???'s about selling kittycats

[Starr Smithson]

hello i want to start to sell my kittycats soon. i found on the MP the boards where you transfer the kitty to. do they come with instructions on how to price, and set text? also how to set to sell? i know how to set for sale if its just the kitty itself by using the edit box,but i have been to many vendors and have clicked on many boards wanting to buy but it doesn't allow me to. i just want to get this right the 1st time and i don't want to buy the board till i know it's the correct item to use for selling.

[Tad Carlucci]

The only such "boards" I'm aware of are Gotchas; I can't speak to how well the others work, but mine comes as a full-perm script, with instructional note cards for end-users and a lot of comments in the script about each option.

I don't know about any other type of boards which actually sell boxes other than your normal multi-item vendor boards you see at many clothing stores. If you're referring to those generic sales boards: yes, most of them come with fairly good instructions, but some are abysmal messes. I don't think they're often used with KittyCatS!, but don't see any reason they could not be, other than the fact they're probably a lot of hassle. If you're interested in trying those, I'd suggest seeing which are widely used by clothing stores on the assumption the good stuff will be widely used and the junk will not.

Remember, however, that any sales object only works for BOXES. Live cats won't work in sales boards, unless you're willing to warn the customer up-front they'll be getting a sick cat, and will have to wait a week to begin breeding it.

Finally, with LIVE cats, people really do like being able to actually SEE the actual cat, before purchasing. Having watched Charm's sales for a long time, it's clear a live, 3D cat, even if posed, sells far better than a live 2D cat. By extension, I'd suggest that a live cat, even if healthy and well-fed, would not sell at all if sold out of a vendor board.

Similarly, a BOX sells best if set to 2D mode. 3D mode uses half the prims, but is just a box, and does not sell nearly so well. I don't know how well boxes do on the Marketplace, or in vendors, but I'd expect sales to be rather dismal.

[Liriel Garnet]

(07-21-2013 07:23 AM)Starr Smithson Wrote:  hello i want to start to sell my kittycats soon. i found on the MP the boards where you transfer the kitty to. do they come with instructions on how to price, and set text? also how to set to sell? i know how to set for sale if its just the kitty itself by using the edit box,but i have been to many vendors and have clicked on many boards wanting to buy but it doesn't allow me to. i just want to get this right the 1st time and i don't want to buy the board till i know it's the correct item to use for selling.

Hi Starr,
I would suggest that you get the 'secondary marketplace' card that Kitten hands out in Addicts chat regularly. There should be one in the notice history for the group, or just ask her directly if she's on. Visit some of the marketplaces and the auction houses to see what they have to offer and to see what is selling and what isn't.

Marketplaces with stalls and bid boards usually have someone that will help you in figuring out how to set things up. Auction houses will have handouts or cards with tips for selling and requirements for panels, etc. You can also use MP to sell cats (we have a handout available showing how to set up a MP store and list cats, etc.), but only for boxes and permapets.

Good luck and welcome!

[Winter Phoenix]

(07-21-2013 08:04 AM)Tad Carlucci Wrote:  
Finally, with LIVE cats, people really do like being able to actually SEE the actual cat, before purchasing.
Having watched Charm's sales for a long time, it's clear a live, 3D cat, even if posed, sells far better than a live 2D cat.
Similarly, a BOX sells best if set to 2D mode.
3D mode uses half the prims, but is just a box, and does not sell nearly so well.
I don't know how well boxes do on the Marketplace, or in vendors, but I'd expect sales to be rather dismal.

You usually see live cats displayed as 'flat pics' where prims are at a premium.
Those dinky vendor carts only allow so many prims,
and you get more bang for your prim buck using 2D.
So I can see why folks with a bunch of live cats go that route.
They dont have much choice in the matter.

As for the usage of those shoe boxes with the holes in em,
with a bunch of hover text blowing out of the top,

boooooooo!

I want to see a representation of the kitteh,
not try to envision it in my head,
or have to go and boot up Tads cat builder page.

The least a shoebox displayer can do is add a pedigree tag to it,
that way a potential buyer can click and see the cat for sale.

Unless the kitteh you're selling is a 'train wreck bland',
a pedigree tag will help sell a picture cat box
by enabling the prospective breeder to see what they
are getting themselves into.

Unless its a 'garage sale' kitteh,
being sold for bootleg cheap,
and destined for a potential menagerie squishing,
the shoebox cat barely gets a look from me,
and if its in a pile of shoeboxes,
with that mosquito cloud of hovertext flying over them,
I feel like running in the opposite direction!

Best of luck in your future endeavors!

[Giuliana Verrazzano]

(07-21-2013 07:23 AM)Starr Smithson Wrote:  ...i have been to many vendors and have clicked on many boards wanting to buy but it doesn't allow me to.

Hi Starr!

