Why are there so many BAD eBay pictures?

SidePocket

Why do you think so many eBay sellers post horrible, blurry photos of the cards they're selling?

Is it because they seriously can't afford a $69 scanner?

Or because the cards have dings that don't show up in the crummy photos and they sell for more $ to folks who think "maybe this is a nicer card than it looks"?

Or do they just not care that they lose money by not showing a good scan?

jeffcbay

<< <i>Or because the cards have dings that don't show up in the crummy photos and they sell for more $ to folks who think "maybe this is a nicer card than it looks"? >>



Ding ding ding!!!

Griffins

I think it's because a lot of people just don't know how to use that $69 scanner. It would make a great article.

WinPitcher

15 cents is the reason.

Blacklabelsociety

The back is not as important as the front. especially with graded. Maybe that's why?

diamondman

the 15 cents add up quickly especially if you are listing 1 to 2 hundred cards at a time, and is it really necessary if it is a psa 8 or 9 and it's only a a 10 to 25 dollar card, granted if it is a 100 to 10,000 dollar card, you are leaving money on the table if you don't show the back of the card, unless something is seriously wrong with the back and your auctions are listed as No refund on graded cards.Most honest ebay sellers will provide a scan of the back if you request one.

of course with ebay fantasy world , the buyers have all the power and can return almost anything for any reason even if you have 100 pictures and a perfect description.

Ebay is greedy , there are a lot of categories that allow 12 free pictures ( I think with listing fees & 9% FVF all categories should allow up to 12 free pics) , but if it is sportscard or coin related sorry (we are greedy) only 1 free pic, then we nail you for the rest.

Thanks ebay (not)

thunderdan

Because too many people are both cheap and lazy.

It always puzzles me that a person listing a card for $1K plus won't spring for an extra $0.75 for the picture pack fee. When it comes to higher-end cards, a picture does speak a thousand words.

WinPitcher

Some people have said tey don't even bother to look at the back.

As for a card being a PSA 9, next time you bid big on a card with NO back scan, win it
and it arrives with 90/10 centering on the back you may re-think your position.

Blacklabelsociety

<< <i>Some people have said tey don't even bother to look at the back.

As for a card being a PSA 9, next time you bid big on a card with NO back scan, win it
and it arrives with 90/10 centering on the back you may re-think your position. >>



it wouldnt bother me if the back had 90/10 centering. as long as the front is decent.

gameusedhoop

<< <i>15 cents is the reason. >>



Take 2 minutes and open up a FFREE Photobucket account and put any amount of pictures in your auctions FREE of charge with a little HTML knowledge.

CrazyMind2017

<< <i>

<< <i>15 cents is the reason. >>



Take 2 minutes and open up a FFREE Photobucket account and put any amount of pictures in your auctions FREE of charge with a little HTML knowledge. >>



True HTML knowledge isn't even really necessary. Not only is it mind boggling that this simple step is unknown to most sellers, I also find it mind boggling that nobody mentioned it until the 13th reply to this thread.

frankhardy

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>15 cents is the reason. >>



Take 2 minutes and open up a FFREE Photobucket account and put any amount of pictures in your auctions FREE of charge with a little HTML knowledge. >>



True HTML knowledge isn't even really necessary. Not only is it mind boggling that this simple step is unknown to most sellers, I also find it mind boggling that nobody mentioned it until the 13th reply to this thread. >>




I agree. I have used Photobucket for years. I have not paid one dime for pictures in a long time. You can put as many pictures as you want in your description at no charge as long as another website hosts the pictures. Sellers are paying Ebay to HOST the picture; not show a picture in a listing (though it wouldn't surprise me if they started charging for that too in the future).

