Bid4aCure Date Auction Nets 276K for Diabetes Research

On Sunday Sept 25th, the annual Bid4aCure date auction took place. Held at the Temprus sim, the event began at 11AM and went on for a few hours. A few dozen men and women took part, standing on stage while the bidding took place, sometimes with Jocelyn Sands who helped organize the event. While they were on stage, a song that the participents helped pick played for the audience. Money raised went to the American Diabetes Association and Diabetes UK.

The entrance to the event had a small art exhibit with a few displays. One titled “A Drop in the Bucket” showed a huge container of blood, with drops trickling in from above. But those dops had people inside, symbolic of the charity’s theme. Besides the dates up for bid, there was also a “silent auction” held beside the theater, with a number of clothes, skins, and other items up for bidding.

When Shana Kosco was up for bid, the music she chose was hard rock tunes.. She described herself to the audience as “loves art, and BEER.” After some laughter, she joked, “At least no one has talked about my tequila habits.” Someone commented, “A date with Sahana will not be boring, that is for sure.” She went for several thousand Lindens.

EricSteffensen Mistwalker was bid to the song “So Cliche.” He was won by B&B owner Bundy Xue, whose venue took part earlier this year in the "Jam for Genes" fundraiser. Bundy herself was up for bid soon after, dancing on stage to the tune of “Crazy B*tch.” With the winning bid at 10,000 Lindens, she responded, "Skeat says I define a expensive chick." Baxter Hyun was bid on to the tune of "I Ain't Got Nobody." His winning bid was 5K by Panther Miklos. Leira Vaughan went for more, Duncan Bagley putting up 20K for her.

Musician Mack Humbridge performed a little of his music during his bids, with a few of his fans in the audience dheering a bit, one calling out an “It’s a Mack Attack” gesture. Another musician, Edward Lowell, just performed quieter guitar music. One whimsical fellow held a sheapard's crook and rezzed a bunch of sheep around him. This was just a sample of what went on. No doubt the antics continued during the whole event.

Nazz Lane, whom once worked for Second Life Newser’s predecessor SL Newspaper, went for 7,000 Lindens by Briawinde Magic. Talking to him after the date auction, he told me a total of 396,791 had been raised, “Not as much as bigger fundraisers, such as the Relay for Life, but we’re happy with the results.“

Bid4aCure’s website showed a total figure of over 700,000 Lindens raised just after the date auction. They have continued to hold events, and recently their season total passed a million Lindens.

To read about Bid4aCure's date auction in 2010: Click Here.

To go to the Bid4aCure website: Click Here.

Bixyl Shuftan

Declining Markets - Ozanimal Bunnies Dropping in Value

The Ozimals bunnies hit SL in January 2010. Quickly becoming the latest craze in the market scene, buyers flocked to shops which sprouted up literally everywhere and shopkeepers enjoyed great profit. The business boomed for several months and more and more people jumped on the bandwagon--everyone wanted a piece of the bunny pie!

Still clinging to the turtle market, I soon rented and set up stalls for my turtle eggs and my newly acquired bunny nests. Sales were good on the nests but the turtle egg/turtle sales dwindled. Later I upgraded to a small shop exclusively for bunny nests. I gave up one stall (turtle eggs) but continued with the stall for the bunnies. I now had two locations in which to sell my goods. I continued to thrive with bunny nest sales and life was good. Paying rent was no longer a problem and eventually I decided I didn't need a paying job in SL any longer. Nests were selling for anywhere between L$250 and L$1500.

I continued to have shop sales and started going to auctions for several months. Selling live bunnies was the way to go and people at auction were willing to pay good money. Now my work centered around getting the better furs, more gem eyes, the better traits that people wanted. I spent many lindens on this endeavor. I gradually established some really good warrens; it was a slow process indeed. I began selling again, some hits and some misses.

I went to auctions where "special" bunnies were selling for thousands! Blanc de Hotot, Creme d'Argent, Mini Rex Castors...some going for as much as L$30,000! It was outrageous!

I was a regular at one particular auction and went to several others once or twice. What I saw starting to happen was that people were either not buying at all or not spending nearly the amounts on the same types of bunnies as I had seen in the past. I went to another very odd auction, where quite ordinary bunnies and nests were for sale and very low prices and people were buying them up! It was unbelievable. I told my SL sis we could go back there and auction some of our lesser bunnies to reduce our stock and she agreed.

The market had become so saturated that no one could sell, but everyone needed to because so many people had so many bunnies and had to keep feeding them. This becomes quite a financial burden for most everyone. Prices came down in a frustrated attempt to unburden themselves of the abundance of bunnies they could no longer afford to feed. This was a boon for me in one sense as I was able to get some of the better bunnies that used to sell for a lot....perhaps a foolish move considering the condition of the market. Everyone is upset over it's decline. It was great fun and very profitable at its height.

It is becoming quite evident that this market, like so many in SL, is going the route of the turtles and scion chickens before them.

But never fear...there is something new for all you avid breeders of all things animal! THE HORSES ARE COMING! That's right, breedable horses have been developed and beta testing has just begun. I saw two foals and they are irresistible. A new market will take over it seems...and so it goes.

Shellie Sands