Ever since I sold my first item on ebay I have been addicted to site and I have steadily developed it as a supplementary source of income over last two years. As I gained experience from listing items, I rapidly became aware that inclusion of pictures in listings was a major selling point as buyers could literally see what they were buying and as such create a greater interest and desire within them which in turn led to greater selling prices.To sum it up in one sentance :
Pictures attract attention, help explain details and more importantly stimulates desire which leads to Auction Euphoria.
Auction Euphoria is that process whereby desire to own an item is that great that all logic goes out window and buyer rebids to ensure that they win it, thus increasing selling price.
This simple bit of knowledge has allowed me to push my final selling prices up on average between 10-30% and as such it amazes me that so many listings do not include one picture and just type out details in one long line of text (usually all in capitals!). I am not complaining however because this fact alone has allowed my auctions to stand out and make money.
I started off using eBays add additional photo service to include extra images in my listings which people could use as a reference point and I found out following :
1. Always make sure that image is clear and of actual item for sale, otherwise what is point of including it? You will find that poorly presented pictures suggest that seller doesn't care and hence will devalue potential selling price of item which is of no use to anyone.
2. Never use a stock photograph of item for sale, with increase in fraudulant transactions (especially on higher value items) this will serve to put buyer off, again serving to devalue your final selling price. Taking a little extra time to get an actual photograpah shows yours buyers that you care and will endear them to you.
3. Where possible use a digital camera, these are very easily accessable nowadays and relatively cheap and they produce excellent images. A webcam can also be used but does give a grainier picture. Remember cost of digital camera can be offset by gain in final selling prices.