chess set photos

[chesspurr]

when you go to an auction house ,or a shop ,you are able to see any chess set properly. with e bay or auction house items on line ,you do not have this advantage. so why so many antique dealers and traders offer such poor photos baffles me. ONE SHOULD TRY TO CREATE A SITUATION WHERE THE BUYER CAN ALMOST TOUCH THE PIECES WITH A CLASSY SET OF PHOTOS. HERE IS A STANDARD WHERE EVEN THE BEST CHESS SELLERS HAVE YET TO REACH. 1. the knights offer two photos of all the knights in opposite directions, as this enables the buyers to see the carving in detail. 2 the kings ,and queens ,again facing the same way. if necessary both sides. 3 the rooks . 4 the bishops , again if necessary both sides. 5 the pawns both colours. 6 the base undersides , to check the felts or in ivory or bone sets for a proper examination of the set. 7 the box ,inside and outside , plus the pieces inside. 8 damaged pieces in detail. 9 the patina also has to be shown in the best possible way too. why so many sellers fail to reach even a far lower standard ,suggests they have no insight into what the buyer requires ,or possibly offer a muddled selective few pieces in the hope that an unwary person will bid anyway. this of course suggests that the buyers are fools as no proper shop will ever offer customers such an off hand dismissave way in selling anything. TO BE BLUNT ........... E BAY SELLERS SHOULD CLEAN UP THEIR ACT !!!!!!!!!!!! GETTING IT RIGHT WILL GET MORE BIDS ,BETTER BIDS ,INSPIRE CONFINENCE , AND ENHANCE THEIR REPUTATIONS ALL IN ONE. THOSE SELLERS WHO ARE UNABLE TO WORK THIS OUT ARE ARROGANT ,LAZY , STUPID ,OR POSSIBLY CROOKS. i would be most happy to see major improvements in the photos of chess sets ,and the sellers who try to reach my suggested will reap rewards,with quality sets ,and probably do quite a bit better even with lesser ,but collectable items. auction houses too do not escape my axe either ,in many cases they fail miserably as they are supposed to be professionals. LOGICAL COMMON SENSE IS DESIRED BY US ALL I THINK ANYWAY WITH THE PHOTOS OF CHESS SETS OFFERED ON THE INTERNET.

[jvreij]

Hi Guy I agree that better pictures can help. One thing I would add to your list is pictures of similar pieces side by side. That allows for check of replacements. Or to see whether it is handmade or mechanically made. Further sellers should state sizes. That's often forgotten, but an important issue.

[chesspurr]

hi joost that is the idea of showing the pieces together ,for comparissons, re replacements ,mixed composite sets etc. ALSO PHOTOS SHOULD BE LEVEL ( high angles NO !!! ) ,NOT FROM OVERHEAD AS THE DETAIL OF THE PIECES TURNING/CARVING IS VERY DIFFICULT TO SEE. this is a very common mistake sellers make.

[ne0romantic]

Hey Guy, There is another angle to bad pics, though. I don't see it necessarily as a terrible idea to bid on a set with bad pics/descriptions. It is just a gamble. I got an African made Regence set in ivory for $30 because it had bad pics and was misrepresented in the description. This is by far the best deal I've gotten from ebay. (item 150020536282 The pictures are down but still up at http://www.chessville.com/Editorials/AlekhinesParrot/showcage4.htm though none are good enough to show the grain. I have some better pictures I sent to Ron who guessed ivory from those. The lines are present, it's just hard to see them through the rough unpolished carving.) It's certainly not great as ivory regence sets go, but I love it and for $30 I believe it was a steal. I gambled very little, and it paid off. I wouldn't bid A LOT on a poorly represented set because I'm not much of a gambling man (chess gambits excepted 😉 Of course using bad pictures to get lower bids like this is terrible from a sellers standpoint, so from their point of view of course they should 'shape up' in both cases. But there is this other side to the issue of chess set representation. It's not all the buyer getting mislead and paying too much. The buyer can get screwed, yes, but the buyer can get a deal.