Yeah, eBay had to suggest the white background because some sellers decided trash cans full of pizza boxes and counters filled with soda tops and pens were perfectly good backgrounds for their dark, fuzzy photos of items of dubious identity.
And then there are the ones who take photos of the item but manage to include a nearby mirror which happens to reflect that the only thing the seller is wearing is the camera, lol.
As a buyer, I like it when sellers take horrible photos of their wrinkled clothing items haphazardly thrown onto their furry unmade bed, with their soda can ashtrays adorning the nightstands. I consider it a bonus when they don't blur out the background of their equally filthy room. Those photos tell me exactly which sellers to NOT buy from! Right? lol. One photo like that just says volumes. I guess I use their filthy laziness to my advantage. haha!
Josh I can’t imagine you working a desk job in insurance. I think you have found what you were meant to do! What a blessing you are to the reselling community!
I’d also suggest filling as much of the shot with your product as you can so people can really see it. I see so many pictures that only take up 1/4 of the image and you have to really zoom in to see it and then you end up losing quality as you do that.
I think it is nice to have a distinctive but non intrusive background as customers recognise it and it is easily noticeable when a list of similar items come up and your customers can go straight to your listing
Nothing elementary about your videos. This is very beginner friendly and not everyone is an expert nor understands what it takes to sell on eBay, so you keep the education coming 👍🏼😉👏🏼. You rock 🚀!
Great Video Josh! I'd like to add my two-cents if that's ok (I know I do it a lot, so let me know if it's annoying haha). I believe the other benefit to using the white background is to benefit the Google Ads that eBay pushes your listings through. If you don't advertise much, then not using a white background might be ok - but Josh you do have the added benefit of having lots of follows on your eBay store so your organic traffic is much higher than most. Google Ads for products prefer the solid white background. I will also add that if you can find a bright ring light with diffuser built-in that has daylight 5000K+ that will reduce harsh shadows on your objects.
I got those lights after you switched to them and I love them! I also love the colored film it comes with for other things like mood lighting in videos ❤️
I always used sunlight and photographed literally everything outside lol. Watching you encourages me to drag a few items out and sell on Ebay again. I really enjoyed this video!
It's embarrassing to go back to when I first started reselling and see my photos and descriptions 😱😱 Like all things in life the more you practice the better you become 💖🌼💖 I hope new resellers will watch this video and not have to look back and cringe 😬😬😅😅
Hey Josh! I ordered the LED lights you suggested in this video and they just arrived today! There was an Amazon card inside that says I will receive $30 back if I post a review with pictures and a video. For a few extra minutes of my time the cost for the 3 lights comes down to 20 bucks!! Love that! In addition to reselling, I sell my handmade jewelry on Etsy. I can't wait to see what the new lighting does for my listings, especially the jewelry. Grateful for your informative and thoughtful videos! Thank you. Be of good cheer!
Found your channel today while listing items on ebay (I like the chatter in the background while listing). Subscribed and liked mainly because of your love for Mose! And watched the March 26 live where you were excited your mom was watching (and the onesie...). You described what makes a channel successful and you nailed it - you are so nice. Enjoying your content and still listing...had a HUGE haul this week sourcing. My death pile is overwhelming!
Thank you for sharing such useful information. I also love your new intro clip... I have been missing out for a while so this was the first time I saw it and it is great!
5 minutes into this video and it already makes sense. It also helps me as a photographer. And a person that is learning about resale. I like the wood background.
I appreciate the link for the lights. My light set up is ok, but I've wanted an upgrade for a while. Those you are using look great and are in a price range that would work. Thanks!
We spent many years getting to wide screen TVs, computer, and phones, and now Ebay wants square photos! Wooden background looks cool! They're background remover is terrible. When it comes to number, I've got 12 and I see listings with 1 photo selling at double the price!? As as cameras go, my iPhone (11-based SE) takes great photos but Ebay's app doesn't let you access those features, so for a phone I'd take the photos first then import them into the Ebay app. You can combine two 5500K lights combined with a fractional exposure boost to get pretty white. Cool tip on the LED lights. I use two huge CFLs, but those would be a lot smaller than what I have. Great video as usual!
Thank you. . . Lighting has been really frustrating. I just bought the lights you use. I'm hopeful! I had bought one of those ring lights. . . Not bright enough. Thanks again!
Great tips, I was considering buying the lights you have. I have some larger professional photographer type lights and they are always in my way. Yours look like they would work much better.
02:45 i think a white background let many people think, its not the real article photo. I use a 100% white bg and often people ask me, if its the product on the photo. Actually thinking about to switch to wood. :-)
@@musclebabe4 They work great, I've noticed that the plug in gets pretty warm when left on too long so I turn them off while I prep my next item to photograph.
This was extremely helpful. I am new to all of this and you answered my biggest question. How to get rid of the shadows. Showing that with the shoes was also helpful. Thank you.
