How To Make Money On Second Life
The BBC Money Programme conducted a study in to one of the new generation of ways to make money online. After the boom and bust of the dotcom era fading in to the past, there’s now many more ways than just setting up a business, and selling stuff online. The programme was a mix of real talking heads, and reporter Max Flint’s spiky haired avatar showing us around the new and exciting virtual realms.
The first instances they looked at were individuals making money from Second Life, the place where people with no real lives go to hang out. There was an American guy on there who now lives in Birmingham, England who described how he was making a very good living by offering to make anything you wanted on Second Life. He’d set himself up as an entrepreneur (at least a virtual one) and people came to him to construct something they wanted but didn’t have. Apparently on Second Life, you can make anything you desire, as long as you have the technical knowledge and creative spark. This guy would make you anything from a table, to a swimming pool, right up to a whole city, and charge you real money for the privilege. The reason he moved to the UK? He met and fell in love with someone on Second Life of course, although neither of them resembled their avatars in the slightest.
There was also the property developer who owned a virtual version of Kensington, south London. Real house prices in this affluent area would set you back between £2,000,000 ($4 million) and £10,000,000 ($20 million) and are slightly beyond us mere mortals. So the lady in question built her own version and now charges people for the honour of staying in one of her palatial properties. Again, she’s making real money from this, not just virtual dollars, or Linden dollars as they’re known to Second Lifers.
Staying with Second Life, they then researched how big businesses were making the most of these new markets and opportunites to get their product’s message across. Reebok have a Second Life shop where virtual consumers enter and design their own pair of trainers. Not content to just stick with advertising the company though, you can now order that same pair of shoes you just virtually tried on, and have them delivered in this ermm First Life?! Ingenious, and a way of adding real money to the coffers of big multi-national corporations.
Calvin Klein also has a virtual store in Second Life, where you can purchase aftershave which will affect your avatars chances of meeting women… apparently. These are just the first 2 of many big companies which are sure to realise the potential market in these new, and ever growing virtual worlds.
The second half of the programme looked at the influx of people selling equipment and upgrades on MMORPGs such as ‘World of Warcraft’ and ‘Lord of the Rings Online’. Want a Level 70 character but can’t be bothered to spend the hours needed in front of a PC to achieve such fame? Then just purchase the opportunity (for real money) from a dodgy character on Ebay or online marketplace. Apparently there’s the chance to buy everything from big kick ass weapons, to life upgrades if that’s your bag.
The programme was fascinating, and made me realise there’s a whole different world out there, one which I have yet to take a leap in to. Maybe the opportunity to make a bit of extra cash may be the extra incentive I need to get me to leave this First Life behind for a few hours a day and venture in to Second Life.
If you have no idea what Second Life is, or what I’m on about then this YouTube video should help…
Do you use Second Life, and have you made money from it? Have you ever bought or sold an item from an Massive multiplayer online game because you couldn’t be bothered to earn it yourself? Let me know your experiences and opinions.
Second Life, 2nd Life, SecondLife, MMORPG, World Of Warcraft, Lord Of The Rings, Lord Of The Rings Online, Second Life Money, Money, BBC, The Money Programme, Max Flint, Birmingham, UK, Ebay, Reebok, Calvin Klein
June 5th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
I don’t really have any experience with these things, but these are very interesting topics!
June 5th, 2007 at 2:11 pm
I don’t have any experience with these, but my Hubby is slightly obsessed with World of Warcraft. He has joked about selling his characters on ebay and starting over from scratch. Of course he also laughs at the people that actually buy them.
June 5th, 2007 at 2:51 pm
In a way, though, isn’t it similiar to buying an expansion pack for a game?
June 5th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
Dave -
Cool post. In the US, the feds are trying to figure out how to tax this stuff because the money is HUGE. I have a post here: http://www.taxgirl.com/virtually-wealthy/
It will be interesting to see whether any other countries such as the UK do anything similar.
June 5th, 2007 at 8:36 pm
Frankly, the whole secondlife thing kind of creeps my out. I mean, at least with a game there is a point, a goal, something that makes it clearly a short term bit of fun outside of reality. But secondlife is getting a little Max Headrom for me.
June 6th, 2007 at 6:20 pm
Deanna, I’m scared to start playing WoW, as I know I’d get obsessed very quickly.
Emma, That’s a good point, but it’s not new stuff, it’s more like buying a cheat, to give yourself an advantage.
Kelly, I hadn’t even thought about the tax implications so thanks for the link. I think I’ll be doing another post about Second Life soon.
Catslyn, I couldn’t agree more, but I have to admit there’s a certain fascination which makes me want to experience it.
June 7th, 2007 at 6:51 pm
Yuk I was thinking about playing second life but this the accent on that video made me sick and I’m British. “one’s Avatar” *cringe*
June 9th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
Lol, I know exactly what you mean Luke, she has got an awfully squeaky posh English voice :S
October 24th, 2007 at 5:02 pm
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October 28th, 2007 at 1:42 am
I am trying this to see if I can make the money that it says it would pay..
November 28th, 2007 at 11:15 am
Hiya,
yep I make rather good money in Second Life. At this moment I make about 3.000 USD a month doing virtual sales.
I run various projects in Second Life. There is an asian market where I sell the Japanese and Chinese antiques I build. Recently I added a new line of Japanese styled building elements. All have been textured with detail in mind. If you like to see all elements put together in a beautiful context, please visit our ‘Hosoi Ichiba’ (see the SLURL in the links list). If you plan to build your own palace or market place or sim this is the product for you. People love the high detailed textures.
Check out: http://hosoi-ichiba.blogspot.com/
And you don’t have to be around in Second Life to actually sell your stuff. There is also a Second Life Marketplace that is not run by Linden Labs. Here you can put all your stuf for sale for a little commission.
Check out: http://slexchange.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&MerchantID=32983
I also designed an online game called Nugget Gulch Goldmine Game.
Nugget Gulch is a forgotten ghost town abandoned by its residents. What only few people know is, there is still a tresure in gold hidden in the mountains. Get your tools and try your luck. You might find your super nugget today! We have about 70.000 worth of objects hidden in the Sim today!
The game is situated in the most lovely authentic scenery known to Second Life. The goal of the game is to find as many valuable objects in this desert and the mountains as you possibly can within a given timespan. You can find Gold, Silver, Coins, Spurs, etc. Below you will find a list of possible finds and their value. The Nugget Gulch Developer Team is constantly working to improve the game and the scenery. As the game will grow we will add new exiting features and interactivity. We try to bring you the best possible, authentic atmosphere. The Nugget Gulch Sim is not an RPG but we like our visitor to blend in with the scenery as much as possible.
Check out: http://nugget-gulch.com/
Next to this sales thing I run a real life company Hosoi Estates.
Hosoi Estates can be at your service in a variety of fields. From design and building services to assisting you with planning to expand your business into Second Life. If you have other specific needs that aren’t listed below, good chance we can also help you with that. You can contract us to…
• Buy or sell your private land
• Buy or sell your private islands
• Buy or sell your property
• Design and build structures for you
• Design and build buildings for you
• Help you with setting up your business
• Help you with finding the perfect location
Check out: http://sl-estates.com/
Okay, thats my 2 cents.
Cheers,
Ami
November 30th, 2007 at 10:35 am
Hey, I work at the financial center of Second Life.
Please visit my Youtube Video
http://youtube.com/watch?v=VPAeWSOVifA
and read my blog:
http://strongmanshelford.blogspost.com
March 27th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
[…] sure this kind of thing has happened in PC gaming before, and also virtual world games such as Second Life and World of Warcraft, but I’ve never heard about it happening in quite the same way as this […]