Revision as of 18:56, 31 March 2014

CasperVend Manual

This is the main manual page for CasperVend. If you need it, the table of contents is to the right.

If you are here to see what's involved with setting up the system before buying it, you might also be interested in seeing the Feature List and find out Whats in the Box, in addition to the instructions below.

The Fine Print

Allowable Items

Any product which is permitted to be sold in the grid it's available for, is also permitted to be sold via CasperVend. While not exhaustive, items which are explicitly disallowed are (but not limited to) item(s) graphically depicting mutilation, any item(s) depicting or suggesting the abuse or sexual solicitation of minors, any item(s) which are designed to defraud or commit a crime (or entice others to defraud or commit a crime), any item(s) which violate or are intended to violate or entice others to violate UK or international law.

DMCA's

PLEASE NOTE: CasperTech is not in control of products for sale in CasperVend vendors, only the vending system which can access them - this means we are not in a position to comply with a DMCA notice (we cannot actually remove the content from the virtual world grid). Each merchant is responsible for ensuring that their products do not violate anyone else's copyrights.

DMCA takedowns need to be filed with the owners of the virtual world grid directly, as it is their system (the grid) which is actually serving the content. In the case of Second Life, the owners are Linden Lab.

Prerequisites

The manual on this page assumes the following:

That you understand the setup processes behind web-enabled networked vending systems
That you understand debit permissions need to be granted in order for all scripted vendors to function
That you have at least one product to sell
That you have at least one promotional image for each product to sell
If your product is in multiple pieces (such as an outfit), that you have put the product in a shipping package of some sort.

If any of these concepts are unclear, or you have never extensively used a web-enabled networked vending system before, you should begin at the New User Quick Start instead, where the instructions are simplified and explained for people who are not as familiar with these concepts.

Terminology

CasperTech (and thus CasperVend) does do a few things differently from other web-enabled networked vending systems. This manual uses the following terms that may not be used by other web-enabled networked vending systems:

DropBox - This is your product server. Your packaged products go in here, and are delivered to your customers from here.
Item - "Items" are the things you put inside your DropBox. "Items" can be your packaged products, informational notecards, landmarks, and so on.
Product / Product Listing - These are created on the website using your items, and each listing includes information about your product including price and permissions. All product settings are on one page for ease of setup.

Your Account

Security Notes

Protect your business by following these tips, and keep your account safe.

Choose a password which is difficult to guess.
Do NOT use your Second Life password.
Do NOT use a password you've used with any other Second Life related service, such as other vending systems.
Do NOT give your password to anyone!

If you have trouble coming up with a secure password on your own, you can use the Gibson Research High Security Password Generator.

If you need a "password keeper" utility on windows, you can try Password Safe

Creating Your Account

Before you can begin setting up products on the website, you need to have a CasperVend account. If you already have one, just log in.

Otherwise, rez out a CasperVend vendor of your choice, and follow the instructions on the Creating Your CasperVend Account page.

Resetting Your Password

See the section on Resetting your CasperVend Password

Upgrading your CasperTech products

For information about how to upgrade your CasperTech products, see the Updating & Upgrading page.

Getting Set Up

Setting Up Your Dropboxes

See the DropBoxes page for important details and instructions on setting up your DropBoxes.

Set Up Product Listings

Click on the (C)asperVend logo in the bottom left hand corner of one of your vendors.
Visit the link that appears in local chat, and enter your password if necessary.
Now, click "Products" on the left hand side.
Click "+ List New Product" to create a new product.
Fill out details about your new product, then click Save.
Pay attention to any menu/popup messages you receive - they have very important information!

If you are selling products that have a license the user needs to agree to, see the Product License page.

Minimum Essential Product Information

Item to be delivered
Name of product
Vendor picture for product
Price of product
Permissions for product (this controls whether redelivery is allowed)

To see details about the various product options, read the product options page.