Maybe what you were looking at was a Bid Board? These usually look like a blackboard with a frame around it (the most common I've seen is a golden, dated frame) and the kitty/box/item is rezzed on a podium right in front of it. They work differently to other vendors because as you described, the item shown is not up for direct sale so you cannot click and buy, the item is up for auction to the highest bidder. Some sim owners have these boards rezzed on their sims and anyone can rent one and set a kitty up for auction. The owner of the item set the kitty or the box in front of the board and configures the board to a minimum starting bid, while the bidding is open the item (cat, box, jewel, etc) is not set for sale and it shows as belonging to the person renting the board (you can usually see the renter's name on hover text at the top right of the board where the renter box is) In this case, if you want to bid on the item on display, you need to touch the board and follow the instructions to bid and offer at least the opening bid or a higher bid if other bids have been made (the board usually says if there are bids or not and displays the highest bid at the top, you then need to make a offer in excess off that top bid. Once the time of the auction is finished, the owner of the item contacts the highest bidder and sets the cat for sale for the price that person offered for the cat.

Another option might be that you have encountered kitties displayed in shops but are not set for sale. There are a few reasons that can explain that, it might be that the seller set the price of the kitty and a few minutes later the sim did a restart, returning the kitty to the estate it was before the owner set it for sale (this happens more often than you can imagine, mostly on Tuesdays). The other possibility might be that the seller is accepting offers on that cat and you need to contact them. In these cases are usually cats showing new, coveted traits and there's usually a sign to let costumers know that the owner is willing to hear offers. If you find a kitty without a price, you can rest assured that if you contact the owner they will be receptive, and probably even thankful, in either of these cases.

In my opinion, pricing is one of the hardest things to do when you breed KittyCats. If you have put time and effort to breed a line and you decide to sell off the offsprings, consider the time you have invested in it and the effort it took you to learn about breeding, studying pedigrees and finding the right pairs while pricing it. Many of us have developed a personal pricing system and some of us stick to it regardless of the price fluctuations of the market, this is one of the reasons why you will see that there's a lot of difference in prices in the Secondary Market. I don't see this changing in the near future. There's a thread about pricing and it links to a google doc that I recommend you to read. It will give you more precise hints about pricing, however, in the end, you as the owner of the kitties have the right to price it for whatever you think it's fair. Here's the direct link to it: http://kittycats.biz/forum/showthread.php?tid=3393

I wish you good luck and lots of success when you decide to set your shop!

[Starr Smithson]

(07-21-2013 08:39 PM)Winter Phoenix Wrote:  [quote='Tad Carlucci' pid='31528' dateline='1374415466']
Finally, with LIVE cats, people really do like being able to actually SEE the actual cat, before purchasing.
Having watched Charm's sales for a long time, it's clear a live, 3D cat, even if posed, sells far better than a live 2D cat.
Similarly, a BOX sells best if set to 2D mode.
3D mode uses half the prims, but is just a box, and does not sell nearly so well.
I don't know how well boxes do on the Marketplace, or in vendors, but I'd expect sales to be rather dismal.

[font=Trebuchet MS][size=medium][color=#01B128]
You usually see live cats displayed as 'flat pics' where prims are at a premium.
Those dinky vendor carts only allow so many prims,
and you get more bang for your prim buck using 2D.
So I can see why folks with a bunch of live cats go that route.
They dont have much choice in the matter.

As for the usage of those shoe boxes with the holes in em,
with a bunch of hover text blowing out of the top,

boooooooo!

I want to see a representation of the kitteh,
not try to envision it in my head,
or have to go and boot up Tads cat builder page.

The least a shoebox displayer can do is add a pedigree tag to it,
that way a potential buyer can click and see the cat for sale.

Unless the kitteh you're selling is a 'train wreck bland',
a pedigree tag will help sell a picture cat box
by enabling the prospective breeder to see what they
are getting themselves into.

Unless its a 'garage sale' kitteh,
being sold for bootleg cheap,
and destined for a potential menagerie squishing,
the shoebox cat barely gets a look from me,
and if its in a pile of shoeboxes,
with that mosquito cloud of hovertext flying over them,
I feel like running in the opposite direction!

Best of luck in your future endeavors!



so using the 2D or 3D boards are for the kittens not birthed? how does the picture i have seen on boards get there? i guess that would be in the instructions huh?

[Giuliana Verrazzano]

-Boxed kitties (not born) can be set on Image mode through the menu. It turns the 3D cardboard box into an image of how the kitty will look like after birthing, however in this mode you cannot see the tail. Boxes on Image mode show a picture of the cat against a cardboard background and a pink or blue frame depending if it's a boy or a girl.

-Live kitties have several low prim options, the ones that uses less prims are 2D and Image. Cats in 2D version show the image of the kitty against a transparent texture, Cats on low prim mode>Imageshow the picture of the cat against a white background with the pink or blue frame around it.

To access the Low Prim versions and test them you need to touch your cat then select Prims, Low Prim, and then pick any of the options, you can swtich from one to the other quite easily. To get your kitty out of low prim mode follow the same path through the menu but instead of selecting a low prim option select Low Prim Off.