Guide to selling

After you have created an item for Whirled, you may wish to list it on the Shop for other players to buy and enjoy (and to earn yourself some coins!). To pique the interest of potential buyers and encourage them to make a purchase, you should make your item listing as attractive to them as possible.

The first three pieces of information a player browsing the Shop has about your item comes from its item name, its thumbnail, and its price. Then if they click on your thumbnail, potential buyers will be able to read your full item description and take a look at your work in all its glory.

Item Name
A good name for your item is:


 * descriptive - clearly states what your item is
 * concise - describes your item using one word or a very short phrase; long names get cut off on the Shop's browsing pages
 * properly spelled, punctuated, and capitalized

Thumbnails
When uploading an item to Whirled, you are given the option to supply a thumbnail of your item. A thumbnail is a reduced-size image of your item that gives people a preview of your item when they're browsing through the Shop. A good thumbnail:


 * can be either a full or partial view of your item
 * should quickly and easily give a potential buyer an idea of how your item looks
 * should not be a picture of something unrelated to your item; potential buyers who click through and find something totally different from what they were expecting may feel deceived

Furniture, backdrops and images will have a thumbnail automatically created from your uploaded file. You can upload or create a different thumbnail instead if you like, and use that instead of the automatically generated thumbnail.

Avatars, toys, pets, games, music, and videos will use the Whirled default item icon for the thumbnail, unless you create or upload one. Using the default is not recommended, as it doesn't command attention from people browsing the Shop, and instead looks as though you didn't care enough to provide a good thumbnail.

Pricing
Look around the shop at items that are similar to yours in terms of artwork and/or code quality, animation, states and features, and general desirability. Animated and/or labor-intensive items command higher prices, and creators often list those types of items for bars. Lower-end, quickly made items such as unanimated avatars and items that are plain images without special actions are more often listed for coins. There is a fee for listing and a minimum price set by your initial item rating, read more about it here.

If you list your item for coins, you will receive your ▲ seller's cut in coins.

Description
A good item description:


 * gives useful information about the item--what it is, what it does, how to use it, etc.
 * lists any special features that may not be immediately obvious to the viewer
 * provides a link to a room where the item can be tested, if it cannot be tested in the Shop preview
 * provides a link to the official group or discussion thread for the item, if any

Tagging
After you list your item, view it in the Shop and add some tags. Tags should be words that describe aspects of your item so that people searching for those words will find your item. They should refer to what the item is, what its main colors are, what its actions and states do, the creator's name, and what AVR games it works with.

Building a Good Reputation as a Seller
As a seller, there are a number of tools available to help you build a reputation as a seller. Use these tools to pay attention to and meet the desires of your buying audience.
 * Watch the marketplace and respond to it. If you're seeing a lot of requests for something, it means there's a demand for it that you could be filling.  Also, if the thumbnails for your items are of good quality, consider listing them for sale as images so people can use them as profile icons and medals.
 * Make sure your Whirled stays somewhat consistent. That consistency allows buyers to remember and seek out your name again when browsing items in the shop.
 * Watch the purchases and favorites metrics on your item listings. If an item is popular, you should try to make more things that match it or are similar in function.
 * Be active in discussions with other creators to get learn new skills and collaborate on ideas.
 * Create a group for fans of your creations, or create a group based on the theme or functionality of your creations.
 * By frequently checking the Creator section of your Transaction page, you can see what is currently being purchased and can use that information to create similar items in a timely fashion.
 * If you know who is buying your room items, you can try looking around the buyer's publicly accessible rooms to see if there are additional matching items that you could create for rooms that buyers might like.
 * Use your imagination and creativity to make items in your own style rather than simply copying the style of other people.
 * Give buyers room decorating ideas by creating a room and displaying your items in it attractively. Link to your example room in the item's description.

A Word About Shop Comments
Shop comments are where all Whirled players can rate your items and give their feedback on them. Sometimes people give excellent praise and advice, and sometimes people can be mean or spammy. Whirled has guidelines for the use of the comment system. If a commenter blatantly disregards these, please report the comment and downrate it. You should also make sure you follow these guidelines yourself! As a seller building a good reputation, it's best to remain dignified and to avoid flame wars, not just in Shop comments, but everywhere on Whirled.

Basic Dos and Don'ts

 * DON'T copy other creators' work.
 * DO use your imagination to come up with your own wonderful concepts and items.
 * DON'T list items that break Whirled's Terms of Service and Community Standards.
 * DO use your image editor to add transparency to your images by removing unnecessary background from your item.
 * DON'T swear or use abusive language in your item names or descriptions.
 * DO make sure that your items are PG-13.
 * DON'T use exact copies of items from the Whirled SVN.
 * DO create content derived from the SVN by incorporating significant changes from the original, and remember to attribute Three Rings in the item description.
 * DON'T respond with swearing or ranting to negative feedback or inappropriate comments on your items.
 * DO report inappropriate comments that do not adhere to the guidelines.