Tips for KittyCats Sellers

[Tad Carlucci]

Yeah. Making a mesh building is more than making one model, texturing and using the default 'Upload Mesh' settings. To do it Right, you need to build FIVE models and texture FOUR. The quick-and-dirty defaults may look OK, but they Do NOT Work and should be avoided.

I'm working on one right now. It took only couple hours to make the primary (Highest LOD) model, and an hour to make the Physics model. I've been texturing the Highest model, now, for two days and am about done. Most people appear to stop at this point, but I still have to build the Middle, Low and Lowest models, and texture them. The initial test, using defaults, shows 38 p.e. I'm hoping to get it down to around 20 (or less, if I can) when I finish it. To compare: my initial test, using the Highest model for all for LOD, comes in at 130 p.e., and the model I'm replacing has over 60 p.e. , plus another dozen or so for the separate Pergola which I'm including in my model. (Sorry, no previews .. you'll know when I'm done when Charm's shop at T.A changes )

[Kayleigh McMillan]

Thank you for this cool initiative!
As Kendrah suggested I always enable "show in search" on my cats and boxes.
I'd like to add some other suggestions too :-)

1.) It may help to name cats and boxes descriptive I bet many people like to shop with "Area Search" if they use Firestorm: (World > Area Search - In the "List Tab" enable "Show Beacons" - In the "Find Tab" search for traits etc.)

2.) You can use your forum signature to make a link to your shop(s) if there is too little space you can use something like "Tiny Url" to make your links shorter in the "User CP" you can change, beyond others, your signature via the left hand index.

3.) It helps to make a pick in your profile in world which leads to your shop(s) just so fellow breeders can find it.

4.) Also which is quite helpful for me personally is to make my kitties as unique as possible with traits from which I feel compliment eachother and not all traits I use are per se hot and happening I like to mix and match them.
We have plenty of traits to pick from to make our cats shine and Tad's build a cat tool is priceless just to see up front what traits work good together.

5.) Eventually you can make pictures from your breeds and create a Showroom with them here on the forum.
I believe a picture tells more than words can describe.
This last suggestion gives me private sales also regardless a shop in world from people interested in an OS from a particular breed.
A Showroom is easy to create via a free Flickr account.
When you have some cool pictures you like to share and have uploaded you can use a picture's BBCode to share it.
This you can do by clicking the picture you want to share, so it fills your screen, and use the "Share" option under it.
Via the arrow you can change the prefered size of your picture like in the picture underneath the arrow which points to the right is the share button.

   
You can click this picture to see it bigger.

6.) On Flickr there are plenty of groups about KittyCatS! and breedables in general in which you can add your pictures to make sure they are seen and become relevant.
Beyond others this is the official KittyCatS! Flickr Group »
Also you can easily Tweet your picture via the Flickr interface in case you have a social network on Twitter from which people are interested to see photo's of your new breeds.
This can be done via the same menu in Flickr on an enlarged picture by clicking the Twitter Icon.
Making good use of the tags within Flickr makes your picture relevant in the search engines as well.
A keyword made out of more than one word can be placed between quotes "My Keyword Example" to be displayed as one tag.

7.) It perhaps is a matter of taste also but I'd avoid to many hover texts in your store they tend to give a cluttery result even on long distances I think when people are really interested they will click the box or cat anyway.
And I always feel when it comes to displaying kitties less is more too many boxes and kitties displayed can take away from eachother or to many KittyCatS! Specials from the same kind can look as if they are not so unique so I'd release them bit by bit.

8.) If you like to blog already you may like to consider to start a blog about your cattery and cross link it in your signature and try to get it syndicated just to get the word out.

9.) In general live kitties seems to sell better than boxed kitties.
I prefer to sell them boxed and I also have sold many lives in the past but I just tend to want to take them home when they are alive lol.
But I certainly had better sales when I had them displayed live because people didn't have to wait 14 days for them to grow up but could use them in most instances right away in their projects.
Also it may be worth while to rent some extra prims at your prefered market to make your store attractive.
You may just need those prims to make it more than an average shop.