Listing Notes

You will note that it IS possible to set up a listing without delivering a product. This capability is useful for when you want to track sales but aren't vending something tangible that gets sent to the customer.

If you intend to deliver a product, but forget to point the listing TO the product, the transaction log will show the message:

 "No item configured on this product for delivery, so skipping delivery phase."

Product Permissions

One of the things the website asks for when you enter your product details is "permissions". Please be aware that this does not actually change the permissions set to your objects, but instead the information about the permissions will simply be told to the customer as an advisory.

In addition, any products which are set to COPY on the website will be claimable by customers as a redelivery - so be careful when setting this flag. See the redeliveries page for more information.

NOTE: The website cannot read or change permissions on anything you have in the dropbox. This is why it is CRITICAL to set your permissions properly on both your product AND the website.

If you are selling items which are no-copy to you, the merchant/owner, (such as breedable items) see the Limited Availability page.
If you are selling limited edition items (limited number on the grid, but merchant/owner has copy AND transfer permissions), see the Limited Edition page.

Set Up Product Variants (if desired/needed)

Here's how to set up a product variant:

1) Go to the product listing you want to make a variant OF.

2) Click "Add Variant", right above the blue PrimBay section.

3) To set up a product variant, add in the information for:

Name (of product, as will be shown in statistics)
Item (to be delivered) - use the pulldown to select the product. You may use the radio button for "only objects" to only show you product packages without also showing notecards, landmarks, etc.
Texture (the picture for the vendor)
Price
customer permissions (this controls whether it can be redelivered, and does NOT set permissions on anything in the DropBox.)

At this time any OTHER options you wish to have that are different from the parent product (such as limiting how many can be sold inworld, or a holo/demo of a specific variant) are NOT able to be done with a variant - these will need to used on a full separate product listing.

Repeat the above steps for each variant you want to add to the parent product.

If the variant already exists, you may use the additional options to:

Remove any existing marketplace association (if it was incorrectly associated)
Delete the variant
Detach the variant

Pros & Cons of Variants

Some merchants find it useful to list products as variants of a main product. Hair, clothing or shoes in different color packs can easily be set up as variants, or if you want to have a vendor picture display slightly different for an event, but do not want your main vendor location(s) to have the event-related picture.

Variants are currently (March 2014) treated as separate products everywhere BUT within the product listings. Each variant will have its own entry in your statistics (so you can track them separately), and may be added as individual items to different profiles and groups (so you can have all black shoes, all red shoes, etc.)

What Variants Can & Cannot Do

You are able to detach a variant to make the variant a full product with all options. however at this time you cannot turn a full-featured product into a variant of another.

You are able to point both a variant AND the primary product to the SAME product package in your DropBox.

Configuring Single-Product Vendors

For vendors which are designed to show only one product, there is a shortcut you can use to quickly configure them.

Rez the vendor
Grant debit permissions (the vendor won't function without them)
Access the vendor configuration page, by clicking the (C)asperVend logo in the bottom left hand corner of the vendor.
Look for the configuration option called "Single Product"
Simply switch the Single Product pulldown selector to the product you wish to show.

Configuring Multi-Product Vendors

For scrolling, multi-product vendors, you need to create a full profile. See the Profiles & Groups page for more details and information.

Rez the vendor
Grant debit permissions (the vendor won't function without them)
Access the vendor configuration page, by clicking the (C)asperVend logo in the bottom left hand corner of the vendor.
Look for the configuration options labelled "Actions"
Under Actions, look for "New Profile", and click it.
Give your profile a name, and click "Create". You'll be taken to a screen with two white boxes.
Select a product from the left white box that you want to show in the vendor, and click the [-->] button. This will add the product to the profile. Repeat with each additional product you want in the profile. There is currently no way to select only several of the products. You can only move one, or move them all, nothing in between.
When you're done, click "Finish".

The profile will be saved and will be applied to your vendor within a couple minutes!

