People frequently ask me how to add more pictures to their auction listings. Did you know that eBay charges a fee for additional images? That’s correct. Take note when you publish your next eBay listing. Only the first image is free. You will be charged $0.15 per additional photo taken. It’s not much, but it adds up fast.
Assume you add 3-4 photos to each listing. This will amount to an extra $0.50 just for hosting your photos. Suppose you have 3-5 listings per day. You may have spent $400-600 dollars just on image hosting at the end of the year. The fees can quickly add up. Do you know you can upload as many pictures as you want, for free and without using eBay’s image hosting service?
You could, however, use one of the so-called “auction management” services. You pay a monthly fee, including hosting for all your item photos. But did you know that these services are also costly? Depending on your selling volume, fees range from $20 to $70 per month. This quickly adds up to $400-600 per year, if not more.
How can you avoid extra costs? Of course, you can only upload one image per item, but guess what? There is a good chance that your potential customer/bidder will quickly move on to another listing. Because people like to see what they’re buying first, do you think one picture is enough?
I don’t because we live in a highly visual world where people want to see the product or item they might want to buy. Yes, they’d like to “touch” it if they could. So, how about you? Do you “touch” the product you want to buy with your hands? I’m sure you do. Assume you’re in a store looking for a birthday present for a close friend. If a special gift catches your eye, you take it off the shelf and carefully examine the product, don’t you? To get a “feel” for it, you “touch” it and turn it around.
How can we incorporate this “feeling” into our eBay auction listings?
Yes, by including a few good photos. Take photos from different angles.
The buyer will “feel” the item and be more likely to bid. As previously stated: You are free to upload as many images as you want. How do you do it? The solution is simple: host your own photos! Not sure how to proceed? Here are some suggestions:
- Your Internet Service Provider will likely provide free web space. I’ve used (and continue to use) the free 10 MB web space provided by my ISP. Check your ISP’s policy; perhaps an email to them is an excellent first step.
- Find a free or low-cost web host, but be careful! Some free web hosting companies do not allow their services to be used solely for data storage. Before you sign up, carefully read their policy.
- Look for image hosting services. A few free image hosting services allow “hotlinking” to eBay auctions.
- If you have a website, you can create an “eBay” directory for your auction pictures.
Upload all of your photos and item images BEFORE creating your auction listing, and then copy and paste the image URL into the auction description’s source code. The file size is an important consideration.
Make sure your 3 – 4 images of your item are not more than 1 MB in size.
Consider how patient your potential buyers/bidders are. That’s correct!
He’s not very patient. If the images do not load within 20 seconds, your visitor will leave and go elsewhere. Other listings may provide the same service but with faster-loading images. As a result, ensure that the file size is within a reasonable range.
More pictures will add credibility to your selling practice and give the potential buyer/bidder the impression that they can almost “touch” your item.
