Photography Tips
By the Online Auction Academy Staff

One of our focus classes for training (and one of the most popular) is
Photography Tips for Profitable Auctions. Why is it so popular?
Because a great photo can make or break an auction and getting good
photos is not always easy. Many people balk at the seeming technical
complexities of creating digital photography. These are people who
have never picked up a digital camera and tried it out. Otherwise
they would know that using the camera is easy! Getting good photos,
whether with a digital or standard camera, is the hard part.

There are several things to focus on when creating photos for your
auction sales. The first thing to remember is that since you're
taking digital pictures, you're not out anything if you have to take
them over and over to get it right. One of the big advantages to
digital photography is that there's no film to waste!

When you're putting photos together for your auctions, remember the
following:
* Photos help to answer questions
* Photos show flaws in your items
* Photos help to sell the item
* Photos save time

These four tips will save you lots of hassle and lots of time when
you're making your photos.

Photos help to answer questions
This is pretty self-explanatory. A great photo is worth a thousand
words, so using one or two good shots of your product can do nothing
but enhance your auction. What could take paragraphs to explain in
words only could be reduced to a sentence or two if a photo is there
for reference.

Photos show flaws in your items
This may seem like a bad thing at first, but it's not. Being honest
and up-front about your items for sale will always save you hassles,
increase your business, and create trust between yourself and the
buyer. Don't be nervous about pointing out flaws in the item you're
selling.

Photos help sell the item
It's been proven that a good photo will usually increase the auction's
ending price by 30% or more. Although many people selling on online
auction sites use photos now, a professional-quality photo versus an
amateur affair will definitely mean the difference between mediocre
and great sales.

Photos save time
Not only do they save you the time of explaining the item in detail,
but they will also save you the time used in answering query emails
from prospective buyers who are unsure about your item. If you show
the items' great points and flaws in photos, along with a good
description, you'll reduce the amount of queries you receive and
therefore the amount of time you spend answering them!

Obviously there are a lot of good reasons to take the time and go to
the effort of learning to use a camera well. Some basic tips for your
images include:
* Crop the image so that it focuses on the item itself without a lot
of empty space around it.
* Use a clear, solid background that enhances the item (e.g. blue item
= white background; white item = black or blue background for emphasis).
* Use a LOT of lighting to get clear shots.
* Use the photo to describe the item - take pictures at varying angles
until you have the right one.
* Use an image quality of 72dpi for posting on the Web. Most websites
and computers cannot use higher than this and you'll save file size
and loading times this way.

A great photo is worth a thousand words and can easily make or break
your auction!

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to sell at online auction and create a profitable business online.
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