Shooting for Dollars: Simple Photo Techniques for Greater eBay Profits [Paperback]

Sally Wiener Grotta (Author), Daniel Grotta (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0321349229 | ISBN-13: 978-0321349224 | Publication Date: June 18, 2005 | Edition: 1

It's a simple fact of selling on eBay: better product shots directly translate into higher bids and greater profits. Shooting for Dollars: Simple Photo Techniques for More Profitable eBay Auctions provides detailed, comprehensive, easy-to-understand advice, guidelines, and instruction that will assist both new and experienced eBayers through every step necessary to produce consistent, accurate, appealing and effective visual listings.

Shooting for Dollars covers, in a logical fashion, everything eBayers will need to know about taking product shots and posting them in auction listings, including: 

•  Buying the right digital camera appropriate for eBay photography * Assembling a shooting studio out of commonly available household items or inexpensive  photographic equipment Getting the right exposure, focus and color without fuss

•   How and when to use a flatbed scanner instead of a digital camera

•  How to setup and shoot great shots of a wide range of typical products

•  Effective photographic lighting the easy way

•  Easily organizing, correcting, improving and perfecting your pictures with software

•  Preparing and posting photos of your products on eBay

•  Developing a workflow for quick, easy and efficient assembly line-type product photography

This is a step-by-step, solutions-oriented book that gives online auction sellers all the information and confidence they will need for shooting great product shots. It covers everything essential to digital photography for eBay, including practical tips and tricks, shared experiences by successful eBayers, graphic before-and-after shots that demonstrate how and how not to take photos, and practical assistance in working with eBay's photographic rules and procedures.

Daniel Grotta and Sally Wiener Grotta, two of the top experts of digital photography and "PC Magazine's" digital camera gurus, have been buying and selling on eBay since 1998. In addition, they teach eBay digital photography workshops at the renown traveling eBay University. "Shooting for Dollars" combines the Grottas' expertise in digital photography and their personal and professional experience with eBay, to provide readers with invaluable guidance in creating more profitable auction listings.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Professional photographer Sally Wiener Grotta is a contributing editor to PC Magazine and an internationally recognized expert in digital imaging and photography. Daniel Grotta is the president of DigitalBenchmarks, a digital camera and imaging test lab. Together, the Grottas have conducted numerous digital photography workshops around the country and written several books, including PC Magazine's Guide to Digital Photography.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Peachpit Press; 1 edition (June 18, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321349229
• ISBN-13: 978-0321349224
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,503,068 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than Photo Tips, Get More from e-Bay Bidders, August 25, 2005

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shooting for Dollars: Simple Photo Techniques for Greater eBay Profits (Paperback)

I got this book a nights ago and read a few pages a night. Then a few minutes ago I went on-line to e-Bay looking for a RAID controller for my web server. The picture of the first unit was so dark that it almost looked like a big black blob. The image was way underexposed. You can see exactly what I'm talking about in the center picture on page 62.

The second unit had a picture taken using a flash. It was a straight on shot that caused the light from the flash to bounce straight back at the camera. The entire center of the item was pure white from the reflected light. All you could see was the few items at each end of the card. You can see exactly what I'm talking about in the picture on page 91 of this book.

A little simple math. To shoot either pictures of the RAID controllers would take say a minute. To shoot a much better picture might take three minutes. That's two additional minutes. Let's say that the better picture caused the item to sell for $5 more. That's $5 for two minutes. That's equivalent to $150 an hour. That's pretty good pay.

There are lots of good books on photography. This one talks about the standard photographic stuff, but explains in simple terms how it will help sell the item on e-Bay.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT Photo Techniques, August 6, 2005

By 

Sally Milo's Going Nce "GOing1nceAMC" (Tucson, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shooting for Dollars: Simple Photo Techniques for Greater eBay Profits (Paperback)

As a long-time eBay seller who's taken too many photos to mention, the hints in this book are helping us to re-work our photo set up. I recommend this highly to anyone who has to take photos for eBay or any other web site on which they sell products.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars common sense tips, August 5, 2005

By 

W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shooting for Dollars: Simple Photo Techniques for Greater eBay Profits (Paperback)

Step back for a moment and consider this. Just a few years ago, the very idea of an online auction site that anyone could use would have been pure science fiction. Then along came eBay. Now we have this book, which is not even about the general experience of selling or buying on eBay, but just on taking photos of items you want to sell. Talk about specialised!

Yet the authors have a very valid point. It has been recognised that having a well taken photo, or several photos, of an auction item can tangibly boost the number of bids and ultimately the final price. [Quite independently of this book, there have been studies of eBay auctions that have quantified this effect.]

To this ends, the book gives many tips as to optimising those images. Having a well lit object, perhaps in a pleasing background. Or sometimes, if an object can be scanned using a flatbed scanner, doing that instead of using a camera. Certainly, a scanner is usually easier and quicker to use. So when should you do so?

The authors' judgment about the esthetics of the photos seems pretty good. While you might quibble about a few of their assessments, it's mostly very common sense.