The LindeX And Virwox – Pro’s And Cons

When it comes to getting money from Second Life to your bank account, there are quite a few methods. The popular method is using the Linden Exchange, known as The LindeX. Another method is using a third party exchange, such as VirWox. There are other exchanges but these are the two I’m familiar with.

There are pro’s and cons to The LindeX and VirWox and I’ll go through some of them here, this is my opinion and the post should be read with that in mind. I base this post on my own personal experience, your mileage may vary.

The LindeX is the largest currency exchange with whopping amounts of usage, it’s ran by Linden Lab so the source is extremely trustworthy. There are fees involved, there’s a 3.5% fee for selling Linden Dollars on the LindeX and you will be charged USD$1.00 if you want to cash out to Paypal, that’s a flat fee.

One of the big disadvantages with the LindeX is how long it takes to process your credit, it can take upto five working days is the official line but recently there have been reports of it taking longer, Khamon Fate recently created a thread over at SLUniverse saying he had been waiting nine business days.

VirWox has more fees than Linden Lab, they also charge more for a paypal withdrawal with. VirWox allows you to cash out to currencies other than the US Dollar, you can cash out to currencies such as The Euro or British Pound and this is where it gets to be a bit of fun, you can sometimes get a better rate if you cash out to your local currency. The LindeX only deals in US Dollars. However if you do cash out to Paypal via VirWox, say the British pound, you’ll be charged a quid for your Paypal withdrawal on top of the fee, if you use US Dollars, you’re charged a dollar. A quid is worth more than a dollar, but as I said, you may get a better rate by cshing out to British Pounds than US Dollars, so swings and roundabouts.

VirWox though has one massive advantage over the LindeX, cashing out is pretty damn quick. The first time you use VirWox there’s a small delay, around a day or two but after that processing credit to a Paypal account is pretty instant, unless Paypal put a block on it. Then cashing out to your bank from Paypal, that’s pretty instant for me, but can take upto two hours according to the Paypal website.

I find that the exchange rates are better with the LindeX, so if you’re patient and can wait, the LindeX looks the better option. However the flexibility of VirWox has big enough advantages for me to use that too. If you need cash in a hurry, VirWox wins hands down, the option to use other currencies is another plus point.

For large transactions, the LindeX is probably your best choice, but for a smaller swift transaction, the extra fees VirWox charges won’t amount to much, making it a very viable alternative. VirWox also offer partnerships with people, so you can have your own VirWox ATM or shop and if you attract enough trade, you will earn commission.

There are pro’s and cons to both services, but I think it’s healthy that there’s a decent alternative to the LindeX.

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