Over the Summer I'll be sharing highlights of my new in-depth, voluminous (over 4000 words!) Patreon report on the state of the Second Life economy in 2025. If you find my coverage of Second Life and other virtual worlds valuable, I hope you consider subscribing so that I can, well, keep covering Second Life and other virtual worlds.
That said, here's three surprising (at least to me) findings from the report, based on anonymous interviews with over 100 veteran SL content creators:
Combined, Brands Selling Pets & Breedables and Home Furnishings are about as Common as Fashion Brands
[I]n terms of content types, a majority of SL merchants surveyed (nearly 60%) sell products in the avatar style and home decor categories: This strengthens my view that most SLers enjoy the virtual world as a kind of turbo-charged online version of The SIms of inZOI that's mainly focused on social / life roleplay. (Further strengthened by the fact that the third most popular category at 19% is pets/breedables.)
Two more findings below the break!
The Best-Selling SL Items are Priced at L$500 or Less
A strong majority of best selling SL items (66%) are priced at L$500 or below — i.e., $2 USD or less. This is especially notable, because in 2024, 72% of merchants surveyed said their top seller was priced below L$500. This suggests overall prices are trending slightly upward. (Virtual world inflation?)
Most Sales Are Made In-World, Not the Web-Based Marketplace
I was mildly surprised when I asked merchants how much of their revenue comes from sales on the Marketplace website:
A large minority chose “51% or higher”. (Roughly the same result from 2024.) Despite web-based shopping being so much easier and friction-free compared to shopping in-world, most SL shoppers prefer rawdogging their metaverse.
At the same time, note that the vast majority of merchants (almost 3 in 4) do earn 25% or more from their Marketplace page, so that’s another important takeaway:
Even if most of your revenue is from in-world sales, it's still important to maintain your Marketplace as a secondary option.
Consider subscribing to read the rest here.
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Wagner James Au / New World Notes 
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