As for crappy scans, I agree. I am amazed at the either lack of knowledge on how to scan or the laziness. To me it is just that - either laziness or a lack of knowledge on how to scan. I am very picky when it comes to scanning cards. I have a nice black border because I leave the scanner lid open. I also center the card exactly in the center of my scan. Here is just a graded example and a raw example of the way ALL of my scans look. If I am not satisfied after scanning the card, I redo it.

alnavman

I think that many others, like myself are not "scanner" literate....to be honest I don't know how to work all the extra do dads that are available. Another side of the coin that I can see happen is the person who is "scanner" literate can also doctor up their pictures with all the do dads to make it look much better than it really is, so you're screwed either way in my opinion. below is an example of one of my ebay auctions. I didn't pay the extra .35 to supersize it but I didn't think the cards were valuable enough to supersize or show the back. I've provided link to the completed auction so you can see what it acutally looked like. I do agree with everyone though on the high priced items, that they should have scans of front and back supersized.
auction

alnavman

I'm going to really show how stupid I am.....how do you post from photobucket to an ebay auction???? are the instructions somewhere???? it would be great if I could post to my auction instead of using the ebay app.....I know how to post a picture in one of these threads from photobucket but didn't know you could post into one of your ebay auctions.

al.

frankhardy

<< <i>I'm going to really show how stupid I am.....how do you post from photobucket to an ebay auction???? are the instructions somewhere???? it would be great if I could post to my auction instead of using the ebay app.....I know how to post a picture in one of these threads from photobucket but didn't know you could post into one of your ebay auctions.

al. >>




It depends on which browser you use. I have experience with 2 browser's - Internet Explorer and Firefox Mozilla.

It is actually easier with Internet Explorer, but I hate IE so much, I never use it. All you do with IE is right click on the actual picture in Photobucket and paste it in your description on Ebay.

With Firefox, you have to hit the "HTML" tab at the top of your description on your Ebay listing, then copy the HTML code and paste it in your description (whereas on these message boards, you paste the IMG code). After you paste the HTML code in your description, hit the "Standard" tab at the top of your description and you will see the picture. I always "center" my pictures. You can play around with it to see what look you like. You will save a ton of money over the long run. Hope that helps.

By the way, I also upload the same picture to Ebay for the free one along with using Photobucket. That way, it shows up at the top left part of my Ebay listing and in the search results as well as in the description.

In other words, I use both Photobucket, plus the one free picture.

alnavman

thanks Shane, also if anyone is interested you can get some more info on the photobucket site...I just searched using the word ebay and it took me where I needed to go.

Tabe

<< <i>I'm going to really show how stupid I am.....how do you post from photobucket to an ebay auction???? are the instructions somewhere???? it would be great if I could post to my auction instead of using the ebay app.....I know how to post a picture in one of these threads from photobucket but didn't know you could post into one of your ebay auctions.

al. >>


All you have to do is highlight the picture, click the little checkbox, scroll to the bottom of the page, click the "Select Action" arrow, and click "Generate link code" (or whatever it says). Then just cut and paste the appropriate code into your auction. The neat thing about this way is that you can have it generate the code for multiple pictures for you all at once.

Tabe

hookem

<< <i>

<< <i>I'm going to really show how stupid I am.....how do you post from photobucket to an ebay auction???? are the instructions somewhere???? it would be great if I could post to my auction instead of using the ebay app.....I know how to post a picture in one of these threads from photobucket but didn't know you could post into one of your ebay auctions.

al. >>




It depends on which browser you use. I have experience with 2 browser's - Internet Explorer and Firefox Mozilla.

It is actually easier with Internet Explorer, but I hate IE so much, I never use it. All you do with IE is right click on the actual picture in Photobucket and paste it in your description on Ebay.

With Firefox, you have to hit the "HTML" tab at the top of your description on your Ebay listing, then copy the HTML code and paste it in your description (whereas on these message boards, you paste the IMG code). After you paste the HTML code in your description, hit the "Standard" tab at the top of your description and you will see the picture. I always "center" my pictures. You can play around with it to see what look you like. You will save a ton of money over the long run. Hope that helps.

By the way, I also upload the same picture to Ebay for the free one along with using Photobucket. That way, it shows up at the top left part of my Ebay listing and in the search results as well as in the description.

In other words, I use both Photobucket, plus the one free picture. >>



Shane - how do you center your photos? That is the only step I can't figure out yet.

frankhardy

First of all, I have a little mechanism under the glass that allows me to place a card in the EXACT spot every time. Then, I just do a preview and locate my window correctly around the card. Works beautifully!