Eye on the Blog: Good-Bye Xstreet Freebies

The Xstreet SL Experience:

The Xstreet SL Marketplace is not meant to provide a replacement or even identical experience to that of shopping in-world. Instead, it serves as a specialized shopping experience which makes shopping & selling easier and different in many ways. All of our research and your feedback demonstrates that. Since it is clear that the increasing quantities of free, cheap and stale goods are hindering that experience for shoppers and merchants alike, we will take action to counteract and balance them within the marketplace, for the benefit of all. To be clear: we believe in a free marketplace and will not implement price controls on what merchants can charge for their goods.

The Roadmap:

We will enact the following new controls for the Xstreet SL Marketplace within 90 days, with at least two weeks' notice, in order to improve the shopping experience:

Monthly Listing Fee for Freebies of L$99:

• Listings for free items will now be treated as a marketing/promotional tool and thus will have a price.
• L$99 is the price of our least expensive listing enhancement and so we will start there.
• Depending upon desire for this marketing opportunity and perceived value given such demand, we will adjust the price as necessary to maximize this value and keep the freebie listings from becoming bloated again.
• Expected Delivery: 30 - 60 days
  

Minimum Commission of L$3 on all items priced L$1 or greater:

• We will enact a minimum commission of L$3 on all sales of non-freebie listings.
• Since Freebie listings are now considered marketing and are charged as such, they will not incur this fee.
• A L$3 commission will raise the commission on all listings under L$50. This was a range suggested by residents, but it turns out that this is the price range where there is a very high transaction volume and low commission income which combine to cover the costs of those transactions.
• We may adjust this minimum commission as we see its effects on the marketplace. L$3 does not cover the full cost of a transaction, but the goal here is first to manage freebie growth first.
  
• Expected Delivery: 30 - 60 days
  

Monthly Listing Fee of L$10 for all items L$1 or greater:

• All non-freebie listings will now be charged L$10 per month to remain listed in the Xstreet SL Marketplace
• Currently, less than 20% of Xstreet SL listings make at least one sale per month. This displays just how much clutter of unsold items exists on Xstreet SL.
• Doing this will provide an incentive for merchants to remove listings which are not selling, while keeping this fee low enough to have a minimal effect on listings which are selling and are desired by shoppers.
• By reducing the overall number of listings on Xstreet SL, the shopping experience will drastically improve which will please our shoppers and be a boon to the business of all of our merchants.
• Expected Delivery: 60 - 90 days
  

Separate freebies into their own category:

• There is already a freebie section on Xstreet SL. This section will become the place to browse for new freebies.
• We will remove free listings from the browsable categories and keyword search results on Xstreet SL.
• Expected Delivery: 60 - 90 days
  

Timeline:

• We will provide at least 2 weeks notice before releasing any of these changes.
• We expect to enact these controls within the time window 30 - 90 days following this roadmap announcement.

* * * * *

Read more in the complete blog post by Colossus Linden Here, or join the discussion Here.

Slapt.Me the alternative to Xstreet?

Since the Lindens bought Xstreet I have heard many whispers and many people unhappy with the monopoly that it has created for the Lindens and now, with the new rules, many more will be looking for that alternative.
Let me introduce Slapt.Me run by residents that have actually listened to what the customers want and tried to create it for you.
Constanza Amsterdam, Lord Sullivan, Kosta Cela and Bykoff Sontse, long term SL residents launched the Xstreet alternative in April and, although still having a few teething troubles when I tried it out, I found it as easy to set up as Xstreet but very different.
Slapt.Me offers featured listings and split profit enhancement, which works on percentage instead of prices. You will also find its own Forums where you can read what others have thought of it and place your own suggestions. There is also a WIKI to help you understand the site although as an XStreet merchant I found it very easy to set up.
You can request a terminal to put on your own land and there is also a place where you can store your first Slapt.me box for free if you do not own any land.
Is this a viable alternative to Xstreet? The speed at which its growing says just maybe it is.
Visit for yourselves and feel free to leave your comments and experience below.
Dana Vanmoer

The swallowing of Xstreet and OnRez, a bittersweet move

So, Linden Lab has finally seen the light about the advantages of World Wide Web integration with Second Life as a complement for information and transactions. Buying Xstreet and OnRez definitely is in their interest.

