by Tracy Blair

Created on: July 10, 2008

A picture is worth a thousand words. This is especially true when people are buying something without ever having seen it. Let's face it - part of the appeal when buying jewelry is putting it on and seeing how amazing it looks sitting there, sparkling, on you. Whether it's a ring, bracelet, necklace, earrings or some other piece, a good deal of the attraction is how it looks. So how, exactly, does that translate into online jewelry sales?

That's right - the picture.

I've been buying jewelry at auctions, estate sales, etc. and reselling on EBay for a number of years now, and without doubt I can tell you that the MOST IMPORTANT factor is that photo. Description is important as well, but the photo is what will pull someone in to read the description. It's what they will make initial determinations on. It's what will draw their attention. If your photo is blurry, grainy, too far away, too light or dark, or even just from a bad angle, it could lose you a sale to someone with a similar piece and a better picture.

So how do you get this amazing photo? Do you need professionals, studio setups, acts of God? Not at all. I am by no means a professional photographer, and I use only a standard digital camera. The real key is taking your time and really examining and reviewing the photos you take.

For example: most of the jewelry I deal in has stones (diamonds, rubies, sapphires, etc.). By studying my trade, in other words by spending dozens of hours on EBay looking at other listings, I found that the jewelry selling the highest amounts were those that showed the color, clarity and quality of the stones the best. Now how you show this can vary depending on what type of stone, but most stones should be clear and bright, not dark and cloudy. So how do you show your stone's quality in a photo? One good way is to make sure you have lots of light. Natural light seems to work the best, but directed light can also be good. I don't use a studio or any special setup, but I do lay my jewelry on a flat surface (my dining room table) with light behind it (the patio doors) and take the photo with the light at the back so that it shines through the stone. This gives the stone a more luminescent appearance and will display the color and clarity well. With diamonds, if you can take photos in direct sunlight, you can get dazzling light displays from the way the stone reflects and refracts the light, which will make it look most appealing.

With plain gold, the importance is usually on the shape,

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