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SpooPoker

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Dont care what it looks like on the outside, the end result pics are beautiful. Well done.

ok, i listed on friday a berluti briefcase, for 3500 or best offer, i got an offer of 3600 from some guy and then he buys it for 3500,
he has zero feedback and his name is arabic and his location is Israel, what can i do to protect myself?



its not the shipping i mind, its the chargeback that can follow.


FEDEXFEDEXFEDEXFEDEXFEDEX

Do NOT ship USPS, just use Fedex and ONLY to the address on the payment.
 

suited

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Okay guys, prepare yourselves for the ultimate in photo lightboxes...
Here's my first picture of it with the photo lights off. It's two different boxes frankenstein-ed together with duct tape. My lights are two super basic bendy desk lamps that were thrifted, with some really high output daylight bulbs. Only cellphone pics for them though. As you can see...pretty fantastically ghetto. With the lights in the box on, it takes up all of the other light from the phone. And the final result ends up looking like this:
Looks great, I have a similar setup. If you diffuse that light, it might get rid of the shadows. I use diffusion in my light box but on some pics I have a small shadow as well. I'm experimenting with various backdrops for my ties and might ditch the light box to save room, but it takes great pics. For my main setup, I did away with the muslin backdrop and all that - it was taking up way too much room. I switched to a desktop mannequin with a painting as my backdrop, and plan to experiment with that as well. For my lighting, all I do is aim 4 clamp lights at the ceiling and fill the entire room with light by reflecting down from the ceiling. I'm using about 600 watts of the daylight spectrum via CFLs. I just kept moving the lights until the shadows around my mannequin were gone. Nothing fancy. I threw 2 of the clamp lights in the top of a floor lamp, and the other 2 clamp lights on the top of a bookshelf. Check out the ghetto homemade diffuser I put on one of the lights that's on the bookshelf, ha.
700
700
The end result:
1000
 
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Brianpore

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Okay guys, prepare yourselves for the ultimate in photo lightboxes...

Here's my first picture of it with the photo lights off. It's two different boxes frankenstein-ed together with duct tape. My lights are two super basic bendy desk lamps that were thrifted, with some really high output daylight bulbs. Only cellphone pics for them though.

As you can see...pretty fantastically ghetto.
With the lights in the box on, it takes up all of the other light from the phone.

And the final result ends up looking like this:


Obviously the photos are cropped, but 100% unedited for white balance, contrast, etc???
 

Shoeluv

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Obviously the photos are cropped, but 100% unedited for white balance, contrast, etc???



I like where this thread is headed, photography is probably the biggest part of eBay and most people do it poorly yours truly especially. I have been reading up on the subject, and today am going to build this CPVC light box for shoes, ties, and braces. I am still in the market for a mannequin so haven't thought about putting one under a light tent. I am also reading "eBay listings that sell for dummies" (on either Brianpore or Wes's recommendation in this thread) and am in the photo lighting chapter. After I finish and get a few pics done I will post them here.
 
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GMMcL

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Dont care what it looks like on the outside, the end result pics are beautiful. Well done.

Indeed

Looks great, I have a similar setup. If you diffuse that light, it might get rid of the shadows. I use diffusion in my light box but on some pics I have a small shadow as well. I'm experimenting with various backdrops for my ties and might ditch the light box to save room, but it takes great pics.
. . .

The end result:

1000

I actually don't mind the shadows in his light box setup, as it grounds the object and provides some depth. I usually say I don't like a white setup for shoes and ties because, with all the shadow elimination, they seem to float, which is why I prefer a black background. Here, the limited shadows ground the object and it looks great.

Speaking of looking great, that's an impressively good shot for just a couple of clip lights. (Oh, and that jacket is cool as ****. I have one very similar or I'd be PMing you for size).

Edit: I'm beginning to agree with the several people now who have said that the halogens fail because they light over too narrow a color range. I may start experimenting again with normal bulbs. Suited: What are the deets on the bulbs you used? Wattage, was it just a normal broad spectrum or some kind of specialty bulb, etc.? And once I find one that works, presumably I should stock pile the hell out of it....
 
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jebarne

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Looks great, I have a similar setup. If you diffuse that light, it might get rid of the shadows. I use diffusion in my light box but on some pics I have a small shadow as well. I'm experimenting with various backdrops for my ties and might ditch the light box to save room, but it takes great pics.

