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A discussion about posting pictures of comics online.
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35 posts in this topic

I agree with you in part. Sellers are doing themselves a disservice if they don't take quality pictures of a quality book but time is money, if you are selling hundreds of cheap books, you only need a nice photo, not a great photo.

For the collecting community, I'm not faulting anyone for their Instagram or Facebook photos that don't get the whole book in the shot, ugly background, glare, etc. Who cares? Collectors just want to show off the Spawn #14 they got that day at Big Jimmy's LCS, and the shop owner is happy they are tagged. I enjoy seeing whatever comic of the day posted: It's Valentine's Day! Here's my favorite romance comic! or It's St. Patrick's Day! Here's a comic with a shamrock on the cover. Would comic pics of the day happen if people had to set up the studio to get a pro shot? I like seeing the background of the people posting pics of comics on their kitchen table, it is authentic. By the time I create a scan, crop it, and put a background in, I could have just used a stock photo because they look the same on a cell phone.

I appreciate quality photos and the effort it takes, but the people who post their dimly lit photos of their dollar bin treasures are cool too. Now, if people on Instagram can take clear pictures, why can't some eBay and Craigslist sellers?

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Holding a book in your hand with your fingers/thumb covering part of the book (usually the spine area) while photographing a book you're trying to sell is an instant "no thanks g'bye" from me.

Worse is holding it up and peeking around the book to take a selfie with the book you're trying to sell... again, instant "block this seller" from me, no sale/no chance. Seller comes off as an unprofessional insufficiently_thoughtful_person, I don't buy from insufficiently_thoughtful_persons.

And take the book out of the bag for pics. If you're selling so much $2 drek that you "don't have time" to even unbag it for a good look/pic, then just keep it - or sell it in a bulk/run.

Bare MINIMUM post front and back pictures of the book (much better would also be inside front and back cover, angled spine-side pic for surface/roll/bends and centerfold pics). Show me a "FNVF" front-cover only comic you're trying to sell and I'll show you how fast I can go on to the next seller. If you can't be bothered to post a back-cover pic, I won't be bothered to ask you for one. Again, b'bye. 

If it doesn't matter to you at all how you present the book that you're trying to sell, then it comes across that you don't really care about what you're selling.

/rant off.  

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2 minutes ago, jcjames said:

Holding a book in your hand with your fingers/thumb covering part of the book (usually the spine area) while photographing a book you're trying to sell is an instant "no thanks g'bye" from me.

Worse is holding it up and peeking around the book to take a selfie with the book you're trying to sell... again, instant "block this seller" from me, no sale/no chance. Seller comes off as an unprofessional insufficiently_thoughtful_person, I don't buy from insufficiently_thoughtful_persons.

And take the book out of the bag for pics. If you're selling so much $2 drek that you "don't have time" to even unbag it for a good look/pic, then just keep it - or sell it in a bulk/run.

Bare MINIMUM post front and back pictures of the book (much better would also be inside front and back cover, angled spine-side pic for surface/roll/bends and centerfold pics). Show me a "FNVF" front-cover only comic you're trying to sell and I'll show you how fast I can go on to the next seller. If you can't be bothered to post a back-cover pic, I won't be bothered to ask you for one. Again, b'bye. 

If it doesn't matter to you at all how you present the book that you're trying to sell, then it comes across that you don't really care about what you're selling.

/rant off.  

my #1 pet peeve as well - Roy, since you opened the discussion - what is the mindset behind no back shots? 

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A good scan beats a good photo every day.  At least for potential buyers.  Photos hide details of wear, so much so sometimes that it's tough to understand why the comic wasn't graded 2 or 3 units higher by the third party grader.

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7 hours ago, namisgr said:

A good scan beats a good photo every day.  At least for potential buyers.  Photos hide details of wear, so much so sometimes that it's tough to understand why the comic wasn't graded 2 or 3 units higher by the third party grader.

So do slabs.  Lot's of overgrades hidden within slabs.

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5 hours ago, Busted! said:
7 hours ago, namisgr said:

A good scan beats a good photo every day.  At least for potential buyers.  Photos hide details of wear, so much so sometimes that it's tough to understand why the comic wasn't graded 2 or 3 units higher by the third party grader.

What I hear from sellers is that scans make the defects look bigger/worse so they don't like using them. Boo hoo.

This can be true, too.

 

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On 4/16/2017 at 3:51 PM, jcjames said:

Holding a book in your hand with your fingers/thumb covering part of the book (usually the spine area) while photographing a book you're trying to sell is an instant "no thanks g'bye" from me.

