1. Introduction
Are you ready to sell your own creations in the IMVU Catalog and make money?
This tutorial will walk you through the process, showing you how to Upload a Project to the IMVU Catalog, using IMVU Studio. Once it has been uploaded, it will become a Product. This means that it will be added to the IMVU Catalog and given a Product ID.
At the end of this guide your product will be visible in the Shop and people will be able to purchase it!
2. Open your project
Once you have created and saved a project, and you are happy about how it looks, it is time to upload it to the shop.
On the home screen of IMVU Studio, you will see all products you are working on under Drafts. Open one of these projects by hovering on the product tile (or clicking the … button on the lower right), then clicking Edit. The product will open in a new tab.
A default avatar is displayed on your screen.
The avatar will update with the products you have chosen.
● Edit Product Information
The Info Tab contains input fields for everything your product requires in order to be submitted to IMVU.
Here, you can edit the Product Name and its Type. You can also set the Rating and Category. If you want to set a different margin of profit for this product, you can also do so.
Let’s go through all the fields and how to fill them.
◇ Thumbnail
This is the first thing about your product that your customer sees. This image is used only for Shop and Inventory in Classic Web and Classic Shop and it should represent the product you are trying to sell.
Using a good image that clearly highlights the product in context, can make your product more appealing to consumers. For example, the following images (animated and non-animated) meet the aforementioned IMVU guidelines and they make the product attractive.
◇ Name
This is how your customers will find your product. Product names matter to a product’s relevance in catalog searches. So, chosen a clear name will have a good impact on sales.
◇ Type
This is the type of item you are Creating. It is pre-filled depending on the base product you derived from to create the current item.
◇ Rating
The IMVU Terms of Service requires that every Creator rate each product they submit to the IMVU Catalog appropriately.
Every product available for purchase in the IMVU catalog has a rating of General Audience (GA), Access Pass Only (APO), or Unsuitable for IMVU (UFI).
GA | Goods available to all users. |
APO | Goods available only to users who have purchased the Access Pass product. |
UFI | Goods not available anywhere on IMVU’s website. |
◇ Category
This will depend on your product’s Type. For example, if you are creating Clothing, you can choose whether the product is a Top, Bottom, etc. Choosing the category that best suits the product you want to submit, help consumers to know which kind of product they are purchasing (a room, a piece of furniture, an item of clothing, or an accessory).
◇ Compatibility
This determines which avatars will work with your product. The Male avatar is designated as 191, and the Female avatar is designated as 80.
◇ Profit
You can set any number in this field from 0 to 999,999.
As you type in the Profit field, the Total Price of the product is calculated on the fly.
◇ Search Keywords Field
Many consumers search products in the Shop using keywords. Although this field is not required to submit your product, we encourage you to add keywords to help customers to find your product.
To add keywords, just type them in the Search Keywords field. Make sure they are comma separated.
You can add up to 12 words.
Towards the bottom of the tab, you will be able to input search keywords by which your potential customers will be able to find your product. Finally, you can change settings your item is Derivable (can be used as base to create future products), Searchable in the Catalog, Display Only (Searchable, but cannot be bought), and available for inclusion in Bundles.
◇ Controls Field
This field (which is optional) allows you to set whether your product is Visible, Derivable, Bundleable, and/or Display Only.
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- Searchable
- If you check this option, it makes your product visible in the Shop. If you un-check this option (hide your product), it does not effect its usability to those who already own it.
- Derivable
- This allows other Creators to derive new products from this product and set their own product as derivable. This permission allows them to re-use any and/or all of your product’s assets on their child product. This setting can be turned off only if the product has never been derived from. Once a product has been derived from this Derivation permission as well as its profit are permanently locked.
- Allow inclusion in 3rd party bundles
- This setting allows other Creators to add your product to their Product Bundles, Promotional Bundles, Outfits, etc., if they have also purchased the item. When that Creator sells a bundle with your item in it, you will receive your full profit as if you had sold the item. This setting can be changed at any time but it will not remove the item from already existing bundles.
- Display Only
- If this option is checked, your product is visible in the Shop but consumers cannot buy it.
Check “Visible in shop,” “Allow derivation from this product” and “Allow inclusion in 3rd party bundles” to make your product (1) Visible in the Shop, (2) Derivable by other Creators, and (3) Eligible for product bundles.
● Product Page
Once you have submitted your product to the Shop, a browser window will open with your product’s information (Product Page).
From the Product Page, you can do a lot of things such as Add Custom HTML, Toggle Visibility, Edit Product Settings, or Publish the Product.
3. Upload your Product
Uploading a Product costs Credits and requires a thorough knowledge of the Virtual Goods Policy.
The Submit button is smart enough to know whether you are trying to submit a brand new product or just editing an existing one.
After clicking Submit, you will see the following notification:
● Peer Review
Peer Review is an opportunity for Creators to test your product and its description.
IMVU users will have a chance to vote on whether it meets the requirements set forth in the Virtual Goods Policy and to be added to the IMVU Catalog.
We also encourage you to be a peer reviewer yourself. Once you Sign Up to be a Creator, even if you have never submitted a product, you can review products. This will give you ideas about how to test your product as well as help get more products into the IMVU Catalog.
Once your product is in Peer Review, your Product Page will show a bar at the top warning potential customers that this product is in Peer Review and may not pass.
While a product is in Peer Review, customers may prefer not to purchase it because it could be taken away from them if it does not pass Peer Review. Therefore, you may want to hide your product until it passes Peer Review.
You will receive a message once your product has passed Peer Review.
On your Product Page the Warning Bar has turned green. Now people will know your product passed Peer Review.
4. Sell your Product and Earn Credits
CONGRATULATIONS! Your product is in the IMVU Catalog already!
You can start making sales and earning credits! And others can derive from your product so you earn even more credits!