An eBay Picture is Worth Mega Words

You’ll be able to upload your photos to eBay for inclusion in your listing; the site can display JPEG (.jpg), GIF (.gif), PNG (.png), TIFF (.tif), and BMP (.bmp) file formats.  The first photo in a listing is free, and each one thereafter is $0.15 at the time of this writing.  Once you’ve read the rest of this section and gotten a feel for the number of pictures you’ll need in your listing, be aware that eBay also has Picture Packages: putting one to six pictures in a listing will cost $0.75, and seven to twelve pictures will cost you $1.00.

If you have the ability to host your photos yourself, you should use only JPEG or GIF formats.

eBay recommends using a medium level of resolution when you take your photographs; if you’re using a digital camera, that equates to about 1024 x 728 pixels.  This will provide the sharpness and clarity you need for a good picture but is small enough to upload easily to the eBay site.  If you plan to use the camera feature of your cell phone to take your photos, you should check the specifications first, to be sure you can match the recommended resolution.

Note: If you don’t already own a digital camera and would like to invest in one for eBay purposes, be sure get one that’s at least 3.0 megapixels, has the ability to focus one inch away from the surface of the item (macro), and will allow you to turn off the flash – using flash when the rest of the lighting is good will result in a washed-out picture that won’t tell your bidder anything.  While it’s possible to find quality cameras that don’t wear the name of a major brand, you really have to know what you’re doing, or be willing to do the research.  If that doesn’t describe you, consider sticking with a brand name.

If possible, use a tripod to hold the camera while you take your pictures.  Sometimes we introduce a bit of jitter just by holding the camera, and a tripod will take that out of the equation.  If you don’t have one, or if your camera doesn’t seem designed to accept being mounted on a tripod, you may be able to steady the camera using a large box, a shelf or a table.

Make sure that the physical location you use for the photo shoot will let you light the item properly: make use of available natural light, reduce or eliminate shadows, show fine surface detail or flaws, etc.  If you plan to do a lot of selling on eBay, consider setting up a small photography center in your home, office, warehouse, etc., so you don’t have to find a new place every time you want to take a picture.  It can be very simple; here’s the one I have in my warehouse:
[INSERT PICTURE(S) OF GREG’S PHOTO SETUP]

When you have your camera, location and lighting situations organized, you’re ready to take your pictures.  Think about what you’re selling and how you’ve seen the item displayed in the real world.  Look to see how other sellers photographed items like yours.  (Remember, though, that it is against eBay policy to use manufacturers’ stock photos or someone else’s listing photos in your own listing without permission.)

Say you’re selling a pair of diamond earrings.  The last time you passed a jewelry store, did you glance at the window?  What color background did the window have?  Gold, silver, diamonds and pearls show up beautifully against a dark background, like black or dark blue or dark green.  Get a nice piece of dark fabric—maybe a remnant of black or dark blue velvet or satin—and use it as the background for your photos of jewelry with pearls or light-colored stones.  If you’re selling onyx, marcasite, or darker stones like emeralds and sapphires, then use a light or white fabric.  Keep in mind that you don’t have to use a luxurious fabric – a plain sheet or tablecloth will work just as well.  But if your item is playing on the theme of luxury, a better-quality fabric might make sense.

In general terms, use a dark background to show off white or lighter-colored items and a pale background to display darker items.  Avoid anything with a busy background, such as striped wallpaper or polka-dotted fabric, as the busyness will make it harder to see your item clearly.  This is especially true if the item itself has a pattern – imagine trying to look at a pair of red plaid sneakers against a background of orange-flowered wallpaper!  Larger items like furniture look best if backed by a hardwood floor or neutral carpeting.

You should also plan to photograph just the item you’re selling, at least primarily.  By this I mean that the sale item should be the only thing in the photo; it should fill the frame as much as possible without having bits and pieces cut off.  If you’re selling a vase, it should be empty and by itself, not filled with flowers in the middle of a fully set table – the latter makes the vase harder for bidders to see and evaluate.  For a full set of dishes, you might photograph a single place setting against a plain tablecloth, but again, not as part of a fully dressed table.

Should your listing include accessories, it’s a good idea to take at least one picture showing all the items as well as the box or package (especially if you’re selling a used item with its original packaging).  A listing for a digital camera package might include a photo of the camera, its box and manual, its media or memory storage, any power or computer cables, and its storage or carrying case, if any, as well as a picture of just the camera.

If you’re selling a mirror, a picture frame with glass, or anything else with a highly reflective surface, not only should you turn off you camera’s automatic flash, you should take pictures at an angle that will keep your own reflection out of the photo.
When I talked about lighting—and when I told you about that Rolex watch I sold—I mentioned showing flaws.  If you’re going to mention physical flaws or damage in the item description, from an almost invisible scratch to a noticeable discoloration or break, you should include a photo of the damage in your listing.  Your bidder will appreciate being able to determine if such flaws are going to be a deal-breaker – and it will eliminate you getting bad feedback or a claim for undisclosed damage or the item being substantially not as described.
 
Sometimes bidders won’t be able to tell how large, or how small, an item is just from the photograph.  In cases where you’re selling something of a non-standard size, or items that can come if more than one size, don’t just tell the bidder the dimensions in the description: use a photo that illustrates the item’s scale, like a doll-sized cup-and-saucer set next to a full-sized set, or a small statue with a ruler beside it to show the height.

I’ve written this section under the assumption you’ll be using a digital camera to take the pictures you’ll use to illustrate your item, but you can certainly handle the task in other ways, such as taking pictures with a film camera and either scanning in the developed photos, or having them put on a CD, and uploading those.  This can work well if you had already taken good, usable film-based pictures of the item for some other purpose.  Just remember to scan photos at eBay’s recommended resolution using the control panel of your scanner or the software you use to manage the scanner, and edit or crop the photos as needed to highlight the item.  You can use your own photo-management software for those tasks, but eBay also has an Enhanced Picture Uploader you can use to crop, resize, or rotate the images to make the most of your item.