Second Life Marketplace Grows to Nearly Half a Million Users

Here's some evidence of Second Life activity growth, at least where it matters most: According to Google AdPlanner, the SL Marketplace (Linden Lab's eBay style e-commerce site) now has 470K monthly unique users, over 50% in the demographically attractive 24-44 age range, with near gender parity. That's growth of some 40,000 monthly uniques since I last blogged about Google Ad Planner's stats, last April, when the number stood at 430K. Of course, a user is not the same as a "shopper", and it's likely many or most users are basically using the Marketplace for virtual window shopping, but this growth does solidify two key points we've made at New World Notes recently:

• If you're an SL content creator, you need to have an SL Marketplace page. Even if you prefer to sell your wares in-world, a huge potential consumer base is looking at your content on the web there. Linden Lab's Marketplace problems are a huge problem.
• Direct Delivery still seems to be pretty much borked, which more or less forces potential consumers to only use the Marketplace as a window shopping interface, and then log into SL to buy the items. That's a significant friction point to people spending money on SL creator content. If that problem can be resolved, it'd be a huge boon not just to Linden Lab, but all the creators who've come to depend on them.

Speaking of the SL Marketplace, did you know you can go there to get a head? I mean litera-fucking-ly.

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Comments

[shockwave yareach]

April 8, 30026 sims inworld
August 5, 29317 sims inworld

709 sims lost
706 of the sims were private estates.

Assuming these 706 estates were $295 monthly income (grandfathered sims are the last to be let go, so this is probably close to right), annual sales lost are 2,499,240$.

And the people losing their land or their stores, move their stuff into Marketplace which doesn't cost them anything, unlike land. So yeah, I can understand why you see a burst of new Marketplace sellers, with 706 sims going bye bye.

[Hamlet Au]

General reminder (not directed at the above comment) -- NWN has comment guidelines:

http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2006/02/nwn_tips.html

[Tankgirl]

Move on, find something you can be positive about. You and your usual gang of commenters only have harm to offer to our communitiy.

[Seven Overdrive]

I use the Marketplace as a search only 99% of the time, because I never know when I am going to receive an item I purchased. Could be instantly or never.

If the seller doesn't have an in-world location, I just assume they aren't very active in SL anymore and would be a nightmare to contact should a problem arise with the purchase.

Does LL make any significant amount of money off of Marketplace sales? Or do they make enough from Marketplace to offset the loss in tier because many sellers have given up their land? Just curious.

[Shockwave Yareach]

Then I am sorry to hear you won't be buying from me, Seven. Linden Labs screwing up the system cost me my island home and shop. And I simply don't feel like risking the cash and time to repeat the experience -- fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice...

So I have a few of my best things in the Marketplace, just to keep my waning interest in business in SL. I like the marketplace, but I think it should be limited based on how much land you rent/own. It's quite unfair, people selling in the marketplace without limit and without cost competing against people inworld with costs and prim limits.

But hey, this is the system the all-knowing Lindens created. So yell at them for the damage it's doing to the grid, not me. (btw: I rent 8K of island land for a personal dev area and home. I don't have a store there simply because I don't like intrusions into my private sandbox and home.)

[foneco zuzu]

Linden Lab needs for once to think straight!
Create a LL Mall in World a la ' ll homes!
Offer them to premium members who want to sell on marketplace!

[Gwyneth Llewelyn]

@ Shockwave I like that idea — a lot! Yes, LL should limit the Marketplace somehow, based on tier. That's truly a GREAT idea!

@foneco we used to have Linden Malls... you would enter a competition, and if you won, you'd get a place on their mall for 6 months. It was cool, but I never sold anything on their mall :) I guess most people didn't, so they ended that years ago....

Personally, I cannot complain about the Marketplace: I have just 3 tiny shop presences in-world, none of which make sales, but I'm not very active in promoting them. By contrast, the Marketplace pays off — all I earn from that is enough to pay all my rent and even the Premium account...

[Happy Toshi]

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