~ Kay

[Eurydice Barzane]

(07-19-2014 06:27 PM)Kendrah Vantelli Wrote:  Great Post, I'd also add, if you right click edit your cat and under the General tab, if you check the box, Show In Search. That will also help you too and others who might be searching for that type of cat .
Just a little tip I use.

Kendrah Vantelli

I always use area search when shopping for a particular fur or trait on a cat, but it had never occurred to me to check "show in search" on my own cats!
I fixed it the day before yesterday and sold two cats - thank you, Kendrah!

[fabioazevedo Oh]

Congratulations on the topic. Full of awesome tips. And the hotter it is, to see everyone contributing.

[fabioazevedo Oh]

My two cents goes to the organization of the store.

You should classify your cats in some groups, for example group eyes, fur group, kittens cutes group, or even kittens new traits. Which is more important in cat? one trait? or the set of traits?

Looking at a store with kittens scattered everywhere, and no visual organization sounds much work to see, and it takes mine. So, sounds like a cat in there, have a reason to be purchased. score of 10 to the designer, but, sales small.

Perhaps a shelf, retired traits, recessive traits, wonderful kittens. Suggested names for the kittens group. Table novelties. Table of releases. The most important forward, the less important behind.

Everything in balance. A very beautiful store, may have sales of less just because the shop forgot that the most important is the kitten, and not the decor. Some islands are beautiful, visually, but really forgot the main artist, 'the kitten', then some islands, kittycats market are just walking, and take pictures, not to buy and sell.

[Kayla Woodrunner]

I am starting to sell my kitties and have set up a store but it's not on a kittycat market sim. I've noticed like my Accessories and Adorable Darlings group that all the advertisers have a shop on Vygg. Is there a group I can advertise in that you don't have to be on the same market sim to advertise in?

And 2nd question: can I be listed on Kittycats secondary market list as a private shop if that shop is on a market sim and not on my own privately held land?

And 3rd question: pricing. I don't know if my pricing is high but people have also expressed concerne not to price low as it brings down the market so I've been pricing in the shop for live kitties at $100 per trait plus an extra $100 if it has something I like like Black Bengal or Snowshoe Cream. The boxed kitties are a little less than that (figured I haven't fed them so they should be lower than $100 that everyone says per trait). People seem to be saying $100 per trait but I'm starting to think that may be high. The $100 per trait I have seen bandied here and on the Kitties Pricing group. So my 3rd question is, is $100 per trait to high or should I just hang in there longer? Or should I drop it to half that price?

This discussion has been helpful for me as I've started setting up my shop. I posted in the forum to advertise (as this advice column says advertise) and actually sold a cat. I have sold a couple in the past when I had a cart but the biggest problem I seem to have is that I sold 1 or 2 when I first rented the cart on a Kittycats market sim and that was it. So I gave up the cart. I have tried other carts and either no sales at all or 1 or 2 intially and then nothing. I am trying to set up a shop and create consistency but the initial 2 sales (2 does seem to be the magic #) and then quiet.

I have included pictures in my forum ad like this one


I am trying to bring down my number of Black bengals so selling some lives because when I got my first one I was so excited I kept opening every box I birthed because I wanted more. I am not selling 9 traiters (mostly because I am only starting to get them. Then when I start getting 9 trait consistently, they release a pretty collection kitty and I buy one and have to start over getting back to a higher number of traits. Plus I don't mind if the eyes are curious big because I like that. I also have a different breeding philosphy than some -- I don't like pures. I like knowing the shown and hidden and having them be different so when I match against a new Kittycats, I'll know if the shown or hidden is thrown. Plus for me, part of the fun is finding the hidden (the other part is having babies which creates a problem because I keep birthing them so food costs is getting crazy, hence the store). I just feel like I do something wrong when I try to sell.

[anna Acanthus]

1. There are quite a few independent selling groups, The Kittycats Bazaar is the only one that comes to mind right now. Try searching Groups ---> Kittycats and a few will pop up.
I've left most i think as at any time i've bothered to check there's mainly market sim bots online plus a few afk stragglers. Also i've seen spamming from other breedables also with no moderation so i really think selling groups have really had their day and i'm not sure if anyone even bothers to read them.

