Why do sellers not post pictures of their equipment?

[N9LCD]

IMHO, probably 75% of the gear photos posted are useless for evaluation or identification purposes.

Photos that are washed-out by the flash, out of focus, or poor resolution are useless. And how many sellers take the time to seriously check their photos to see if they're useful to a buyer.

I don't think that most poor photos are a fault of the seller;they're a systemic fault of digital photography. Unless you go to a "medium-high" end digital SLR, you don't get the close-up and preview capability as well as the sensitivity that you get with film.

JERRY

N9LCD

[w9dp]

I think the point is that people want to see the item before buying it. I know what a TS-870 looks like, but what does YOURS look like?

- Scott KA9FOX

Not to stir the pot but, it is next to impossible to keep a .jpg under 100k and show enough detail to really see what you have, at least clear enough to show any defects (or that it really is "like new'. Also, one picture, regardless of size, does not allow for any other views. I guess one could allows post any other pictures on one of the picture hosting sites and include the link with the add. I am happy that Scott allows pictures at all.

Danny NG9R

[KA9FOX]

Danny, your point is valid. However, after seeing the 100kb picture, if you want to take it to the next level, ask the seller to e-mail you a higher resolution photo. Or maybe seeing the small picture is enough for you to run away...

FYI, I have posted some very easy to understand instructions for resizing photos for use on QTH.com, using a little free utility that seems to work well.

See http://swap.qth.com/resize/ for more info.

- Scott KA9FOX

[KE0ZU mikeinkcmo]

Buy from someone with decent feedback and trust them. The picture can be deceiving.
If a ham has no feedback then a picture MAY help, but it can be taken to hide as well as highlight problems.

I recently got a 570DG from a Ham on ebay with the picture taken "just right" to not show a caved in side which he (surprisingly?) says was not there when it was shipped. No damage to box either, Hmmmm.........let me think......

Plus it didn't power up either. Amazing.
The picture was perfect.

My Point?

The picture does not tell all.

The intent here is not to be offensive nor to start a heated exchange, but

You need to look at all 6 sides of the box, if they aren't there, ask. If you don't get what you want, don't buy. "Decent feedback", I guess, just isn't enough.

I never buy, without what I consider to be, all the required informative pics. Still can't be sure, but with good rep/feedback AND good pics You're pretty sure to get what you are paying for.

If there aren't a reasonable number of pics shown in the ad, I just move on, and yeah I know "reasonable" is subjective.

[N2CTI]

After all these are free ads. I think if one was competing like on ebay and spending real money to list an item, there would be more pictures.
Face it, pictures take an extra effort, it might take 30 minutes to dig out the camera, find a place to put the item, move it there, then move it back, find a way to transfer the picture to the PC, then upload it. Unless you do it every day like some of these Ebay sellers, it's just as easy to send pictures (good quality and quantity,too) to a prospective buyer(s) when they contact you.
Personally, I always put a picture in, though, might just attract more interest.