How'd they do it? (Get me addicted)
arrjee
Posts: 41
I've been a tightwad all my life. I've never had the sort of addiction that would get me to spend beyond my means, like drugs or alcohol. I've only been using Daz for 4.5 months and I've already spent $5,000. I don't understand it. Spending like this is totally out of character for me. I keep logging on, browsing through sales, adding things to my cart I don't need because they're a great deal and I might find a use for them later, then think at checkout "this is too much" and hit the purchase button anyway. Finding bargains has become a game for me. I spend money here like I spend fictional credits within a video game, but this isn't a game and I need to stop.
So, I'm wondering how did they do it? How did the folks at Daz get past my psychological defenses and get me to go on a spending spree. I want to know so I can make sure this never happens again.
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I surely can't relate to spending that much in such a short time but I agree that there's a psychological imperative to grab at "bargains". Nevertheless, my meagre income has restricted my own spending and I probably haven't spent much more than your $5000 since 2004.
What I often do is go through the sales and:
1. Never buy anything at full price.
2. Mostly avoid anything with a smaller discount than say, 65% (usually at least 70%).
3. Once I have loaded my cart I go through it and weed out the things I don't really need.
4. I've come to know the PAs and there are some that I will wishlist and buy when I can (when they are on sale, which they always are, eventually) while there are others I just don't even consider no matter how big the discount.
Quite often the result of this is that I have just spent an hour of online shopping and bought nothing. Yet having said all that I still have a library in which most of the content is never used or has been used once. As you say, it is tempting to grab it at a discount in case you find a use for it later. RESIST that urge!
It'll slow down ;) Trust me.
Buy ONE Gift Card a month for the amount you want to spend, then when the money from the gift card runs out, don't buy a gift card until the next month. Then you won't overspend.
There is one thing that is true that will make me spend more than I want - and that is if there is a product I think I can't live without - you see, sometimes products disappear from the store permanently and you never again get the chance to purchase it - maybe because the Published Artist leaves DAZ or dies or whatever. So if it's something you really really want, buy it.
It's also true that if you want to make pictures, you need to buy the content - so you can ask yourself "do I absolutely need this content for a specific render"? If the answer is "no", then just add it to your wishlist.
Been using CC3/Iclone7, blender, UE4/5, unity for years, my combined spending for buying assets from those softwares were less than $2000(other than the expensive iclone itself) over a 7 years span.
On daz, it's around $3000 in just 2.5 years, I summed up couple reasons.
1. Daz products are generally well priced compare to assets from platfroms mentioned above, espeically consider their usefulness
2. Daz discount often(too often) from as low as 30% to a whopping 95%
3. Aesthetic product pages, sometimes I was lured into buying a product I don't really need because some of their promo pictures are so brilliantly rendered, I mean just look at this lad
https://www.daz3d.com/norbert-the-nerd-for-genesis-81-male
So, I'm wondering how did they do it? How did the folks at Daz get past my psychological defenses and get me to go on a spending spree. I want to know so I can make sure this never happens again.
I can answer that question several ways. One of my answers is always deleted by the moderation team so I guess THAT answer is revealing too much.
So the safe answer is to say they've created a HABIT in many of the buyers here. A habit that is based on the fact that Daz is THE ONLY store I know that releases NEW AWESOME content EVERY SINGLE DAY.
Every single day.
Every single day.
Every single day.
It's an almost impossible thing to suggest that any store could release at that rate- considering how much work goes into some of these products. So no, no worries, I doubt anywhere else will release at that rate. lol
Social Media is the only other thing that renews at that rate so everytime you visit your social media, you are greeted with new stimulus. And there's studies on how addicting Social Media is...
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I've gone on vacation and come back and felt like I've missed out on sales and new releases. So there's the Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO for the sales and marketing folks among us)- what if you miss that great discount?!
Or a FLASH SALE, you better check in, often, to the store to NOT miss anything.
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There is ALWAYS something to buy.
Something new, something old, something wishlisted....a flash sale...a banner....PC+.....$1.99 clearance....Fast Grab....it's almost impossible to NOT find something....
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They have tons of secret bonuses and hidden deals - you might log on and see a new banner/message JUST FOR YOU - for owning something or spending a certain amount in a certain amount of time...
The PC group gets two coupons per month and overall a super-savings that pays for itself.....that's a no brainer.....
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Shopping is half the fun....no shopping is the fun. Window shopping is loading the cart and then Wishlisting anything that doesn't yield a good savings...
