What are grandfathered accounts on IMVU?
Have you ever heard someone mention the word “grandfather”, but couldn’t quite understand what they were talking about? If the subject wasn’t about family relationships, they were most probably referring to grandafather/grandfathered accounts on IMVU, or simply put – creators.
Generally, grandfathered accounts are known as old accounts (that have been made years ago).
When someone mentions a “grandfather account”, they are actually talking about the creator status of the account, not the age of the account and they represent users who can create without having/buying VIP.
Many years ago, IMVU users needed to have their name bought (to have the Guest_ removed) in order to create. That was it. There was no VIP, no membership that could expire, no recurring subscription; there were just guest users and users. Creating was a function available to users.
Today, you need to be VIP in order to create – you also need to maintain your VIP status for your shop to be available.
Over the years, IMVU implemented the VIP program and made creating part of it.
Grandfathered accounts are accounts that have accepted the creating Terms of Service before the VIP implementation (that subsequently brought with it new terms).
Not every old account is grandfathered – There are active creators that have been around since 2007-2008, but who had not signed up for the Creator Agreement prior to the implementation of VIP creating – because of this, they need VIP to create.
There aren’t that many active grandfathered accounts, however rules changed over the years and IMVU made sure to look after creators that have been around for a while – a truly noble gest.
Today, there is no way you can create without paying for a VIP subscription (10$/month | 25$/3 months | 75$/year), nor is there a way for you to demo/test out the creating process (as in playing around with textures without being allowed to submit anything to the shop). If you want to create, you must have a VIP subscription.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):
1. Can I buy a grandfathered account?
Buying/selling/sharing accounts on IMVU is illegal. Even if you find a grandfathered account, that account must have signed the creator program prior to the VIP creator implementation.
Even if you do find a working account, you will waste your time with it because:
- You risk disabling all other accounts you own
- You cannot use the account with the intent of earning money in the long run
- The constant stress of having your shop permanently taken down will have serious health consequences (imagine investing years and money into that account, only to see it get disabled one day because someone else can claim the account as the original owner)
2. Can I create without buying VIP?
The only mandatory part for creating is “having VIP” – not buying it. That means someone else can pay for your VIP, or you can take part in different contests on the forums where the prize is VIP membership for x months.
Honestly, if you genuinely want to start creating, you will find a way.
3. Are grandfathered creators better than VIP creators?
There is absolutely no difference between grandfathered creators and VIP creators when it comes to creating with the only exception that grandfathered creators do not need to pay a monthly fee to create/have their shop visible.
Grandfathered accounts do not share other benefits like the VIP program offers its users such as: monthly credits, 5% catalog discount, exclusive deals, instant support etc.
4. What happens to my shop if I no longer have VIP membership?
You will be unable to create and submit new products to the catalog and your shop will no longer be visible.
That means that if a user wants to search for your name in the shop, they will be unable to see your shop.
Items your customers have bought from you will still be usable and they can still see that the item has been made by you if they search in the client (desktop or mobile).
Users that have added items from your shop to their wishlist can still buy the products.
Without a visible shop however, your sales/income will drop drastically.
5. If I buy VIP again, will my shop be visible again?
Yes, you will be able to create again and everything from your shop will be visible again (as if you never stopped your VIP membership).
6. If my shop will be visible again after I buy VIP, can’t I just buy VIP every other month?
Well, you can, but it would affect your sales in the long run.
You can think of it like this: imagine you want to buy groceries and go to Walmart. You only need groceries every other week, so for you it’s not important whether Walmart is open or closed in the week you’re not shopping. But on IMVU, you are Walmart – you provide groceries and you want to make money out of it. Sure, you get a few customers, but if you close for 7 days every other week, people will take note of that and just go buy somewhere else, especially since there are a lot of other food chains out there.
It’s the same with your shop on IMVU – you want to be open all the time, so people can buy more from you.
No, you can’t buy VIP every other month if you want to create a customer base and sell more products.
5. If I am grandfathered and get disabled, will I need to buy VIP?
No, unless you have been banned permanently, in which case you will need to sign up for a new account (which implies signing up for the new creator agreement, thus paying for VIP)
6. Can IMVU un-grandfather accounts?
They can, but never in the history of IMVU has this ever happened. It might happen one day – that day will be known as the day grandfathered accounts will no longer exist (and probably everyone will need to pay for VIP or some other creator subscription to continue creating).