Why don't player-owned shops last?

[Adriella Spencer]

Every time I save a space to my faves, it seems like it's abandoned/vacant within a couple of weeks. This has happened with seeds/plants, furniture and wears and rares shops. Are these businesses just not profitable? Or do internal conflicts cause business partnerships to collapse and force the shop to split or close? Do the owners just lose interest or something?

Seriously, it's like a one-month wonder and no fancy custom space pic can save these shops...

[Oisin Anderson]

Oh, some of them are still around- I think they're always buying different spaces. Also, some of them operate in bad faith- I once tried to buy an alien necklace, but the DISCO TABLE UNDERNEATH IT WAS FOR SALE, and I wound up buying it by mistake and cleaning out all my gold. I clicked too fast and didn't see the "are you sure" popup box. I messaged the shop owner, and they never replied. I knew plenty of honest shop keepers in the OG game that would have reversed that sale as a gesture of good faith, but selfishness and lack of honor is all the rage these days, and none of the good or reasonable ones I knew are playing this game. These days I only buy from stores that have been vetted by friends, have competitive prices, and don't resort to shady tactics. I remember their names and search them every time in case they're in a different space.

No shady shop keepers were harmed in the making of this post.

[Jess Diamond]

Unfortunately, the player-base is mainly adults who get busy in real life so shops tend to be forgotten about for a few weeks at a time.

Owning your own shop is also a lot of work, I don't think people realise having to place and price every item individually takes a lot of time and after doing it 1000 times, you start to hate it this is especially true for seed shops because they're so tiny and so many of them and to water, harvest and tend to the plants is a lot of work in itself.

Regarding furniture, rares and wears;
1. Stock can be an issue - if somebody comes and buys all the furniture in the shop because it's a good price, it's hard to find more furniture that you can profit from, a few stores lose money just to keep stock out.
2. Wears and rares are so up and down, it's a similar issue about stock but also if their expensive stock sits for a while because the store isn't popular, they move onto a new one to get that grand opening hype or to a more popular venue.
3. Another reason is probably because people start out small and move onto bigger spaces. My sculpture shop has moved twice within 6months but I make sure to put a teleport from the last space and to advertise it appropriately, some people sell the old space prematurely, meaning that anyone who had it on their favourites now loses that shop.

[Vanilla Spice]

I can relate to Jess. It may be difficult to allocate time for creating/sourcing, decorating, pricing (and staying up to date with current market prices) all while juggling real world activities. I can definitely say pricing can be a pain when coming to sculptures.

[Jess Diamond]

I can relate to Jess. It may be difficult to allocate time for creating/sourcing, decorating, pricing (and staying up to date with current market prices) all while juggling real world activities. I can definitely say pricing can be a pain when coming to sculptures.

Yes, agreed. I find it helps to keep up on restocking so it's only a few items at a time rather than all at once because then it feels like a chore.

[Adriella Spencer]

Some great insights here. Yesterday, I had to clean out my space faves...again...because shops were closed, almost empty or had moved.

I suspect that the dwindling playership and shrinking demand in the market negatively impacts the viability of some of these stores, especially the second hand market. We need a consistent influx of new and active players to keep the wheels turning.

[Chi Chi]

come shop -EXOTICALS: SEEDs SHOP- for plants and seeds! Daily log in to restock and plant!