QTH.COM Swap Chat

Why do sellers not include pictures of equipment they have for sale?

But, instead, post "Pictures upon request"?

Why not just include the photo?

By examining of the above statement, it appears the seller has the ability to obtain photos. So why not just post the photos? A buyer should not have to inquire the seller for a picture of their wares when the equipment can be viewed online. A decision could be made whether or not the buyer should invest more time on the possible purchase.

Of course, if the seller does not have the capability to include a picture, then he would not post such a ludicrous statement.

Maybe, the sellers life is "Email deficient' and needs to have something in their 'Inbox'.

Just my thoughts…

johnmaetta wrote:Why do sellers not include pictures of equipment they have for sale?

But, instead, post "Pictures upon request"?

Why not just include the photo?

By examining of the above statement, it appears the seller has the ability to obtain photos. So why not just post the photos? A buyer should not have to inquire the seller for a picture of their wares when the equipment can be viewed online. A decision could be made whether or not the buyer should invest more time on the possible purchase.

Of course, if the seller does not have the capability to include a picture, then he would not post such a ludicrous statement.

Maybe, the sellers life is "Email deficient' and needs to have something in their 'Inbox'.

Just my thoughts…

most hams don't have the means to post photos, I do not have a digital camera or a flatbed scanner . And it would be a courtesy to post your callsign so we know who we are dealing with. If you are a SWL, you obviously can't, but if you are a ham, please do so! Those who can post photos, should do so, I agree with you on that. The exterior condition of the equipment shows the care that has been taken of the equipment.

Yes, I agree. A callsign really helps to validate the seller to the buyer.

John

I don't post a picture because the allowable size is to small. I think it is at 100kb and even using the lowest resolution I cannot get the pic sixe much below 200-300k. I usually use an online picture hosting service, such as Photobucket or Hunt101.

p58

100kb is plenty big enough in file size for a nice photo of your equipment. However, I realize that not everyone has the technical skill to resize and optimize their photos. Later this year, I will be allowing very large photos to be uploaded, and we will automatically resize and optimize the photo for you.

Meanwhile, 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.

73 - Scott KA9FOX

I was not sniping at the size limitation, just stating what I have experienced. Using Irfan viewer to crop and resize the pics still leaves me with rather large files. I must be missing something in Irfan viewer.
Brian

Yeah, you need to use compression. All programs that deal with JPG images allow you to specify a compression ratio. Usually it's on a scale of 1 to 10, or 1 to 100, with the high number usually meaning no compression (high quality), and the low number indicating a very large amount of compression (very low quality)

Usually 50 to 70 percent gives excellent quality, yet significantly reduces the size of the files.

- Scott

One reason is that most of us have seen most rigs and amps. If not, they are on the web.

I sold a ts870 in record time: abt 15 min posted here so many are looking.

If I never see a ts 430, it will be ok with me.

And yes, I will make a donation as soon as his check clears.

Try Google, images ts 430 to see as many pictures as you want.

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

I take issue.

If I wanted to scam someone, I would put a Kenwood stock picture and say it was my rig.

IMO we are all too worried about small stuff. My son died recently, now that's important to me. Ham radio will come and go. It is not the center of the universe. When we have to hold hands to sell second hand, mostly obsolete stuff, that's when I get out.

I have a tower for sale. Anyone need any pictures. The smart fellow who bought my rig did not ask such questions as how is your "box" and cables.

My memories are of reading every QST in the Library. Now that is how you remember what's what.

My 870: had one Qso on it. Guess how it looked.
Peace.

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.

Pictures provide valuable information needed to evaluate the condition of the object of interest. There never is assurance that all pictures are useful or truthful. But, having pictures is a lot better than having no pictures.

It is true that a person could fake a picture and say it was his gear. However, most would not take the risk. The last thing a seller wants is to put undue caution in the mind of a prospective seller. If the photo does not look "right" then the buyer will and should be wary.

AL

K4ICL

My 2 cents:

It really depends on the item. A generic item really does not require one. But most used rigs aren't generic items.

If you need a picture to buy a $20 item you'd best call HRO or AES for a new one instead.

In one 100k picture it is hard to get the 6 sides of a rig shown. Not sniping at the file size, Scott does a great job overall and file size limits are common on most ad sites for good reason.

I'd never trust a 100k image size to give me the cosmetic details of anything rig-sized. So if I need them I'd rather get bigger images I can examine. And the way to get them is by email.

