Shopping on Second Life

Doing your shopping in Second Life

Shopping is a hobby for some people in second Life. It’s fun and exciting. Personally, I enjoy it immensely. When you begin to make second life an important part of your rl, then investing money into it is a need. Like I said in a previous post, the second Life currency is called “Linden Dollars” and they are not expensive to buy. Obviously the linden to Rl currency exchange rate will increase or decrease depending on the rl economy, but it’s still cheap. Let’s estimate that you want to buy 10 000 Linden dollars, that would equal around 45 U.S Dollars. $45 isn’t a lot of money, but 10 000 Lindens is. With 10 000 Linden you could rent land for an entire month, furnish it, and still have enough left over for other things.
Some people on SL budget around $200 a month for second life. I estimate that at over 40 000 Linden. 40 000 Linden a month makes you VERY rich in Second Life. However, for those who have a smaller budget, say $20 a month, then here’s a few tips on how to stretch it:

Exploring the different shops in-world can be quite time consuming and very irritating. If you are not a shopaholic, I suggest using the second Life marketplace to do your shopping. It is a quick and easy way to find what you’re looking for. All you have to do is type in the key words for the items you are looking for, like “Ladies shoes” and you will get a list of items available. If you are on a budget then try and filter your search with price. For example “0-500 L” would be a good choice if you’re on a budget.
To visit the second Life market place, simply log into the main website, and choose “shopping”. You must then select “Marketplace” in the sub menu and then BOOM! Shop till you drop…or pass out on the keyboard or whatever.

sl market place

Another great way to save your money on SL, is to check out the free gifts on the market place. A lot of in-world stores promote their business by selling free gifts for zero Linden. If you search for “ladies clothes” then filter “0-500l” many free gifts should pop up on the list. Why get free gifts? In a previous post, I warned about getting freebie crap. However, free gifts are not freebie crap. Free Gifts are a lot better than freebies, mainly because they would usually cost a chunk of linden. They are free because the creator wants to promote his store and products by letting you sample some of his/her stuff for free.

Here’s a little shopping advice for you: GET A DEMO VERSION BEFORE BUYING THE ACTUAL ITEM. Many stores have a demo version of a product. The reason for this is that you are allowed to wear or test the product first for free. A demo costs zero lindens, however there is a catch. The demo version will always have some major flaw. If I bought a demo of a skin and shape, there would be signs all over my avatar’s body with the word “DEMO”. My hands would be the same as a chimpanzee, My feet would make big foot look normal, and there would be a giant box on my head saying “DEMO”. It’s not the most attractive look, but it’s not supposed to be. The point of a demo is for you to see how it looks and if you like it. The feet and hands will be normal size if you buy the actual shape, so don’t worry about that.
Well I hope that helps. If you feel that I left out anything then just comment. Have fun kiddies