Step #4: The Don’ts of Taking pictures

Written by Texas Tracy on February 9, 2008

There cannot be enough emphasis placed on the importance of good photos in your auction. As you progress you will become better. I feel very strongly that the photos are much more important than the actual text of your auction. If your item has a very large blemish, the photo speaks volumes over anything you will attempt to write.

Today I will cover the don’ts of picture taking. Many good laughs are provided by people taking pictures on the fly. What we don’t want to see: your dirty house, your unkempt fingernails touching the item I am about to bid big money on, your foot (without sock of course), your unmade bed, your stained carpet, your messy desk, your packing materials, your fake plants, the interior of your car or trunk, your item as seen through your camera phone, and on and on…

Here you go, and by the way, for the sake of example we want to sell a Coach wallet:

Whose messy desk is this? And what is for sale? (The scary thing about this is that I did no prepping or staging for this photo whatsoever…!)

Now, where is the rest of the wallet? My guess as a buyer is that the portion left off probably has a big scratch, or at least that is what I may imagine.

I am a strong believer is cropping your photos. But, give the buyer a little perspective. They have no idea how big this wallet is in real life.

I won’t even comment on this one. As obvious as it is, you see it all the time. And then they wonder why their item has not sold.

All in all, not really a bad photo. But, clear all the excess away. Your buyer wants the wallet, not all your home furnishings.

This one is not so bad. But, if I am about to spend lots of money on an item, do I want to know you have been putting it on your landscaping?

These are some rockin’ shoes. But they are not for sale, so get ‘em out of the picture!

I could really take bad pictures all day. Just know you don’t want them in an auction. Next up, pictures of some do’s.

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4 Comments so far

Chris Moran February 9, 2008 2:52 pm

I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you.

Chris Moran
Texas Tracy February 9, 2008 4:20 pm

Hey Chris! Thanks for the kind words. I hope all is informative. I wish I was funnier…
David Zemens - 1955 Design February 10, 2008 6:35 am

All I want to know is are those pink Nike shoes for sale?
Texas Tracy February 10, 2008 8:29 am

Ha Ha, Dave. No, they belong to me and are very cool if I do say so myself.