Recent comments on the blog and in world have prompted me to remind everyone that there is a common sense etiquette regarding freebies. I have added explanations of each point on the official Freebie Etiquette page. It saddens me to hear that people are still whining at designers over the items that have gotten for free.
1. Do not whine to the designers about their freebies.
2. Do not whine to the designers that the freebie is not your favorite color, style, etc.
3. If you don’t like the freebie, say thank you and move on with your life.
4. Stop trying to ruin all the freebies and specials for the rest of us.
5. Be grateful you got anything at all.
6. When complimented on your freebie wardrobe, thank the person and offer them the landmark for the store you got the item at. (Suggested by: Devilish Cupcake)
7. When unpacking your boxes in a build area, do not be a litterbug. Pick back up or delete your empty box. Do not leave any object on land without the owner’s permission. (Suggested by: Lyselle Munro)
8. Do not resell your freebie. (Suggested by: Io)
Feel free to add anything to this list.
FabFree - Fabulously Free in SL 
January 12, 2008 at 3:15 pm
9. Be gracious to the kind people at FabFree, who are so kindly sharing with you where to find the freebies, and when!
Thank you, FabFree!
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January 12, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Yay! I do #6 all the time! 🙂
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January 12, 2008 at 4:08 pm
#9. Say thank you to Cherlindrea and her crew for doing such a great job!
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January 12, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Agree strongly with all the points above and add:
If you get something for free, do not whine about the quality. Evenif you had to hunt for an hour to find it. It was free. If you want to be assured of good quality items — go pay for it. Freebies are free and sometimes they are high-quality and sometimes they are made by people starting out and sometimes they are things given away by known designers from their stock of stuff that just wasn’t good enough to sell.
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January 12, 2008 at 6:31 pm
It astounds me that anyone would have the nerve to complain about a freebie or even comment on color or style. I can only inagine that Designers spend an incredible amount of time creating their work, as well as placing it in an area as a freebie for us to try. I am so grateful for their generosity and the oppurtunity to try something before I buy. Ditto on the guidelines and get some common sense if you are contacting designers to complain about freebies and stop it. We are very fortunate that they post freebies for us to sample.
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January 12, 2008 at 6:51 pm
It STILL surprises/shocks me when I hear people complain about free stuff. I don’t get it. Anyway – thank you for saying this all AND for taking the time to blog it all in the first place. 🙂
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January 12, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Thank you all for the comments. The worst seems to still be the Bewitched update group. There are many people who join the group and then whine on the chat at the designer & owner. It is really quite shocking. They took a break for the holidays (well deserved) and people were complaining that it had been a few weeks since the last free gift. It was crazy.
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January 12, 2008 at 9:49 pm
If you REALLY love something you got for free, send an IM or a notecard to the designer telling them so. “I” definitely do that as a recipient and from the designer’s point of view I can tell you that they appreciate it too. Even before I started making clothes, I always tried to support the people that gave away “really good stuff”. It makes it worthwhile when they know people actually appreciate their efforts. 😀
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January 12, 2008 at 11:42 pm
This is pretty amazing. I haven’t had so much fun online as I’ve had over the past few weeks in years. I remember my newbie days – in the far distant past of, oh say, 3 months ago. I was so proud of my bling and huge rack! Thanks to Cherlindrea and the generosity of the BEST designers in SL, I now look adorable. When people compliment me on an item, such as a pair of ZHAO shoes I got today, I don’t even mind taking them there to show them where I found them exactly. That’s part of the fun of all this. And incidentally, because of the freebies I am actually spending lindens for clothing now, too, because I am getting to know the designers’ fit and attention to detail. If a freebie isn’t right for me, it’s not like I’ve lost anything. I really admire the talents of the designers and they’ve made my SL experience just a lot more fun. Now, back to organizing that inventory…..
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January 13, 2008 at 1:31 am
On Calla’s last treasure hunt for the holidays (and anyone in the calla update group will remember this) we had one girl that told me it was disgusting that she had to roam the island in search of the gifts we were giving out for free. That all I was out for was traffic, and that I should have boxed up all the free gifts and just given them out at the door. Treasure hunts are supposed to be fun, that’s why we do it. She harassed the group chat (couldn’t kick her out cause SL was borked). At one point she even threatened me and said, “You don’t know who you’re dealing with.” Obviously someone who doesn’t appreciate the time and effort that went into creating something fun for the holidays =\
The actions of some people really do amaze me… and the frustration it causes makes me sometimes think twice about why I do give things away. But then I remember how awesome everyone else is, and that one rotten egg shouldn’t be able to ruin it for everyone.
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January 13, 2008 at 2:04 am
OMG, Haedon, I remember her. 😉 She was insane. The Calla design team is very generous.
Cher, you mentioned Bewitched, although it happens often, it stuns me every time people give Shel and Fallin a hard time.
I know of at least 3 hair designers who got complainants that their free hair was not the color the person liked.
I like giving out freebies to the point that I have to tell Laynie to stop me. It is my way of passing on what I was given when I first started. I only wish I could make them better.
