Ok, maybe not entirely speechless, since I had to blog RIGHT NOW! I am shocked, awed, overwhelmed, floored, and a few other happy synonyms by the amazing generosity of the residents of Second Life. Let me back up a bit and explain what exactly lead up to this tidal wave of adjectives...
Earlier this afternoon, I posted in the forums about the pink themed skins I made for my Relay For Life team, Pixels in Pink. As mentioned there, these are a limited edition release and 100% of the purchase price is donated to the ACS. Because these are limited and because I'm trying to raise as much funds as possible, I priced them slightly higher than my regular edition skins. They're priced at L$1500 for one or L$5000 for the whole set. I REALIZE this is pricey and could be cost prohibitive for some shoppers, so I have a number of smaller items I'll be releasing as we move forward too.
So after I make my post, I carry on with my regular saturday routine, which is largely away from the computer. When I returned tonight, I had a couple IMs in my email from a woman complaining that the skins were a "rip off" and saying she wouldn't refer me to her friends. Sometimes I can be thick skinned regarding negative comments and sometimes overly sensitive. This was one of those sensitive moments, where her comments made me feel awful. I think my heart is in the right place on this issue, and I don't understand why someone would feel making a charitable donation (where you get something nice in return, I might add) is a "rip off".
But wait, there's more!
So, feeling pretty down about the whole thing, I next checked my transaction history to see how the donations were coming along. I saw a few sales at the top of my history. Yay! Then I started paging down... and paging down... and paging down some more and I was seeing practically NOTHING BUT sales for these skins!
So far, L$143,000 has been raised!
You guys, this is so much more than I could have expected and would have been a wonderful donation (roughly $500 US) over the course of the entire event. I am so amazed that it happened during the first day! I am seriously touched and was moved to tears. As you know from the post prior to this one, this cause is very near and dear to me. I can't express enough how thankful I am and just truly amazed at the generosity of the Second Life community.
Thanks to everyone donating to the kiosks as well, you don't have to make a big donation to make a difference. Those are really starting to add up too! Extra special big thanks to the certain avatar who made a very generous donation today (you know who you are!).
I have a HUGE smile on my face! :) :) :) <3333
If I had the cashflow I would have bought every tone, but as soon as I saw the special store, the price tag was so not an option!
...On top of that, I have a damn hard time finding good pink makeup, and these are the B-E-S-T. So it's win-win!
Posted by: Iris | June 18, 2006 at 02:51 PM
They are amazing, and what makes them even better than the normal charmed skins, is the fact they are for a very worthy cause.
It's lovely to see everyone (bar a few asshats) coming together so beautifully.. all to raise funds.
Leaves a lil warm feeling, doesnt it :) <3
Posted by: Willow | June 18, 2006 at 06:02 PM
Congrats on the great work Starley! I soo need to get my buns over there to get one of those sweet skins! But Frack! I haven't been a girl in weeks! lol How long will RFL be going on?
Posted by: Cytra | June 19, 2006 at 02:01 AM
OMG YAY Starley! You,Elika,Torrid,Hosie,Zyrra are kicking ass ive only raised like.. 25K but OMG thats crazy 143K! and the event hasnt even occured that amazing, great job starley!
Posted by: Garbage | June 19, 2006 at 02:44 AM
Cytra, we'll be raising funds till the actual RELAY part of the event on July 22nd.
And Garb, 25k is great! I must have missed where the rest of you guys released over the weekend. O.o I was MIA and haven't hit the forums yet. Off to peek now... :)
Posted by: Starley | June 19, 2006 at 03:38 PM