For my main setup, I did away with the muslin backdrop and all that - it was taking up way too much room. I switched to a desktop mannequin with a painting as my backdrop, and plan to experiment with that as well. For my lighting, all I do is aim 4 clamp lights at the ceiling and fill the entire room with light by reflecting down from the ceiling. I'm using about 600 watts of the daylight spectrum via CFLs. I just kept moving the lights until the shadows around my mannequin were gone. Nothing fancy. I threw 2 of the clamp lights in the top of a floor lamp, and the other 2 clamp lights on the top of a bookshelf. Check out the ghetto homemade diffuser I put on one of the lights that's on the bookshelf, ha.




The end result:

on those aluminum reflector lights, I have found them easier to secure in place by placing a dowel or a pencil in the clip. That is, if you clip over a chair back or the pole of a lamp, insert a dowel on in the clip on the other side of the pole from the reflector and it will not slip off.

also, I have a friend who also advised not to worry about the backdrop. He does home theaters and actually paints screens for some customers using sherwin-williams Pro-classi[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]c Smooth enamel trim paint. He had a study of the comparison to an actual drop down screen which found extremely marginal improvements from a screen, but at hundreds of $$$ more. He suggested for photography backdrop to buy their Duration paint in a matte finish. Just the untinted, pure base paint. Color is the same and will provide excellent results as a backdrop, plus it is washable in a way no other paint really is. I haven't gotten around to painting my backdrop wall but its an idea if you want to simplify the setup and tear down, without spending much dough, its a good solution. Maybe in August........[/FONT]
 

jebarne

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Okay guys, prepare yourselves for the ultimate in photo lightboxes...

Here's my first picture of it with the photo lights off. It's two different boxes frankenstein-ed together with duct tape. My lights are two super basic bendy desk lamps that were thrifted, with some really high output daylight bulbs. Only cellphone pics for them though.

As you can see...pretty fantastically ghetto.
With the lights in the box on, it takes up all of the other light from the phone.

And the final result ends up looking like this:


awesome results. just enough shadow to create a bit of depth.

very nice.
 

jebarne

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Indeed
I actually don't mind the shadows in his light box setup, as it grounds the object and provides some depth. I usually say I don't like a white setup for shoes and ties because, with all the shadow elimination, they seem to float, which is why I prefer a black background. Here, the limited shadows ground the object and it looks great.

Speaking of looking great, that's an impressively good shot for just a couple of clip lights. (Oh, and that jacket is cool as ****. I have one very similar or I'd be PMing you for size).

Edit: I'm beginning to agree with the several people now who have said that the halogens fail because they light over too narrow a color range. I may start experimenting again with normal bulbs. Suited: What are the deets on the bulbs you used? Wattage, was it just a normal broad spectrum or some kind of specialty bulb, etc.? And once I find one that works, presumably I should stock pile the hell out of it....
The key is not wattage as much as it is lumens and light color spectrum. Either CFLs at 5000K or LED's at 5000K seem to give the best results, without the heat of incandescents or halogens. You can get a 5000K LED spot for around $30 at either HD or lowe's. probably a 75watt replacement with around 800 lumens. They also have them that do 1400 lumens with a 90 w replacement for $40. If the temp isn't specified, always look for daylight. Most home lighting is in the 2700K range so you do have to make sure.

what I love about these is you can move them and the reflector doesn't get hot.
 

txwoodworker

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I like where this thread is headed, photography is probably the biggest part of eBay and most people do it poorly yours truly especially. I have been reading up on the subject, and today am going to build this CPVC light box for shoes, ties, and braces. I am still in the market for a mannequin so haven't thought about putting one under a light tent. I am also reading "eBay listings that sell for dummies" (on either Brianpore or Wes's recommendation in this thread) and am in the photo lighting chapter. After I finish and get a few pics done I will post them here.
I got my mannequin from a used store fixture store for cheap $35, they had a huge selection
The key is not wattage as much as it is lumens and light color spectrum. Either CFLs at 5000K or LED's at 5000K seem to give the best results, without the heat of incandescents or halogens. You can get a 5000K LED spot for around $30 at either HD or lowe's. probably a 75watt replacement with around 800 lumens. They also have them that do 1400 lumens with a 90 w replacement for $40. If the temp isn't specified, always look for daylight. Most home lighting is in the 2700K range so you do have to make sure.

what I love about these is you can move them and the reflector doesn't get hot.
The guy at the photo place said that non photography bulbs are not necessarily the color temperature advertised, nor will they be the same from bulb to bulb, or in the case of LED's stay the same color over the life of the bulb. You may say OF COURSE he would say that, but.... food for thought. I like having no shadows. I got wide format paper as the backdrop from the photo place.

