After all that research,
the next big step is to Photograph! If you want to sell on Ebay, and want to sell well, you're going to need great photos. Yes, I said Photos!
More than just one! And not just any photos, but good quality,
close-up photos. You want to show the details crisp and clean.
Some people say this is easy, but trust me, it's not! Taking great photos of Jewelry for Ebay is a pain. You'll need a Digital Camera, Good Lighting, and a Suitable Backdrop.
I've been doing this for a long time. I know that Jewelry is one of the most difficult items to photo. Why? Because it's Small, Delicate, Highly Detailed, Shiny, Reflective, Lustrous, Picks up Tons of Shadows, and Mirrors the Surroundings. If you plan on selling a lot of Jewelry on Ebay, I would advise investing in a simple setup. Call it a small studio, but you're going to need some kind of a Light Box, a Digital Camera, and some Photo Editing Software to say the least. (I use Photoshop!)
Personally, I use the MK Photobox Digital Imaging System. It's specifically made for Jewelry Photography. I've used it almost daily for 3 years and love it. All the images of Jewelry for this website were taken with the Photobox. It works great. It eliminates hard shadows and allows me to bolt my camera to the box for top-down photographs.
The Camera I use is a Minolta Dimage 7i. It's a 5 mega-pixel Camera. Anything higher than 5 mega-pixels is not needed for displaying images on the web. This Camera has a Macro Mode that lets me get great close-up shots. And it has a White Balance setting for adjusting the light source. Not to mention it has a timer which helps me take great, sharp, non-blurry, shots! Oh, and one warning about Digital Cameras... Don't use the Flash! It'll just ruin your pictures and give you lots of harsh light and shadows!
Shooting your Jewelry on a simple backdrop or background is the best. I shoot mine on the solid white backdrop of the Lightbox so it doesn't pull any reflecting or dark colors into the Gold. Try not to get anything distracting in the photos either. "Isn't that a beautiful Diamond Ring right next to the Kitchen Sink full of Dirty Dishes?"
Take Different shots and multiple angles and views. Make sure to shoot the underside of the ring and the inside of the shank as well. You'll want to try to capture all the Karat Stamps, Hallmarks, and any Identifying Trade Marks. Trust me, people feel more comfortable buying if they can actually see the markings.
Once you have all the photos taken, download them to your computer. You'll then need to weed them out. Choose the best 5-7 shots that really show your Ring or Jewelry off well. You may be able to do it with more or less images, you'll have to decide. Then load those chosen ones into Photoshop or whatever it is you have and tweak them. Sharpen the images, resize them, you may even need to Crop them in. Then save them as JPEG's (So they'll load faster online). No one wants to wait hours for your page to show up!
Next step: EBAY!
Make sure you list your Jewelry in the appropriate category. Ebay's Jewelry and Watches categories are:
- Body Jewelry
- Bracelets
- Charms & Charm Bracelets
- Children's Jewelry
- Designer Brands
- Earrings
- Ethnic, Tribal Jewelry
- Hair Jewelry
- Handcrafted, Artisan Jewelry
- Jewelry Boxes & Supplies
| - Jewelry Sets
- Loose Beads
- Loose Diamonds & Gemstones
- Men's Jewelry
- Necklaces & Pendants
- Pins, Brooches
- Rings
- Vintage, Antique
- Watches
- Wholesale Lots
|
They also have an Other Category, but really... WHY?
Next is the most important step of all: Make sure your Title is a Great One! "Ruby & Diamond Ring" Is NOT a good Title! But "Stunning 4.25ct Ruby & Diamond Ring 14kt Gold" IS! Ebay allows you up to 55 Characters in its Title, including spaces. I'd suggest you think up a great name to fill the size first. Use Great Descriptive words like: Elegant, Stunning, Genuine, New, Estate, Vintage, Rare, Beautiful, Gorgeous, Unique!
Next on the list is the fun Description... Read on...
