Selling Pipes on eBay

[sablebrush52]

Jeez you guys know zip about photography or good photography. The sellers you like photograph their pipes like it's a mugshot.
TP pipes are lit soft and pretty like a glamour shot from the '20's or '30's. He's not f64. What I object to is the greenish tinges and there are other technical flaws, but the "pretty" is there, and he sells pipes. And his pipes sell without a lot of verbiage. And they sell for more money than most other sellers get.
And the point of all of this isn't how developed my taste is or how uninformed yours is, but that the key element in any eBay listing is the visual presentation - the pictures. And why would that be a surprise? It's the only contact a buyer has with the item up for sale, until the item arrives at the buyer's home.

 

[cigrmaster]

Jesse, you know how I know a picture is good, is when I can see it. My eyes are bad and TP's pics suck. You know Al's pics are way better.
Oldgeezer, totally agree with you on his Italian and non Danish. I have seen plenty of good deals from him. Imagine if he took a decent picture, he would get even more money. You can barely see any grain in his pics. For example here is a Abe Herbaugh Rhodesian that I won from him. You can barely see the blast on it.

 

[sablebrush52]

My eyes are bad

Harris, that explains it. You're not merely tasteless, you're also blind.
Both of you should show us poor chaps how it's done.

You can barely see the blast on it.

You can barely see the blast on it. I can see it just fine. But I agree that the shot needs more contrast and better values.
I shoot very sharp and detailed:

But I'm not convinced that its the best way to sell. It could be prettier.
Having any trouble seeing this birdseye?

 

[crashthegrey]

Sorry, let the experts handle it. Selling on your own is silly unless you are looking to go into business with it. Just my two cents. Or let me know your ebay name so I can get a good deal. Lol.

 

[cigrmaster]

Jesse, that is what I am talking about. I can see everything in your pics. Yours are right up there with alpascia who I think takes the best pics in the business. I also think SP needs to up their game photography wise to get to the level of alpascia.
By the way, beautiful pipes, I'll take that Occhio off your hands.

 

[doctorbob]

I want the Paul Tatum.
Badly.
Doc

 

[joeman]

Rayje...along with the advice already offered...keep in mind that depending on the final value of the pipe you're selling, eBay extracts a final value fee...and assuming you're accepting Paypal, they take a cut as well. I'm not a 'big time' seller, but have been at it for a long time, and sold about $7,700 worth of pipes on eBay in 2017. Of that top-line sales number, I paid roughly 10% of my sales back to eBay, and about 3% to Paypal. That said...if I'm getting $100 for a pipe...I know up front that I'll end up with about $87. But...it's difficult for any individual (on his own) to get as many looks at a pipe as eBay offers. Selling here is something I've only begun to do, but would recommend highly based on what I see in the transactions of others.

 

[sablebrush52]

By the way, beautiful pipes, I'll take that Occhio off your hands.

Dream on, Harris. BTW, that photo is by treasurepipes. I will say, looking at that photo and others from a few years ago against more recent listings, his photo quality has gone down. But there's still an element of "pretty" that diffused lighting brings to a shot.
Maybe with the Tatum, the detail is what would sell. A blast like that is pretty rare.

 

[cigrmaster]

Jesse, I don't want pretty I want close up's. Just look at the 2 Bangs at the top of his listings. Not one pic is as good as those you showed.

 

[cigrmaster]

Check out this listing and tell me how good the pics are.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/TOM-ELTANG-DENMARK-PIPE-GOLDEN-CONTRAST/302614669461?hash=item46753d6895:g:fn8AAOSwKwVaaQWE

 

[oldgeezersmoker]

+1 for Al Pascia.
And +1 for detail. "Diffuse lighting" sounds like what someone who might go to a gallery and pay real money for a photograph would appreciate.

 

[ssjones]

And his pipes sell without a lot of verbiage. And they sell for more money than most other sellers get.

All true, and Rodrigo or the other big guns would all be quick to tell you they take returns and they guarantee satisfaction. So they are inclined to not change anything.