Worse is holding it up and peeking around the book to take a selfie with the book you're trying to sell... again, instant "block this seller" from me, no sale/no chance. Seller comes off as an unprofessional insufficiently_thoughtful_person, I don't buy from insufficiently_thoughtful_persons.

And take the book out of the bag for pics. If you're selling so much $2 drek that you "don't have time" to even unbag it for a good look/pic, then just keep it - or sell it in a bulk/run.

Bare MINIMUM post front and back pictures of the book (much better would also be inside front and back cover, angled spine-side pic for surface/roll/bends and centerfold pics). Show me a "FNVF" front-cover only comic you're trying to sell and I'll show you how fast I can go on to the next seller. If you can't be bothered to post a back-cover pic, I won't be bothered to ask you for one. Again, b'bye. 

If it doesn't matter to you at all how you present the book that you're trying to sell, then it comes across that you don't really care about what you're selling.

/rant off.  

What about holding it between your cleavage? Seems to work on eBay....and I only have slightly more chest hair.

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I think if someone is selling a book, the best photos should be used to show any and all flaws and give the buyer a good sense of what they are purchasing. This is especially true for raw books. Front and back cover scans are probably best.

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On 4/16/2017 at 3:51 PM, jcjames said:

Holding a book in your hand with your fingers/thumb covering part of the book (usually the spine area) while photographing a book you're trying to sell is an instant "no thanks g'bye" from me.

Worse is holding it up and peeking around the book to take a selfie with the book you're trying to sell... again, instant "block this seller" from me, no sale/no chance. Seller comes off as an unprofessional insufficiently_thoughtful_person, I don't buy from insufficiently_thoughtful_persons.

And take the book out of the bag for pics. If you're selling so much $2 drek that you "don't have time" to even unbag it for a good look/pic, then just keep it - or sell it in a bulk/run.

Bare MINIMUM post front and back pictures of the book (much better would also be inside front and back cover, angled spine-side pic for surface/roll/bends and centerfold pics). Show me a "FNVF" front-cover only comic you're trying to sell and I'll show you how fast I can go on to the next seller. If you can't be bothered to post a back-cover pic, I won't be bothered to ask you for one. Again, b'bye. 

If it doesn't matter to you at all how you present the book that you're trying to sell, then it comes across that you don't really care about what you're selling.

/rant off.  

What about holding it between your cleavage? Seems to work on eBay....and I only have slightly more chest hair.

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3 minutes ago, Rip67vdub said:
58 minutes ago, ygogolak said:

What about holding it between your cleavage? Seems to work on eBay....and I only have slightly more chest hair.

lol I know exactly what you're talking about. 

You would.

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On 2017-04-16 at 4:11 PM, Dr. Love said:

my #1 pet peeve as well - Roy, since you opened the discussion - what is the mindset behind no back shots? 

I post back cover pics if there are defects to be seen ( I also usually notate this in listings).

If there is no back cover pic, you can assume that either defects are too small to be seen in a scan or the back cover is clean and free of defects.

And of course if someone requests a BC pic even if it's clean and free of defects I still post it upon request.

Edited by VintageComics
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On 2017-04-16 at 6:56 PM, Busted! said:
On 2017-04-16 at 4:53 PM, namisgr said:

A good scan beats a good photo every day.  At least for potential buyers.  Photos hide details of wear, so much so sometimes that it's tough to understand why the comic wasn't graded 2 or 3 units higher by the third party grader.

What I hear from sellers is that scans make the defects look bigger/worse so they don't like using them. Boo hoo.

Some scanner can make defects look worse.

For example they can make a book look tanned when it isn't tanned at all.

But that comes down to scanner choice.  I scan all of my books unless I'm not close to a scanner, in which case I try to provide good pics.

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6 minutes ago, VintageComics said:
On 4/16/2017 at 6:56 PM, Busted! said:
On 4/16/2017 at 4:53 PM, namisgr said:

A good scan beats a good photo every day.  At least for potential buyers.  Photos hide details of wear, so much so sometimes that it's tough to understand why the comic wasn't graded 2 or 3 units higher by the third party grader.

What I hear from sellers is that scans make the defects look bigger/worse so they don't like using them. Boo hoo.

Some scanner can make defects look worse.

For example they can make a book look tanned when it isn't tanned at all.

But that comes down to scanner choice.  I scan all of my books unless I'm not close to a scanner, in which case I try to provide good pics.

It's time consuming but high quality scans plus pics so that you can see things not normally evident in a scan, such as how flat a book lays, is probably the best way to go for higher dollar comics. Not saying you need to do that with every comic

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