Bloggy Disservice

I must apologize to my very few readers, and to the SL shoppers in general for doing them a disservice in my blogging.

I have ignored certain issues, like quality, or store builds, or pricing and not commented on them.   you see, as a blogger, it's part of my duty to do things like that.  We bloggers should be advocates and ombudspeople for consumers, insisting on good quality, fair prices, etc.  I have not been doing that and I should have been.

In part it's because I'm nice and don't want to make people upset, or cause drama.  I have attempted to discuss certain issues in certain groups but it tends to cause a slight ruckus, so I back down.

But today I'm going to talk about certain issues, without getting too particular, for the most part.

1. Mesh and Pricing:  Personally I don't think creators should charge more for mesh products.  For one, mesh has been in the works for ages, so creators should have been learning the tools a year ago, though I do take that in account.   The real reason is that there's a glut of stuff in SL and shoppers are tapped out!  Shoppers can only spend so much, and there's so much supply and only so much demand...that should mean that prices should DROP, but they haven't.  And of course I've always been a big fan of "everyday low prices" a la Bare Rose.  And also, Mesh is a crapshoot, sure there's demos for some of it, but i's still a crapshoot.

 2. Hair.  Most mesh hair is "meh" and it looks plastiky.  I haven't seen any really worth owning...not even Truth or Elika, though they come closest.  There is also a problem with a "sameness of styles" recently...it's hard to tell hair apart since everyone is doing superlong and full hair that's swept back on one side and poofed out on the other for the frowny girls with hammerpants.  This is especially a problem with Truth hair, which is really having the "sameness" issue with me.  Enough with the headbands and the brushed back bangs.

3. Skills and quality:  Some creators haven't really skilled up over the years and it shows.  Some have also been a bit slack in the quality  I think every creator could use a second pair of eyes, to help keep them honest. I've had two recent purchases that emphasized this.

One was an ensemble that looks fine from a distance but up close it's edges need work..and this was a long time creator that should have caught it.   What's worse is that I picked up a similar item from another long time maker that is 1/3rd the price and is of higher quality.

Another was a mesh dress that is simply sub-par, even if I like the texture/color of it.  Neither have been seen on this blog and they won't ever be seen.

4. Shoes are overpriced, compared to everything else, we all know this and we shouldn't put up with it as consumers...so stop buying L$1000 shoes already!

5. Pricing in general, take what I said about mesh and add this:  Supply is high, demand is static.  There's only so many people willing to spend money in SL.  Part of that is the designers problem for overusing freebies as a marketing tool.  I know several people who simply DO NOT SHOP, and group hop, and do other things to get a ton of freebies/cheapies.  Rather than charging a high price and getting few sales...why not charge low enough that people actually spend MORE than they what they would at the high price level without realizing it.  Would you rather they spend 800 on one item, or 1000 or 1200 without realizing it because your stuff is cheap enough that they buy multiple items.  And do NOT charge more for the complete set than the items bought separately added together....that will REALLY annoy me and make me not want to shop there ever again.   Sure it could be a mistake, but that's why you need the second pair of eyes!  Every vendor should be checked by someone else for typos/misnaming/mispricing!

6. Store builds.  I have seen far too many crappy store builds lately.  Mostly it seems to be an issue of wasted space, don't make me walk a half mile to see all your stuff.  Gown makers seem to be the worst at this.   Azul, I'm looking at you...single sided displays that are spread out too much and are overly large...  And don't get me started on inconsistent naming schemes, or items not given good descriptive names. In other words, don't name the glitch pants, glitch pants...give them a "Dress X - Noir- glitch pants, pants layer" name.

7. Use your groups, for other than just dropping announcements of new releases.  they can supply the second pairs of eyes, and if you can get them to be frank, good honest feedback.

8.  Talk to the bloggers/press, and actually "listen"...we can really help you, when we're not being too whiny.

This does not mean I'm going to blog stuff and then say how I don't like it or that it sucks...I'm too nice for that.  But be aware that I DO notice things and DO talk about them sometimes.