It's fun to add and subtract and let the products battle it out. "Gee, what do I need more, that figure, that hairstyle or that office set?" (another bus stop or hallway, ahem)
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No matter what else you do, Daz is a solid foundation for creativity...and business and such.
So the big question is - Are you getting enough enjoyment from the buying, using or collecting of Daz Assets to justify your expenditures?
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Other than that, or tied to that, is the other creative // business question - What do you intend to do with all these assets?
Why are you building a library of Daz Assets? What's the ultimate ambition driving you?
If you can honestly figure that out, then Daz Studio is not a total expense, it's an investment in your future-creative-business-self.
1) Buy stuff (be sensible) If rent is late, don't buy more stuff. lol
2) Use stuff (enjoy the hours you spend becoming an artist - live the journey)
3) Enjoy the stuff you make and DO something with it. (share, sell and build your gallery/portfolio - those are the footprints, left behind from an artistic journey)
4) Increase the ambition level. Decide to do MORE with your art than you previously thought you would. (Get good enough to make an art book, enter a contest, become the "goto" graphic artist in your circle.)
5) Learn, learn, learn, become someone that ADDS on to the 3D community. Help in tech requests. Find Daz Products for others....converse....share what you know...the desire to master something is ..it.
6) Work in the industry, beyond indie...join the family and become a vendor...make the products you wish existed...Push the envelope and help others on the same journey you just completed. Inspire others.
We're all somewhere on that list.
The best thing to remember about this place is: there's ALWAYS another sale. LOL If you don't get it the first time, it'll be on sale later for sure.
How about staying away from the shop for 1 month? I am pretty addicted, too, but the amount of money you spent in such a short time sounds indeed alarming. You could in the meantime create art, learn tutorials, or make sorted lists or tables of what you bought, in order to get a feeling and an overview for what you already own (an easier way would be to browse your products inside the daz studio "smart content" tab). Also you could budget plan and think strategically what you really want to create and therefore need and then focus on that. And after that month is over you could limit the time you allow yourself to visit the store, e.g. only planned store visits.
It's a mixture of "Oh, that looks so cool, I could create XYT image with that!" and "I need to have XYZ to get started at all, that looks like the bare minimum to buy!" which is what drags you in. Both of which are not bad things, and the PAs really do create cool stuff.
Enter the sales. It's spending small amounts, ten dollars one day, fifteen or twenty another, and look at that cool set which includes XYZ! for just fourty bucks, it's a steal! Only, it sums up. Boy, does it sum up.
Setting yourself a budget (and the gift cards are an excellent option to manage that budget) is the first step. When you see how much you have spent of the allotted amount, it's helping a lot to consider "do I really need that?", especially when this is just a hobby. If you aim to go professional, that's a different piece of cake, but you'd still have to keep an eye on the budget to break even.
However, there's another thing to consider. If you keep on spending, if you are unable to curb your shopping, things will become problematic. An addiction, any addiction - has underlying reasons. The addiction fills a gap in your life. It offers a reward system, a false sense of fullfilment and happiness that covers the hole you perhaps aren't even aware there is. What's written in this article might help you taking further steps: https://www.everydayhealth.com/emotional-health/what-is-shopping-addiction/
And you might want to consider learning Blender: https://www.blender.org/
Yikes! That's a lot of money!
I can relate to the experience... I've been spending about $50 a month on average, much more than I expected when I first downloaded this free (HAHAHAHAHA) program. I've been very good with my spending these last 3 months, I think the number is finally going down now. But in any case, I'm having a lot of fun and I can afford it, fortunately... I guess it's ok to spend a little on a hobby.
But $1000 a month is too much by any metric. You have to stop.
Here's a post that may be useful to you. It's about fragrance buying addiction. Which may sound silly if you were never into fragrances, but it's really no more silly than hoarding digital assets for a digital dollhouse. I think the information is useful, just read the first post (it's a long one and punctuation isn't great). I haven't fact-checked anything in that post, please keep in mind that this is just some stranger posting something on the internet! But I found it personally useful: https://www.fragrantica.com/board/viewtopic.php?id=135311
Some excerpts:
Good luck!
By design... it's our responsibility to exercise some resolve!
i think your post is a great way to bolster that resolve... good job
A Simple rule helps. Render what you purchased before you buy more.
A very insightful post, thanks for sharing!
