TIP TIME:

[artistjillian]

1. Don't sign the FRONT of your cards. Many overpower the beauty of the art with a scrawly signature. If you feel you HAVE to ... just do your initials as small as possible. DO sign the backs AND PRINT your name in full, as well as your eBay ID. DON'T change your eBay ID - ever! 2. IF you can't take a great, clear detail of your ACEO, invest in a cheap scanner. Check Craigslist if you can't get a new one, or request one there. Take some time to get used to using it. An out of focus image is NOT going to sell your art. (I'll shut up now 😉 ) -- ~Jillian artist, Jillian Crider ... google me!

[artistjillian]

No I won't. Keywords are more important than ever. ONLY use words in your title (the subtitle doesn't matter as it isn't used for searches - so don't pay extra for it, unless you know you come up in searches constantly). Don't use characters in your title like quote marks, or : or dashes etc. It's better even to use a word like 'art' to get found easier than have 3 commas in there. L@@K!!! will NOT sell your item or get it seen in searches. You do NOT need to put the size (2.5x3.5") it's a waste of characters - better to use SFA (small format art) or original or painting instead. (Now I'll shut up) ... ;) -- ~Jillian artist, Jillian Crider ... google me!

[drawdog5]

Expanding on tip #2: Use a plain background behind your art. For larger pieces, no one wants to see your couch or your TV behind the art or the chair you propped the painting up against! It's really distracting. Put a towel or sheet behind the art. Or hang it on a blank wall. Try to photograph it squarely, so there's no distortion. For smaller pieces, put it on top of a piece of paper (solid color) or mat board. If you're using a scanner, they already have a solid color on the underside of the lid, so you're all set. Although it's black on my scanner, so depending on the colors, I may put a piece of white paper behind the art. Focus on the art and make sure the art is in focus!!! -- -Ann "So I got that goin' for me, which is nice." ~ Carl Spackler

[jb5710]

I have some info. After scanning work go into the edit part of the scanner program and crop you picture so that nothing but the picture shows. If you use a camera, and it's digital you will have a program for it that you can use to crop, and perhaps highlight. I have a program I bought called PhotoImpression 6 which has quite a few editing features on it including straightening the picture if it came out a little lopsided. For ACEO's I don't think a person can really get as good a picture as one can if you scanned it. I just bought a new scanner a few months ago at Office Max on sale for $79 at the time. It's an HP, a scanner, printer and copier. It was brought to my attention then that the 3 in 1 is much cheaper than just a scanner. For some reason now scanners alone are really expensive. The one I got is excellent. For editing though very basic so I don't use that. I use either the one I mentioned or my Kodak program. And now since I have my new camera, a Canon, that too has a program. JudyB

[artistjillian]

Thanks for that info Ann and Judy. I have a 3 in 1, and agree that it is the cheaper way to go. Well under $100. ANOTHER TIP: DO NOT NEVER EVER put links in your descriptions to outside areas off-ebay. Do not put your dot com website names in text on images. All these are totally against eBay regs, and getting your listings pulled is the pits - because, unknowing, this is what happened to me! (10 years ago, but it still BITES!) -- ~Jillian artist, Jillian Crider ... google me!

[mreas]

L@@K!!! will NOT sell your item or get it seen in searches. But it's funny.

[artistjillian]

So then, it could earn you peanuts then? (the thrown type?) -- ~Jillian artist, Jillian Crider ... google me!

[poozybear]

L@@K!!! will NOT sell your item or get it seen in searches. I frequently run searches on L@@K and W@W, just to see how many hits I get. The numbers are usually quite impressive. There are currently 48,362 items with the word L@@K in the title, and 3,756 with the word W@W. So my marketing research and analysis shows that L@@K is a far more popular keyword than W@W. You're welcome. -- Kathy

[golders]

But wowzer only gets 13 listings. Much more selective and gets you a spot on the first page. I think I'm going to use wowzer from now on. -- 'It's lovely' - mick upon seeing golders' art