2. I should think that your shop can be listed as it is maybe the only one on the sim and it's not a Kitty Market sim.

3. I'd seriously ignore any pricing per trait info, it's done more to ruin the market than anything else. It can apply to a set of low traits but thats about it.
It all depends on the nature and combination of traits, PLUS the hiddens that it's carrying.
i.e. :
Fur: Snowshoe - Cream
Eyes: Jade (Shape: Mysterious | Pupil: Small)
Shade: Twinkle
Tail: Fussy
Ears: Rounded Fold
Whiskers: Blonde Streaked (Shape: Curious)

hiding Grotto, ORF, Fussy or Swanky.
Do i sell this for 100L$ per trait ?
Like heck i do !

Anyhow, kudos for wanting to try maintain market standards and good luck

PS. Congrats on your awesome kitty gifs discovery, i take it that's using the Gyazo screen capture option ?

[Kayla Woodrunner]

Yes, I use the gyazo gif capture. the jpeg one results in still photos. the gif you can get some movement if you are quick or lucky

Thanks for the info

[Tad Carlucci]

My best advice to learn how to price is .. GO SHOPPING!

Attend auctions. Keep note of what sold, and for how much.

Visit bid boards. What are the bids for cats? If you see cats with no bids, and about to end, assume their asking price is too high. If you see bids, note them .. they're what people are actually willing to pay.

If you wander past a shop see a cat you like but don't want to buy right now, make a note card with a landmark, the cat's info, and the price, and the date. Check back in a day or two. Did the price change? Note that. Is the cat gone? Note that.

Remember .. when you see a cat for sale, the price is NOT the selling price. It's the price the seller would LIKE to get. If you revisit the same shop, and the price for that cat is too high, it'll almost always still be there. But the some of the cats will be gone. If you know what the price was, yesterday, when you saw it, you'll have a good guess at the selling price for cats with those traits.

After a while, you'll get a good feel for current market conditions and be better able to set prices for your cats.

--

As to where to locate your shop, remember the three most important factors .. location, location, and location.

Stalls in marketplace regions can work, or not. Don't just purchase a stall. Do some research. Does the region operator help you? Do they spam for traffic .. not rent-my-stalls spam .. you want to see buy-these-cats spam. If they have bid boards, do they spam for them, or is that left to the sellers? If they have love tables, do they spam for them, or leave that to the sellers? Do they have a group for renters to spam? If so, do the many renters actually spam or is it just one or two, or a bot spamming a cat which WAS for sale .. last month .. but has long since been sold? Yeah, it may be a cheap stall .. but if all you get is a stall .. well, you got what you paid for.

Watch out for too-low pricing on stalls. I've seen a lot of marketplace regions come and go. Usually, the operator thinks that all they need do is offer cheap prims and people will come. Initially, maybe, they do. But, at that low price how are they covering their tier? What good is a cheap stall if, next week, your cats are en masse returned by the Estate Owner for non-payment?

Watch out for over-decorated regions. I've seen a number of marketplace regions come and go even though their pricing for the prims was good. What happened? Well, all those decorations cost prims. If they're going into decoration, they're NOT being paid for. So, either expenses aren't being covered .. and you're gonna find all your prims returned, again, or you're going to log in one day and all that pretty decoration is going to be gone and all you'll see is rows of (usually empty) tacky low-prim stalls.

[Jackson Verlack]

(07-27-2014 05:25 PM)Kayleigh McMillan Wrote:  9.) In general live kitties seems to sell better than boxed kitties.

I can agree on this, In last month and half I started offering my cats live instead of boxed and I saw an increase of my own sales even during these though summer weeks.
Coincidence or not I cant confirm, but i can share info that Ive sold more lives than boxes through my shop, aprox 4:1 usually ages 6-9 days old

Also, thanks everyone for sharing your tips, im glad to see so many willing to contribute