Taking Great Product Photos For Ebay

Writen by Peter Horner

Every eBay seller would like to attract customers and increase sales. Successful eBay sellers know that better product photos could make you more money, because your buyers will feel more comfortable buying items from you. But taking great product photos isn't always easy, read these quick tips to find out how to take great product photos for eBay.

1) Using a digital camera with fully automated shooting modes will make taking product photos much easier. It allows you to instantly preview, upload, and edit your photos with your computer.

2) Use a tripod to avoid blurred images which occur when you handhold a camera.

3) Use proper lighting. Some people find natural outdoor lighting the best, but never use direct lighting such as a flash. Flashes wash out colours, details, and create harsh shadows, especially when doing close-ups. Use soft, diffused lighting to avoid losing detail in your photo and create soft shadows. If you're a serious eBay seller consider buying a photo tent or light box to diffuse the light for you. Alternatively you can use lights and buy white plastic light covers, which will also create diffused light.

4) Find a good backdrop for your product and avoid clutter which distracts the eye. Your product should be the only item you're shooting. If you're using something like a photo tent or light box it's easy, or alternatively you could use a sheet or piece of fabric. Larger items can be more difficult but be sure to cleanup the background so that there are no distracting objects.

5) Avoid underexposing your photos, especially if you're shooting against a white background or outside in bright light. Your digital camera should have an over/under expose button that allows you to compensate and adjust the exposure. When taking pictures against a white background you might want to increase the exposure by +1 so that it lets more light into the camera and the background becomes a pure white.

6) Getting close and filling the frame with your subject will produce a better photo, and also help avoid clutter. Buyers like to see the details of what they are buying. The best way to take good close-up photos is to use your cameras macro setting, which is designed to focus at short distances.

7) Your product should be sharp and in focus. Take care to focus correctly. Auto focus on your digital camera may not always produce the best results as it can sometimes be fooled. In these cases use aperture priority mode, and set an aperture of 8 or higher to ensure that your entire photo is sharp. When you increase the aperture your camera compensates with a slower shutter speed, so remember to use a tripod.

8) Take photos of different parts of your product and try different angles. Photographing your product from many angles helps add depth and avoid a flat online appearance. Pick one main overall shot of the item, but also use other detailed photos or different perspective shots. The more buyers can see, the more likely they will buy your product rather than your competitors.

9) Once you've saved all your photos to your computer, you can optimize your pictures for online viewing. Make sure your images are saved as JPEG files and increase the compression so that your pages will download more quickly on a user's computer. Also crop your photos so that it is composed only of your product, eliminating white space and making your product look better.

10) Edit your photo. Adjust the light and contrast to improve on your original photo. Make your subject stand out by adjusting the contrast between the foreground and background colours. You can also make certain parts of your picture lighter or darker to improve the overall look.

Once you've practiced photographing your products using these tips, visitors will have a better shopping experience and will be more likely to bid on your items.

Peter Horner is an experienced photographer who co-created the large format printing company DesignerPrint. Using digital printing technology DesignerPrint create canvas prints, block mounts, and poster prints. Canvas Prints - DesignerPrint.co.uk

Do You Pay Taxes On Ebay Income

Writen by Tim Knox

Q: I read your last column about paying income tax on eBay sales if you are doing it as a business, but as someone who only sells on eBay occasionally I'm still confused if the IRS rules apply to me. Can you tell me more? -- Norman L.

A: Last week's column on whether you were required to report income earned from eBay sales to the IRS sparked a number of additional questions and comments from eBay sellers who were hoping that I could somehow validate that their eBay activities were mere hobbies instead of actual businesses and therefore not susceptible to IRS taxation.

Several folks argued that just because their little eBay hobby generated a little cash, that didn't make it a full blown business. It seems they consider the income from their little hobby to be financial manna from Heaven and thereby not taxable by earthly tax collectors. I've always been amused by folks who try to impress me with talk about their "little side business" but when the subject turns to taxes they suddenly refer to it as "my little hobby."

All kidding aside, the conclusion that I came to after reading each email was always the same: while you may think selling on eBay is just a fun pastime and the money you're making is not reportable as income, depending on the circumstances, the IRS would probably disagree with you.