Turning a Non-Vendor Object Into a Vendor

Caveat: This is NOT recommended for furniture that gets sat on - the vendor script will soft-reset anytime an avatar sits or unsits, since LSL sees the act of "sitting" and reads it as a change in the linkset. We recommend the HoloVend expansion to display furniture instead. (If you purchased the Fat Pack, then HoloVend is already included.)

Take the vendor script AND "mapping" notecard out of the headless vendor into your inventory
Drop the script and notecard from your inventory into your product
Grant debit permissions (the vendor won't function without them)
Click the object, and select "Admin"
Log in to the website, if necessary
You will be taken to the configuration page for that vendor product
Change your options as desired
All set!

Set Up Multiple Locations, Fast

"Take A Copy" of the appropriate vendors from your main store
Rez them at the new location
Slide into place
Done! Yes, it's THAT easy!

By taking copies of vendors you have already granted debit permissions to, you don't have to answer even more debit permissions windows at the new location(s).

More Vendor Options

Sounds: To play/sell sounds on a vendor, see the Sounds page

Quantity: To sell a quantity of items, such as fish bail, see the QuantityVend page

Video: To show videos with a product, see the Video Playback page

Vending Management

CSR Contact Points

Go to the "Overview" tab on the CasperVend website
Add your CSR's account name in the CSR box
Click the "Save CSR" button
Done!

If you add just one individual's name, the message that gets sent to the customer will include a link to the CSR's inworld profile.

To add multiple CSR's, simply add all the account names, separated by a comma, in the CSR box. The message that gets sent to the customer will include ALL the names, but will NOT include any profile links.

CSR Limitations

Currently, CSR's are ONLY a contact point for your customers (for tech support, etc.) - they CANNOT do anything with your CasperVend products.

Redeliveries (when your products are copiable) are handled by the customers themselves with a redelivery terminal, which your CSR's can lead the customer to.

Group Invites (Automatic)

To be able to automatically invite users to your customer group with each purchase, start at the Group Bots page

Managers in CasperVend

Currently, there is no facility in CasperVend for managers that do anything with your products under their own login. For security reasons, we do NOT recommend sharing your CasperVend account passwords, as that gives unrestricted access to your products.

The managerial feature is slated to be added to the future version of the CasperVend website. If you wish to be notified when this feature is added, click the "Monitor" button on this ticket. Simply replying on the ticket won't keep you updated.

Profit Sharing

See the Profit Sharing page for details and instructions - you are able to do this on a per-product and/or per-vendor basis.

Sales, Discounts and Loyalty Rewards

Only the largest discount (if there are multiple applicable discounts) will apply in any given transaction. Discounts do not stack.

Discounts grid-wide or store-wide

Setting vendors on a gridwide/storewide sale - See Set All Vendors for Grid-Wide Sale.

At this time, you cannot set vendors on a per-sim/region basis with a sale, other than by doing so per-vendor, or if you have different profiles for different sim/regions, then on a per-profile basis.

Discounts for everyone on...

Specific profiles - See Setting Discounts on Profiles

Specific vendors - See Setting Discounts for Everyone on a Vendor

Discounts for Groups

Group discounts may only be set on on a per-vendor basis at this time. The group discount ability requires an LSL function that compares the worn/active group tag against the group the vendor is rezzed under/set to. For details and instructions, see Setting Group Discounts on a Vendor

Discounts by individual

To give a specific customer a credit balance, see Giving Individuals a Credit Balance

To give a specific customer their own discount, see Setting Discounts for Specific Customers

Loyalty Rewards

Setting Loyalty Credit - See Setting Customer Loyalty Credit

Setting Loyalty Discounts - See Setting Customer Loyalty Discounts

Price overrides (Set all things to one price)

Specific profiles - See Setting Price Overrides on Profiles

Specific vendors - See Setting Price Overrides on a Vendor

Sales Statistics

If you delete a transaction (customer bought a copy item twice, or you arranged a swap for a different item) you will also need to recalculate the customer data (there's a link on the "Customers" page) - until you do, the "discounts" message will reflect - and bonuses for, if applicable - an incorrect total.