To the OP, if you're already spending this much, gift cards are probably not such a good idea, because you won't be able to stop at buying just one per month when they come on sale, and the 'virtual' money in store credit spends itself way, way faster than 'real' money, in my experience. Also, stay away from the DAZ+ club, don't renew if you're already in - it's way too enticing because there's the coupons to spend, and freebies on wednesdays, and all these fantastic deals on DOs all the time ...
I think you could give yourself a hard budget for each week to start with - say 50 dollars, you do not want to try and wind down your dopamine input too quickly, so don't make it too low in the beginning. It will still be a whole lot less than you're spending now. Also, 'render before you buy anything new' is a very good advice I reckon, and it will open up new ways of having pleasurable experiences with 3d products for you, so it' not all just the shopping. And if you render more, thus spending more time inside DS, you'll quickly find that having tons of products is not all that great for your workflow, because you never find anything in that mountain of virtual things. That might also help to bring your spending down a little.
Most important, if you find you honestly cannot stop even if you really want to, and you're spending more than you can afford, please get yourself some professional help asap! A shopping addiction can ruin your life real quickly, just like any other addiction. And no, knowing how it's done will NOT prevent you from falling for it again automatically, because these are different brain areas being triggered than the ones you use for thinking.
Good luck, take care! And don't forget the real world out there!
Spend more time rendering and less time shopping.
There used to be a Dazaholics Anonymous thread around here ... not to stop the buying, but just admit we have problems.
I think there is no single reason how ... different people have different reasons for shopping so much here ... for some it may simply be the thrill of the hunt in getting a good bargain, others may actually render large amounts of images, some may be compulsive shoppers.
I will say that if you plan this long-term ... you can purchase a large portion of the store at high discounts. Do not buy the new shiny stuff each day unless it is immediately useful.
Oh, and if you are spending this much, I hope you are using Daz Plus to bring prices down ... it definitely saves if you are actively buying.
IMHO the buying too much it's a combination of Oohhh shiny, FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out), "I'll use it someday", and not actually trying to use everything you buy (I think everyone has covered all of these already - but maybe in slightly different terms) These factors, mixed with the interesting post by Hylas about fragrance buying make it difficult to resist buying, especially when your new to DAZ. (Probably a bit of a collector response too.)
DAZ does an excellent job of leveraging oh shiny with FOMO to create a desire to buy now, before it goes off sale. Flash sales can also be very effective at creating a sense of urgency to buy something you may not really need (no time to seriously contemplate/evaluate your purchase). With any of the sales, I've found it important to ask myself "Will I really use it, or is it just that I like it?". Asking myself the question reframes my point of view from looking at it as a great deal to one of practical use. Obviously even if something is a fantastic deal, if I will probably never use it I don't need the additional digital clutter when trying to make a scene. Additional content clutter to wade through while trying to compose a sene is something I really don't enjoy. So re-focusing my mind from "that's really nice and a great price" to "will I really use it, or will it just be more stuff I'll never use" makes a huge difference on what I actually purchase vs all the content I think is really awesome.
As FirstBastion noted, actually using stuff before you buy more will also slow down your buying really fast. It took a while, but I now know what type of content I will use, and what type of content I likely will not use. That knowledge only came from actually using the stuff I bought, not from just buying it. For example, there is a lot of really great content here to create contemporary scenes. I seldom do any contemporary scenes, except for pinup type renders. As a result, I don't buy hardly any contemporary clothing, and very very few contemporary scenes because chances are it with just sit on my hard drive and never get used. On the flip side, I do like to do fantasy/scifi/steampunk renders, and mostly with "impractical" clothing (yep, I use a lot of skimp wear). That means I will get environments and clothing that are of outstanding quality at good prices, or that are good quality at "can't pass on it" prices. But even though I know what type of content I will use, I still tend to be rather picky about what I actually buy. Again, because I know what I will use and what fits my "style", I try to only buy the stuff that really fits.
So definitely start focusing on rendering a lot more, and figuring out what content you will use, and what you really won't use. Along with actually using your content (I'm guessing you haven't used hardly any of your content for final images based on how much you have spent), I'd also recommend posting your images to an online gallery somewhere (here works for many, but there are other options available). Just the simple act of making images to go into a gallery where other people will see them will help you to understand what content inspires you to actually use it. Making simple test renders for fun that you don't share with the world, doesn't force you to create a final render, and as a result you never really develop a style to understand what content (and content creators) you really need and will use.
