Linden Lab is reducing land prices and buy fees.

[Free]

Lower Land Prices, Reduced Buy Fee, and Expanded Membership Value. Making Second Life More Affordable!

Don't get too excited. On land prices they're cutting monthly price on full regions. Full region 30K goes from $239 to $209 a month (EDU 30K from $129 to $105), and full region from $209 to $199 a month. If I was say running a couple to 4 regions right now, this would be a decent discount.

The Lindex minimum buy fee is being shrunk to a mere $0.49. Enjoy that extra dollar.

The "expanded membership value" actually means account fees inch up on some membership plans/billing methods. Plus remains $5.99 a month, or $5.50 when billed annually. Premium goes up a dollar to $12.99 a month ($11.99/month billed quarterly, $9.99/month billed annually). Premium Plus stays at $29.99/month, but jumps up a bit to $23.99/month paid annually (was $20.75)). Premium Plus No Stipend is unchanged ($15.99/month, $11.99/month billed annually).

Region pricing and buy fees take effect on June 15th. Billing changes happen next month.

Here's the page on all pricing updates, which adds the change to the maximum buy fee (now $29.99!): Second Life Pricing Updates

 

[Noodles]

Man, those new Premium.plans are hard to swallow.

If they bumped up Prim alotment on Linden Homes I would be way more into it though.

 

[Khamon]

This is the notice that was deposited in my SPAM folder yesterday reflecting the increase in annual premium:

Hello,

We're writing to let you know about an upcoming change to your Second Life Premium Annual subscription price.

Your Updated Membership Price
Current Subscription Price: $99.00
New Subscription Price: $119.88

This new price will take effect beginning July 8, 2026, on your next renewal date occurring on or after that date.

We remain committed to offering flexible membership options while continuing to invest in the platform, creator ecosystem, and community experiences that make Second Life unique.

No action is required on your part. Your membership will continue uninterrupted, and the updated pricing will automatically apply at your next renewal on or after July 8, 2026. Read the full announcement here.

To review the full benefits available with your membership plan, visit the Premium Membership page on SecondLife.com.

Thank you for being a valued member of the Second Life community.

See you in-world,
The Second Life Team

 

[Beebo Brink]

This is the notice that was deposited in my SPAM folder yesterday reflecting the increase in annual premium:

Your Updated Membership Price
Current Subscription Price: $99.00
New Subscription Price: $119.88

Nope. Not going there when i haven't logged in for months. I have two Premium accounts, and at least one of them has got to go, if not both. Sigh.

 

[Cristiano]

Wow that $20 a year jump in pricing is ridiculous. Also, they never do anything for actual land tier fees - they have been the same forever.

 

[Ryanna Enfield]

I'm seriously considering ending my premium membership. $99 a year was okay, but combined with everything being hella more expensive, this increase makes me think maybe it is time. I do log in often, but only to make sure the cats are fed. I'd be sad to lose my mainland. I do get $500L stipend, but lately it just sits there collecting. Is it worth another $20 a year? Maybe not. Also, I remember a time when membership was more like $79 a year, but then they gave us prims and land when they upped it and it sweetened the additional cost a bit more. This feels more like a total F-You .

 

[Noodles]

I'm seriously considering ending my premium membership. $99 a year was okay, but combined with everything being hella more expensive, this increase makes me think maybe it is time. I do log in often, but only to make sure the cats are fed. I'd be sad to lose my mainland. I do get $500L stipend, but lately it just sits there collecting. Is it worth another $20 a year? Maybe not. Also, I remember a time when membership was more like $79 a year, but then they gave us prims and land when they upped it and it sweetened the additional cost a bit more. This feels more like a total F-You .

Yeah, the real pain is that it already went up a few years ago. I renew Thursday, so I will get another year at $99, but I will have to see where I am next year.

 

[Beebo Brink]

At $79/year my stipend came close to covering the cost. The jump to $99 made me grit my teeth, but hey, paying the $20 difference was small potatoes. Now it's a $40 difference, so $80 for both premium accounts. Affordable if I still was active and a frequent visitor, but not for one or two visits a year.

I've been resisting winding up my SL activities (based on land ownership) for several years now. It was easy enough to let it all slide, but the fee is now a large enough to actually do something.

 

[Argent Stonecutter]

If they increased my prims or base tier again I wouldn't mind so much, but basically no other "bonus" they've ever tacked on to my account has had any value to me. No, not even extra group slots.

