Staging

[sparquelito]

I have always admired guitar/gear sellers who stage their gear nicely, and offer up beautiful photos of their item, in order to entice prospective buyers. 

And then there are those who post a hastily-snapped photo of their guitar with dirty laundry and empty Bud Lite cans in the background. 

Beautiful sales image!

 

Pretty good job:

 

 

Man, what were you THINKING??

 

What say you?
Does staging matter?

Any recent examples of great photos or horrific online sales photos you have witnessed?

😉

Edited April 20, 2022 by sparquelito

[Karloff]

lol,  years ago my boxer Boris would get up and photo bomb any and all pics I tried to take. when I would post something on Ebay, several times I would include "Boxer not included" lol. 

[Whitefang]

I have no photos but I know what you mean.   Pictures of somebody sloppily dressed holding some item in their hands with the photo taken with an obvious disposable camera with a 35mm wide angle lens...  from across the room no doubt.  You couldn't even make out what it was the slob was holding in their hand! 

As for guitars, I don't think taking a quick shot of one leaning against the front of an easy chair or sofa, especially if that furniture looks like something that belongs at the curb is good presentation.  

Whitefang

[merciful-evans]

 

 

[NighthawkChris]

Form the seller's perspective, it should help maximize all you can get from a sale.  Same thing goes for houses...  I have heard that staging a home can get someone that extra few grand out of the sale - and even possibly sell something faster. 

Going with guitars, staging nice pictures for the gear might illustrate that it was well taken care of - making it easier for someone to get on board with purchasing it. 

I believe it is about "selling the dream" - the way I like to put it.  When I'm selling something - home, guitar, car - you have to help the buyer envision themselves with that "thing".  Something well presented makes buying easier for someone in the market for that "thing".  It is a good lure.  Also, as a seller, one may want to maximize their profit on something on say, a Les Paul.  I want to get rid of it quick as possible as a seller to make the money I can.  The buyer is looking for the best deal of course, so in order to get the most our of the buyer, pleading your case is done so by having the goods.  The better the condition, the better the profit the way I see it.  It shows some sense of professionalism or at least genuine care of sorts when pictures can convey how excellent of condition it is in. 

Overall, staging matters.  It helps build the expectations of the buyer up easier and it can help the seller maximize their return on the sale.  There's a reason many companies who sell cars, boats, whatever spend a lot of time and money to work on explicitly presentation.  That's because it works.  Again, selling the dream...  But if you don't really care about selling something, it shows when you say are selling a keyboard stand that has been outside for an eternity and the picture shows trash strewn about behind it.  Basically, if you get a hit on it as a seller, you're gonna take what you're gonna get.  And how much effort is it to take the damn thing inside, wipe off the crap on it, take a picture to post it online, then patiently wait for someone to be interested?  It's like the poster of that keyboard stand missed a very simple step or two here...  Very little work to a) help assist build buyer confidence up first of all, and b) possibly get another $5-$10 out of the deal.  But as-is, if it was say listed for $15... I'd offer the guy ~half IF I was in the market for something like that.  But I wouldn't even be interested in some POS like that to begin with lol!  I bet going to that person's house, you're walking into some smelly a-hole's domicile to pick that crap up.  I'd want to take a shower after visiting - get the bugs off of me.  I'd be worried that I bring a cockroach home with me or something, then you got that problem.  That's what the keyboard ad's pictures say to me speaking about staging.