KittyCatS! Community Forum

Im sure there has been topics like this, this is nothing new of information or a secret.
Recently I have met a lot of new people who are just starting into the business of selling their kittycats and boxes and have decided to give them a spot where to read something on how to start their small shop or stall.

Text that follows is but a fragment of the information that is out there for the old and new vendors and if you see anything missed id gladly appreciate replies with even more infos.

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Every breeder of the KittyCats comes at a point when they want to share their success with others, through sales, auctions or simple trades. If you have decided upon a shop its not hard to realize theres a lot of old and new breeders already around displaying their KittyCats, some boxed some live for the breeders that will buy them and carry on the work vendor has started upon them.

We all have been new once or have reached a phase where we had a low sale for a extended period of time, and for that reason Ive decided to share few tips with what helped me through my breeding experience


Deciding on shop

Shops are the first stop breeders see when they venture through numerous sims where the offer on KittyCats is diverse, from furs, traits, sizes and special collectibles. here is what may help you make a difference

? Decoration
An eye catching shop goes long way to attract by itself a customer passing by

? Pedigree
Pedigree turned on for selling cats and boxes - it helps a lot for the breeders to be able to see the pedigree and make an easier choice of buying the KittyCat you offered.

? Advertising
In these times when theres more shops and sims than there is breeders who are constantly buying, it is a good tool in shop promotion to use advertisements, daily adds much as possible. Be creative in text, familiarize yourself what people want and form your ads accordingly. It helps to change them often too, for new text often bring eyes to read.

? Forum
KittyCats have had a forum for the breeders to exchange their breeding experience, search and sell and announce events. Be active among other breeders, become part of the community for people do buy from those they know very often.

? Expect bumps on road
Selling cats can hardly be a secure business but if its product of your love for breeding than the cost of shop is never something that will turn you away from continuing the breeding. Don`t be discouraged by low sales, or a dry few weeks, because every business has its ups and downs. Enjoy your breeding experience and be sure for every kitty theres always someone looking for it

? Know the market
If you are interested in selling something the current buyers are looking for, take time and explore, auctions, bid boards or simple wanted groups,where you can easily see what is in demand these days.

? Pricing
Pricing is a topic many will debate upon but it mostly comes down to very simple fact, how much would -you- pay for your own cat and is the cat something you would consider buying. With simple answers you get a very simple form of how much you can at least expect for a box or kitty you are about to put in shop.

There is always a lot you can do, be creative in your own way, enjoy the journey of breeding and most of all, do it because you love it, it helps a lot in passing over the small bumps in our path.

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Disclaimer: I do not claim any of the given information as my own, these are experience and advises of others gathered in one to help those new into selling business fish an idea or two for their own shop.
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Good initiative Jackson and i think you've covered the essentials well.

I d like to take advantage of your thread to point out something thats bothered me for a while.

It's about store builds.
They really do need to be as open as possible, but often i see store builds with windows.
Now of course this makes a shop look more authentic from the outside, but from a potential buyer's point of view it's pretty hopeless.
It necessitates some pretty heavy camming gymnastics to actually see all the cats on sale. One ends up actually going into that 10M2 space and struggling inside.
So what with often laggy conditions also i know that i for one will maybe do this 2 or 3 times but then i just curse and give up and go somewhere else to browse, probably missing out on a great buy and the seller also.

For a market to have some chance of success, optimal viewing conditions are essential.
So, a simple and open planning with open builds, otherwise no matter how awesome the sim looks in general, people come to (hopefully) buy kitties and they just want easy and rapid visual access.

Edit : Sorry, i meant with glass window panes, which makes it impossible to click to get infos on a kitty/box viewed from the outside.

Thank you Lokhe for useful information, it will be useful especially for those who are new to KittyCats, great initiative!
I also would like to add that creating simple yet eye catching style of logo and shop helps a lot, it might be plain but if you add some nice deco and follow color sheme in all your stores, sooner or later shops will be known and recognizable.

Also socializing, meeting fellow breeding and getting to know people is path to success, we all share tips and information what is where, we brag about our best project and cry when we had a fail. But it's all great experience, especially when you have wonderful community and friends

Hi anna,
I like the idea of an open front to make it easier to cam in but on most cat or breedable sims, the shops you rent is already built in the shape of a some sort of house. So while you can decorate the walls, I don't think you are allowed to take down a wall.

the ones that are open are usually not a stall but a cart, platform or something like that that is cheaper to rent but is very limited in prim count

you can, of course, make a shop anyway you like on your own shop but then in that case, i don't think it matters if there is a 4th wall or not becuase there probably is only one shop and people can just walk through to browse as there is no place else to go

i, also, cam around a lot on sims with a lot of shops. What I've noticed is that places that have porches like Adorable, I often only go as far as the porches to see what people have instead of going all the way in but i "visit" more shops on the sim. On sims that have buildings with no porches, I'll cam inside the shops but I visit less shops. The amount of time I spend is about the same in both cases but camming into buildings just takes more time.

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Thank you, Jackson. I appreciate this thread because while I've bred a lot of cats I'm not so good at selling them.

(07-18-2014 07:13 AM)Jackson Verlack Wrote: [ -> ]Im sure there has been topics like this, this is nothing new of information or a secret.
...

Text that follows is but a fragment of the information that is out there for the old and new vendors and if you see anything missed id gladly appreciate replies with even more infos.

...

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

Thanks everyone for their input, yes having a wide open shop goes a long way.