I highly suggest the Photoroom app for awesome perfectly white backgrounds. It's free, too! Unless you want to get the paid version to get rid of the small Photoroom logo on the bottom of your pics (which is what I do). It's made my photos WAY more professional! I love your wooden background though, too 😊
@@newyearsmom1 I have also been accused of using stock photos buy buyers, I had one that just wouldn't believe they are mine. I just want to say to them "yes I am that good" 😁 just kidding.
For jewellery that I sell I try and use natural light near a window A bright but cloudy day is best If there is too much direct sunlight a good tip is to tape some white tissue paper on the window to diffuse the light
Good tips - I use those clamp on lamps (originally with a light box) and discovered I had 2 different type bulbs by the color they cast :-) Best for true color representation are the Daylight/full spectrum bulbs 2nd would be 2 that are at least the same. The white background I think was for better Google traffic but I believe if you are selling fairly quick turnover items, most folks will buy from you before the images hit Google results.
Rewatching as I only caught the last cpl minutes of the premier. I will be shopping your Amazon link for lights as currently I am only taking pictures when the sun hits my windows perfectly, it really limits my productivity!
Yeah that's tough to time it out right. The $50 3 pack is by far the best deal I've seen for good quality lights. Super small too. I used to use the big box lights and they worked well but took up too much space
Ohhh those little lights look interesting. I currently have the umbrella style lights and they are so annoying. I definitely need to invest in better lights.
I've never seen improving pictures as increases sales, but I'll for sure give it a try. I always thought if someone wants the item, why worry about the pictures. Thanks for the advice
I think pictures really matter if you're selling common items. If there are multiple versions of the item I want available for sale at around the same price, I'll usually lean towards the one with better photos. Showing professionalism in the pictures makes me feel like the seller will be professional in the shipping and customer service aspects as well. If you're selling unique items or items with a super high sell through rate, you can maybe get away with lower quality photos.
Thanks for the tips. I went ahead and bought the lighting kit. I was a pro photographer for many years and have been trying to use the bulky studio lights to save money, but they crowded my workspace so much I dreaded doing product photos. These lights will alleviate that problem.
Does eBay let you use a photo collage app? Like turning 4 individual pics into 1 image for uploading purposes? (I sell saddles & combining all the little size/brand/model stamps is time consuming to post each one separately.) great channel! I watch you while I cook and it makes it more fun 😁
Great Video HT! In my opinion if you could do a video on the operations of a camera would be totally awesome!!! I have been selling for about 18 years and my own account for 16 years off n on. At times my picture quality is poor. I thought about taking a CC course on photography
The comments are filled with great information and your video is so helpful. As a newbie on ebay should I use my personal address if I ever grow to the volume you and other fellow youtubers do? Any alternatives to a P.O. Box? Thanks
@@HairyTornado It's a smaller one. Here's the link to the one I got. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07LBKXNGL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I liked your video on staging your products for selling, I bought the lights that you suggested and they work great. Question, I took phots with my camera and when I went to send them out to a buyer, my computer showed that the files size was too large and they would go out Drop Box or Google something. How do you suggest reducing the file size or should I use my iPhone ? Thank you,
So first, why are you sending photos to a buyer? If you listed the item on eBay or any other selling platform and someone is asking you to text or email them more photos, it’s a scam.
Sorry I should have clarified, I have collectable knives that are valuable and I am working with a knife store that specializes in high end knives. I was sending them pictures of the knives to get an estimated value to see if I was interested in selling them at that price. They are a very reputable company that I have worked with over the years. I took photos as you had described in your "Top 5 Ways" video; which worked very well. However, I kept getting the warning that the uploads had exceeded the 25 something limit. I ended up texting the pictures to the Knife Store and got some good quotes on my knives and we are going to have a consignment agreement. I would have preferred to email the photos vs texting; which was my question. I have more knives to send them and wanted to see how I can email numerous photos. Thank you for your reply and concerns. John@@HairyTornado
I don’t why these you tubers say you need a square picture for eBay. Seems to be just the opposite as when I try to upload pics taken in “portrait mode” I get an error saying they are two small.
I bought a ring light with points saved up on my Amazon card that works well, but I think I'll buy your set of lights, too. Excellent video. Any tips on eliminating glare?
Sadly those lights are not clickable through to a U.K. site for you to get any commission And when you look them up on Amazon U.K. they are £49.55 - so same price in GBP as they are dollars which makes them more expensive but still a good deal with them coming complete with tripods
Hey - love your vids and your eBay store! I have been an eBay member since 1999 - back in the day I would start auctions on specific days, so they would end on when I would think people were more likely to be near their computers. Do you find any specific day better these days to start / end auctions...or did smart phones just make that sort of thing irrelevant?
For some reason my EBay doesn’t have that one feature that allows you to remove the background/making it white. I’ve looked everywhere, even researched it.
