The Marketplaces. [This got long, so I'm splitting it] First, and perhaps most important: Price in the virtual world has absolutely no correlation to quality, scarcity, cost of materials, or vintagehood... like it does in the real world. That hair model you have downloaded for free or paid $2.49 for or paid $20 for or even paid $60 for with the expansions... what is it worth? What it cost you? Nope. It is worthwhile for what it is at the point in time you acquired it. 6 months later it might go on sale, or... it might no longer be available. Do you need it now, or can you wait? How long would it take you to make it (if you could)? Do you want to make it... or spend your time texturing the dress or setting up the furniture or telling the story? Some makers set a price based upon how many hours they put into construction, and the number of units they are likely to sell, the brokerage fee, and any other numbers they can throw into the stewpot. Others may have an idea of what they want to charge based upon prices for similar items and/or the sweat they put into it, but their brokerage house gets to determine the final selling price. Example: The Hankster made a very detailed set of temple ruins which sold for about $40 here last year (and I think they were worth it: lots of pieces, lots of exquisite detail). DAZ bought that set and is selling it for $1.99 in their members-only club. Just because you can buy an item for pennies, doesn't mean that it is cheap or junk... one should honor the maker, no matter what price they charge, because they might not have control over the pricing or they may feel generous or they may decide to sell 100 units at $2 rather than 1 at $200. Whatever. If you can find what you want at an affordable price, rejoice. Certain makers get a reputation for quality, and they have earned it over time. This has as much to do with their professionalism as the goods they sell. When they move from site to site, their customers will go with them. Many merchants will lurk the Forums to see what people are saying about their products and to answer questions... but a direct email is usually the best way to get help using a product. However, being human, they aren't here 24/7! Most merchants have offered free stuff, and some continue to regularly do a few free items. If you are unsure about a merchant's goods, see if they have something similar that you can check out. Example: if you like their free texture sample, then buying a whole set is less fraught with peril. Years ago Symphony remapped the P4 formal and offered a free dress texture. It was lovely, and an improved layout, so I bought the set of 12 pretty dresses for a project... and later another set or two by them and even some skin textures. Without that sample texture, I'd probably have stayed with the default mapping because I was so very new to Poser. With the sample, I could see first hand how nice it was (and how much time it would save me from painting enough dresses for a ballroom scene). to be continued... ;)