Now, what should we make of it? There is a fairly large number of issues raised by this. Forget the basic questions such as the timing of integration. There are more important things at stake.

The first one is clear: technological integration and the merger of accounts with the Second Life grid will make business simpler. No need to sign up for an account on a different site and to manage it separately in order to have a Web presence. Doing away with the time wasted to deal with a non-integrated platform could mean less hassle for merchants.

If LL handles this properly, there also is great potential to overhaul the clunky Web presentation in Xstreet and slap better options for Web storefronts. The example of more refined OnRez storefronts should be a good source of inspiration. More flexibility could even make this better. Also, Xstreet's terrible search engine could also be upgraded or replaced for better shopping experience.

As you can see, Linden Lab has a golden opportunity to provide much-needed change. If they aim for greatness and make their e-commerce platform amazing, this might even eliminate the need for external Web sites that many of us currently have.

On the other hand, better integration with the grid can come with a huge tradeoff. Will the new Web platform inherit Second Life's stability problems? Even if you couldn't make a purchase at Xstreet when the grid was down, you could at least surf there in “just looking” mode.

What about culture? There were a few differences between management of SL and Xstreet. If Linden Lab has angered many of us with a variety of bad decisions in the past, Xstreet has been more user-friendly. Will mismanagement show its ugly head on the integrated Xstreet?

Another large question is money.

With the buyout, Linden Lab has conflicting fee policies. At the moment, doing a transaction in Second Life costs nothing but holding land is the main source of spending. In Xstreet, you pay 5 Linden dollars for each 100 of sales. Will LL abolish the Web fees to make business easier, leave it as is, or increase them? The first solution would be the only right one. We already pay enough money on tier and accounts for mainland owners, shouldn't we given a break at some point?

If LL abolishes the currency exchange on Xstreet, it will be a bittersweet move, too. Its PayPal mass pay was much appreciated for instant money transfers. At the same time, a savvy user can squeeze more net money out selling Linden dollars on the official Lindex. Trying to find a matching buying order at specific rates on Xstreet can take much more time... if it happens.

My last note is a bit cynical: did Linden Lab have defensive motives when acquiring Xstreet? When its bosses rebranded SL Exchange into Xstreet, they stated that this was an occasion for them to look beyond SL, should other virtual worlds become more interesting or complementary in the future. Was this buyout a way to make sure that we are all tied to Linden Lab?

That's food for thought, my friends.

Linden Lab Goes Shopping, Buys Virtual Goods Marketplaces to Integrate Web Shopping with Second Life

Strategic Acquisitions of OnRez and Xstreet SL Shopping Web Sites to Enhance e-Commerce Functionality for the Virtual World

San Francisco, CA – January 20, 2009 - Linden Lab®, creator of the virtual world Second Life®, today announced a key milestone in its expansion of the Second Life platform: acquiring two Web-based marketplaces for virtual goods, Xstreet SL and OnRez. These acquisitions join several other recent strategic initiatives, including enhancements to the experience for new users, which will enable Linden Lab to reach a broader global audience for Second Life in 2009. Linden Lab is consolidating the two marketplaces on the Xstreet SL platform, offering one online shopping experience for customers and merchants. This will make it easier for Second Life Residents to find virtual goods to purchase and will provide merchants broader channels to sell their products.

The global market for virtual goods is estimated to be approximately USD $1.5 billion a year,* and Second Life plays a significant role in this market. In 2008, Residents of Second Life purchased and sold more than USD $360 million of virtual goods and services. Shopping for virtual goods has become one of the most compelling and popular aspects of the Second Life experience. The acquisition of these e-commerce sites will aid the continuing growth of the Second Life economy by making it even more convenient for buyers and sellers to transact virtual goods and services online.

