eBay Buyers really like pictures. In fact I would go as far to say the more pictures you include with your listings for your items the more they'll feel compelled into buying their item from you, and not from your competitors. In fact, there are hundreds of buyers who will literally abandon your auction within 5 seconds or less of arriving if they don't find a picture there waiting for them.



I accept adding photo's might seem a bit of a chore. In fact if you have never used them you will be amazed at the additional response and extra sales you recieve as a result of just using simple photo's. Go on you know it makes sense just imagine dozens more people looking at your listings and bidding higher than ever before, now what would that do for your business?

If you want to know why your customer likes to find photo's in your listings you don't have to look far.You will probably have noticed when scanning eBay youself that those listing you tend to have brought from have all had illustrations or photo's.Ask yourself why? I am guessing but it was almost certainly that these listings gave you more confidence in the seller am I right?

In addition it creates a strong bond of trust between you and your customer. They will feel reassured that you actually own the item and that it is in good condition (it is very hard to take a good photo of a shabby item) and that it is not damaged or defective in some way.

If yoy want your auctions to be found quickly a photo will act like a flash light in a dark room making your listings jump out at your buyer. Most people when looking to buy anything are searching for instant gratification not hours of endless searching through poor listings. By making your listing stand out from the crowd you will make more sales and get higher prices than your lazy rivals who don't bother.

But how can you be sure you are the one that creates that killer photo, the one that land the customer every time? I have put together a few simple suggestions to help and make you the seller customers want to buy from.

Overwhelm them with images rather than just 1-2 .Although eBay might want to charge you for every image you use in your auction listing if you use your own webspace and get your own web hosting then you can add as many pictures as you like for nothing. All you need to do is take as many pictures as is appropriate for your eBay item listing and then add them using simple HTML code.

If the thought of writing HTML code send you in to a cold sweat don't panic as it really is quite simple. All you need to do is either use the eBay WYSIWYG editor (this works a bit like a word processor such as Microsoft Word) or you can just use this simple piece of HTML code. Just write this in your description each time you want to insert a picture:

Improve your pictures.You might want to touch up or enhance your pictures, their are several free programs on the net you can find for this just search for 'image editors' in your favorite search engine.Using this type of program you will be able to adjust things like brightness and contrast to show your photo's in the best light possible. I personally use Adobe Photoshop but it is a bit complicated to use so I suggest maybe you stick to a free resource until you are ready to upgrade in your eBay business.

Take better photo's. Buy if you don't already own a digital camera, they are now quite cheap and are worth much more than they cost to your business.The traditional 35mm camera with film really doesn't cut it online.Pay attention to how you take your pictures don't just ignore the background and framing of your photo's .

When learning photography remember the old adage less is more, meaning keeping things simple works best choose a light colored base and a light colored background to photograph you items on.I like to use a lighter background as a general rule and on some occasions for small items a black or dark blue background can be very effective if lit well and properly mounted.

In a later article I will be looking at how you can take this technique one step further by using digital video which is now starting to take off on eBay and all over the internet.