IMHO

I've been thinking about the freebie thing and the various hunts and contests, and while this is probably stuff that I should keep to myself, when I occasionally read things like this in other blogs, it makes me feel like I should put my opinion out there, too, even though I don't think this blog is read by more than  few people.

I do very much appreciate the designers who give out free items.  I almost always look around the designer's store rather than just TP'ing in and grabbing the free items, and quite often I buy items there.  Frankly, I buy a LOT of stuff, and I generally learn about new shops by going there to pick up free items and looking around.

I give out free items from my little shop, too, and I can tell that a few people actually buy things when they get there, which is nice, and obviously that's the whole reason for giving free things -- to attract people to the shop -- but if they don't buy anything, that's cool, too.  I don't give things out with the expectation that people will buy anything else, nor do I expect a thank you.  If I happen to be around the shop when someone drops in, it's always nice if they do say thank you, but I don't expect anyone to go look up my profile and go to the trouble of sending me an IM or notecard.

I don't do that, either.  If I'm in a store and the owner is there, I will definitely thank them (often right before I blink out -- I'm pretty shy about starting conversations with people -- but that's only polite.

I don't understand people who complain about free things, but I also don't understand the designers who complain that the people who pick up their freebies aren't grateful enough.  Come on, if that bothers you, stop giving them out.  And as for the people who complain about people "group hopping" -- what else are we supposed to do?  With a limit of 25 groups, it's hard.  I have groups for my home, my store, and a couple of friends, so basically I have 20 group slots.  Most of those are filled with groups for the stores that I love, and I never leave them.  But I have a few rotating ones, and I admit that sometimes if someone is giving away a great freebie, I'll join the group to get it, then the next time there's another great thing from a different group, I'll drop the first one and join the second.  It's just common sense.

If you want to retain group members, the best way to do that is to consistently give good gifts.  It just builds loyalty. 

One thing I particularly like, that I haven't seen much of, is group discounts.  Moonshine does a thing where her new releases are discounted for group members.  I don't always buy the things, but if I like them, I do.  I also like the shops who give out special colors of things to their members -- they make a new release in four or five colors, then give away a sixth color to the group.  That's cool, and I stay in the groups that do that.

Oh, and I hate the "first 10 people here get the freebie," or the "first person to IM me gets a free thing," and I also hate the secret sales.  I get my email at work, but I can't sign in to SL, and it's disheartening to get those emails when there's nothing I can do about it.  I left the groups that do that, but so many of them are in FashCon now that there's no way to get rid of all of them.

I also hate it when someone gives a group gift, then removes it from their subscribe-o-matic machine.  It doesn't cost you anything, and as far as I can tell, it only builds ill will.  If I'm in a group and get a gift, not giving the gift to someone who later joins the group doesn't benefit me, all it does is make the new person feel bad.  What's the point of that?  I guess maybe some people feel privileged to have a item that only a few people got, but with the hundreds of thousands of SL members, what's the big deal?  When are you going to run into someone wearing the same thing?

And also?  A 2 or 3 hour sale or hunt might get you a big surge in traffic, but who in their right mind wants to hit a big store so full of people that you can't walk?  Or spend an hour walking or flying all over a sim looking for a tiny box?  I really enjoyed some of the Halloween hunts, particularly the one at Artilleri.  Some of the items were difficult to find, but not so difficult that you felt like the owners were laughing at you, you know?  And with all the SL issues lately, sometimes it takes forever for anything to rez, and more often than not I just give up, with a bad taste in my mouth.

It's not that I don't appreciate the effort.  I do.  I just think that sometimes things could be a little more user friendly.  Or just friendly, period.