Buying Pet Peeve - Pictures


I must admit one of my favorite activities is scouring the Internet looking at ads of used audio gear. For years, I have been keeping tabs on the used audio market.  Prior to the internet there was Audiomart, the Audio Trading Times and the back of Audio magazines and now the internet has made it all very easy.

 

It seems that USAudiomart, EBay, Craigslist, FB Marketplace, and Audiogon (not in that order) are the best places for used gear and I’m constantly checking into these sites, even when I’m not looking to purchase gear.  You never know when that rare gem will come up for sale, and you better snap it up before someone else does.

 

What I have found over the last 6 months or longer is that either sellers have become lazy, or perhaps just stupid?  The internet has been around long enough for people to know that good pictures are the key to selling gear, and the key to getting top dollar, yet I continually see really poor pictures of gear.

 

It irks me daily when I see it, and I end up yelling at my computer just like I will yell at my tv while watching a sporting event.  

 

My 2 biggest picture pet peeves are:

1.  someone selling expensive speakers who can’t be bothered to take the grills off or won’t take pictures of the binding posts or speaker rears

2.  A seller consumed with the mod that he did on an amp or preamp and takes multiple pictures of the inside of the unit but forgets to take pictures of what the actual unit looks like.

 

There are other poor photo practices like taking pictures in a dark room, using that old flip phone to take pictures, or just being lazy and not unplugging your gear and taking some stand alone pictures.  
 

*** Sorry if this offends anyone, that is not my intent.  I’m just finally venting after seeing this occur so often.   

 

128x128lou_setriodes

Agree. There are several things a buyer could do to make the pictures, and the gear they're trying to sell, more appealing.

Take the piece out of the rack and disconnect all the cables. Shoot the pictures of front, back, sides and top straight on and well lit (never with an open window behind it)

Pay most attention to a full frame picture of the back of the piece clearly showing all the inputs and outputs with their labels.

 

One of my pet peeves is not taking 30 seconds (or less) to just dust. I hate seeing pics with piles of dust on the equipment. 

 piles of dust on the equipment

Really? - I would love to see a picture of this.😄

I understand and relate to the sentiment, though.

Some people are just oblivious to how perception affects the sales process.

Personally, I clean everything really well (yes, dust is very photogenic) and make sure to show every view, along with every flaw. This protects both me and the person who is interested in buying it. No surprises.

Then again, some people will try to sell a sofa and then use a photo showing three large dogs sleeping on it.