 

[briarblues]

Taking quality photos of pipes is not overly difficult, IF one has the time to set up the correct lighting and camera settings. For your own enjoyment, great. However, taking photos of 20 ( or more ) pipes, with different shapes and finishes, and 4 - 6 of each pipe, editing and all that goes with that is not easy. Trying to find that "sweet spot" for camera settings to do all is a tough one.
After 20+ years I still fiddle with settings trying to get better photos Quite honestly I think mine suck! Al Pascia and SPC are far better. I look at what others do and some are ok, some are ok, some are worse than mine.
Regards

Michael J. Glukler

 

[cigrmaster]

Mike, I think your pictures are pretty good, especially for a Canuck. :nana: I would offer one suggestion to you if I may. If you could take closeup of the nomenclatures on pipes that it matters like Barling or Dunhill. That would be helpful to a novice like myself.

 

[briarblues]

Harris, and there in lays one of the issues. Getting the correct depth of field, with correct lightning ( no hot spots ), crisp shots of the stem and button, nomenclature, grain, et all. You almost really need to adjust / move the lights for each photograph you take, even with a soft box and pro lights, which I use. SPC uses umbrellas and bounces light, which works great. Then again, they have a full time photographer or two on staff. For us mere mortals, a one man show. If I had the time to re adjust for each photo, they could be much better.
Shooting pipes with colored stems creates adjustment for color shift. Smooth natural pipes shot differently than black sand blasts, and brown sand blasts, and to make matters worse, the Dunhill Bruyere red finish is truly a challenge. Forgetabout meerschaums! Even more challenging.
Regards

Michael J. Glukler

 

[uperepik]

Joeman’s right don’t forgot about the fees, and the taxes at the end of the year. I need to learn some better photography, I use my phone lol. But lighting makes a big dif

 

[cigrmaster]

Mike, I had no idea it was that complicated. When I am interested in one of your pipes, you can get all your gear out to take special pics just for me. Thanks buddy.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Something that has bothered me lately about eBay is that I buy a pipe from someone in... lets say France... Then I wait two months, and I wait, and wait. I realize that it was around Christmas, and the guy is in France, but I just want to touch base, see if the guy can track the pipe. So, I click to "contact the seller." Then there is a drop down option, so I click that I have not received the pipe, and a short message about "Hey, I haven't gotten the pipe yet. Can you check the package?"
Then I get an angry message that I started some sort of "claim" against the seller and they're pissed. And, then I have to apologize, and drop the claim, which I had no idea that I had started. Because, I just wanted to ask a damn question...
Meanwhile, I am still waiting on a pipe, a watch, and a rare vinyl blues album... that was ordered back in November. EBay has some great deals, but... Why can we not just send a message to the seller, without eBay making a federal case out of each message? Or, should I just have filed the claims? It's really not a lot of money, (except the album). I just didn't want the headache.

 

[sablebrush52]

I would offer one suggestion to you if I may. If you could take closeup of the nomenclatures on pipes that it matters like Barling or Dunhill.

Taking crisp pictures of nomenclature requires a macro lens. It's not difficult if you understand how to set the depth of focus on your lens. When shooting pictures of a pipe I always turn off the auto focus feature and focus manually. I can set the depth of focus where I want it to fall and have greater control over the result. With digital photography there is a lot more forgiveness than with film, especially if you know how to process the raw image.
I have to admit I don't care for the TP images I just looked at. His images used to be better, and he used to put more of them in a listing. But what he does do, is isolate the pipe so that nothing is competing with it. The result is a very clean shot, one where your attention is on the pipe. I watched as he rose out of the ranks 5 - 6 years ago. His presentation has always been minimal and clean. And he gets good sales results. I've seen a large number of his offerings go for far more than any sane person would pay. I was surprised, because I thought that the sales pitch mattered. It really doesn't matter nearly as much as attractive photographs.
Those pretty SP images using umbrellas to spread the light are using a diffuse light. But you get more direction with that set up than with a diffusion box, which flattens everything, and that's what I think TP is now using.

 

[headhunter]

I have sold many pipes and tobacco through Steve. Even with the juice taken out I have constantly received more than I thought they were worth. In my mind Steve Fallon is da man