Virtual-goods resellers on the rise

Gamers are not just making purchases to enhance their gaming experience but also selling virtual assets to other players, according to new research from video game market research firm VGMarket.

Sales of virtual goods are expected to reach $1 billion this year and already generate near $4 billion annually in China. But there are some challenges, primarily the fact that once you convert your real money to virtual cash you can't readily get the dough back out.

The research revealed that in-game currency is the most frequently sold digital good from player to player and that two out of three sellers sold in-game currency in the last 12 months, earning a median of $22. PlaySpan, a provider of monetization and payment solutions for games and virtual worlds and sponsor of the research, considers that to be good news as its platform enables game developers to provide player to player marketplaces for their players. In addition, the PlaySpan Marketplace currently provides a secondary market for IMVU players to buy and sell goods as well.

One out of two sellers made a sale in a social network game over the last 12 months and earned a median of $50, while one out of four sellers made a sale in a free-to-play game over the last 12 months, with their median earning being $98, or nearly double that on social networks.

Eric Hartness, chief marketing officer at PlaySpan, told me that the secondary market is a boon for games, adding value, real and perceived, to all players by associating a real world dollar value on their playing time, game accounts, and digital items.

Hartness believes that the secondary market increases primary market sales because it provides a means for all players to generate money. He also said that more players would buy and sell digital items if they were confident it was safe and within the game's terms of service.

Virtual-good resellers

(Credit: PlaySpan/VGMarket)

I'm not terribly surprised that people who purchase in-game currency in free-to-play games end up looking for a way to cash-out of the game at some point--even at pennies on the dollar, provided they are real pennies and not metaphysical manifestations.

[_PM_]

Yes, this article is indeed pointing at a valid trend. I have been designing software tools, architecture, and gadgets sold on the Second Life platform for the last few years. This last year, I have noticed an increase of sales taking place during business hours. A few years ago weekends saw most of the sales, however lately the weekdays are balancing that out. I can only attribute this work week increase to regular businesses also utilizing the technology for meetings and work.

productPM.com

[DigitalPopuli]

With micro-payments for virtual goods, social gaming companies have arguably nailed the first successful business model in the entire social media space. As such, I?m surprised Facebook hasn?t yet introduced a micro-payments platform of their own to grab a piece of the social gaming action. Instead, they?ve muffed around with the layout to limit the viral marketing opportunities the social gaming companies have relied on for growth, in an attempt to push them towards promoting via paid advertising.

For a recent analysis of the success of social gaming companies see http://digitalpopuli.com/social-gaming/dissecting-the-success-of-social-gaming/

[Mergatroid Mania]

I'm not surprised people are looking for ways to get their cash back for the virtual goods.

They probably woke up and realized what a waste of real money it is to buy virtual crap. Other than food, one of the few things you can spend money on and really have nothing to show for it.

"OOooo, my avatar has fancy boots and designer sunglasses", talk about a waste. But as PT Barnum said, there's one born every minute.