Pictures That Sell: Photographing Your eBay Auction Item

In This Quick Guide:: Background; Lighting; Photograph Composition

Share this with your friends

Having a great photograph of your eBay auction item is important. Too many people place the object on their dining room table, open the flash, and take a shot. That is the worst thing you can do. If you have a photo and it looks blurry or the color is off, or it’s too low resolution, the buyer isn’t going to bother reading your description. Poor photographs cost you nearly as much in low or no bids as no photographs at all. In this guide, we cover a few things you can do to vastly improve your photographs with very little time or effort (and no expense).

Background

Taking a few minutes to set up a clean background and simple lighting will pay dividends in more bids and higher selling prices for your auctions. Once you’ve got your setup ready, you can photograph all of your items so they’re ready for whenever you want to list them.

The first thing you need to do is create a clean, uncluttered background. You want to avoid distraction. There are professional studio tools you can buy to help you, but if you don’t have much to sell, you’ll want a cheap (or free) solution.

In all of the photographs shown in this guide (except the one without a proper background), we used a piece of white poster board taped to the wall and curved so it rested on a folding table, then set the camera on its tripod in front of it. That’s about the easiest setup you can get.

If your item is big, you can use an ironed sheet tacked to the wall, or even outside draped over two ladders, to make your continuous background. This gives you a much bigger backdrop, perfect for furniture, or large items that won’t fit on a table. Be careful about wrinkles in the fabric though. Those can be just as distracting as a poor background.

Lighting

The best lighting is indirect natural outdoor lighting (not direct sunlight). This includes shooting outdoors on a cloudy day, in the shade, or inside with natural light coming in through a window. If you happen to have a deck and live somewhere that is usually nice but cloudy, this is a great place for you to set up your studio. If not, you can set it up by a well-lit window.

If you have to shoot indoors, you need two lamps that allow you to direct the light will work—gooseneck lamps or inexpensive clamp-on lights from any hardware store are fine (if your setup gives you places to clip them to).

Think of your setup as a triangle. Your item is at the top point and the two lamps are positioned at the other two corners pointing at the item. This helps fill shadows and gives you even lighting. Your tripod and camera should be an equal distance between the two lamps.

Basic lighting setup to fill shadows.

Stay away from daylight bulbs—they mess with the color balance.

Photograph Composition

Here is a list of common items and the best composition for them.

Clothing: Always iron clothing before photographing. If you have a mannequin, that is the best way to showcase clothing. If not, lay the poster board on the floor and arrange the clothing flat. Fold arms at the elbow (as if the wearer had their hand on their hip) to show long sleeves without having a really wide scarecrow looking image. Stand on a small ladder or chair and photograph the item from above. If you’re selling a lot of clothes, you might look for a body form of the type of clothes you have (men, women, or children); this can help your items look different from other people’s items. Make sure that the perspective of your photograph is correct (straight on, not at an angle). Otherwise you could be making pants legs look shorter than they are.
Handbags: Use a contrasting background to showcase your bags and put the straps behind the bag for your main thumbnail shot. Show additional pictures that shows the drop of the strap/handles, the interior, and the sides (to show the bag depth). If you are selling a designer bag, showing the authenticity number (printed inside the bag) is always smart.
Glass or ceramic: Anything that reflects is a challenge to photograph. Never use flash and always make sure your lighting is diffused. Make sure to photograph a picture in frame straight on so you don’t distort the picture because of the perspective.
Crystal: A dark colored background is usually a good idea for glass or crystal items because it helps the glass sparkle. It also gives the shape some contrast which wouldn’t be available in a white-background shot. Be careful of flash and harsh glare from your lights.
Vases: In most cases, it’s better not to put anything in the vase and just use a contrasting background to make it pop.
Electronics: Most electronic items look best when placed at an angle rather than straight on. Having a second picture showing all the extras (cables, CD, case, etc.) with the item is also useful. Be careful of flash and light spots causing glare on the item. Always use the Macro feature to keep the close-up details in focus.
Small collectibles: Show multiple angles of small collectibles. Most people who purchase these items are used to holding the item and looking at it before making a purchase. You need to give them the same level of detail in your pictures or they won’t buy. Make sure your white balance is absolutely right for collectibles. The color (and whether it is faded or not) is usually very important to the collector. Always turn on the Macro setting to show close-up detail and be careful about light spots causing glare. Diffuse your lights if needed to remove glare.
Jewelry and watches: This is one of the hardest items to photograph. Always use the Macro setting and get a close-up shot to show all of the detail. The biggest error in shooting jewelry items is taking the photo from too far away. You can also purchase display boards for earrings, rings, and so on. If you have a lot to sell, these are worth getting. If not, use a piece of velvet or corduroy in a contrasting color to place the jewelry on. Always show a front and side view of jewelry items.