Guide for creating quality picture listings (more money) on ebay is designed for a lower volume seller of small unique detailed items, and is a low cost solution, and easy process for  quality photographs of high grade silver, gold, and other small detailed items to present here on eBay.  High quality photographs in your listings will result in more bids, sales, and revenue!

Much faster and nicer than document  paper scans.  After many requests, I have decided to post my photography tips for all to see.  Although I list and photograph coins, this easy to use process works very well for any small silver, copper, gold, bronze and other items (my wife loves it for her vintage Barbie clothing items).  There is not a scanner machine on the market that is designed to duplicate objects with more than two sides (yes coins have a very important third side, the rim, or edge, as do almost all objects).   Scanners are great for paper documents (including paper money notes),  but that is all they are designed for. 

Digital photographs are much faster to produce than scans, and do not require the adjustments and time that a scanned  image can take to even come close to duplicating what you are selling.  Customers want to see the real item before making a purchase / bid.  They do not want to read excuses for poor quality images,  and the "trust my feedback" record to make up for my lack of skills to present my items.

The actual listing photographs you view below and in all my listings were taken with a very inexpensive (under  $200) Nikon Cool Pix digital camera or equivalent with a macro setting, make sure you have the camera set on "MACRO".  NO FLASH IS USED, THE CAMERA WILL SHOW YOU WHEN IT HAS ACQUIRED THE PROPER LIGHTING, YOU WILL NEED TO TRY VARIOUS LIGHTING POSITIONS BY MOVING THE ADJUSTABLE TABLE MOUNTED LAMPS DESCRIBED BELOW !   You will most likely will actually have read portions of your cameras operating instructions, if you are like me, you will be very surprised by what you never knew your inexpensive camera is capable of performing.  But wait, there's more! 

And if you scroll past the photograph samples below you will be learning / reading even more for free.  And, please do not forget to click the YES box at the bottom of this guide for a special thank you from me!  Read on to discover more!

PLEASE CLICK THE "YES" THIS GUIDE WAS HELPFUL AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS GUIDE, IT IS OUR ONLY REWARD FOR TAKING THE TIME TO HELP OTHERS.  OF COURSE I SLEEP BETTER AT NIGHT KNOWING THAT PERHAPS I HELPED SOMEONE.

Read on for all the details for presenting Small size object Photographs to increase your per item sale revenue! (unless you are content with eating lost revenue to other sellers of the same or even less quality merchandise). 

I use a black leather covered card table for my base (any 4'x4' or so size table with a 2" edge lip over-hang to mount the lamps will work), this table is what you have your display lamps mounted on.  The following are critical steps:   I use TWO ELBOW MULTI ADJUSTABLE DESK LAMPS ($20 each at Staples and other office supply stores).  They are the kind you see at every coin and flea market show on dealer's tables to highlight their glass table top cases.  Very important:  each of the lamps must  be fitted with a FULL SPECTRUM DAYLIGHT COMPACT FLUORESCENT BULB (15 watts) with a 900 lumens light output.  The bulbs run about $7 each, and are available at Home Depot, Lowes, and other stores.

The next critical component is that you must use an ADJUSTABLE TABLETOP TRIPOD for mounting your camera on, the photographs above were taken with the camera lens about five inches positioned almost directly above the coins, and the two lamps positioned 2 FEET behind the coins and about eight inches above the table surface ANGLED facing at a slight angle towards the coins FROM BEHIND.  (Table Top Tripod is $17 at Best Buy, you may have to ask where they are located in the store, they are not with the large tripods). 

The final (almost) important tip is to use your camera's TWO SECOND DELAY SETTING, DO NOT FORGET TO SET YOUR CAMERA TO ITS MACRO SETTING, AND TURN OFF THE FLASH for the photographs (again you may read the camera owners manual, as I had too).  This will ensure that there is absolutely no movement of the tripod or camera while taking the photographs.  The rest comes with practice:  learning to position the lights slightly above and well behind and to each side of the coin or small objects, and mastering the various exposure settings to determine which works best for your lighting setup and the particular coin or small item, or other small figures you are photographing.  For example, if you are photographing a proof coin, you would not use the same camera exposure settings as you would for a raw, circulated coin, or a tarnished silver piece.  It helps to keep a log of your photography settings that worked well for various items.

BIG TIP:  Make sure there are NO OTHER LIGHTING SOURCES (such as sunlight) in the room.   I learned the hard way that you cannot mix lighting sources.  It does not have to be a dark room, just ensure that there is no other direct lighting source aimed towards your table set up.  Make sure your camera is set for FLUORESCENT lighting, again the cameras owners manual, they all have this setting, just like indoor, outside, settings.

Please;  If you found that this guide was at least worth the time to read, please take a moment to check the "yes" box below.  Thank you, have a great day, and get to know your camera before purchasing a new one.  

Please Vote "YES"  BELOW, Thanks from catguyforyou on eBay.