It seems that everyone likes making money, but hates carving off a piece for good old Uncle Sam. Welcome to free enterprise, folks. If you're going to come to the dance you have to pay the fiddler.

The IRS rules are clear: you must pay taxes on all personal and business income and that includes money you make selling on Ebay.

In its most basic sense, the IRS rules can be interpreted to mean that if you buy an old vase at a garage sale for $10 and sell it on eBay (or elsewhere) for $20 you made a $10 profit and therefore must report it as income and pay Uncle Sam his fair share.

In reality, if you are a casual seller who only sells a few items on eBay every now and then it's doubtful the IRS is going to let loose an army of agents to collect taxes on the few bucks you make. However, if you consistently sell on eBay the IRS may deem your activities to be business oriented and you will be required to file a Schedule C and claim the income.

As mentioned last week, the IRS uses a number of factors to determine if an eBay hobby that generates sales revenue is actually a business.

These factors include: - Do you carry on the hobby in a business-like manner? - Do you spend considerable time working on the hobby? - Do you depend on income from your hobby for your livelihood?

If the answer to any or all of these question is yes, you're running a business, not carrying on a hobby, and you are responsible for paying taxes on your income.

What's eBay's take on all this? Naturally eBay is vehemently opposed to anything that might rock the eBay boat. eBay does not does not issue 1099 tax forms to sellers, nor does it report seller's sales figures to the IRS.

Ebay considers itself merely to be a facilitator, meaning that they provide a marketplace in which buyers and sellers come together to do business.

Furthermore, under it's current system it would be impossible for eBay to issue accurate 1099s to sellers. eBay does not track if a seller actually gets paid by the buyer, so eBay has no idea how much money - if any - actually changes hands at the end of each transaction.

On the bright side, if you do sell on eBay as a business you can deduct a number of business expenses, including the cost of inventory, listing fees, shipping, envelopes, packing materials, etc.

You might also be able to deduct things like the purchase of a computer for business use, office space (even if it's a home office), office supplies, and more.

Talk to your accountant if there's any doubt as to whether you should or should not be paying taxes on your eBay earnings.

Here's to your success!

Tim Knox

Tim's latest book is "The 30 Day Blueprint For Success!" We asked 58 Top Internet Money Makers: If you lost is all tomorrow and had to start from scratch, what would you do to be back on top in the 30 days? Their answers just might make you rich!

Related Links:
http://www.prosperityandprofits.com
http://www.dropshipwholesale.net

Get More Money On Ebay By Taking Good Photos Of Your Item

Writen by Ziv Haparnas

A picture is worth a thousand words. When selling items online on auction sites such as eBay this saying becomes more relevant. A picture is worth money and a lot of money. A good set of pictures can make the difference between an item that is sold and an item that is not sold. It can also make a big difference in the highest bid price received for an item.

It is not enough to just to take a photo of an item. A good photo can raise the value of the item and help sell it. This article provides a few rules to follow in order to take better photos of such items.

The first rule when taking photos of an item is to take more than one photo. Show the item from many angles show it zoomed in and zoomed out in different positions – for example if the item is a car show it with doors closed and with doors open. If it is a DVD show the front cover the back and the disc itself.

The quality of the photos must be as high as possible. Make sure that you have the right lighting. It is always better to take photos during the day time with natural light rather than with flash light. It is also better to take pictures when there is overcast rather than when the skies are clear and the sun light is strong. If the skies are clear try to take the photos either at the beginning or the end of the day. Follow the rules of good photography, use a tripod if long exposure is needed make sure the photo is not overexposed or underexposed and that it is not blurry.

When taking the photo make sure that you stage the right background for the item. Usually you would want to stage a background that is in contrast with the item and that has no details or interesting objects that can steal the viewer's attention. Also make sure that the background is a matte color and that it does not reflect light. For example when taking a photo of a black computer mouse and keyboard use a white or light gray background.

Emphasize the value and the details of the item. Every item has unique features or important details that you would like to draw the viewer's attention to. The best way to do that is to take close-up photos of those details. For example when selling a car that has very low mileage take a close-up photo of its odometer. Another example when selling a known brand product such as shirts or pants take a close-up photo of the tag or the logo to emphasize that the item is genuine.

Take photos that support the textual description of the item. For example when selling a high end brand purse if the description says "perfect stitches" take a close-up photo of the stitches to prove that the description is right.

