Nu Vibez and Roleplay Guide Magazine - March 2014 | Page 64

Second Life Marketplace - Who’s Watching the Store? - p3

I'm mee ng today with SamanthaSJones
of LivGlam.

The warning radar came up and I backed
away from the purchase.

Sabra: Samantha, you have become quite
the fashion giant in Second Life. I
remember coming to LivGlam when it was
only a few rooms and I didn't get lost.
Things have changed in the space of a year.
Tell me who you are now.

She didn't let me go that easily. She came
back with names of two well-known
designers and claimed that she made
mesh for them. She even linked me to a
third-party website and showed me the
mesh she supposedly created. I s ll held
back. I wasn't about to make a L$9,000
purchase without a demo. She was
relentless—quick on her feet as well. She
then showed me a designer who released a
new shoe and asked if I knew of them. I did
know them as they are a prominent shoe
designer. Again she sent me to a thirdparty website and there was the shoe. She
explained that she, like many mesh
creators, purchase unrigged mesh. She
then adapts it, rigs it and prepares it for
fashion designers to use in Second Life. I
was fine with that. A lot of mesh designers
do that. The fact that she openly admi ed
it made me trust her a li le more. I told her
I'd be interested in commissioning a shoe
from her. She wanted L$70,000 and asked
for a 50% down payment. I went ahead and
bought the semi-exclusive shoe mesh for
L$8,999. However, when it arrived, the box
was empty.

Jones: LivGlam supports my SL business
partner and myself with a real life income.
We also support ten staff members that
make nice salaries. You are right. We have
grown from a quarter homestead to three
sims.
Sabra: Samantha, I understand that you
are recent vic m of Marketplace fraud.
Can you tell me a bit about your
experience?
Jones: On February 23rd I made a
purchase on Second life Marketplace for
.::MLX::. Full Perm Mesh Shoes Semi
E xc l u s i v e – S E X Y ' s fo r L $ 8 , 9 9 9 h ps://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/M
L X-Full-Perm-Mesh-Shoes-SemiE xclu sive- S E X Ys/5793603 (by the
publishing of this magazine, the
previously referred to link had been
removed from Marketplace). When I
received my order, the box was empty.
Before I bought this item I talked to the
seller for an hour to try to figure out
whether or not she was a fraud. I asked for
a demo, but she said she doesn't do
demos because they can be copybo ed.
64- Nu Vibez Magazine - February 2014

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