Similar to e-commerce sites for real world goods, such as Amazon and eBay, Xstreet SL provides an online catalog, where Second Life Residents can browse, purchase and sell Second Life-related virtual goods and services. Just as e-commerce Web sites provide a complement to shopping in real life, Xstreet SL complements how Second Life Residents shop inworld – visiting 3D stores, shopping centers and malls to purchase virtual services and goods from the Residents who created them. Linden Lab will integrate the Xstreet SL marketplace with Second Life, making virtual goods easier for consumers to find on the Web. The enhancements to the e-commerce experience will also drive Residents inworld to collect and use the goods they purchase online, enabling Second Life merchants to further promote their inworld stores. Merchants will also gain additional ways to market the more than 680,000 Second Life goods currently listed for sale online, including apparel, animations, vehicles, buildings and furniture.

"Linden Lab is expanding its footprint in the virtual world industry through four major initiatives – localizing the Second Life experience in key markets around the world, simplifying the 'first hour experience' to broaden consumer adoption, enhancing the platform for enterprise users and building our virtual goods marketplace," said Mark Kingdon, CEO of Linden Lab. "Content creators and merchants are pillars of the strong Second Life economy. With these e-commerce acquisitions, we will now be able to offer content creators and merchants an opportunity to substantially improve their businesses, while enhancing the Second Life experience for all of our Residents."

"The vibrant inworld economy is part of what makes Second Life such a compelling experience for Residents," said Jay Geeseman, founder of Xstreet SL. "Just as e-commerce can enhance the shopping experience for real life goods, so it can for virtual goods. With the Xstreet SL marketplace integrated more closely with Second Life, Residents will be able to find goods more easily and shop more conveniently, while merchants will have broader channels to sell their creations."

For the immediate future, Xstreet SL will continue to function as it has with only minor changes. OnRez will remain active for a few weeks to give customers and merchants an opportunity to migrate their accounts and product listings over to Xstreet SL. More information about the transition and future development plans of Xstreet SL is available in the FAQs available here:

Acquisition FAQs

Merchants and Shoppers FAQs

For more information about Linden Lab's strategic initiatives, including these acquisitions, please visit the official Second Life blog at: http://blog.secondlife.com/

* Source: Lindenlab.com

Xstreet SL Marketplace Sale????

Dear Dana Vanmoer,
Congratulations! An item you have listed on the Xstreet SL Marketplace has been sold! See below for details.
Regards,
Xstreet SL
Now When i read this in my inbox this morning I was rather confused, Xstreet? What the hell is Xstreet? I have never head of it yet they are selling my items from SLeXchange????
So in some trepidation I followed the link and found myself at a site that looks and feels like SLeXchange but is now called Xstreet SL!
It seems SLeXchange has rebranded, (might have been an idea to publicize the notion before actually doing it.) After some research I found a couple of forum posts about the upcoming changes, posted on Sept 10th:
"That's right, we're changing our name! As you can see in the logo above, our look and feel won't change so you won't have to learn anything new or adjust to a different look. The Xstreet brand will cover services similar to SL Exchange for any virtual worlds we decide to work with. The name "Xstreet SL" is specific to Second Life and we'll use different suffixes for other grids and worlds. Different types of services which we have yet to launch will have different names altogether."
The Lindens , it seems are stepping in to help with this grid wide change as there must be thousands of SLX branded items inworld at any given time Linden lab will replace all these textures with the new Xstreet SL ones:
"Because there are so many SL Exchange-branded items in Second Life over which we have no control, Linden Lab has agreed to help us with mass texture replacements. Sometime in the next couple of weeks all existing magic boxes, signs, and terminals in-world should automatically display our new brand."
The question begging an answer then is why? And this is also answered in the first post:
"When SL Exchange was formed it was never intended that we would operate solely within Second Life. "SL Exchange" is a service name owned by Virtuatrade, LLC and the intention has always been to create new service names as we expand into other areas.When Linden Lab announced the changes to their trademark licenses earlier this year, I have to admit - first I ignored it, then I got angry. Over time however I realized that the change presented an opportunity to renew and clean up our brand image and prepare for future business opportunities that we hadn't thought of when starting out."
So if like me you start getting unknown mail or suddenly no longer get mail from SLeXchange (check your spam folder and allow mail from Xstreet) at least you will know why!
If you are worried I would suggest reading the FORUM post to clarify if you need to do anything.

Dana Vanmoer