Professional Images [April 2020]

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Is selling online more effective than holding a garage sale or taking stuff to the neighborhood consignment shop?

Unfortunately, selling things online isn’t a way to get rich quick (contrary to what a lot of blogs will tell you). You can make a lot of money doing it, but it won’t happen overnight.

If you need money today (like, right now), take your stuff to a local consignment shop and get cash for it. If you have a job and just want to offload your old things to earn some extra income, then selling it online is a better option. You can make way more money selling online than in-person, but it takes a bit more time.

Do we need a little portable photo studio?…Are smartphone photographs good enough?

Most smartphones are just as powerful as any consumer-grade camera you’d find at Best Buy. So, unless you have an old flip phone, don’t worry about buying a new camera.

I suggest keeping a clean white sheet around to use as a backdrop, and buying 2-3 clamp lights and LED bulbs from Home Depot. All you have to do is lay the item on the sheet, light it with your bulbs, and you’ll have some decent photos to post on eBay.

Don’t worry about posting 20 photos, unless your item is a collectible that enthusiasts will want to see every square centimeter of. With most items, 3-8 photos works, depending on its size and details.

How honest and/or forthcoming do we have to be
about the defects in our stuff?

Always be 100% honest about any defects or damage. The buyer is going to find out eventually, so why lie to them?

Remember, your success on a platform like eBay depends almost entirely on your reputation. If you get good reviews from customers, your items are more likely to show up at the top of the search results. If you get nothing but bad responses, eBay will push you to the bottom of the results, which means that buyers will have to scroll through all of your competition’s listings before they get to yours.

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