[fsniper]

Seems like virtual goods are a new type of revenue model. The numbers are really high for buying thin air. Most of the startups should consider adding virtual goods bazaar into their products. With the rising of micro payment options virtual goods possibly will gain more speed. By the way how do virtual goods have effect on macro economics? Isn't it bad for the economy spending money on unproduced and no-value generating goods? Or am i judging virtual goods wrong?

[alex_c]

I think it's funny that people ask about virtual goods "why do they sell so much?" and about music "why doesn't it sell enough?", when it's fundamentally the same thing: no tangible good is exchanged, the only benefit is the enjoyment and satisfaction of the buyer.

What effect does music have on macro economics?

[Xixi]

It's quite funny because before I clicked the link, I actually wondered if they were going to include the iTunes Store or the App Store as part of their "Virtual Goods". For after all, digital music and softwares are just that : virtual goods.

I actually spent some real USD in Second Life to buy decent clothes. That was for corporate use, with the company credit card. I discovered at that time that Second Life was a cheap and efficient way to organise online meetings (very decent VOIP, and the 3d-sound is a killer for large groups), but definitely not easy-to-use / intuitive.

For my not yet public startup we are actually thinking of going the Virtual Goods way... though I personally would prefer just charging users to use the product. Maybe I'm a bit old-school... well, anyway, the priority is to release the product.