CONSERVITVS • Volunteer Community Mentor
I’ve noticed this as well.
My images end up looking darker after upload. I use the editing tool to quickly brighten them back to original exposure.
I’ve always assumed that the images are compressed on upload and that this is what’s causing it.
I’ve never seen (or really looked for) a definitive cause.
I just did a test. I uploaded a picture to a listing. Then I downloaded the picture from the listing again back to my computer. Ebay slightly reduced the image resolution and greatly reduced the file size but the images looked so identical that seemingly not a pixel changed on them as I would click the arrow to switch back and forth between them. Took a screenshot. They look identical. Original on right, download from ebay on left.
@lux.ra_14 wrote:eBay's ways are a mystery when it comes to images. My ongoing gripe is eBay overriding seller images with pure white backgrounds and replacing them with murky gray.
LOL how's this for 'meta'?
So, the past several years I've been doing all my work, everything from jewelry reconditioning to photographing/etc. on a rolling hospital bed table with textured white wallpaper covering the surface. -I hate how eBay's background removal feature makes things look, but a white background is definitely best, and the embossed texture of this wallpaper adds a bit of depth that I think looks really nice in my photos.
Trouble was, the table was getting rickety in all sorts of ways, and the wallpaper was problematic from the get-go. In a very short time it would get dirty, with the porous paper absorbing every little thing, and no way to clean it really. I started out with a big roll that shrank quickly from having to re-cover the table repeatedly. So then I purchased a roll of clear vinyl to cover the paper -that could be cleaned easily so it worked nicely ....... until I would inevitably spill some acetone on it at some point, melting it and causing all kinds of hideousness.
So when I got my tax refund a couple months ago, I decided it was finally time to treat myself to a new table. I picked one with all the bells and whistles, everything I liked about the hospital table and more. Most exciting of all, it had a CLEAR GLASS TOP. So my plan was to stick the wallpaper to the underside, and finally have my lovely signature background protected by an easily-cleanable surface that's also impervious to chemicals.
PERFECT, RIGHT? So, of course after finding the desk on Amazon I found someone selling it on eBay (and messaged them to make sure they weren't dropshipping from Amazon) -their price was slightly higher but it's worth it to me.
The box arrived fast and I joyously ripped it open like an animal, and began assembling the desk. The final step was to put in the glass panel, which was inside its' own protective compartment in the box. When I opened that up ..... my heart fell into my stomach, as I saw that the glass was pretty darkly TINTED. Not wanting to do a return, especially after having already spent a couple hours assembling the rest, and oh by the way I wasn't kidding about what I did to the box .... I just applied the wallpaper as planned, and bolted the pane in. Here you can see the difference in the whiteness of the wallpaper.
So now I'm stuck with this 'mixed bag' result, in terms of photographing. Indeed, dirt and chemicals are no longer an issue, and the paper being under the quarter-inch of glass adds a nice shadow effect I wasn't anticipating. But obviously I just have to kiss the whole 'white background' concept goodbye. And it's not even a consistent difference, like a reliable shade of gray. Even photos in the same shoot, same lighting, etc. get "translated" by eBay for God-knows-what-reasons (probably the colors in the item, but who knows), to where the background can look anywhere from almost white, to dark gray, to quite blue. So I wonder if some buyers might see that and think I'm messing with the photos aggressively, but what can you do?
