Why do-----

[Tim Simmons]

most ebay sellers show such bad pictures, some have obviously been selling for a considerable time, is it deliberate? Tim

[Rick]

Hi Tim ,
I think sometimes it is to gloss over details of condition ;
also quite possibly many Sellers lack adequate image manipulation skills or software to produce good images .

This is unfortunate because good free image manipulation software is out there .

For instance :
www.irfanview.com

Rick

[Tim Simmons]

Hello Rick,
I am just not sure, they seem to have mastered all the PC skills to list there items and conclude business right enough. Tim

[Rick]

Decent photography skills have to be learned and possibly it just isn't important enough to the Sellers that don't take good pictures . Proper lighting and composition may not come easily to some folks .

At that point it is up to the potential Bidder to take the images into irfanview or photoshop and try to improve upon them for his own edification .

I firmly believe that many people do not know how to properly compress a jpg file for minimum kb size and maximum format size .

In Photoshop the 'unsharpen mask' feature is invaluable .

Another factor may be the photo hosting service used for the auction .

[Spunjer]

hey rick,
thanks for the link! it's pretty cool... ;)

[Rick]

Hi Spunjer ,
It's great freeware and is just about as good as Photoshop once you get it wired . :D

[kai]

People who work a lot with pics might also want to try http://www.gimp.org/ - also freeware and available for Unix, MacOSX, and M$... (as well as source code)

[Rick]

Great suggestion Kai .
It's amazing how much freeware there is out there . :)

www.tucows.com

[Spunjer]

tucows.com is my friend....

thanks for the link, kai

[Andrew]

My photography skills are abysmal. :(

I'm beyond help. :o

[Bill]

Tim, you're not talking about something like this, are you: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7335905210&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

[Tim Simmons]

Yes, thats got to be the worst. The ones that bug me are never usually that bad, they are often just good enough to get you interested. Tim

[Andrew]

Interestingly enough, the first two dha I purchased from eBay had awful auction photos. I was naive enough to jump at them and, because the photos were so bad picked them up at a very fair price.

They are still two of my favorites, and are genuine antiques of good (not great) quality.

Sometimes bad pix can be a boon, if one is willing to take a risk. :)

[Tim Simmons]

Yes I agree that can happen 1% of the time :(

[Bill]

Darn, Let that VOC sword slip away for only $30,000.00. Trouble is only one was for sale, seller may have given me the lesser of the two.

[Andrew]

Yes I agree that can happen 1% of the time :(

I agree. That was about three years ago, and it hasn't happened since. :D