Gaia... This is NOT a Sale!

[Cheeva Beruvain]

Opera Phantomess

Masquerade! Paper faces on parade. Masquerade!

Blame Gaia for allowing the artists to make the damn prices for their precious items. As an artist myself who is four hundred times better than any art professor and/or self proclaimed art genius that I have had the displeasure to work with within the past four years, I am horribly appalled by their behaviour with pixel items that pale in comparison to works made with pencil and paper or canvas and paint. Sorry, but just because you have mastered the art of pixel art does not mean you are in the same ranks at Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, or Leonardo Da Vinci. At least their art has some real life value art collectors and museums actually offer to pay for their works and then some. That pedestal they are on is just absurd.

Disclaimer: I highly doubt all artists at Gaia want their items to be stuck with a rarity or price tag that is so insane, but it seems a good majority of them are.

Hide your face so the world will never find you.

Huh, if what is in your gallery, is better than professors and "art geniuses", then I should have done a fine arts degree, rather than a literary one =o

Back on topic, I agree that the prices are crazily high. I, too, would prefer to spend money on bills and Christmas gifts, rather than pixels. Other people, they might have the cash to spare and think this is the perfect chance to own a rarer item.

Personally, I feel actions will speak louder than words. If the prices are too high, then don't buy anything. If they don't get the sales they expected, the marketing team will realise their error and next time price a little more conservatively. It's a learning curve for them. Though, I suspect, this will be a very steep learning curve.

I for one won't be buying anything. Freelance times are hard and all my disposable cash is going toward epic Christmas presents ^^ Best of luck with your pricing, next time, Gaia!

[Jaded Tatersalad]

This "sale" is so sad. crying

[Virgo Whiskers]

My issue with it isn't if it's a "good deal" or not, it's that it's 50 freaking bucks for a VIRTUAL ITEM.
Now I'm not against spending money on virtual items to an extent. It's entertainment, much like going and seeing a movie. But asking that much for a virtual item seems a bit insulting to those of us who lack a disposable income (which I'm guessing is most of us). It's basically holding it in front of our faces and saying "you can't have this, nanny nanny poo poo". I mean, it's annoying enough when it's a rare in a CI, and you have a snowball's chance in hell to get it. But at least then being rich doesn't give you a better chance per CI to get the item. But this really is only for those that have a decent amount of disposable income, and that's why it bugs me.

And yes, I'm jealous of people who can spend $50 on a virtual item.

[Flying Dicks]

Virgo Whiskers

My issue with it isn't if it's a "good deal" or not, it's that it's 50 freaking bucks for a VIRTUAL ITEM.
Now I'm not against spending money on virtual items to an extent. It's entertainment, much like going and seeing a movie. But asking that much for a virtual item seems a bit insulting to those of us who lack a disposable income (which I'm guessing is most of us). It's basically holding it in front of our faces and saying "you can't have this, nanny nanny poo poo". I mean, it's annoying enough when it's a rare in a CI, and you have a snowball's chance in hell to get it. But at least then being rich doesn't give you a better chance per CI to get the item. But this really is only for those that have a decent amount of disposable income, and that's why it bugs me.

And yes, I'm jealous of people who can spend $50 on a virtual item.

You have a good point, at least before you had the same chance to win whether you spent $5 or $500 because it was random each time, but this blatantly favors the rich and is for the rich.

[Miserable pile of secrets]

to me $50 makes sense if you were someone who would buy several bundles or until you've gotten said item.

because lets face it a lot of people would buy the item at $10-25 pretty much making it extremely common when it was *supposed* to be rare.

its not like gaia is losing anything and a couple of people WILL pay $25-50 for these items because they don't want to spend as much and not get the item even though its a pretty good (at least i think so anyway) damn chance that you'd be able to sell 30-50 RIG grants to be able to afford said item...but i don't know because i've never opened more than 3 RIGs before and all i ever got was junk.