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January 13, 2008 at 6:51 am
Wow, I’m glad that SL is sufficiently messed up that I don’t see the group chats every time someone starts one. If I saw people whining at Shel and Fallin, I’d get very annoyed. Sure, not all of the hair I get through Bewitched fits my taste or color or style. At least one does each time, and that’s a great deal at $1L per bundle. The most I want to do is ask for a customization on one, but that’s just because of a detail. And I’d pay for it, so it’s not like I expect a free ride on it.
On the topic of freebie etiquette, I’ve noticed some people don’t put landmarks into their freebies. It’d be easier to give out the landmarks if all designers did.
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January 13, 2008 at 6:56 am
Oh I agree with Candyce. I really started to appriciate the real good stuff after i tried the freebies. I never bought clothes (except a pair of boots occasionally 🙂 because I spend my money on developing my own shops/ creations. But i notice i get inspired by those beautiful items and by visiting and wandering around in the places they are located. I even found myself buying a very nice outfit yesterday, I couldn’t resist it 😉
I really appreciate the generously given free items and thank you all designers for it. I create things myself and I know the time and effort that takes. And my pixels look so pretty because of you 😀
About the treasure hunts, that’s a nice and thrilling way to explore and actual see how well a sim is designed. I love treasure hunts even without the freebies (almost 😉 So keep up the good work :-). In every society there will be whiners, dont pay attention to them.
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January 13, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Haedon’s story about that person claiming she was just out for traffic makes me think… Stay around a little. At least take a look around and give the person some traffic. Its just something nice to do, even if you don’t send a thank you note. Oh… And I enjoyed the treasure hunt! Thank you *smiles*
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January 13, 2008 at 1:46 pm
It really is crazy that people complain about freebies, I never even *thought* that anyone would be so rude to do so, but it would appear that that is exactly the case. Freebies are a privilege, not a right. I also agree that we really should show our appreciation more to the ladies who compile this blog (and I do try and do my bit, by telling people about it frequently) I do make a concerted effort to buy things from designers who offer freebies. For example, the Ibizarre, Ivalde and Second Mirage advent calendars were just so generous that I bought items from those stores amongst others over the festive period. And because their generosity sticks in my mind, it makes them regular haunts for me now -so it’s a win-win situation:)
Keep up the good work Fab Girls!
Kitty xxx
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January 13, 2008 at 2:45 pm
I want to say I´m really happy to read your comments. Now I can see that it makes sense and it makes people happy to find and write about freebies, again. To be honest yesterday and the day before I went ill of all those troubles like *can´t find*, *wrong place*, *its gone*, *dont like it* …
I´m new at FabFree and I try hard to do a good job. I have to learn a lot and I´m not an english native speaker. Did you notice this? *bg*
Thank you very much for your comments 🙂
And I want to add something: Be careful and look twice before you buy to be sure it´s really for free.
Sending you a very happy smile – Hazel
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January 13, 2008 at 7:49 pm
You know it is really sad, that you have to write an ” freebie etiquette “, because some people hide beind their monitors and act like arzes in world. This is all common sense , yet the greedy unthankful people think they can treat anyone the way they want too. I always send a thank you note to the creator. Much kudos to the creators, designers and bloggers 🙂
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January 13, 2008 at 10:43 pm
I still get asked about the new Maitreya main store opening gift…The Loelle hair. Onyx and Beau made it available for a week after the opening, and then discontinued it. I think people would be shocked at the rude messages I get when I respond with “I’m sorry, the Loelle hair gift is no longer available”. One woman was so hideous (calling me a greedy b*tch) that I eventually had to mute her.
Designer gifts, are just that….gifts. It’s saddening the sense of entitlement some people feel about them though.
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January 14, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Considering the number of jerks and “entitlement junkies” in the world, I guess it shouldn’t surprise me that there are those who feel the need to complain, much less be disruptive and threatening, about designers’ freebies.
There was one designer — you will know who I’m talking about — who released an outfit. They then released a freebie version in a different color. Oh the outrage! People complained so loudly about having paid for an outfit that was later released as a freebie (in a different color), that the designer pulled the freebie.
I, myself, have never complained about whether I liked a freebie or even liked the color. The way I see it, the freebie is 1) a tease to entice you to buy a version in the color that you *do* like and/or 2) the least popular color, so might as well give it away. 🙂
What I think I should do for now on, based on a suggestion from an earlier commenter, is when I find a freebie that I do like, send the designer an IM (or notecard if I have more than a few words to say) to thank them for it. If their IMs aren’t capped, I would at least help offset the grief the jerks give them.
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February 1, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Help the designers who give you freebies. If you liem the thier stuff enought to except the freebies then give them a bit of publicity. It cost you nothung but time. Give a mention on your blog (if you have one) tell your friends, and if the store or designer you get the freebie from has a voting station take moment to use it and vote for them. It won’t cost you anything but a few moments of your time and it’s nice to give something back to those who have been kind enough to give you something.
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