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Selling Online: The Basics

Step 4: Taking Pictures

Use detailed images to give buyers a chance to examine every feature of an item before they purchase. We unconsciously gain a great deal of information from what we see. Some customers might want to verify an item's quality while others are interested in appearance for its own sake, wanting to judge color or style to see if it will fit in with their collection. This is why pictures are so important to online collectibles buyers. Everything sells better if customers can get a clear image of what they are buying.

Most people today have a digital camera. But even if you are working with film, you can still create digital images. This eBay Guide "How to take pictures for your listing" tells you how to convert film to digital as well as some great tips for creating quality images.

Your Photography Studio

The Basic Set-up

  • Read this blog post "Setting Up a Mini Photography Studio on a Budget." Keep in mind that it is written by a vendor of quilts and think of ways to adapt her ideas to your type of items.
  • Create several neutral, black and white backdrops
  • 3 or 4 Different Height Boxes for Group Pictures
  • Mini-Tripod
  • Cleaning Supplies e.g. Windex, paper towels, kleenex, etc.

Special Considerations

  • Search online for advice on taking pictures of your specialty
    • Example 1  - Jewelry Photography Tips
    Example 2  - Top 10 Tips For Great Doll Photography
  • Keep backdrops clean and free from lint and wrinkles.
  • Make sure your items are clean and dust free.

Using the Scanner

Scanning Your Items

Some articles lend themselves to scanning such as books, post cards, patterns. Anything that naturally lays flat. But other items, like some pieces of jewelry, can be scanned successfully.

Silver with BlackSilver Charm Bracelet w/Black
Silver with GreySilver Charm Bracelet w/Grey

Here are two scanned images of a Silver Charm Bracelet that we recently sold on eBay. We tried a grey and a black background to see which one better flattered the silver and turquoise. Which one would you have chosen?

Taking the Picture

The Camera

If you are a photography buff, then you have a real advantage when it comes to taking pictures that sell. For the rest of us, the first step is getting to know a little bit about our camera and how we can use that info to increase our picture quality. Here is a great article "Get to Know Your Camera" written by an individual who sells quilts online.

Photography 101

  • Place the camera so that the item is centered and takes up most of the view screen.
  • Make sure you are not so close as to distort the image.
  • Adjust the lighting so that the colors in the photo match as close as possible to the item.
  • Use the tripod when shooting extremely close or using the zoom
  • Take a lot of pictures from different angles.
  • Take separate pictures of any item faults.
  • For very small items, place a familiar object, like a quarter, next to it in one of the shots as a size reference.
  • Make sure you take separate pictures of any makers marks, tags or original packaging if that applies.

Framing the Picture

Staging

The point of the image is to sell your item. When staging your shot, use an uncluttered area with clean, neutral, solid-colored backgrounds. Prints, bright colors and soil with detract from your images and cheapen the look of your merchandise.

In some cases, such as flatware or dinner china, showing the items staged on a dinner table, or showing a model wearing your clothing, may be the way to go. Use discretion when planning this type of staging. Usually less is better.

Digital Photo Editing

Software

Even the best picture will need a little tweaking before you upload it to your listing site. This is where a good Photo Editing Program comes in. You will have lots of choices - from the simple to use to the most advanced as well as online and downloadable versions. Do a little research to find out the best solution for you.

The most common edits are:
  • Cropping - Cutting areas from the image
  • Resizing - Changing the size of the image
  • Rotating - Changing the orientation of the image
  • Save As - Changing the name and location of the image file

Image Hosting

Online Storage

All of the marketplace sites will host the images for the items you are selling. They usually limit the number of photos that you can place in your listing.

If you decide to use your own template and photo gallery (see "Using Templates" in  Step 6: Listing Form), then hosting your images online at a site such as "PhotoBucket" or   "Flickr" for example. Your images are then available to be used on any site and in any way you choose.

Organizing Image Files

Setting Up a FIle Systems

Taking the time to organize your image files when you are first starting out will save you lots of time in the long run. We suggest creating a folder in your document files for your online sales efforts. Using sub folders, you can then separate your text documents and image files into different categories. Set up folders for 1. Originals, 2. Edited, and 3. Watermarked. This allows you the leeway to redo the originals whenever you want.

Watermarking

Personalize Your Images

A watermark is an image or text that is placed over your photos. This article "What is the Purpose of a Watermark?"  from BrightHub.com outlines the hows and whys of watermarking.

While there are many progrmas out there that you can pay for, here is a list of "5 Free Software to Add Watermark to Images" from FreeSoftware.com. 

Just two Suggestions:

  1. Place your watermark in such a way as to allow the buyer to see your item without any interefernce.
  2. Save to a separate folder so you will always have the original picture without the watermark.