Thanks Kendrah for the tip, wow didnt know you can search them that way XD
now time to actually search for those who are shown in search

(07-19-2014 05:28 PM)Kayla Woodrunner Wrote: [ -> ]Hi anna,
I like the idea of an open front to make it easier to cam in but on most cat or breedable sims, the shops you rent is already built in the shape of a some sort of house. So while you can decorate the walls, I don't think you are allowed to take down a wall.

the ones that are open are usually not a stall but a cart, platform or something like that that is cheaper to rent but is very limited in prim count

you can, of course, make a shop anyway you like on your own shop but then in that case, i don't think it matters if there is a 4th wall or not becuase there probably is only one shop and people can just walk through to browse as there is no place else to go

i, also, cam around a lot on sims with a lot of shops. What I've noticed is that places that have porches like Adorable, I often only go as far as the porches to see what people have instead of going all the way in but i "visit" more shops on the sim. On sims that have buildings with no porches, I'll cam inside the shops but I visit less shops. The amount of time I spend is about the same in both cases but camming into buildings just takes more time.

Well in my experience market owners will always do a mod on a build if it's a reasonable request, and often let me put down my own build as long as it ads and doesn't detract from the rest of the market's appearance.

In fact the point i was making was directed at the market owners, not the renters.
One will also often see that renters will just cover the front with a panel to put their boxes on if the shop isn't practical for easy viewing.

Too many corners to peer around necessitates Alt+click+ cam+zoom in which is a load of wearysome manips if you have repeat in each store, the alternative being to go into each shop and trying to cam around in it which can get pretty hairy depending on one's camera settings.
Also, being able to cam around each store from a fixed position with just the occasional Alt+click and sometimes a TP hop (oh and that's another point, pleeease no fixed TP location) is the same as "physically" visiting each one i think.

Anyhow, the point is, the less visual impediments when viewing, the better.
Renters and buyers alike will appreciate and this will greatly help in optimizing sales.

1) MAKE SURE IT'S FOR SALE!!!

I know you just did that. Do it again. Be thorough. It won't sell if it's not marked for sale. Remember: pulling in from the Dock and changing mode (to or from low prim, to or from image) clear the price and For Sale.

2) Check the shop out before renting.

Press ESC twice to reset your camera, then try walking along every edge and into every corner, and slanting across each area. If you have problems moving, so will your customers. If you can't see the entire room when standing in the center and spinning your avatar, neither can your customers. If they can't see it, or can't get to it, they'll give up and leave.

3) Check again after decorating.

Repeat this after you decorate, or make any changes. If your super-cute sofa blocks them entering, they won't enter. If it blocks them so they can't leave, they'll teleport out, never to return. Remember: customers have an amazingly long memory for bad experiences .. if your sofa trapped them, even after you moved it, you'll forever be "that shop which trapped me, don't go there."

2) Pay attention to your landscaping.

That plant may be pretty. But look at the box next to it from straight-on. Does your mouse click hit the plant? Unless it's an exceptionally interesting cat/box, purchasers won't fiddle. If they hit the plant instead of your cat/box, you just lost the sale. Ctrl-Alt-T shows transparent textures as red semi-transparent. Live/box cat images will be red .. look for more red coming from your landscaping and either move the plants or move the cat.

5) Set Home!!!

So you cleverly hid your dock behind and under your shop. You just pulled in a dozen cats and artfully arranged them in your shop. You come back tomorrow and .. NO CATS! Remember that clever hiding place? Yep .. you have a pile-o-cat. Remember: when a cat goes to sleep .. EVEN IF WALK IS TURNED OFF .. it teleports Home. If you didn't set Home, it will be where this instance of the cat first appeared in-world. That is: where you dropped it from inventory, you dock, where you changed prim mode, etc.

So, when you're going through every box and cat to be sure it's For Sale, Set Home to be sure the cat sleeps where you put it.

6) If you can't do it, have a friend who runs their Viewer "balls-to-the-wall" .. every graphics option enabled and set to max. Make sure you/she can actually SEE your cats!

It never ceases to amaze me when Charm wanders around and there are shops with wonderful glowing landscaping, poofers, light sources, and full-bright textures everywhere. The shop sure looks pretty .. from a distance .. and it's definitely eye-catching .. but when she gets close .. WHAM! .. white-out .. all you see is the glow.

If the customer has to down-grade their experience to look in your shop .. they won't look in your shop. Simple, no?

7) Oh, I can go on but that's enough for now.

8) When considering a new shop, if it's Mesh, check that you can rez on the floor and walls. There's a lot of Badly Build Mesh Shops (SM) out there, and some market regions use them. Put on the group tag and try to create a box on the floor and on each wall (or other place you're likely to try, like rails and posts, steps, etc). If you get an error about the land owner not allowing, rez a box on the Ground (to be sure you are allowed). That error is your Official Warning .. if you rez a cat or box there it will fail. When it fails, usually you WILL NOT see your cat/box in your inventory. You will need to log out and back in to see it. And, then, it's possible you still won't see it and need to file a Ticket to get it back. So CHECK BEFORE YOU RENT!

(07-26-2014 09:32 PM)Tad Carlucci Wrote: [ -> ]8) When considering a new shop, if it's Mesh, check that you can rez on the floor and walls. There's a lot of Badly Build Mesh Shops (SM) out there, and some market regions use them.

I dislike it so badly when designers cut down on the physics indeed which makes mesh buildings a pain sometimes.