Of course limiting how much you spend each month will also force you to only get what you REALLY want, instead of everything that's just awesome. It's also important to remember, at DAZ there will be another sale, and if you wait long enough, the sale will probably be at a huge discount (there are a few vendors that don't have super huge discount sales, but they usually have top quality content, so are worth the extra cost of a modest sale).
Good luck, and if you do create or already have a gallery on line somewhere, please share the link so we can see what you create with your content!!!
That's absolutely not true. One day appeared for sale on DAZ a model of the Art Deco neighborhood of South Beach Miami Beach. I bought it instantly. The VERY NEXT DAY it was gone from the store forever. No explanation. Just gone. Same thing happened with a feathered headdress I desperately wanted. For sale at DAZ, and I thought "Oh eventually it'll go on sale." It didn't. It disappeared from the store. The same thing happened with an Alice in Wonderland dress. GONE. Then almost the ENTIRE CATALOG of products from some Published Artists VANISHED from the face of the earth. A few have been relisted as DAZ Originals, but not the ones I really really wanted. I know from long experience that if there is a product I can't live without - to buy it immediately, even if it's not discounted.
There's certainly an amount of not knowing any better, particularly at the start when you take your first steps in the Daz universe. Like a kid in a candy store, you splurge ... and only after engaging with the Daz store do you discover the deals, the discounts, the ways to save. With time you become a savvy buyer. Everything else before that -- dollars and cents -- charge it to experience. Hopefully it's one that you're at peace with.
From there on it helps to put the "investment" in perspective. That is, seeing it as a means to an end helps focus your buying choices. In my case, I'm a software developer long in the tooth, but not in the field of 3D computer graphics. One of my goals is to learn more about the technology and the art. I tend to have a DIY outlook, and I spend time learning what goes on under the hood. If you also have a technology background, I highly recommend looking at the greater 3D ecosystem and investing in related software. In my case, it's Blender. Doing so helped me clarify my perspective ... and, yes, spend less time in front of Daz and more time grappling with Blender. (Boy, what a struggle it's been.)
Renders are fun! Sharing them is certainly a source of pride and validation. But having a larger goal helps set limits; it steers you through the moments when you make buying choices.
In case you're not in it for the geekiness of it all, that's okay too. We're all fellow travelers in this strange and exciting universe. Everyone has his/her own motivation. One of the most interesting story I heard was from a Daz affictionado living in the other side of the world. This was deep in the COVID calamity. Apparently this fellow's country was struct badly, with thousands of casualties and more. Friends, family and neighbors weren't spared. Needless to say, the morbid experience weighed heavily on him, and he turned to Daz to cope, to find some sembalnce peace.
That's what art does -- no doubt you've heard this before. Beyond the aggravation concerning money, time and attention we sink in, we engage in art because it validates us one way or another. The trick is to steer one's choices along the crooked path of getting something out from what you put in. The more this ratio tilts towards the gaining part, the better.
Cheers!
Ask yourself "do I need this product for a render I'm doing THIS WEEK?" If the answer is "no", then put it on your wishlist. Ask yourself "Do I already own a product I can use INSTEAD of this new one?" The answer is often "yes".
You'll get past this. I have. Although it took me nine years to get to this state of "zen" with my Daz Library (plus, a lack of funds helps too - hehe ^^' ).
Those are things that can't be predicted and that none of us has control over. However, with the things that DO stay in the store, they WILL be on sale at some point, and probably sooner than later.
I agree. Lost count of the number of times I've had a cart waiting to be purchased and the time has ticked over and the discount has been removed. My usual reaction is - "oh dear, what a pity, never mind" because those items will be on sale again soon and often at an even bigger discount.
This.
I've made a game out of loggin what I've bought, adding it to a "to render" list, and crossing it off once I've rendered it. The shame of having a long "to render" list slows my buying down. Also, like having test images of the stuff I buy set in the context I imagined using it in.. good luck.
I cut my Daz spending in half this year, mostly by:
(1) Creating a wishlist and then buying only the things on that wishlist. Clicking on a flash sale and then also clicking "Only Show Wishlist" does wonders, because suddenly the list of available products drops from 600 to 4, and you don't see the other thumbnails of cool stuff you might be tempted to buy- just the 4 you'd previously considered purchasing.
(1B) Of course this also means not adding everything to a wishlist.
(2) Creating a set "percentage floor" and never buying anything that is not at least XX% off, even if the thing is on sale. Not buying anything less than 75% off? Well, if it shows up in FastGrab at 70% off, still too low... pass.