i understand the prices, well some anyway ($25 for sweet porridge? $30 for neowhatever? those items don't even fetch more than a mil)


but yeah this is definitely not a black friday sale and more like a "we're-testing-out-a-way-to-make-more-money sale"

[Flying Dicks]

Miserable pile of secrets

to me $50 makes sense if you were someone who would buy several bundles or until you've gotten said item.

because lets face it a lot of people would buy the item at $10-25 pretty much making it extremely common when it was *supposed* to be rare.

its not like gaia is losing anything and a couple of people WILL pay $25-50 for these items because they don't want to spend as much and not get the item even though its a pretty good (at least i think so anyway) damn chance that you'd be able to sell 30-50 RIG grants to be able to afford said item...but i don't know because i've never opened more than 3 RIGs before and all i ever got was junk.

i understand the prices, well some anyway ($25 for sweet porridge? $30 for neowhatever? those items don't even fetch more than a mil)


but yeah this is definitely not a black friday sale and more like a "we're-testing-out-a-way-to-make-more-money sale"

Even at $25, I think the limited time sales would have kept them rare enough, and yeah some of the prices make no sense at all beyond the limited form of sense that the rig rare pets prices make.

[Bronia]

Well, in a way it is a sale. That's not saying $50 isn't a bit expensive, but comparing the value of GC to gold it's a good deal. Especially for questers with that kind of GC. (not that I would ever dream of having that much to spend on pixels..)

Nobody's forcing me to buy it and I can just as easily ignore the sale entirely. I am a tad jealous that some people can spend #50 on pixels, but hey, whatcha gonna do, right?

I guess what I'm getting at is, and it may be the NyQuil talking, I'm not mad about it. As long as they keep prices in the CS appropriate in other parts and for other items. (like keep REI's 499 and stuff) then it doesn't hurt to try and make a few extra bucks here and there.

Hopefully that post made sense. And I'm not trying to make any enemies, so nobody attack me, please?

[LamingtonQueen]

I would just like to say, that it is a sale - the thing is that people are only reading the $50 thing. It says in the announcement that they'll be released discounted cash bundles of stuff - that would be the sale. The new items would be just tacked on xd The price of those is a completely different matter sweatdrop

[Jayce Reinhardt]

LamingtonQueen

I would just like to say, that it is a sale - the thing is that people are only reading the $50 thing. It says in the announcement that they'll be released discounted cash bundles of stuff - that would be the sale. The new items would be just tacked on xd The price of those is a completely different matter sweatdrop

But if a store can't list their actual sales in the "pamphlets" for Black Friday, why would people be motivated?

Target motivated me by listing a $130 xbox as one of there sales.

Sears demotivated me by saying certain things will be 20% off.

[Zuri-kai]

Yes Gaia. So many people right now have the financial capability to pay $50 for a virtual dress up item (most of which aren't even that amazing). This is not a sale. A sale would be something people could afford.

With $50 on Black Friday I could buy piles of clothes, or a couple PS3 games. Things that have real substance and real value. This much money for some pixels on a screen is an atrocity.

[Lydia V Grey]

The Word Sale Does Not Mean Discount!

The word sale means you have an item to sell. This is a word association ploy used by merchants to gain impulse buys. This is why consumer protection groups advise you to visit stores several times for pricing and to comparitively shop between stores.

The only time you can be assured of a discount is if the sign says n% Off or n% Discount. Otherwise, if the word sale is used, you could (and probably are) paying full retail value on your item.

Is Gaia's pricing fair? Honestly, I don't typically see luxury items in terms of fairness. If the price is too high, they simply will not make sales. They will then adjust the pricing so the sale numbers rise.

I am not saying you should not let them know that you find their prices outrageous. By all means do so. I am only giving you a heads up in regards to the advertising tactic being used because it is a common one.

[Poshul]

All I have to say is I will not be buying anything and I sincerely hope this "sale" is a big failure. Yes I understand they need money to run this site, but I value $50 highly and to spend it on virtual pixels that will disappear someday should the site die or I get banned/hacked would be like using it to wipe the s**t off my a**.

