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Another press release coming up I'm afraid. I don't do these often so two in a row is a tad unusual. I usually stick to RFL but as with my previous post I find this subject matter both interesting and hopefully beneficial.

When Linden Lab purchased XSTreet and Onrez people bemoaned the lack of an independent marketplace, Apez is still around but Apez is more of a service than a marketplace although they are moving to a new website so don't discard Apez as not having potential.

However there was a void created by Linden Lab cornering the out of world marketplace. However residents are nothing if not resourceful and know how to spot an opportunity. An unlikely candidate (to me anyway) has stepped forward in the shape and form of SLapt.me. The work I've seen from SLapt.me so far had been with documenting adult content changes, creating their own wiki and keeping a list of the banned keywords that Linden Lab won't reveal.

However today they are opening their beta version of a website marketplace and this does indeed look to have potential. As the people behind this are adult content creators you may well think it's just for selling adult items, but that's not the case, they have categories for apparel, accessories, building components and much more.

This is of course in the early stage so it's way too early to judge whether it will be a success or not but I hope it is because I strongly feel competition creates a better service for end users and this will keep Linden Lab's marketplace on its toes if this works out.

The press release below gives far more details but I'd say this is well worth keeping an eye on.

PRESS RELEASE

http://www.SLapt.me opened its doors on the 18th June 2009 as a new Independent and inovative shopping experience for SL. Creating Values for both shoppers and merchants, in an honest and transparent enviroment. SLapt.me is Adult Merchant friendly.

SLapt.me has simplified the interface used by the main shopping site in SL and will be offering an easy way to sell your SL products. SLapt.me is dedicated to bringing new and creative ideas to the SL market place, both in your product offerings as well as in our marketing events and our forums. We will continue to develop our unique brand positioning for you our clients, to continually maintain and grow our solid brand recognition, and to adhere to high quality customer service standards. Because everyone wants to have fun everyday, SLapt.me will continue to offer something for everyone with fun always in mind and we will never censor you or your products.

The initial launch will include a 'SLapt Box' to be used in world to store the products for delivery and an easy to use listing system on the website and there are individual profiles for the Merchants with space for all the relevant information such as in world store locations and listings of all their products for sale.

The SLapt.me team comprising of Constanza Amsterdam (Website), Kosta cela and Bykoff Sonste (Technical) will be working hard to bring some exciting new features to the system over the coming weeks, (details will be released on the SLapt.me site as they happen) and between them they are committed to, as merchants themselves listening to what the customer wants from the SLapt.me site and will shape it accordingly and they fully understand that the success of SLapt.me will only happen with happy customers and merchants. They have all been in SL for some time with a good working knowledge of SL on both a business and social level.

Currently the extra services available at the website are the forums and the wiki, the wiki is in service now, and is a seperate sign up to the shop and forums. Further features such as a Linden dollar exchange and the abilitly to cash out via paypal will be added over the coming weeks.

SLapt.me is housed on its own high speed dedicated server here in Amsterdam for reliability and will be upgraded as required to always deliver a fast, efficient and trouble free service.

SLapt.me is looking to place its SLapt Terminals in world and is seeking placement spots for the terminals (6 Prims each).

If you are Interested in having a Terminal at your location can you please complete the form here at the SLapt.me website:

http://www.slapt.me/market/?act=terminalrequest

Please direct any questions regarding SLapt.me to "Constanza Amsterdam"