Xah Lee, 2010-04-24
Look at this item Source www.xstreetsl.com . (be sure to check out all the screenshots)
It sells for about $100 USD, and people are buying it. I estimate that it takes about single person 3 weeks to make. If you compare it to software, the ratio of market value over effort is way higher. For example, if you are a game programer, you can code for 3 months, and resulting a product that you can sell for maybe $20. And, to be a game programer actually takes a few years more training and knowledge than building and scripting in Second Life.
My Particle Maker sells for ~$14 USD, and i sell close to 2 per week since i made it in 2009-04. It took me about 3 weeks full time to create. I have not even spend time on marketing for the past 7 months.
I think the reason for this is because Second Life is a new market. For example, computer games market have been around for 20 or 30 years, Second Life only few years and not yet main stream.
A bit of rare juicy info on sl business. Here's a quote from Wikipedia Second life:
According to figures published by Linden Lab, about 64,000 users made a profit in Second Life in February 2009, of whom 38524 made less than US$10, while 233 made more than US$5000 [21]. Profits are derived from selling virtual goods, renting land, and a broad range of services. In March 2009, it has become known that there exist a few Second Life entrepreneurs, whose profits exceed 1 million US$ per year[22].
Some companies generate US dollar earnings from services provided in Second Life. Examples are Languagelife.com,[23] Rivers Run Red[24], BNT Holdings, and Beta Technologies.[25] This opportunity is extending to normal residents and non-Second Life users via affiliate programs.[26] The total value of these transactions has not been calculated but in 2008 consultancy firms Rivers Run Red and Electric Sheep have reported annual revenues of $6 million.
The reference 21 about who made what amount, is from sl official site: http://secondlife.com/statistics/economy-data.php. That page is raw data, you'll need to do some computation to get a readible summary.
The reference about those making millions, is from a blog: Top Second Life Entrepeneur Cashing Out US$1.7 Million Yearly; Furnishings, Events Management Among Top Earners (2009-03-24) By Wagner James Au. @ Source nwn.blogs.com
The source of this millions claim is from Robin Harper's blog, at Source couldtherebewhales.blogspot.com. Apparently, Robin was a VP of Marketing and Community Developmen at Linden Labs, and left in 2009-02.
Robin being a VP is readily verified on web. Here's a article: Source www.massively.com, and here: Source nwn.blogs.com. Here's Robin's linkedin url: Source www.linkedin.com.
There are 2 sl millionaire i'm aware of: Anshe Chung (Ailin Graef) and Stroker Serpentine (Kevin Alderman).
CBS Interview with Stroker Serpentine
Here's a interesting article that describes how Second Life is really a Pyramid scheme , and all the economy news are delusional in nature: SecondLife: Revolutionary Virtual Market or Ponzi Scheme? by Randolph Harrison, 2007-01-23. I believe what the article said is largely true. Here's a follow up article: The Linden dollar Game, 2007-02-20.
See: Anshe Chung cnet interview grief (2007-01)
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