Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Second Life Currency: Lindens, L$ or Linden Dollars

Second Life has an internal currency, the Linden dollar (L$). L$ can be used to trade goods, land and services with other users. Virtual goods include buildings, vehicles, devices of all kinds, animations, clothing, skin, hair, jewelry, flora and fauna, and works of art. Land in Second Life is a valuable and scarce commodity and can be bought, sold or rented.

Users may also offer items or services to other users in exchange for L$; services include "camping", working in stores, business management, entertainment (which prominently includes adult entertainment), custom content creation, and other personal services.

L$ is usually purchased from other users with real-world currency; Linden Lab and others offer a brokerage service for these transactions. The most popular usage for the exchange of L$ for US$ is in order to pay Second Life's subscription fees. In spite of attracting large volumes of press coverage, only a very small percentage of Residents derive a net income from the economy.

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