Very, VERY poor E-Bay photos!

dewman · Post by **dewman** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 4:10 am

I've been looking at the GEC and Northfield knives....and was browsing on E-Bay at some of them. One particular seller has several for sale, but he is, in MY opinion, taking the wrong approach in his discription of the knives ("Bullet knife, like Case and Remington"???????)

and his photos are atrocious! So much so that I sent him a message telling him that his photos were a real turn off to anyone seriously considering putting out that much money for a knife. Take a look and see if I'm just too....well, too, uh....picky?

http://cgi.ebay.com/GREAT-EASTERN-CUTLE ... dZViewItem

wildcat · Post by **wildcat** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 1:11 pm

those are pretty bad pics. I was looking at some old timers the other day on ebay and this guy was selling "dakota's" (chinese old timers). The pics were so bad, all you could make out was there might have been a knife in the pic. What are these people thinking

marcinek · Post by **marcinek** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 2:16 pm

No, you are not picky dewman, those are just bad.

They look like paparazzi photos!

Maybe there is some perfectly good reason for the low quality (the photog lost all their fingers in a horrible Sharpmaker accident?) and we shouldn't be mean, but the pictures don't leave me brimming with confidence about the quility of the knife and/or seller.

Oh well.

Hukk · Post by **Hukk** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 5:20 pm

Those are really bad!

Occasionally I got some really great knives with lousy pictures, a first generation Bulldog 3 blade trapper and a 2 blade trapper, was about $100.00 for both. Had lousy pictures, bad description, but I knew what they were. I never complain to a seller about quality of pictures, good reason for some knuckleheads to block you.

If a seller is going to post lousy pictures and inadequate description, you are likely to buy at a lower price.

With GEC being the hottest thing on the market the quality of the pictures will hide bad or thin stag, that's for sure. I want to see every feature of the stag.

I've noticed those pictures, problem is they are trying to get too close to the knives. They would be better off standing back and using a zoom feature to get a good picture.

The camera's are smart, on mine (Olympus) there is a light in the upper that will be solid green if the picture is going to be in focus, flashing if it will not be. This is if you are using the viewfinder, peering through it like older cameras.
You can not take consistantly good photo's of knives by using the LCD monitor. Use the view finder rather than the LCD and your pictures will improve, most, not all camera's will let you do that.

marcinek · Post by **marcinek** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 5:59 pm

I can't find the LCD monitor on my camera, Hukk!

Hukk · Post by **Hukk** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 6:17 pm

That doesn't appear to be a digital, but rather a SLR. I was refferring to the digital cameras, but was not clear.

They didn't even have LCD's when that guy first came out.

Oh well, Ya caught me on that one.

wildcat · Post by **wildcat** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 6:30 pm

i like mine. you pull the pic out of the the front of the camera and shake it. then wait a few minute and the LCD is real clear...

marcinek · Post by **marcinek** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 6:43 pm

Just being a smart aleck, Hukk.

Actually, that is my camera. 70's vintage Olympus.

For digital images, I just use the scanner. Its marcinek-proof. Put the knife on there, press a few buttons...ta-daa!...a digital picture.

Actually recently read an article about someone doing fine art photography using his scanner. It is just a huge digital camera.

And finally, I still haven't figured this confounded contraption out. All it does is take pictures of America's National Parks, regardless of what I put in front of it.

wildcat · Post by **wildcat** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 7:28 pm

Hey, my kids have a camera just like that. Theirs has the same problem, except theirs only takes pics of cinderalla and barbie.

useem · Post by **useem** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 7:52 pm

A case of beer and all you funny guys sitting around a campfire would make a hell of an evening

edgy46 · Post by **edgy46** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 9:22 pm

I agree with Hukk. A known product, new item with bad pictures, a fellow could save some money.Maybe enough to buy more knives.

johnnierotten · Post by **johnnierotten** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 10:54 pm

Those are some really bad pics....but I would like to see a good pic of the pile side... What I can see,looks awesome!!

Hukk · Post by **Hukk** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 11:41 pm

johnnierotten wrote:Those are some really bad pics....but I would like to see a good pic of the pile side... What I can see,looks awesome!!

Yeah, it does look great. Ever wonder how much bad picture and bad photo's cost a seller? Take the example I mentioned earlier.

Well, the 2 Bulldog Brand knives I bought for $100 (actually same seller, $51.00 each), book at $375.00 mint. On eBay, I aproximate getting about 50% of book. That would be $187.50, so you can figure, potentially the seller lost about $90.00 give or take. These knives were very close to mint, not quite, so near mint. These knives were BKC 202 3 blade and BKC 203 2 blade straight frame trappers. You don't see these knives very often, so potentially he lost more.

On a good day it would not hard to imagine getting $250 for both, but at $102.00 for both, it was a steal.

Bob W. · Post by **Bob W.** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 4:19 pm

Sellers are only screwing themselves by posting bad photos. But it can also be a buying opportunity, if you know exactly what you're buying.

IMO, that seller used an no-focus (sometimes called "auto focus") point-and-shoot camera. He could have gotten better detail by laying the knife on a flatbed scanner.

-Bob