Photos on my eBay Auctions: How Do I Add Them?

On another forum I'm involved with, someone's asked a great question: I want to sell products on eBay, but I want to include photographs with my items. How do I do that? What kind of camera do I need, and what settings should I use?

The first step is to buy a digital camera. You can use a film camera, get the prints developed and then scan them in, but you can now buy an entry-level digital camera for the same price as a low-end scanner, and it's a lot easier to use!

A few example cameras that have a good reputation, from Amazon: A very inexpensive camera - on sale currently - is the Digital Concepts VGA Camera (currently $49), and if you want to get a known brand, as I'd recommend, then you can't go wrong with the Fujifilm FinePix 1400 (about $70), the Kodak DC215 (about $60), or the slightly more expensive Epson PhotoPC 750Z (about $100).

Getting good results from a digital camera isn't trivial, however, particularly if you're trying to take a picture of a book, statue, CD cover or item of clothing. That's where it's nice to be able to take fifty pictures, download them all to your computer, and pick the best one of the lot. Unlike film photography, this won't cost you a nickel. Just time...

A general tip for taking good product shots is to have lots of light. If you're in a room with ceiling lights, turn 'em all on. If you have floor lamps, move them over and point them directly on the item. In addition, use a neutral color blanket or sheet as a background for the item: you don't want to distract potential buyers with your household clutter. Then hold your camera very, very steady (consider having it on a chair or, ideally, a tripod) and slowly click the button to take the shot. If your shots are blurry, try moving back a foot or so and taking another photograph.

Once you've taken a product photograph you like (and don't be discouraged if it seems hard. There are professional photographers who specialize in product and catalog photography and it's quite an art!) then crop it tightly so that the photograph is about the product and as little else as possible. If you're using a blanket as a background, for example, it should only be visible on the edges of the photograph. Bidders will appreciate a product photo that reveals a lot of detail about the product and nothing else.

Finally, within your photo editor (Photoshop, Paintshop Pro, Graphic Converter, iPhoto, whatever), make sure that the final image resolution is 75dpi, not 300dpi, then resize the image down to a maximum width of 400 pixels and a maximum height of 300 pixels: and do it with "keep image proportions" enabled so that you don't distort the photo. Save it as a JPEG, not a GIF, since it will keep the nuances of color much better.

Great. Now you have a photo ready to upload to eBay with your next auction! When you're entering the auction information, you'll get to a step where it offers you the chance to add a photograph, and that's what you want to do. Click on "upload photo" and pick your saved image, then it'll automatically be sent to the eBay servers along with your other auction information, and you'll be well on your way to becoming a true Powerseller!

When I add photographs to my eBay auctions, I use a rather more expensive (about $2000) camera setup, a Nikon D100 digital with studio lighting and similar gear. You can see some of my photographic work at Colorado Portraits.

Dave Taylor has been involved with online auctions for almost a decade, including having written the book "The eAuction Insider". His latest projects are startup info and Ask Dave Taylor!.

In The News:
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table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/trouble-ahead-massive-credit-default/story.aspx%3Fguid%3D%257B9F86B14D-12F4-46DD-8C9E-FB4610D8817F%257D%26dist%3Dhpprcid=1254093001ei=DTnqSNjeL43W6gOFw9jzCwusg=AFQjCNEf9ux6d3uuWZ9Y3jI0ckZNmSbafATrouble Ahead: Massive Credit Default Swap Payments Come Due/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fMarketWatchnbsp;-/font nobr22 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Three bauctions/b to be held next week will determine the amount of settlement payments required to be made under credit default swaps with Fannie Mae, b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN0335610020081003cid=1254093001ei=DTnqSNjeL43W6gOFw9jzCwusg=AFQjCNH50znqudEcN-hkZ6WOeksGEIUUmgFACTBOX-Fannie, Freddie CDS bauction/b timeline/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrReuters/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2008/10/06/16662/credit-market-to-price-500bn-in-bad-deals/cid=1254093001ei=DTnqSNjeL43W6gOFw9jzCwusg=AFQjCNF9dsqIZpM4AuJDN0RzXHHYGq6JWwCredit market to price $500bn in bad deals/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrFT Alphaville/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/moment-of-truth-for-default-derivatives-949823.htmlcid=1254093001ei=DTnqSNjeL43W6gOFw9jzCwusg=AFQjCNEQMpL1n3ntBvnKHKZ41gpX3i9hpwMoment of truth for default derivatives/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrIndependent/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.beursduivel.be/forum.php%3Fpage%3Dtopic%26id%3D11688%26name%3DCDS:%2520BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!%26laatste%3Dtruecid=1254093001ei=DTnqSNjeL43W6gOFw9jzCwusg=AFQjCNEaJpcsdvcuZCCDiCjrd0J9ZAV92QnobrBeursduivel/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122291081371496791.html%3Fmod%3Dgooglenews_wsjcid=1254093001ei=DTnqSNjeL43W6gOFw9jzCwusg=AFQjCNG8Qqs_udeUQ28G1FPOikSqyk9YHwnobrWall Street Journal/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1254093001hl=ennobrall 20 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.decanter.com/news/269420.htmlcid=0ei=DTnqSNjeL43W6gOFw9jzCwusg=AFQjCNFjhjVnEzaIETMzyPBSadDj3ZD3zQSouth African wine bauctions/b feel fiscal pinch/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fdecanter.com,nbsp;UKnbsp;-/font nobr9 minutes ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1The results of two annual high profile bauctions/b of South African wine reflect economic and political uncertainties. Last month#39;s Nederburg bauction/b – open to b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://pr-canada.net/index.php%3Foption%3Dcom_content%26task%3Dview%26id%3D51590%26Itemid%3D61cid=0ei=DTnqSNjeL43W6gOFw9jzCwusg=AFQjCNEdwX1qpicyWKrsECJLk-H4uJRIRgConcierge bAuctions/b Pleased With Results of Luxury Real Estate bAuction/b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fPR-CANADA.net (press release),nbsp;Montenegronbsp;-/font nobr1 hour ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Today Concierge bAuctions/b hosted a luxury real estate sale of two bay front estates on Siesta Key, Florida. The bauction/b was located at the Sarasota b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.offplanpropertyexchange.com/news/2008/10/americans-turn-to-real-estate-auctions/330cid=0ei=DTnqSNjeL43W6gOFw9jzCwusg=AFQjCNG1dG7vkiG2XYuvSjxS4ICQIxbhuQAmericans turn to real estate bauctions/b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fOff Plan Property Exchange,nbsp;UKnbsp;-/font nobr1 hour ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1More and more American families are turning to bauctions/b as a means of marketing houses for sale, according to one specialist. Abal bAuction/b Real Estate said b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
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