Anyone who is an experienced seller on eBay will know that the better your images are, the more money you’re going to make!
So in this article we’re going to talk about how to take the best photos for eBay – in other words, the ones that will earn you maximum profit!
Time to get your camera out!
Any quick glance of eBay listings tells you that people often aren’t putting anywhere near enough effort into taking photos to sell their items.
No amount of editing is going to help if your photos aren’t good quality in the first place.
So, go out and get as good a quality camera as you can and start taking your photos (I use a quality compact digital camera – a Cannon G7X*, which takes no real skill to use).
If you’ve got an expensive digital camera then great. But if you don’t, that’s not a problem. You can get great photos just by using nearly all modern mobile phones.
The trick to taking good photos is to follow these four simple rules.
Tip 1: Take your eBay photos in good lighting
This is the single most important factor in helping you get quality photos, especially if you’re taking them on your phone.
A lot of phones (and even better quality cameras) don’t take good pictures in low light conditions. And there’s nothing worse than getting poor results like this:
According to the item description this is a 2 year old dishwasher in “excellent condition”, but sadly you’ve got no way of telling that from the photos. An enormous number of potential buyers are going to be put off by this. They won’t even waste their time with it.
There’s a better way to do it.
You can go out there and buy cheap photography lighting kits (like this one on Amazon*), but it’s frankly not necessary. You can save yourself the expense and the hassle.
The truth is, the best light for eBay photos is free. It’s daylight! A lot of people list things on eBay in the evenings but you should avoid the temptation of just banging your photos out under house lights, unless you are really confident in your camera.
The non-professional photographer is going to get the best possible result by taking their photos in daylight (by the way, cloudy light is often better than direct sunlight). Personally, I think the benefit is so significant that, if there’s no daylight in the evenings (over winter) I’ll usually wait until the weekend when I’m not working and I can get the photos done during the day.
If you still doubt that this tip is worth it, take one look at the difference between the two photos below:
Good, natural lighting will do wonders for your photos, regardless of the quality of your camera.
Tip 2: Set up your photos with care (location, location, location)
Presenting your subject properly is a second, really important, aspect.
You want people looking at the object you’re photographing and feeling that it has value. So frame it in a clean, well presented way where it looks like you’ve taken care over it.
Take the following example:
Look at the absolute disaster on the left! This has gone badly wrong. The photo fails to even properly show the main thing that is on sale (it doesn’t come with legs included).
The item you’re displaying really needs to be the only thing in shot. Remove all clutter from the surrounding area. The background should be a light colour without a distracting pattern, which does not make the item look cheap.
When you think about the shoes above, do you feel excited about buying the ones on the left? Do you even feel like clicking on the listing? They might actually be a great shoe, but very few people are going to be interested.
Now let’s take another example (one that I tried to put a bit of care into when I sold it):
All I’m selling here is a used, but good condition pair of cycling shoes.
They may not be an exciting item to sell, but I’ve made an effort to arrange and position the items in this photo to present them at their best. It has been taken in a well lit environment (daylight) and placed on a background – in this case laid on decent-looking patio stones – that does not distract from the item in shot. All the focus is on the item being sold, nothing else.
Because the item in that photo has been presented with care and effort, it projects more value to potential buyers. You’re likely to get more interest in it, and achieve more profit overall.
Sure enough, after just 3 and a half days of being listed (as a 7-day auction) interest in these shoes was strong. 10% of all views had put this on their watch list!
Tip 3: Take lots of photos that capture the details
One good photo is a great start. But don’t stop there: If you’ve gone to the effort of taking one photo, taking a couple more requires hardly any extra effort.
People like to see lots of photos. When people buy something on the internet – even if it’s brand new – they want to see as much detail as possible, since they can’t inspect it in person.
Successful retailers know this. Take this shoe sold on the Nike website, for example:
They provide 6 separate pictures of this shoe – each can be zoomed in. And that’s just for a product that’s brand new!
When you’re selling something used, it’s even more important to take pictures, as buyers will be wary of hidden signs of wear and tear. People always worry about what they can’t see in the photos.
Ebay gives you 12 photos on each listing – for free! So make the most of it.
Take good quality photos from all different angles. Then, find attractive features of the item – the things that are really going to help sell it – and zoom in on this detail (not using the zoom on your camera, but just by getting closer). Also make sure you capture any defects.
Take photos of everything you’d want to see if you were interested in the item.
What to do with defects
Just be honest about them. Photograph them and describe the defect in the item description.
If people are buying used items on eBay they don’t expect things to be brand new. People won’t be put off by wear and tear but they will be put off if there isn’t enough description for them to tell what condition something is in. People don’t want to play guessing games, they will just move on to another item.
Do not, under any circumstances, try to hide defects. eBay’s own guidance states that “All images must show a realistic view of the product”. Hiding defects is a bad move. It goes against eBay policy and just opens you up to complaints from buyers, which leads to disputes, refunds and – ultimately – your seller rating will suffer in the long run.
Tip 4: Carefully choose a great main image
The main image is going to be the one that everyone sees as they scan through hundreds of eBay listings. People scan through listings fast – if something doesn’t grab their attention, they will just keep on scrolling.
You need to make sure that your main photo is the best possible photo you’ve got. Think of it as your shop window – it’s the one that’s going to bring potential customers in the door.
So, pick the best photo you can, but also make sure that it’s the right way round and that when it’s displayed as a thumbnail, it shows the item clearly.
Really, most of this is a matter of common sense, but let’s see a few examples that we can learn from. Let’s pretend we’re scrolling through some eBay listings for men’s shoes….
As we’ve said, most of this is a matter of common sense, but plenty of people do get it wrong.
Apply all of this and make more money!
So, there it is. You now know everything to be able to take the best possible photos for eBay.
If you follow these few simple steps, you’ll be on your way to making as much money as possible:
- Take good eBay photos by:
- Make sure photos are well lit – use daylight wherever you can.
- Arrange your item well, in an uncluttered, attractive way.
- Take lots of photos and show the details. eBay let’s you show 12 photos per item, so make the most of it.
- Pick a great main photo for your listing.
And most of all, use your common sense (and never try to sell a pair of shoes featuring a photo of your hairy legs).
Now, before we move on, there’s one more thing you need to read before you upload your photos to eBay, and that’s our article explaining the optimum size and setting for eBay photos.
If you’ve read the above and have any questions for us on how to best photo your items for eBay, just leave us a comment below!
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Great guide. Thank you for putting this together.