This guide is for folks like me with a decent camera, but nothing fancy, and no great studio to do good photos in.  Taking a good glassware photo can get hard under these conditions.  So I have some tips.

First, NEVER use that flash!  Turn it off, it will cause glare and wash-out of your pattern.  Instead, find a spot with as much natural light as possible.  I use a spot beside my large bay window.  Also, if you have regular bulbs in your lights, turn the lights off.  That type of light will cause your pictures to be very yellow.  I have found a good cure for that, get the lights with the blue tinted bulbs, they are a good addition to your natural light. 

Next, background.  You can get by with color, plain white or even black if you have good lighting for clear crystal pieces. [Wood table tops are never a good choice]  However, never used a colored background with a colored glass piece.  Not only does it not allow the true color of the piece to show up, it often makes the piece quite unattractive!  I purchase old white table clothes on yard sales.  A plain sheet works well too.  Avoid a lot of pattern in your background. 

Now, you have lighting, you have background.  When taking the picture, take it from the side!  Your buyer can't tell the shape of the piece, the type of handle and so on if you take it from above.  There are some exceptions, [plates, or pieces with a lot to be seen from above] but for things like cups, glasses, pitchers and other upright pieces, the side view is best.  My favorite shot is showing just a bit of the back rim of the piece. 

Ok, you have your picture, you upload it off the camera to your computer, and it is pretty good, but not quite right.  You should be able to go into your photo program and fix it.  If it's not bright enough, add brightness.  Did it fade out a bit when you did that?  Try adding some contrast.  I usually find about 20% works well.  And here is one you may not believe.  Adding blue will remove a yellow cast, and can make pinks look pinker!   This is a fun one to experiment with.

A couple of final thoughts.  Never load a photo sideways.  Be sure to rotate it so it is right.  Trying to look at a sideways piece is a turn-off to most buyers.  And last, do not downsize your pictures first if you are using Ebay's picture services.  It will size it down for you, so that if you downsize first, you get tiny little pictures in your auction!