Discounts are applied in this order:

Customer discounts:

1) Customer discounts (i.e., if they got to a certain spending level)

2) Customer balances (i.e., spend x, get y store credit type balance)

CasperTech Fees, if applicable

3) Is it a free vendor? Then the free vendor fee applies.

4) Is it an affiliate vendor? Then the affiliate vendor fee applies.

Affiliate Gets

5) Affiliate commission

Partner Splits, if applicable

6) Vendor profit shares

7) Product profit shares, if applicable

You

8) Whatever is left

Transactions

Transaction Logs

Each inworld merchant sale notification message contains a link to a system log of the transaction - this is a feature unique to CasperVend. This log (more specifically, the "giant wall o' text" below the summary graphics) contains the details of each step that happened during the transaction, so you can see where the trouble is. This lets you resolve issues instead of just wondering why a product didn't get delivered.

The "Merchant Link" - getting to YOUR transaction log:
Look in your local chat history. You should see a notification that looks similar to this:

 CasperVend System: You just sold a ((product name))  to ((customer name)) for ((L$price)) in ((sim/region name)). View the transaction log here: ((clickable web link))

Simply click that link to be taken to your merchant transaction log.

If the transaction log is confusing, you can compare the log to the transaction log analysis page for details on how to interpret what you find.

You will get a transaction log from both Holovendors and regular vendors, but not from lucky chairs, gatchas, midnight madness boards, or TextureVend.

Transaction Was Refunded?

Reasons why transactions may be refunded include:

Can't find...

System can't find the product
System can't find a DropBox at all (either it's not rezzed, or not responding due to sim/region not communicating to/from the internet)

Wrong price / wrong group

Customer paid the wrong price (group discount when group tag not active, for example)
Vendor is set to group only and customer doesn't have group tag on

Some restrictions apply

If you have marked 1 per person (in product listing), then customer attempted to buy twice for the same recipient
If you have marked both duplicate copies restricted (in overview tab), and the item as COPY in the product listing, and then customer attempted to buy twice for same recipient
If customer is banned, transaction will always be refused
If you have affiliate vendors, and the affiliate is banned, transactions through THEIR vendors selling YOUR products will always be refunded

Customer Updates

Redeliveries

Included in all vendor packs is a redelivery terminal. In addition, each vendor has a "Redeliver" option on the popup menu when clicking the vendor. Customers may use these redelivery options to redeliver any COPIABLE item that you have marked as copy on the website.

It is ONLY the website option that controls this function - if you mark a no-copy item as "copy" by accident, customers will be able to redeliver it, even though they shouldn't, so be very very careful when setting up no-copy products.

Sending product updates to customers

See the Sending Product Updates page for details and instructions.

Newsletter Mailer

There is no newsletter mailer option at this time. You will have to use a third-party option.

Gifting Options

See the Gifts & Gift Boxes page for details.

"Search" Option on Vendors

The "Search" feature on the multi-product vendors allows the customer to search within the products ON that vendor - searching what's in that vendor's profile - to see if anything matches the search term(s) they enter. The keywords section on each product listing contributes to what can be found using this feature.

"Search" is a profile function, not a vendor function - so if you have a profile set to a single-item static vendor, you will still have "search" as an option in the popup menu when clicking the vendor, even if you only have one item in the profile.

This feature, of course, has no impact on inworld SL land search. You will need to set up your own keyword prims if you want to have any effect on your shop's ability to be found in the inworld SL search.

Expansion Packs & Promotional Tools

CasperVend expansion packs allow you to do more with your store, integrated with your CasperVend system. These are the currently available expansion packs (click each name to be taken to that expansion's documentation page):

FAQ / Troubleshooting

There is a General FAQ you can check, as well as the more specific FAQ's at the bottom of most of the sub-pages linked from this manual page.

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