The one big thing left to solve is can I get all the light, no shadows, and bring back the depth of color. Brianpore suggested photoshop, I'm looking for a way to do it in camera.
 

capnwes

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The guy at the photo place said that non photography bulbs are not necessarily the color temperature advertised, nor will they be the same from bulb to bulb, or in the case of LED's stay the same color over the life of the bulb.  You may say OF COURSE he would say that, but.... food for thought.  


At my "real job" I am a CAD operator for an industrial electrical contractor. The majority of my work is directly involving lighting design since my immediate supervisor is the lighting designer. I can attest to what the guy at the phot shop said. LED lights do change their Kelvin temperature over time as does any other lamp. However the newest LED lamps are getting ratings for nearly 100,000 hours so there is quite a long time before there would be any noticeable difference in the lamp's color/temperature.
 
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DanM

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Re: Jabba - wow. Envy setting in...

Thats it, new lighting setup time.
 

DanM

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New setup complete. It's nice having a weekend with the wife and kid away.





Probably need to invest in some brighter bulbs. Can't find any daylight CFL stronger than 100w around here.
 

chiron

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I'm confused by what you wrote here. Could you please elaborate on your thought?
Since your acute observation last year about Thurs-sunday listings. The amount of sellers listing Thurs-sunday (10 day) has gone up exponentially . As someone who e-thrifts I have found the Sunday sold listing prices reaching lower lows rather then higher highs. My hypothesis is the lower-lows are due to over supply on Sunday between the hours of 7-9 CST.
As an example lets query the highest sold listings RG XL used shirts listings . Out of the top 24 we will see how many sold on sundays and how many of those were 10 day auctions (7-9 CST).

(Sundays)
April
7
14 (202) (8:30pm CST)
21
28
May
5 ( 380 / 152 (8:50pm cst) / 152 (8:30pm cst) / 122 / 125 )
12
19 182 (10PM CST)
26
June
2
9
16
23

Red - 10 day auctions
Blue - Buy it now
Green 7 day auctions

So from my small sample of the 24 highest RG sold listings, I get 7 shirts sold on Sundays (April -June). Out of those only 3 (7-9 CST) are 10 day auctions ending on Sunday. If I have made any errors my apologies.

Source LINK
 
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capnwes

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Since your acute observation last year about Thurs-sunday listings. The amount of sellers listing Thurs-sunday (10 day) has gone up exponentially . As someone who e-thrifts I have found the Sunday sold listing prices reaching lower lows rather then higher highs. My hypothesis is the lower-lows are due to over supply on Sunday between the hours of 7-9 CST.
As an example lets query the highest sold listings RG XL used shirts listings . Out of the top 24 we will see how many sold on sundays and how many of those were 10 day auctions (7-9 CST).

(Sundays)
April
7
14 (202) (8:30pm CST)
21
28
May
5 ( 380 / 152 (8:50pm cst) / 152 (8:30pm cst) / 122 / 125 )
12
19 182 (10PM CST)
26
June
2
9
16
23

Red - 10 day auctions
Blue - Buy it now
Green 7 day auctions

So from my small sample of the 24 highest RG sold listings, I get 7 shirts sold on Sundays (April -June). Out of those only 3 (7-9 CST) are 10 day auctions ending on Sunday. If I have made any errors my apologies.

Source LINK
I am completely confused now. lol. Sorry I think I drowned too many brain cells this weekend. Are the colored prices the sold prices? Are these only your auctions or all of ebay? Never mind that last question...that 182 on May 19th was mine.

What about the items that were listed as 10 day auctions but sold for the BIN price before the auction ended. I think the primary benefit of the 10 day listing is the double weekend exposure, not as much the ending on Sunday part. While you may not see an increase in the number of items you have sold, you will likely see an increase in the average selling price.
Keeping in mind that the 2nd quarter, at least for me, has consistently been my least productive quarter, these are actual numbers of comparison for my Q2 2012 and Q2 2013


Q2 2012 (listing style was 5 or 7 day, any start time, any end time)
Total Transactions - 304
Total Gross Sales - $14,175
Average sale price - $46.63

Q2 2013 (Listing style was 10 day, start Thursday 11PM EST, end Sunday 11PM EST)
Total Transactions - 379
Total Gross Sales - $26,502
Average Sale Price - $69.93

That's a 49.97% increase on the average sale price.
 
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