Many months ago I started thinking about ways how I could make some extra cash to buy coins. I decided on an idea of buying toned coins with horrible pictures, and taking pictures of my own, to make a profit. I decided on a series, Roosevelt Dimes, one of the most undervalued series in all of numismatics. I knew the prices paid would be low, and I would make little profit, but it was at least something. I sold them on CoinTalk's Classifieds, Collector's Universe BST, and eBay. None of them were really home runs. I lost on a few, but the profits I made on some made up for it, enough so at the end of the day I was getting some profit. I want this thread to be about the quality of picture taking. I am not the best at taking pictures, but I have proven to take some very good shots with a very low budget system. In this particular case, there isn't much of a loss on the original seller's end, compared to what I sold it for, BUT if this were to be a series like Morgan Dollars, a bad photo could be costly. Morgans can fetch extremely high prices, especially when they are toned. Not to say that Roosie's can't, but there is a less of a chance of a big profit with them, regardless of the picture. Here is the layout for the rest of the thread. Original eBay Seller's pictures first, then mine. 1954-S NGC MS66: Seller's: Mine: 1954-S NGC MS66: Seller's: Mine: 1955 NGC MS66: Seller's: Mine: 1958 NGC MS66: Seller's: Mine: 1961 NGC PF66: Seller's: Mine: As you can see, my photos are better and show the colors better than the originals. In other cases this would equal a big profit, but I dealt with more of a common grade coins. I believe before getting into the higher valued coins, you need to start low, and work your way up, and get good at it. I feel that if I would've done this with a MS68 Roosevelt, which would've cost in upwards of $900+, I might've been able to turn a bigger profit. The purpose of this thread was not to show that I failed at turning profits, or critique my photos, but to more or less show that coins with bad pictures can be turned for profits, and they can also be even more than you expected from said photos. I believe that if you are patient with finding one that slips through the cracks with photos that do not show off a coin that way it should, you could get a great deal, and even a bigger profit.
There are a few, including some that post here and on other forums, that make a living off buying poorly photographed toners and reselling them on eBay with good photos. There is money to be made for those with good eyes and talent as a photographer.
it would be better if you went with monster toners. Russet toners are great but youll find huge premiums on toners and a bigger profit margin as well.
You have to understand that I didn't necessarily have money for a monster toner at the time. Also, people that have those monster toners, know what they have, and most of the time, the photos are good enough to show what the colors are, and they still go for the premiums. I also mentioned in the original post that more expensive coins can turn a bigger profit.
The power of presentation! It can make or break a deal. This is an excellent example of how it can serve the seller well or benefit a savvy buyer, especially one intent on flipping. This is also a great demonstration of what type of images you can achieve with limited equipment and a bit of effort. Great work!
