How to create an Affiliate Vendor
One of the perks of being an Omega Friendly Mesh is that you appear in our Mesh Showroom.
The best way to leverage this exposure is to make sure they are able to buy then and there.
Since the cost of SL items is so low compared to RL, Impulse purchasing is VERY common.
But it seems some of you don’t know how to create an Affiliate Vendor!
Thankfully it’s super easy!
If you’ve not already purchased Caspervend, this is your first step. It can be obtained here:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Glamour%20Isle/164/172/1002
or here:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Izanagi/207/83/132
Free or Premium?
The only difference between Free and Premium is the price and the % they take out.
The Free Version takes 5% from every sale.
The Premium Version costs 1995L, but takes nothing from normal sales, and only 2% from Affiliate Sales.
Since you can at any time upgrade from the Free Version to the Premium, it’s generally my advise to start with the free, see how you like it, and then upgrade if you feel it is worth it. It should also be noted that the Complete Fatpack for 2995L is a really good deal as well. If you plan on doing MM Boards, or Gift Cards or Gatchas at any point, it’s probably best to skip right to the Fatpack.
Either way, I SUPER recommend accepting the group invite to the Caspervend Support Group. They’re super helpful and awesome.
(You’ll receive it when you make a purchase!)
Disclaimer: Chellynne is a Casper-fangirl, and gets 15% if you buy these things here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Glamour%20Isle/164/172/1002
Other Vendors:
Many Vendors exist, but I’ve yet to see one that beats Casper in features and ease of use AND have a free version that supports affiliate sales.
You are free to use any vendor you like, but this is the vendor this walk through will use, since I have no real knowledge of those other systems.
Next you need to find a nice cozy, perminant home for your Dropbox. Your dropbox is where you store your boxed products and is the bit of the system that actually hands the products out. Unlike the vendors it stays in your possession the entire time. While the drop box can be moved easily, it does need to be rezed for the vendors to work.
Once you’ve rezed the drop box, fill it with your Boxed-Up products.
(Don’t put loose bits and pieces in the drop box, make sure each product is completely boxed up into one object!)
Next, click on the drop box, or a rezed vendor to get the “Admin” option. It will take you to the caspervend website!
Once there, you’ll be asked to create a log-in. Once you’re done regestering and logging in, you’ll end up on a page that looks kinda like this:
You’re going to click on “Products” on the Left Hand Side!
It will bring you to a page with this at the top:
Click on List New Product to Set up your first Product!
The New Product Page should be mostly self explanatory:
The big things to note:
a) Make sure you put the right permissions. These are displayed to the customer and getting them wrong is considered false advertisement!
Additionally, if you fail to set something as copy, it won’t let them get redeliverys!
b) Ignore the bit about rentals.
c) Variants let you group products so you can see their combined stats. Once a variant is added, you can remove it from the parent item, but there is no way to put it back!
d) There’s a bunch more options, most are what they sound like. Two of note are these:
Profit Sharing: If you have any partners/employees/ect that get a cut of your sales, or if you’ve purchased a pre-installed kit from me, this is the place to insert that profit share. Do note that only whole % numbers are accepted. (Round up for Omega Pre-Installed Shares).
Smartbots: This is incredibly useful. If you own a Smartbot, you can set it up to automatically invite someone to your group when they make a purchase! (nifty right?!). That however is outside the scope of this Walk through. For more info on how to do that, check out the Caspervend Wiki.
Lastly… hit the Save Button. Nothing is done until you hit that button! Just don’t spam it. You might end up with duplicate products!
Profiles are essentially groups of products and product groups. You use them to set up multiple product vendors. They also have the advantage of letting you add and remove products from all vendors using a particular profile remotely without needing to visit those vendors.
- To set up a profile, click “Profiles” on the left.
- Click on “Create New Profile”
- Type in a Name and Click Create
- The Editing Profile Page is pretty self explanatory
- Ingore the 3 Checkboxes
- Select the products you want
- Move them to the right column.
- Hit finnish! You have a created profile now.
Dig through the giant box of vendors you received from Casper and rez one on the ground. For this walk through, you’ll need to use the “CasperVend2 1-Prim Static”. If you’ve created a profile, you can alternatively use the “CasperVend2 1-Prim Scroller”.
(or any of the non-holo vendors. But Chellynne will require one of the 1-Prim vendors!)
Once you’ve rezed the Vendor, click on it. You’ll get a pop-up. Click on Admin to land on a page that looks like this:
Most of this is self-explanatory. Note each setting and change them to suit your needs.
The important bits are:
- Use the Single Product Drop down to select the product you set up.
- If you created a profile, instead select “None”. Then go up to profile and select the profile you created.
- Next to profit sharing, click “Add New” and enter a percentage. This is the % the Affiliate will receive of each sale in exchange for hosting your vendor on their land/in their shop, ect. It’s separate from the Percentages you set in the product. and ONLY effects this vendor. Typical %s are:
- Mesh Bodies and heads – 10-15%.
- Hands, mesh nails, ect – 20-25%
- Apparel items – 35-55%.
There you go, all set up!
Last Steps:
Make sure you set the vendor to Modify before picking it up!
Then just pick it up and FLING it at Chellynne’s Head!