(3) Creating a set "items in cart" maximum- it's easy to fill up a cart when things are $1.99 each, and suddenly $1.99 turns into $49.75 because you've said "ooh, this is only $1.99" twenty five times in a row.
(4) Most Daz sales last all day, so there's time to throw items into a cart, go off and do something else for a few hours, and then come back and decide with a fresh perspective whether you really need another dress/set/figure/etc.
(5) Tracking monthly purchases helps to track what you spend the most on, and when, and how. Lots of new releases? Are you a sucker for Flash Sales? Does Fast Grab have your number? If you know, you can shy away from looking at those sales in particular.
Yes, and that is preobably the main reason I'm buying as much as I do. If I knew everything would remain available "forever" I'd postpone buying a lot of things.
DAZ originals are an exception as they generally will remain available as long as DAZ exists I presume, there may be exceptions but that's usually older stuff which no longer has anyone's interest.
Sales, FOMO.
I'm guilty of that this month, haha.
Happy i got most of what I want now, just need to use what i have atm.
lol people paying for daz in 2022? I aquired lots of content from previous generations. what I have noticed is the quality is not always the same. regarding content, it is similar, if not the same. 95% is "beautiful white women", bikinis, sexual clothes and poses. I have plenty of that stuff from years ago. Now I only get weekly (or bi-weekly) freebies from daz and free content from other stores as well. it just feels like the same content, or at least the same type of content is being sold over and over again. Why have 60 female figures, when you can have 10 and mix them? nothing wrong with that. but I feel you. this can get expensive. but trust me on this one, there are other stores with better content, and much cheaper. sometimes even free.
i know this comment is gonna get deleted, so be quick :)
Why is that lol-worthy? You might have bought content several years ago but some of us are reasonably new to Daz and maybe even 3D rendering altogether. It's not like when a new generation comes out all the old stuff is given away for free. So if someone does not have years of purchases already then they will obviously be tempted to buy new stuff this year.
Not sure where you are seeing stores that have "much better AND much cheaper" items. Perhaps there is some magical fantasy store out there that is just incredibly poorly advertised that I don't know about? Also, just because you can get some stuff for free that doesn't mean that you can get everythingyou want/need for free. The freebies here and on other common stores are very good resources and you can get some quality stuff but there is still plenty of reasons to buy things too. Just like people still use Word, Excel, Photoshop & Windows even tho LibreOffice, GIMP and Linux exist.
Wow! I've been buying from DAZ since before they were DAZ ( remember the okld Zygote days?) and I don't think I've come close to $5000 in total. The reasons are mainly:
1. Reusing old content ( still using converted V4 poses! and old Poser props!)
2. Learning to make my own props & kitbash models from free sources ( Sketchup's 3D warehouse)
3. Using DAZ as a reference for 2D artwork. I don't need to buy every shiny new character, shader or environment since I don't render. The base models and morphs work just fine.
4. Making my own basic poses.
In the past 2-3 years my buying has really dropped off a clif thanks to the HEAVY emphasis on fantasy, Sci-fi and skankwear ( your classic NVIATWAS type content) .The lack of male content also ius a big turn off ( I used dudes in my graphic novels too!). Nowadays I might buy the odd pose set if there's more than a couple poses I can use. I find a LOT of sets contain poses that are designed to be on the "alluring" side with over exaggerated positioning . I usually have to spend a while fixing them the be more like how a normal person would move.
I noticed that fairly early on. Poses are easy to make and there's only so much you can do with a white woman in a bikini (like take her to a hospital after she falls asleep on a beach). If you're able to see my other posts, you'll find one where I ask how to filter out the sexy stuff. I'm a big walking dead fan so I bought tons of apocalypse stuff. I focused on props, environments, hair, and clothes that people actually wear in modern society. I bought this: https://www.daz3d.com/genesis-8-cross-figure-resource-kit and since women in TWD mostly wear denim and flannel I bought a lot of men's clothes with plans to convert them for women. That's not to say I didn't get distracted by the shiny stuff (I somehow went on a centaur binge at one point...wtf can I do with a centaur?) but it wasn't my focus. I picked up a lot of buildings, particularly the crumbling ones. I probably spent more on Stonemason than any other PA (and if not, I definietely coveted their stuff the most). When I bought items outside the TWD genre, I just rationalized that I'd make some fantasy scenes first to get some practice, then move on to the stuff I care about.
Thankfully, I've never experienced this. But... I do absolutely welcome it with open arms.