[Archived - Polystyrene] Drastic drop in sales

Posted by “RigsK” on May 14, 2022.

Hi All,

As you are probably aware, we're encountering an economy that we haven't seen in a generation. Record-setting inflation has hit most facets of our everyday lives, including our entertainment options. This is clearly impacting how much disposable income people have for IMVU which would ultimately result in fewer catalog purchases. We're seeing declines across the board, not just in catalog sales. On a brighter note, we're just starting to enter the summer period in the northern hemisphere which is usually a time where we see a bump in users. Our business has always had some seasonality to it. The wild cards this year are the easing of pandemic restrictions and macroeconomic pressures.

Posted by “gaf210” on May 14, 2022.

One thing i noticed yesterday while shopping on the web catalog, is that when searching for something, many old products, like very ancient ones, showed up on the 1st page of the search, mixed with maybe 2 or 3 new products from pro creators.

Today when searching again for the same terms, i see something has changed. More new products shown and maybe 2 or 3 ancient ones. Might this be a result of a change in the search algorithm?

Posted by “Ahndante” on May 13, 2022.

@Sylaraia​ I'm not sure what personal information you're referring to? As far as I know I've not given any of my personal information out.

Posted by “Juccy” on May 13, 2022.

I think you pin pointed it. People get off after less than an hours now, they don't bother leaving IMVU open. IMVU is no longer a lifestyle. Pretty sad it has come to this :(

Posted by “Sylaraia” on May 13, 2022.

@Ahndante​ I know you're well intentioned, but I don't tell that type of personal information because it can make you a target for account thieves.

Posted by “Sylaraia” on May 13, 2022.

I've been listening to economists now and again for the past year and a half, and they've been talking about this and that factor, this indicator and what it means, and the strongest signs point towards us approaching (or probably already in) a rare state where inflation drives people to not spend coupled with a likely recession. What's the first thing people stop spending on in those situations? Luxuries. We're a luxury industry, unfortunately.

If you couple that with $3 for a 1000 credits, I don't think there's any mystery. If I found out about IMVU today and then looked at that cost, I wouldn't spend money on here. I don't know if I would spend money on credits if the economy was humming along - that's a ludicrous price for a product that really only exists in our minds. I don't know what the average cost of a product in our catalog is, but I think its around 1000 credits. Would you spend $3 for most of those? Right now my finances are tight enough that I actively debate about file sales for my other hobbies involving my 3d printer that cost around that much, and I'm much more emotionally invested in those.

This starts with IMVU lowering the price of credits. I don't mean just continue with the daily onslaught of sales - there would be a larger psychological factor if the base price those sales are affecting were lower.

One last thing - I live in fear now of this. I want to say 8 years ago, but that is probably wrong, IMVU forced a 10% price hike on our catalog products. They came up with some sort of algorithm to do it, and they of course ambushed us with it, and it was effed up. There were a plethora of cases where some people had their product prices raised by as much as 300%, and to this day those products are still affected. It killed an entire early VU generation of products in the catalog. I do not want to see the reverse of that situation implemented and the results that would cause. I do not have the time to go through a 4000 product catalog, item by item, reviewing each price and rectifying it, and nor should I be subjected to that. I know that we have a whole new generation of executives and this might not have occurred to them, but in case they are considering this, DON'T. Every time something like that is implemented it always causes chaos, it always demoralizes the community that something like this was implemented without discussing it with us first, and it always has unintended side effects that worsen the situation.

Posted by “LovedWarrior” on May 13, 2022.

I also realized this myself. I thought it was just a coincidence but I don't think so. I had alts that were making a lot of credits and I made them to ear all cash and sales dropped very suddenly. I had about 4 alts and it happened to each one. They were selling well when I had them just for credits and as soon as I changed them to %100 cash, all the sales went down. I mean a real big drop.

Posted by “Polystyrene” on May 13, 2022.

I have always been 100% cash.

Posted by “Ahndante” on May 13, 2022.

It's not an accusation just a personal observation. I have no idea how any of it works behind the scenes but when I switch around my percentage of credits/cash my sales do better for a couple days. To the point that when I'm having a really really low streak of sales, I will switch my earnings for an hour and then switch them back and my earnings will double or sometimes even triple what they've been for the previous week or longer. I don't know why, I don't know how, but I've done it so many times now that I'm sure it cannot be a coincidence. Changing your credit/cash earnings ratio influences your earnings somehow, which means at the very least they've got an ugly bug in an algorithm or a system somewhere.

Posted by “FemmeDraven” on May 13, 2022.

@Ericfr​ And why wouldn't they do that and how would we even know other than watching what happens to our sales if we opt to take cash as payment instead of credits. I'm the one who first said I noticed a drastic drop in my sales as soon as I switched to cash (they were already low) and I queried others to see if they'd had the same experience. It wasn't an accusation as much as an observation but I suppose it could be both.

Posted by “Ericfr” on May 12, 2022.

@Ahndante, this is a highy serious accusation you are writing here. If this is reported as true that imvu is pushing up creator's sales when the return is IMVU credits and lowering it if it's cash, then it's very prejudiciable to the creator community that relie on this revenue for a living.

Posted by “shopdaisylogo” on May 12, 2022.

Cards*

Posted by “shopdaisylogo” on May 12, 2022.

This is what i brought up earlier, if members are spending on features that go straight to imvu then less to spend in the shops. The tier system is a disaster with higher fees if you lose pro or are not getting enough returns to feel its even worth deving. To members losing room slots, so no need to purchase furniture for them rooms, with the double whammy of if you want then pay for higher vip. With soaring cost of living and job losses it really isn't rocket science and the ones that will be hit are the ones at the bottom of the list and that has always been the devs . Also free give away credits and items, i have also seen some members finding it difficult to even purchase credits.cars used to be sold in whs in UK now you cant even find. I know share holders would probably love to see a increase but then so would the hard working devs in imvu

Posted by “MsPixelicious” on May 12, 2022.

do imvu do commercials??....properly get the name out there kinda thing?

'cause i would have thought, at a time where people cant spend on trips to the pub, club, theatre, cinema etc, NOW would be the time to get the message across, 'spend time with friends and family in a VIRTUAL CHAT WORLD with a minimal amount of fuss!

..or am i just being daft?

Posted by “LowKB” on May 12, 2022.

The truth is, sales we dropping before "Covid". Covid masked the issue for a temporary amount of time! Think about it! If you remove the temporary jump in sales caused by Covid, the whole profit line is still on a downward swing.

Think about when this started...

Mobile "Hook-Up" site. white icons, next catalog search, next catalog lack of categories, more and more.

There is only ONE shopping experience for the noobs. Get free credits, make your avatar look tough or badass as possible and try to get a date. A Doll Dress Up Site.

Used to when everyone was making money (including IMVU) the site was a place where people "lived" online. Hours and Hours daily were spent on IMVU by most. It was an escape from daily toils, troubles and gave new avenues for life. They spent Money on Real Credits to buy Homes, Playgrounds, Night Clubs, Cars, Race Tracks, Skating Rinks, Ski Lodges, Tennis Courts and a whole lot of things people cannot Daily and at a touch of a button, experience in real every day life.

***** Separation of the Mobile Hook-Up site that attracts the free loaders should be completely separate from IMVU LIFE Communities. The "Lifer community was a real viable business that made money for everyone. It is tainted by mobile, very BAD catalog presentation (in general) and should be torn away from the Life Community. Let it go on it's own. Name Mobile Something else than IMVU. Watch what happens. *****

Question? If a perfect ship is towing a sinking one, when do you cut the line so both don't go down?