If your item size is important you can use a known size object in order to help the viewer visualize the item's size. For example when selling a miniature spy camera take one photo of the camera side by side with an object such as a quarter or a matchbox. The viewer will find it much easier to visualize the camera's size when looking at such a photo rather than reading the camera's measurements.

And last but not least remember to keep the photo file size small. When viewing a photo on the user's screen a low resolution is more than enough. In most cases a VGA (640X480) picture is all that it takes and such a photo can be as small as 50Kbytes. It is important to keep this in mind and not be tempted to put high resolution photos that are big. Such big files load very slowly on the viewer's computer. In most cases the viewer will get frustrated and would just skip to the next seller.

Ziv Haparnas is a technology veteran and writes about practical technology and science issues. This article can be reprinted and used as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. You can find more information about photo album printing and photography in general on http://www.printrates.com - a site dedicated to photo printing.

How To Create And Manage An Quotabout Mequot Page On Ebay

Writen by Donny Lowy

EBay enables you to create your own page which is in other words "About Me" page. Either you can use your own HTML code or else there is a simple process where first you enter page content or the information that you want to provide. Also, you can add pictures if you desire. All these can be done on a page layout selected by you from the menu. Next, is to preview your layout and content. Once you are satisfied you can click on the "submit" button. Now you can save your page. After all this eBay will then send you an email providing you your URL or website address. You are now ready to tell your friends about your "about me" page giving them this URL. Users who do not have your id will see the "me" icon near your User ID. Clicking on this link shall lead them to visit your page and hence can know about you.

After creating you need to manage your webpage. For this you might need to update it. For updating or adding new information, you can use the edit function. You have the facility to use special eBay's HTML tags to personalize the "About Me" page. You may also add new pictures to your page by using the provided "eBay Picture Service". In your "About Me" page you may display two pictures of 2MB size each. You even can use the uploading pictures service of eBay; the link is called "Uploading your picture to eBay". If you have the basic knowledge of HTML, you can use the special link of HTML called "HTML tags for About Me" to personalize your page. You may even delete your "About Me" page at any point of time according to your wish by clicking on "Delete Your Page" link.

Donny Lowy runs http://www.closeoutexplosion.com an online wholesale and closeout business that supplies eBay sellers, retailers, and flea market vendors.

Wholesaling Drop Shippers How To Find The Right Drop Shipper For Ebay

Writen by Donny Lowy

Wholesale drop shippers enable eBay sellers to auction products without having to stock them.

The eBay seller is guaranteed a sale before having to buy the product, since he will only order it once the item is sold.

Another advantage is that the eBay seller does not have to pack and ship the item since the drop shipper will ship the item directly to the buyer.

While buying directly from a wholesaler will give the eBay seller the most profit, an eBay seller with a very small budget might want to start out with a drop shipper.

Here is a check list for insuring that you find the right drop shipper.

Drop Shipper Check List #1

Will the drop shipper ship single item orders? Most of your eBay sales will be for one item at a time. You need to ensure that the drop shipper will be willing to ship single item orders to your customers.

Drop Shipper Check List #2

Timely shipping. Once you pay the drop shipper for the order you want him to ship it out within 24 hours. Your customers are waiting for their merchandise and will not tolerate unnecessary delays.

Drop Shipper Check List #3

No minimum order requirements. A true drop shipper will have no minimum order requirements. He will let you start out by auctioning one item and allowing you to see how the auction works out. After all, there is plenty of trial and error at the beginning of an eBay seller's business.

Drop Shipper Check List #4

No monthly fees. The only fee that a drop shipper should charge is an account registration fee. He has costs related to setting up the account for you so he might decide to cover them by having a registration or activation fee. But I see no reason why there should be any monthly or annual membership fees.

Drop Shipper Check List #5

Cut out the middleman. Often you will be able to save money by dealing directly with the wholesalers that the drop shipper is using. Most of these wholesalers have no, or low minimum order requirements.

Donny Lowy runs http://www.wholesaleproductsdropship.com an online wholesale and closeout business that supplies eBay sellers, retailers, and flea market vendors.
He also manages http://www.wholesalerssources.com and http://www.wholesaledistributorselectronics.com
Donny can be reached at 718-389-5502