charge for pics: real buyers get upset?

[anteek]

I'm not a great people person and get tired of sending pics when placing ads. would REAL buyers get upset about PAYING for pics that they request? I'd like to charge about $5 for 10 MAILED........with 2x credit if they buy. Just ran an ad with no pics and just had 12th pic request. I'm old grey but can read NO PICS anywhere............is civility gone? maybe I should send Guido around.............

[4tford]

a real seller would learn how to post pics.

[rotorwrench]

Most folks aren't expecting anything more that a cell phone photo with reasonable clarity these days. To actually send someone photographs in the mail is kind of archaic in this day and age. Another alternative is to use a quality digital camera then download into your computer and sent them as jpeg files in an attachment to an e-mail message. Folks generally won't buy without looking at something though so I see your dilemma. Things ain't like the used to be.

[Tim Ayers]

Well, if you want to sell a part, post pictures. No pictures more than likely leads to no sale. The time it takes to pay for photos, mail the photos, review them and then get back in touch with you about the pictures another, similar part has been found and a deal is struck.

Not saying it's right, just the way it is now days.

[Mike51Merc]

A picture tells 1,000 words. Try placing an ad with 1,000 words.

[Uptown83]

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Sounds like you need to sell your parts at swap meets if you dont want to do the whole picture thing.

[19Fordy]

Put yourself in the position as buyer. Wouldn't you want to see what you are buying? The fact that you decide to send them snail mail photos is not their concern. In today's world you must use email photos - and plenty of them. It's just the way it is now.

[lonewolf]

It would be frustrating taking pictures,having them developed and mailing them.
If you sell enuff stuff it would be wortb buying a digital camera if you dont have one they are cheap these days. Spend a couple hours to learn how to post them on the net and how to email them. It will make your life easier.

Dont be afraid to ask for help on here we have all been there. Or ask a grandchild you would be amazed at what 10 year old know

[itslow]

"Real" buyer or not, nobody will pay you to send them 4x6 photographs, nor will they pay you to take digital photos to email.

If you want to sell something online you need to take some digital photos and post them with your ad, or at least be willing to send them via email. If you absolutely must provide analog photos, be prepared to pay the postage yourself and consider it part of the cost of selling the item.

If you have a cell phone, you have the capability of taking a digital photo.

[JM 35 Sedan]

I once made a statement/suggestion here on the forum that all items posted here for sale should include digital pictures so folks buying don't need to ask for pictures. I never heard so much crying/whinning over that suggestion from other sellers here. Digital pictures are so easy to take and post. Anyone who says they can't do it, is just not trying hard enough or is too stubborn to try and learn....no exceptions. I would never pay anyone to take developed type pictures and snail mail them to me.

[41panelmark]

For the most part photos in the ad are important to me, helps to know what you are looking at and if you want to pursue it further without bothering the seller.

[Ross F-1]

Whenever I am looking for anything on Craigslist, I use the filter to exclude any ads without pictures. I have better things to do with my time.

[Heard]

Originally Posted by 4tford

a real seller would learn how to post pics.

What he said.

Seriously, unless you are the only one on the planet with that part/car/whatever, not having pics is not going to work.

On the flip side of that, I have had really good luck selling cars/motorcycles/parts by taking a LOT of pictures and taking the time to make them GOOD pictures. Then I put them on photo bucket (or similar) with a link. I sometimes put 50 or more pics of a car or motorcycle up. I know it has helped drive up the bidding price because it takes most of the guesswork out.

[roadster36]

I agree with JM that ads should include a photo. I also think that ads should include a price. Lately I am seeing ads that say "best offer" while at the same time the part is on ebay. One other thing that I am noticing is the amount of ads that people are placing. There are often 10-20 ads by the same person in a row with BTTT listed under them. Why not just put one ad with multiple items and save the space and time of the forum ? I noticed that they have hundreds of posts and all of them are ads so they are really vendors, which is OK.

[richard crow]

i guess you guys forget when hemmings was the onley act in town. i bought maney parts for years & never got a picture & i might add never got bad parts. but that was then & today things have changed .i misss the old america.

[37coop]

As a buyer the big minus for me is no photos and bad spelling mistakes,hey it might just be me but I am put off by that ...I,v just gone through this to check my speelin is corekt .

[bobH]

digital pics, a must. I need to at least verify the part is what the seller says it is. There seems to be a good number of sellers that don't know what they have. As for car pictures, usually not very valuable - I need to see the car in person. Car pics are only good enough to see if I want to come see it. I've never found anyone that evaluates a car same as I do. Another thing I've noticed, almost any part that I find on-line is overpriced, compared to what I find at my local swaps. I get better quality, and better price, close to home. JMO

[HOTRODPRIMER]

No photo's = no sale

You can buy a digital camera cheap,you can learn how to post photos,it's not that hard.

You can get one of your grand kids or the kid next door to show you how.

Ryan doesn't charge you one red cent to post a car for sale here so charging for photos strikes me like saying you don't care whether you sell or not

Just my honest opinion. HRP

[Ross6860]

$1500 rolling chassis even get pics where I live.

I traveled two states, by air, to pick up a car.

I had well over 100 high-res professional photos to look at before even attempting the deal.

Seller posted the photos on a photo hosting site called Photobucket. Same one I use and it is very easy and costs nothing.

You're spending what? $15k - $20k - $30k on a high-quality driver or much more on an investment grade vehicle. Damn right I expect photos. Good ones.

Long story short - I bought the car and drove it 400 miles home. The seller was, shall I say, aghast. The car hadn't been driven 400 miles in the last 4 years. No issues. Of courser we drove it around town for a couple hours running errands, gassing up, transferring title, etc., so I was pretty sure it was not going to overheat.

In any case. There were still things I found that didn't show up in photos, so you still need a professional inspection if you aren't comfortable with your own skills. I overpaid, but I wanted a very specific vehicle.

The actual seller had a car-savvy friend actually broker the deal. He picked me up at the airport and allowed me in his home as a friend. Wife made lunch, met his son who was just back from Iraq, etc. There are still great folks out there. They aren't all Craigslist killers. Oh, he was a retired LEO btw and gave me plenty of info to check him out.

[Mart]

I think there might be a language/IT misunderstanding. If a person were not particularly up with modern digital taking/saving/sending of pics and believed that if when someone asks for pictures they are asking for hard copy photographs to be sent through the mail, then it would be easy to associate some cost to doing that.

These days though, when people ask for pics, they expect it to happen virtually instantly with no cost and little inconvenience to the sender.

Hence the strong preference for photo's to accompany an ad. It's a good selling point and very easy to do if you are au fait with modern technology.

Mart.