Going to close this, along with the message we posted in Discord:

As part of the December Shop update, we introduced a new Item called the Portable Winterizer. This Item was a little different compared to past Items in that it was consumable — meaning that you could only use it a limited number of times before it would disappear from your inventory.

After releasing it, we heard a lot of feedback from the community. Clearly, this wasn't something you wanted in the Shop!

So, two things:

First, we're going to be changing the Portable Winterizer. Soon, it will behave like any other Item — Once you buy it, you'll be able to put it down as many times as you'd like.

As a note, if you've already bought (or were gifted) the Portable Winterizer, you'll be getting this new, unlimited version. If you bought two (or more) of them, we'll be refunding your credits. If you don't receive those by the end of the week, please reach out to our support team!

Second, we want to thank the community for being vocal about this. The Shop gives us the ability to try different things and see what works and what doesn't. Sometimes, when we try something new, it won't work out. That's okay, and we're more than willing to be wrong if it means we can learn from it.

Ultimately, the thing we are most interested in is building things that people want to buy. After all, we need to make money, and to do that, we need to make stuff that you're excited about.

For what it's worth if everyone had this item permanently there would be a lot of complaints

The new Christmas items in VRChat are cool, but the Portable Winterizer is not. A paid consumable item is a predatory, FOMO-based monetization strategy and is a major step in the wrong direction. While I understand that VRChat needs to generate a profit, it should also respect its user base.

Paying real money for a virtual item that lasts only three minutes and provides just five charges, only to have it disappear afterward and require a repurchase, sounds absolutely ridiculous. It’s one thing if the virtual item has some lasting value or is part of a long-term progression system, but paying real money for something that’s basically disposable after a few minutes or charges seems pretty exploitative. Paid consumable items are nonsensical, especially on a social VR platform.

VRChat consistently makes some of the most questionable decisions imaginable.

Here to observe the collective heartbreak of global society witnessing its glorious future of abundance being clawed back by the pedagogy of the old world's guild-city kings.

Survivor species within an ecosystem naturally navigate around scarcity and settle in niches of abundance. VRChat in the past taught me so much about how gift economies are not just possible but for survival. I am sorry that we could not get them to understand this lesson sooner. I'm thankful to have experienced a small glimpse of that potential here for a time.

Campfires (especially virtual ones) should be always abundant for those that need them!

The fact that you've implemented this nonsense, while taking important developer/engine tools away and imposed more and more restrictions on avatar features, along with cutting avatar upload sizes makes my blood boil. What is 9.99 a month getting us at this point? You continue to take away more user control from us in this compared to what we had over a year ago. This gimmick section is completely within your control to limit and monetize how you see fit, while you continue to strip things away to sell back to us piecemeal, but how long do you think you can do that before people can't take any more? How long do you think it'll take before too many people say "why are we paying for content that means nothing, and is so fleeting?" Do better for your community, especially your PC VR based community.

There's no way to vote against a canny, but I'd just like to speak out in support of consumables. I think the scarcity adds a special element of fun not present in the other items. I hope the dev team continues to create unique ideas like this that don't fit into people's perceptions of what items should be.

There's a huge difference in emotion between someone dropping an unlimited effect, vs. dropping a limited one. VRC+ giftings have been really entertaining. Even if you're not the one to receive it, it's exciting.

While I have no issue with the items, stickers, and other cosmetics being paid this is just bad. I thought the item was cool at first but to make this a limited time consumable that costs $1 a use is just bad. If I pay for something digital in VRChat I should be able to keep it, this isn't some gacha game or something where I'm purchasing consumable boosts. I will speak with my money and not buy this or support any of these predatory purchases and hope VRChat walks this back.

Thank you for making this post.

I really don't want to pay for a digital consumeable, especially for as long as I've been on VRC+.

I don't mind if it was free, but paid is permanently owned.

Like that's a good idea. Give free 5 uses to VRC+ users as a sample. People can see it, try it, and then think it's cool so they'll buy it.

We use this method all the time in the culinary business. Samples sell!

VR has always had an aspirational aspect of "What can we create? What can we accomplish without the restrictions of physical space? How can we express ourselves more easily than the confines of IRL".

It WILL bring in money and it IS "successful" in other industries and gaming but that in and of itself is not rubber stamp that people are happy with it. Just because something is profitable, does that mean it's okay?

Artificial scarcity and consumables should not be used in this manner. This is a new space, don't we want to set a positive example? Strive to do better for everyone in it?