Mer Betta Series 4 tails are here!

And you thought I only made tails once a year. :D


NEW TAILS: SERIES 4

The following tails are now available at the Mer Betta main store:
- Mer Betta Chryseis Rose Platinum Halfmoon v3.1c
- Mer Betta Nemertes Green Patina Halfmoon v3.1c
- Mer Betta Simoeis Blue Gold Super Delta v3.1c
- Mer Betta Zeuxo Black Copper Halfmoon v3.1c
Also available are the matching Mer Betta Intimates ~ Crescent add-on packs.

Zeuxo is my favorite in this series. It's glamorous; it's sophisticated. It's your fabulous little black dress interpreted as a mermaid tail.


A close second is Nemertes, which has caudal fins that look like satin.


Each of these have scales in two colors, so you get almost twice as many pieces. The second scale color gave me an excuse to add a male model in the ads (that's my male alt HiHo), so mermen don't think that Mer Betta is only for mermaids.


EXPANDING ON THE WEB

Since the inception of Mer Betta, I've kept the prices the same both inworld and on XStreet, even though XStreet charges a commission on each sale. One reason for that is because I depend on XStreet for the gifting process, so that people can buy a Mer Betta tail for someone else.

Recently, XStreet announced additional fees for listing items on their website, on top of the commission they already get.

I'm already in the process of setting up Mer Betta in alternative e-commerce sites and I'll post those sites here and on the Mer Betta website.

I haven't made up my mind yet, but I'm considering using a different price structure for commissioned sales to encourage people to buy inworld instead. However, I won't do that until I have an inworld gifting process in place.

Let me know what you think.


PHASING OUT OLD TAILS

I had to reconfigure the main store to make room for these new tails. As I make more products, I'll have to reconfigure the store again or make the vendors smaller. However, I have already been thinking of phasing out the old tails (Series 1 and Series 2). I haven't decided when yet, but it will be before the end of August 2010. By then, they'll be three years old. In SL years, that's ancient. :)

Mer Betta Kalypso in Avilion machinima

Tira Bigboots sent me this link to an Avilion machinima in which she wore the Mer Betta Kalypso. See if you can spot her.

Yay, Tira!

Harper's Sea of Love

Harper Beresford wrote about Mer Betta™ in her blog. I am very flattered! And I must say she set Halimede on fire with her awesome photos! (Click on the pics to view them in Flickr.)

I am incredibly grateful that fashionistas like Harper are beginning to view mermaid tails as another style of fashion, instead of just a costume for roleplay.

Almost since the start, I've imagined Mer Betta tails as ballgowns for the sea. Maybe everybody else is starting to see that too.

And that makes me very happy. :D

Two years: less sugar, more spice

Intimates line

Yep, Mer Betta is less innocent now. I just released the Mer Betta™ "Crescent" Intimates add-on packs for each of the Series 3 tails (Byzia, Halimede, Lilaea, and Melite).



Look for the small boxes under the main vendors for each tail at the main store or at any of the satellite stores. You can also find them on XStreet.com.


New terms for the Limited Edition

Since I didn't get any responses for the Limited Edition for the August 15 deadline, I've set it out for sale. It will still be a limited edition tail, and no more than ten licenses will be sold. But anybody can purchase a license anytime until all ten licenses are sold. You can go back to the stores and click on the ads to get the notecard with the new terms. Or you can view them in the Mer Betta website.

Yes, the package now includes the Crescent Intimates add-on pack too.


Terrible twos!

Mer Betta turned two yesterday! I set out the first Mer Betta vendors in the old Mer Mall on August 10, 2007 around 10pm SLT! And the first Mer Betta tail sold at 12:20am on August 11.

So, to celebrate this two-year anniversary, all the Series 1 and Series 2 tails are rolled back to their version 1 prices (400L) until August 31. Only at the Mer Betta main store and on XStreet.com.

Byzia featured in Fantasy Fair photo contest winner

(I know, I know, this is late news, not *late-breaking* news. I just noticed Ember Farina's comment on it in Flickr. :) )

Lyssa Varun took some great photos in the Fantasy Fair this year, wearing the Mer Betta Byzia Gold Delta tail, and her photo won first place!

Congratulations, Lyssa!

Mer Betta is on Twitter

I just created a Twitter account for Mer Betta. I don't know what I'll be putting on it, but it'll probably be mostly about the mer community in Second Life®. Come and follow me if you're on Twitter.

Introducing the first Mer Betta Limited Edition tail

"Mer Betta Limited Edition Melite-Polaris Periwinkle Halfmoon mermaid ensemble".... I know, it's a mouthful. :D

This tail is a significant milestone in Mer Betta history. It's the first recolor that I'm releasing. And it's the first limited edition tail. Whether it will be the only limited edition tail will depend on how well this is received.


Recolor

Up till now, I have been reluctant to do any recoloring of Mer Betta tails for two reasons:

1) Recoloring, if not done properly, washes out the nuances in the texture and makes it look like it's been splattered with thick paint. I just now figured out how to do it right.

2) I wanted to stay true to nature. That's the awesomeness of these tails; Mer Betta showcases nature's beauty.

However, I seriously considered making this tail because I've received many requests for a purple tail and purple bettas are rare.


Limited edition

This recolor was a request from a loyal customer who said, "I just hate when I show up in the same tail as another mer". She initially wanted a one-of-a-kind. However, either it would be too expensive for her, or it would be a loss of potential income for me, based on the history of sales of the Version 2 tails. So, as a compromise, we agreed to make it a limited edition tail instead.

We are hoping for a minimum of six participants. But no more than 10 copies of this tail will be sold -- ever.


If you're interested, please go to the Mer Betta main store in Dunbeath and touch the ad with the same texture as above. You'll get a notecard explaining the details and another notecard embedded inside it that you fill out and return to me if you're interested in purchasing.