poor pictures on auction site

[duggaboy]

after looking at alot of auction rifles, from all sorts of vendors, I come to recognize the vendors by the pictures they post for the "excellant" gun that has a good stock but is cracked and glued on the forend and has etc, etc, problems, not really focussed on in the pics, and the vendors won't improve the haze look but are promising to get a better camera. what a joke.

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[Badger]

You really have to be careful with the "fuzzy focus" selling technique ...

It drives me crazy and definitely sets off alarm bells, particularly on an expensive piece ...

Regards,
Badger

[Bill Hollinger]

There is another side to this as well. Ask for better, detailed photos and if the seller sends them you may get to see somethings others won't. However, for the most part, it is a big red flag!

[limpetmine]

There is now no excuse for bad pictures. My 4.2 megapixel $100 camera will outshoot my Nikon D-70 on micro shots, and does a very respectable job for everything else. Posting cr@ppy pictures is a red flag for me
. I will request better pictures, but more often than no, they come in just as bad, or worse.

[spinecracker]

Also, it only takes a little research to know what kind of major (and some minor) things to look for. I am a total newbie with Lee Enfields (and firearms in general), but the seller of the rifle I was interested in was very helpful in supplying high-quality photos that I posted on here for comments. With excellent feedback from members here I was confident of how much I was willing to spend. I also was the only bidder and got the rifle for 100 bucks less than I thought it would go for - go figure! I would be very cautious of sellers who do not want to post pictures of both sides of the fore and butt stocks or the right hand side of the receiver (seen some awfully chewed up bolt release slots on No.4 Savages that just had to be dangerous, and one seller wanted $300 - eek!)

[Chuckindenver]

i for one am not skilled at taking pictures.
however.
i notice many many, auctions sellers that have a so called rare off, one of a kind, sniper, or match gun, wanting top dollar, with 3 poor pictures.
anytime iv listed or advertised a gun for sale, even if its a 150.00 deal, i take as many pictures, and try as best i can to get them in focus.
most of those 3 pictures auctions, also have some long draw out BS story and a half aZXEd history story to go with it, and a no return policy.
all auctions or net, mail order gun sales, should come with a 3 day inspection.