How to Take Compelling eBay Photos

One of the best ways to draw potential buyers to your eBay auction is to include plenty of eye-catching photographs of the product(s) you’re trying to sell. You could spend a lot of time and money adding expensive features to your listing, from borders to bolded text, but if you don’t have photographs to back up your claims as to the item’s appeal, buyers will be likely to move on to the next listing in their search.

If you have a digital camera, it’s easy to create a visually compelling listing that will attract buyers and encourage them to bid on your item. Just follow these simple steps to compose your photographs, and within minutes you’ll have a collection of attractive images to accompany your item listing.

Use bright, natural light as much as possible. Indoor lighting can cast harsh shadows and make an image look “flat.” Open windows or, if possible, photograph your item outdoors.
If you don’t have access to bright, natural light, use a tripod and take the photo without using theflash. If necessary, use a higher ISO setting (400+), but try not to go too high or the image will look too grain.
If you must use a flash, cover it with a light tissue to help diffuse the brightness and minimize glare.
Unless you have a macro lens, don’t get too close to your item. Highlighting detail is very important, but you don’t want to be so close that you end up with a blurry image. You can always zoom in and crop later with an image editing program.
Pay close attention to the item’s surroundings. Avoid cluttered backgrounds that may distract the buyer from the item itself.
If you’re selling clothing, accessories or jewelry, ask someone to model it for you so that buyers have an idea of its scale and how it looks on a real person.
Take more photographs than you think you need, from many different angles. That’s the beauty of digital cameras: you can always delete unwanted ones later.
Since the pictures will be for the Web, you don’t have to use the highest-resolution setting on your camera, but you shouldn’t go too low either. Opt for medium-resolution shots to make sure that you’re getting as much detail as is necessary.
If possible, take your own photographs of your item, even if you find stock or manufacturer photos of it online. It proves to the buyer that you actually possess the item and gives them the chance to view its condition themselves.

At Easysale we have professional photographers with expertise in creating beautiful, irresistible pictures to accompany item listings. Let us do all the work for you to ensure a successful, profitable eBay sale. We offer an easy pick-up service throughout the Metroplex, or you can also drop off your items at any of our five locations.

Photo credit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsmoorman/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0