What do you think? Do you use a watermark? Do you think there is any weight to my theory?
Ebay's Watermark Policy
Watermark policy.
Watermarks are allowed for ownership and attribution, but not for marketing information, specific details about your item, or customer service. Your watermark should be no bigger than 5% of the total image area, have an opacity of no more than 50%, and never obscure the item. Links are not allowed in watermarks.
To make sure your watermarks are compliant, use the eBay watermark creation service. You’ll find it in the “Bring your item to life with pictures” section of the listing form. (I could not find this section)
- See more at: http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/how-to-take-product-photos/ebay-photo-requirements/#sthash.PqhHlgYv.dpuf This morning I put a water mark on a few of my items. Below is one of those.
Item Without Watermark
Same Item With Watermark
Am I cccrazzzy? I'm pretty sure I am. LOL.
I have to admit. It's classy. I like it! I'm clueless though. How do you add a watermark like that?
ReplyDeleteIt's very easy. After you've edited your photo (cropping and brightening etc) keep it open in whatever picture editor you use. In most photo editors I think you can usually add a text box. Type your store name in the text box. Choose a color..then you have to adjust the opacity to 50% or less (ebay's rule). And make it a font size that is smallish. Then just move it where you want it to be. Save it. That's it! I used Photoscape. But I'm sure you can do it in most photo editing software. I thought it would be harder until I googled how to do it and found it was easy. Let me know if I didn't make something clear. I'm probably just going to use it for items that I'm asking higher prices for.
DeleteIt's pretty easy to do in Picasa too.
ReplyDeleteI think people add watermarks so that if someone else is selling a similar item they can't borrow your picture and use it. Plus...it's classy!
The Queen of Fifty Cents! Hi :) I can't believe you commented on my blog. I love your blog. I started reading it before you moved and haven't kept up lately but I always enjoyed it. Thanks for your comment!
DeleteI agree that most sellers that use watermarks are protecting their images from other sellers. I know the military dudes that sell in quantity think watermarking images is important to their business since that one photo represents a regular stream of income: Check out this example. If a competitor grabbed that image, then there would be duplicate thumbnails in the search results.
DeleteSince we sell one of a kind items, we haven't felt the need to add watermarks. But your example does look nice. As long as it isnt too much work. Not sure how long it would take to add it to 5-6 photos per item when listing.
I too don't really have any concerns about someone stealing my images. As for how much time it takes it goes fast once you know how to do it. If you're editing each photo anyway to crop and adjust brightness which I do then it's just one more step. I think I will just do it to the gallery photo that the customer first sees. And I'm only probably going to do it on items that I'm trying to 'class up' :)
DeleteLike the watermark. Really like the item, too!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kay! The pitcher is still for sale in my ebay store :)
DeleteThe Watermark looks pro but it's unnecessary. I know on Etsy they discourage it because people will be less likely to treasure/share/blog-about your items.
ReplyDeleteVan I'm curious why a watermark would make people less likely to do those things. Is it because they feel like they can't use your image?
DeleteI could see the people who use Pinterest steering clear from watermarked-images because it "clutters" up their collections. Clan images are preferred.
DeleteI do think it looks nice. But I don't think I'd use it for two reasons. It adds time and I'm not happy with my store name.. LOL
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't take long but t keep forgetting to add it.
Delete