Photography Revisited pt 1

In the time that has passed since I last wrote about product photography for online shops, I've learned something interesting.

I turned my shop into an accidental guinea pig when I switched all of my photographs to a grey slate background from plain white.  I had always liked the white, but I found it much easier to get natural looking colors by shooting on a grey background.

I had not realized the side effect that changing my pictures would have.  When Etsy users are building treasuries, there are certain qualities the look for in photographs, one of the dominant traits being a white or very pale background.  Treasuries like these are far more likely to make it to the homepage as well.

I have read many past forum threads where users complain about the overtly white backgrounder treasuries, with feelings that range from them being boring to being overtly exclusive and unfair.  However, sites like Amazon require sellers to list the main photo with only the item for sale pictured, and it must be on a white background.  I realize that Etsy did not start out as being remotely in the same realm as amazon, but as Etsy has grown they have needed to compete with such web giants, and let's face it, if they did not then there wouldn't be as many users browsing the site as there are today.

But, I digress.  The important takeaway from my unintentional experiment is that the number of treasuries my items have been featured in has dropped like a stone.  It started out somewhere around one or more per day to maybe two per week.  Also, now when my items are in treasuries, it's usually in that last row - the one that isn't seen on the front page unless other items sell while it's up.  In unison with the drop in treasuries, my sales dropped as well.

Knowledge gained: white backgrounds matter, as does the color balance of the overall photo.  You don't need to give every photo on a listing the white background treatment, just the first photo.  ( the one the thumbnail generates from)

Of course there are other factors, including depth of focus, sharpness, and positioning, but if all those elements are in place but the background isn't white, you could be missing out on treasury time!

As always, don't be afraid to experiment and find out what works for you- let the numbers be your guide as to whether your pictures are hurting or helping your product's visibility.

Next time we will start digging into how to get crisp white backgrounds.

Till then! <3

Amber