CNNMoney has a short video starring Elaine Politis and Ariel Gonzalez of Second Life’s Beachfront Realty, discussing how they grew the business from a pair of $250 investments to the company it is today. Large enough, in fact that Ariel quit his job as an IT Manager for Merril Lynch to work in Second Life
full-time.
Some details from the video:
- $295 per island, split into pieces that cost approximately $17 per lot, resold at $25
- They own 150 sims
If my math works out, that’s approximately 17 lots per Sim, with an average profit of $8 per lot. 150 sims * 17 lots/sim * $8/lot = $20,400 . If that’s a monthly figure (the $295 is monthly maintenance on a private island, after the $1000 setup cost), then I believe I understand how people make a living in Second Life.
Sorry about that confusion, we did mentioned it on CNN interview which was about 2 hours, However that piece of information was clipped out. hope this answers your questions, Breeze
Hi its me Breeze Herrey from Second Life, Owner of Beachfront Realty, we actually started with another company of 2 residents who is also established, we parted when we had 20 islands back in 2006.
@Kristiba I had the same question when I first watched it. My only guess is that perhaps the started with a rent/re-rent model, and once they had enough profits they moved into buy/rent. Or perhaps when they started, pricing was different.
Honestly don’t know.
It sounds good, but I didnt get a $250 part. Aren’t you need to spend $1000 and $300 monthly to own the whole sim, or they rent them too, and rerent them out?