 

[CronoCloud Creeggan]

Yeah, the real pain is that it already went up a few years ago.

Yes, I considered that increase justified, though I thought they should have been increasing it slowly over the years rather than raising it all at once.

At $79/year my stipend came close to covering the cost. The jump to $99 made me grit my teeth, but hey, paying the $20 difference was small potatoes.

My stipend did, since I had/have the L$500 of the "oldbie elite". $108 worth of L$ for 72/99 a year, plus the Linden home/groups/etc. Then I went Lifetime.

It was easy enough to let it all slide, but the fee is now a large enough to actually do something.

LL should have given residents a little more warning.

If they increased my prims or base tier again I wouldn't mind so much, but basically no other "bonus" they've ever tacked on to my account has had any value to me. No, not even extra group slots.

My queendom for more group slots. The only way I can get more is if I went Premium Plus Lifetime, which has/had VERY limited availability and the price for doing so makes me wince and shudder. Going just Premium Lifetime was bad enough!

 

[Cristiano]

Yes, I considered that increase justified, though I thought they should have been increasing it slowly over the years rather than raising it all at once.



My stipend did, since I had/have the L$500 of the "oldbie elite". $108 worth of L$ for 72/99 a year, plus the Linden home/groups/etc. Then I went Lifetime.



LL should have given residents a little more warning.



My queendom for more group slots. The only way I can get more is if I went Premium Plus Lifetime, which has/had VERY limited availability and the price for doing so makes me wince and shudder. Going just Premium Lifetime was bad enough!

Real talk - buying a lifetime account for SL now, especially as expensive as that one is, is stupid. You will never recoup the value let alone profit from it.

Signed,

Someone who has a $225 lifetime from 2003

 

[Mona Eberhardt]

I'm seriously considering ending my premium membership. $99 a year was okay, but combined with everything being hella more expensive, this increase makes me think maybe it is time. I do log in often, but only to make sure the cats are fed. I'd be sad to lose my mainland. I do get $500L stipend, but lately it just sits there collecting. Is it worth another $20 a year? Maybe not. Also, I remember a time when membership was more like $79 a year, but then they gave us prims and land when they upped it and it sweetened the additional cost a bit more. This feels more like a total F-You .

One of the things I'd always been arguing in my non-NSFW blog is that SL is a non-essential expenditure with a high entry point (you need a seriously powerful PC, with a seriously good GPU and oodles of RAM), aimed at mostly middle-class people, who are exposed to the vagaries of an economy that undergoes multiple crises. Established SL pundits and LL themselves have still not gotten the memo.

 

[Naluri Murai]

One of the things I'd always been arguing in my non-NSFW blog is that SL is a non-essential expenditure with a high entry point (you need a seriously powerful PC, with a seriously good GPU and oodles of RAM), aimed at mostly middle-class people, who are exposed to the vagaries of an economy that undergoes multiple crises. Established SL pundits and LL themselves have still not gotten the memo.

I'm not gonna take the latter as an affront, as I've tried to find cost-friendly solutions for some residents when I speak about the matter - older hardware can still run SL relatively well, at least within the past 5 or so years - Ryzen 5 3600 and a used GTX 1060 will get you some good results on medium settings that *USED* to be able to be acquired for oh, maybe 600 or so bucks if you cheaped out on everything else (16GB RAM, budget brand name PSU, 1TB inland non-NVMe SSD, used case)

That said... this was before the RAMpocalypse which has effectively obliterated the idea of a budget gaming PC, now that DDR3-era hardware is effectively obsolete (I should know, I'm stuck with an FX-8350 for my server).

I know Cristiano has his differences with Wagner, but last year's creator economic report he put out really paints a harsh reality about SL in that it is extremely volatile to real world economic conditions. And I'm certain given between this year's, and rumors that the SSDI COLA for 2027 is looking to be the highest since COVID, uh... yeah. Things are bad, not just in SL.

I have been contemplating cutting my stipend from my SL premium just to save money. I'd cut down my tier if land impact weren't an issue, but Linden Lab insists on this stupid ass system that needs reform like my country needs a new government - badly.

 

[Sid]

I will go from a yearly P+ with stipend to a P+ without stipend next month when my plan needs renewal. That saves me 120 USD (VAT included) on the current price, so even more on the new one.
That is a lot of L$ to give me my own "stipend" every now and then.

I somehow have the feeling this might become my last SL year.