73 de Lowell NY4D

Not long ago I purchased a very expensive Antenna Tuner, right here on QTH, and, the entire time I was dealing with the seller, I was never told or offered that the item I was buying, was a much older Item (without the all the features I expected when I looked the Item Up!) or what was able to be viewed on that Items Website. One Photo, would have shown me... before I bought...What I was buying. Now... I can't complain now - honestly, because I know - it was up to "ME" to know what I am truly purchasing and I should have asked more questions than I did. But...I've learned a valuable LESSON about always TRUSTING without knowing. ASK...ASK...ASK - BEFORE YOU BUY! Because most times "What is NOT SAID, OR ASKED...WILL BITE YOU! Truly I believe that "SOME" folks - sadly dont post photos - because they know... if they did...It wouldn't sell!

To meet this file size you need a 320 by 240 photo. Many photo programs make it easy to resize a file for emailing. I know my iPhoto is easy (don't laugh I also have the old Windows XP stuff). Possibly someone should post a couple of programs which simplify this task for users here. I think the free photo albums from Adobe and Google have this function, but have not worked with them for awhile.

Possibly a short how to guide could be included on this site.

Ed

I was just trying to upload an image of a TEN TEC KR-1 Keyer after posting an ad and then had to edit it to put the image up. But nothing shoed up as an image being available.

TNX BOB AD5VJ

AD5VJ wrote:I was just trying to upload an image of a TEN TEC KR-1 Keyer after posting an ad and then had to edit it to put the image up. But nothing shoed up as an image being available.

TNX BOB AD5VJ

Most likely, you have anti-virus/firewall software on your computer that is blocking your ability to see all of the pictures on the ads. Because it is an ad, and it's a picture, your software is using its built-in Banner Blocking software to block the pictures. Turn that feature off and you can see the pictures.

- Scott

KA9FOX wrote:

AD5VJ wrote:I was just trying to upload an image of a TEN TEC KR-1 Keyer after posting an ad and then had to edit it to put the image up. But nothing shoed up as an image being available.

TNX BOB AD5VJ

Most likely, you have anti-virus/firewall software on your computer that is blocking your ability to see all of the pictures on the ads. Because it is an ad, and it's a picture, your software is using its built-in Banner Blocking software to block the pictures. Turn that feature off and you can see the pictures.

- Scott

That was it. Thanks Scott

AD5VJ BOB
http://www.ad5vj.com/
73 fer nw

A tip on pictures, I resize them using the Paint program that comes with windows, open the picture in paint, click Image, then stetch/skew, replace the 100% with 25% and it makes it a managable size, around 30K.

Hope this helps.

Depends on what resolution the original picture was. The ratio is exactly what people have a problem figuering out. Usually programs that allow you to export a picture for email purposes have a simple strategy for allowing user resizing. Some other ways of doing this involve specifying the resolution of the exported picture, ie 320 x 240.

Ed

I dont post pictures because I could never figure out how to reduce them enough to include them in a qth listing

I almost never include a picture. The reason is I dont have the knowledge or the software to downsize the pictures to fit. Operating ham radio equipment is a hobby I really enjoy. Spending time problem solving on computers and photographs takes time away from that.

AB0ER wrote:I almost never include a picture. The reason is I dont have the knowledge or the software to downsize the pictures to fit. Operating ham radio equipment is a hobby I really enjoy. Spending time problem solving on computers and photographs takes time away from that.

Yes, I realize learning a new software program can take a little time.

Again, the system will auto-resize in the near future. Lots of nifty features coming soon (not soon enough, I know...)

EDIT: 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://www.swap.qth.com/resize/ for more info.

73 - Scott KA9FOX

Why don't sellers post pictures???

Some of us are still "silver halide" photographers!!! Believe me, film STILL OUTRUNS digital for sensitivity!!!

If you don't know what you're buying, you ain't going to learn much from a photo!!!
BUYER: What's a 8888-B?

How many photos of gear for sale are completely useless? Shot at too great a distance? Resolution too low? UNDEREXPOSED? OUT OF FOCUS?

If a buyer is really interested, I'd take the trouble to shoot a roll of B&W film and send him the results.

Jerry

N9LCD

Take your picture from about three feet. Crop it down so just the for sale item is showing and you will be GOOD TO GO.