Second Life the currency is the Linden dollar. If you are a Premium member you will get a weekly 'stipend' or allowance of 300 Lindens, which is currently worth about 98 cents.  You will also get a one-time $1,000L bonus if you stay premium for 45 days.

If you have payment information on file you can buy Lindens at any time by clicking the handy "BuyL$" usually at the top of your viewer screen. 

There are various ways of making money in Second Life, but none of them easy, and all requiring special talent. Still, for that L$300 a week you can do quite a lot.

Shopping for a place to stay:

Housing and Land? - A Premium member with available tier can choose one of the wonderful Bellisseria homes without having to pay extra tier. Or, you can use your 'free' 1024 tier and purchase a parcel where you can place the home of your choice. You can buy land at auction, or from private residents. I have seen quite nice parcels sell for a few weeks' stipend - check the auctions listing to get some idea of what the prices are like. You can also rent quite nice places if you don't want to be tied to land.

You don't need a house or land to live in Second Life - you can 'set home' in most of the Infohubs, or just select 'log-in to my last location'.

Buying a House:

Since it requires a lot of land to display houses, many builders often have an inworld parcel with a 'house rezzer' that will magically construct the house of your choice in front of your eyes. Some will give you a demo version of the house, or at least a prim that shows the house footprint. If you are watching your Lindens and have an odd-shaped 1024 be especially careful when choosing a house because it might fit a 'square' 1024, but not your 'pickle-shaped' 1024.

You can sometimes find bargain homes at large sales events or weekend sales. No harm buying a house that won't fit your current needs and saving it until you own a larger parcel.

You have a place to stay. Now to decorate the house.

Where to Shop for furniture, clothing, and suchlike:

The Marketplace:  Maintaining a large inworld store costs Lindens, and the advent of electonic catalogues and eventually The SL Marketplace made it possible for some merchants to sell their products entirely online. On my browser the 'SL Marketplace' is under the 'Content' tab. The advantage of having the online Marketplace is that, with a little practice you can look for and compare items and prices. The disadvantage of the online Marketplace is that, unless you have actually seen the product 'inworld' or know the seller's reputation, you could end up with something quite different than you thought you were buying. (one gambit is someone selling a 'cow' that is actually just a 'cow texture'). Caveat and all that. Note: When clicking on "See inworld" it is good to be in flying mode, and don't be surprised if the place where the store used to be is now using a nasty security orb to get rid of all those unexpected visitors.

While not all SL Marketplace stores have inworld stores, there are also inworld stores that do not use The Marketplace. Sometimes a large inworld store will only list a small portion of what they sell on The Marketplace, because keeping all those listings current can be a chore.

Inworld Stores: Inworld Stores are found both on Mainland and in Private Regions. They may be at ground level, or up in the sky. Once I've found an inworld store I like I try to make a landmark - i.e. "Shopping - (Insert Name of Store Here) - nice clothing. " Again, when teleporting to any landmark, it is good to be in flying mode. 

Most inworld stores will have vendors. 

Typical multi-item vendor. Note that the bottom arrows determine what item is shown in the middle panel. If you click on a side panel and select 'pay' you will probably get the item in the middle, so please pay attention.

Special Events: 

These days it seems like there are special sales almost every day in Second Life: "Fifty Linden Fridays", "Hello It's Tuesday", etc... There are so many fairs and events, and special sales groups, that it boggles the mind.  I get daily notices from shopping groups I belong to, but I also read Fab Free and Seraphim, to see what is going on. Look at the online galleries to see what you want to buy before you go to save time when you get there. Bloggers will also write about shopping events. Big events, like the Skin Fair or the Hair Fair may be listed under Second Life Destinations. Second Life also sponsors "Shop and Hop" events for those who miss the Mega-Mall experience.

The Resale Market:

Items with transfer permissions, usually gachas, may be found at small flea markets, resale districts, and online.  In the Marketplace they are usually listed under 'gacha' or 'used'. I enjoy visiting these inworld places that have a lot of resale shops - they are like visiting rl flea markets and antique shops.

FURNITURE:

Furniture buying is a little less complicated, but it is important to learn about LI (land impact) and check to make sure that something will render well enough to be seen at an appropriate distance. 

You can find a lot of decent 'primmy' furniture for free - fine if you aren't short on LI points.  I prefer a good prim product to a bad mesh product. Some people hate sculpts. While shopping, check to see if the item is listed as 'prim', 'sculpt', or 'mesh'. Some items will be a combination. Again, just because an item says it is "100% mesh" does not mean it will look good rezzed. Try looking at the item from an appropriate distance to see if you can still see it. 

A note on hunts: In Second Life a 'hunt' is a structured event, usually time-limited, where you look for an item and get a prize. They are also a great way to visit a lot of stores to find out what you didn't know you needed until you saw it. I refer you to Ryan Schultz for Top Six Tips for Successful Hunts in Second Life .

Finding Brands You Like:

Just like in RL, in SL we often stick with a brand we prefer, but when I'm wandering around and see something I like I use the 'inspect' option on my browser to see the creator and the land impact. If a store is listed in the profile I will then often teleport to the store, if only to Landmark it for later.

Be open to change.

OPENING BOXES:

There are a myriad of ways that you can 'open' boxes, and it isn't always clear whether the icon in your inventory is a box that contains a product or the item itself. Helpful creators will add a listing "boxed" by the box-that-is-a-container. Some have boxes scripted so that when you choose 'open' the item will be added to your inventory but there will always be surprises. Best to open new purchases in a large sandbox, so when it turns up that your new motorcycle is somehow attached to your head no one will notice. I think that as 'making a mistake', in Second Life, 'wearing a box or not-clothing' article comes right after 'removing the floor of a skybox while standing on it'.

Hope this helps. I'm off to the weekend sales. 

*I could do without special effects when I open a box, thank you, since poorly-made special effects are sometimes hard to get rid of. A few days ago I found I was being followed around in SL by the Logo of a designer that seemed to be attached to me long after I had finished opening a box....