 

[Cristiano]

I will go from a yearly P+ with stipend to a P+ without stipend next month when my plan needs renewal. That saves me 120 USD (VAT included) on the current price, so even more on the new one.
That is a lot of L$ to give me my own "stipend" every now and then.

I somehow have the feeling this might become my last SL year.

I am curious, why do you subscribe to the more expensive level over the normal premium?

 

[Mona Eberhardt]

That said... this was before the RAMpocalypse which has effectively obliterated the idea of a budget gaming PC, now that DDR3-era hardware is effectively obsolete (I should know, I'm stuck with an FX-8350 for my server).

And still, I've yet to see any association of IT businesses going to any government to tell them "look, this AI Kool-Aid thing has removed our ability to upgrade our hardware or find replacement parts in non-obscene prices. By sucking up to the Altmans and Thiels, you're ruining IT SMEs." Then again, many IT professionals are Yarvin-sucking bootlickers.

I know Cristiano has his differences with Wagner, but last year's creator economic report he put out really paints a harsh reality about SL in that it is extremely volatile to real world economic conditions. And I'm certain given between this year's, and rumors that the SSDI COLA for 2027 is looking to be the highest since COVID, uh... yeah. Things are bad, not just in SL.

I remember discussing it in-world with people as far back as 2008, years before I started blogging. The SL "boom" was immediately followed by the Lehman Brothers-linked global financial crisis, which cost so many people their income, even their homes. Yet, SL's biggest pundits - among them, of course, His Holy Philipness's groupies and cheerleaders - kept denying it. Ever since I started blogging about SL, back in 2012, I argued that SL doesn't exist in a vacuum and that our use of it depends far more than LL's head honchos would care to admit on our RL financial situation. Wagner has been one of the deniers. It took him a good while to land... Heh.

As an aside: I remember 2015, when Wolfgang Schäuble forced Greece to impose capital controls to contain the very bank runs he, along with Yiannis Stournaras and Jeroen Dijsselbloem, instigated every Friday from January until July. For ordinary people, purchases from abroad became a no-go; regarding SL, Greece was locked out of buying L$ and paying tier.

I have been contemplating cutting my stipend from my SL premium just to save money. I'd cut down my tier if land impact weren't an issue, but Linden Lab insists on this stupid ass system that needs reform like my country needs a new government - badly.

Tell me about it.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

In reality Linden Lab increased the transaction fee for L$ in most cases. The transaction fee is now 11% of the bought amount instead of 10%. The minimum is now at $0.49, which is the only real decrease here, but the maximum cap is now at $29.99 instead of $14.99.

This means starting with $13.56 we are going to pay more fees in the future with that change.

Diagram by Jelly Doll with area additions of Arduenn Schwarzman.

 

[Noodles]

I argued that SL doesn't exist in a vacuum and that our use of it depends far more than LL's head honchos would care to admit on our RL financial situation. Wagner has been one of the deniers. It took him a good while to land... Heh.
tier.



Tell me about it.

I agree.

I had several Premum accounts and a super super nice mainland parcel on the road (right along the vertical strip and.curve in Gonkbrunk) but had to dump it all because my finances are shit these days.

I had it land scaped so nice. I miss it. I think the airport across the street scouped it up and uglied it up.

 

[Sid]

I am curious, why do you subscribe to the more expensive level over the normal premium?

Premium plus gives the ability to hold a 2048 Belli home and the free upload of textures and meshes is a great feature too.
I liked the Premium Plus plan with stipend, because it regulated my SL expenses.
The stipend plus what my little Belli Shop still provides with occasional sales are sufficient for me to live my Second Life.

So now I go to Premium Plus without stipend, because that stays at the old price.
I will start to buy L$ again, if I need them (we all have huge inventories by now, right?)

The free store that comes with the plus package is so not working (as I expected) or one has to put in an awful lot of extra work, like growing a group, buy into events, give massive discounts, create a lot of new stuff all the time...
For me, it means so far (3 weeks in): 3 visitors and 0 sales.

 

[Noodles]

The free store that comes with the plus package is so not working (as I expected) or one has to put in an awful lot of extra work, like growing a group, buy into events, give massive discounts, create a lot of new stuff all the time...
For me, it means so far (3 weeks in): 3 visitors and 0 sales.

That 3 visitors thing feels rough. I would have hoped for at least more "foot traffic". Personally, I have found the Marketplace is more where its at for selling.

You might look into some of those 5L 1 hour, 60L Weekend sort of groups. If your product can fit that. I always see a bunch of people show up when I go to one of those.