The picture in my mind of Gaia staff when posting this sale: Hands on their hips, leaning back slightly while looking down with a large toothy cheshire cat grin

[Gundamu]

Lydia V Grey

The Word Sale Does Not Mean Discount!

The word sale means you have an item to sell. This is a word association ploy used by merchants to gain impulse buys. This is why consumer protection groups advise you to visit stores several times for pricing and to comparitively shop between stores.

The only time you can be assured of a discount is if the sign says n% Off or n% Discount. Otherwise, if the word sale is used, you could (and probably are) paying full retail value on your item.

Is Gaia's pricing fair? Honestly, I don't typically see luxury items in terms of fairness. If the price is too high, they simply will not make sales. They will then adjust the pricing so the sale numbers rise.

I am not saying you should not let them know that you find their prices outrageous. By all means do so. I am only giving you a heads up in regards to the advertising tactic being used because it is a common one.

Isn't "A special disposal of goods at lowered prices" also a part of the definition of that word? When it comes to Black Friday that's exactly what sale means.

[Star]

Cheeva Catkin

Opera Phantomess

Masquerade! Paper faces on parade. Masquerade!

Blame Gaia for allowing the artists to make the damn prices for their precious items. As an artist myself who is four hundred times better than any art professor and/or self proclaimed art genius that I have had the displeasure to work with within the past four years, I am horribly appalled by their behaviour with pixel items that pale in comparison to works made with pencil and paper or canvas and paint. Sorry, but just because you have mastered the art of pixel art does not mean you are in the same ranks at Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, or Leonardo Da Vinci. At least their art has some real life value art collectors and museums actually offer to pay for their works and then some. That pedestal they are on is just absurd.

Disclaimer: I highly doubt all artists at Gaia want their items to be stuck with a rarity or price tag that is so insane, but it seems a good majority of them are.

Hide your face so the world will never find you.

Huh, if what is in your gallery, is better than professors and "art geniuses", then I should have done a fine arts degree, rather than a literary one =o

This, pretty much. Ego, much?

[Lydia V Grey]

Gundamu

Lydia V Grey

The Word Sale Does Not Mean Discount!

The word sale means you have an item to sell. This is a word association ploy used by merchants to gain impulse buys. This is why consumer protection groups advise you to visit stores several times for pricing and to comparitively shop between stores.

The only time you can be assured of a discount is if the sign says n% Off or n% Discount. Otherwise, if the word sale is used, you could (and probably are) paying full retail value on your item.

Is Gaia's pricing fair? Honestly, I don't typically see luxury items in terms of fairness. If the price is too high, they simply will not make sales. They will then adjust the pricing so the sale numbers rise.

I am not saying you should not let them know that you find their prices outrageous. By all means do so. I am only giving you a heads up in regards to the advertising tactic being used because it is a common one.

Isn't "A special disposal of goods at lowered prices" also a part of the definition of that word? When it comes to Black Friday that's exactly what sale means.

It does. However, Keep in mind that Gaia can control which items are subject to that claim. They may list an item for sale that is not subject to the claim and there is not one thing that can be done about it. Many places will places ads like: 50% off on selected Kenmore Appliances. You know Kenmore appliances are on sale the store, however, decides if those appliances are refrigerators or dishwashers and they are not obligated to offer that discount on all of the Kenmore appliances only 1 at the very least.

As to Black Friday "sales" being synonomous to discounts? No. Sorry. It is a word association ploy of advertising. Yes, many places will give you special discounts and extremely good bargains. But they have also marked prices on other things OR have done the mark up/mark down.
A mark up/mark down is when they deliberately have items available at higher than average prices for several weeks or months prior to a huge "sale" then give a discount on the marked up price. Several weeks after the "sale" the price naturally falls to one that is more competative. Another sale scheme is deliberately not stocking enough "discounted" items and having a similar model available for a higher price.


These tactics are the reason consumer groups are so busy this time of the year.