Okay, so you need to get a backdrop.  You get on eBay and see there are more than 25 different eBay sellers to buy from.  It can be confusing. 

You look at most of these sellers feedback and see that they are all in the high 90’s, but that still does not guarantee that you won’t be getting a bed sheet.  You have to be careful, some sellers are selling very thin lightweight material, but they are advertising it as heavyweight muslin.  A lot of these backdrops are made on very cheap material that will wear out quickly.  On top of that some of these backdrops are painted and dyed using inferior products; the backdrops can be very splotchy and will end up being very distracting in your photographs.

What to look for:

1. Avoid sellers that have cropped in pictures of people.  You are not getting a true representation of what the backdrop is like; what you see may not be what you get.  These sellers for the most part are trying to move cheap product fast. 
2. If an item is priced too low, there is probably a reason.  It is one thing to find a great deal and another to be ripped off and stuck with a backdrop that isn't what it should be.
3. Make sure you ask the sellers questions about the backdrops.  If the seller cannot answer your questions about backdrops to your liking they are most likely just moving cheap product fast.  The good sellers have been around for a while and know what makes a good or bad backdrop.  These sellers would not carry the cheap stuff because they want customers coming back to them; they want to stick around in this business for a while.
4. How are you going to be hanging your backdrop?  Some of these backdrops come with grommets and or rod pockets; some do not come with anything.  As you are looking at backdrops keep in mind how will you be hanging your backdrops.  Even if you do not use them now, grommets and rod pockets could come in handy in the future, I would recommend checking for these.
5. As soon as you get your backdrop take it out of the box and look at it.  Check the edging, this is a good indicator of if it has been well made or is a cheap product.  Then look at the colors and the pattern to make sure what you saw in the auction was what you actually got.  Remember most of these products are made by hand so they will not be exactly the same but should be very close to what was pictured in the auction.

 

Remember that people cannot go back and leave feedback after six months when there backdrop has fallen apart, started flaking paint, or has faded due to poor quality dyes.