Image hosting for online auctions

Use eBay picture service or host your own photos?

Image hosting is an important part of selling your jewelry on eBay. To display photos in your listings, you can choose between using eBay Picture Services and hosting your pictures yourself somewhere online. Here is a great way to save money on your auction listings:

If you use the eBay picture service, your first photo is free. But each additional picture will cost you $0.15 and the supersize picture will be another $0.75.

This can cut into your auction profits if you need, let's say, 3 or 4 pictures showing different angles, and one supersize picture for the "WOW" effect!

So I found a way to have as many pictures I want in my listings without having to pay all these fees to eBay: I do my own image hosting!

They are a lot of image hosting services to choose from online. Some are free, and others charge a small monthly or yearly fee.

Currently I use Photobucket image hosting. They have a free starter package (which gives you 25 MB of disc space) or a premium package (unlimited disc space) to store your pictures. You can subscribe to the premium package for 3 months ($9.00) or one year ($25.00).

Now, how to load your pictures on your photo-hosting service?

First, you have to resize your images. One reason for resizing your photos is that Photobucket limits the size of the pictures you can load - 250 KB for the free package and 1 MB for the premium package.

The second reason is that you don't want to slow down your eBay listings with huge images! Big pictures take forever to load, and potential customers will hit the back button instead of waiting.

So I recommend limiting each picture to a size of 500 pixels maximum. I use the free Irfanview image optimizer to resize my pictures.

Once your photos are resized, you can upload them to your image hosting service, which is very simple.

For Photobucket, you have to log in into your account. Once you are in, there is a white window on top of the page marked "picture", with a "browse" button on the right. Click on "browse", and a new "choose file" window will appear. That window shows the files in your computer. From that window, select the file containing the picture you want to upload to the Internet.

Once you have found the right picture, highlight it with your mouse and then in the "choose file window", click the "open" button. The name and location of your picture will then appear on the Photobucket screen.

Now click the "submit" button, and voila! Your selected picture is on Photobucket. You can even load several pictures at the same time by using the "submit multiple pictures" feature.

All right, your picture is now on Photobucket. But how do you insert that picture in your eBay listing?

Once your image is hosted on Photobucket, you will have to copy the URL of that photo (which is directly under it) and paste it into your eBay listing. Use the following html code to display the picture correctly in your listing; paste your Photobucket image URL where it says "the URL of your picture":


  <img src="the URL of your picture">


You can even add a border around your picture, by adding a border code to the above, making it:


  <img src="the URL of your picture" border=8>


By changing the number of your border, you can make it larger or thinner.

Another great advantage of choosing online image hosting is that the quality of your pictures in your auction listings will be much better than with eBay picture services!

So you can have as many auction pictures as you need, with higher image definition, for less money. You can't beat that.

Good luck!

About the author:

Author Sophie Van Tiggelen of Bagatelle Jewelry (www.bagatelle-jewelry.com) creates original handmade beaded jewelry in lampwork glass beads, freshwater pearls, Austrian Swarovski crystals, semi-precious gemstones and sterling silver. Sophie's designs are natural, beautiful, sophisticated, and she is using colors and materials that evoke the beauty of nature.

Microwave Recipes

Fresh Artichokes With Mustard Sauce

4 large globe artichokes
1 cup water
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 tablespoon whole pickling spices
1 cup prepared brown mustard
1 (5/8-ounce) package Italian salad dressing mix
2 tablespoons vinegar or dry white wine
Few drops Tabasco sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1. Wash artichokes carefully and drain. Slice off upper tip of each artichoke with a sharp knife. With kitchen shears, trim off the thorny ends of the leaves. The stems should be cut off even with the base of the artichoke.
2. Combine water, vinegar and pickling spices in a deep, 3-quart, heat-resistant, non-metallic casserole.
3. Heat, uncovered, in Microwave Oven 5 minutes or until mixture comes to a boil.
4. Place artichokes upright in casserole.
5. Heat, covered, in Microwave Oven 12 to 15 minutes.
6. Cook until bases are tender when pierced with a fork and lower leaves pull away easily. Set aside.
7. In a small bowl combine remaining ingredients.
8. If desired, heat mustard sauce, uncovered, in Microwave Oven 1 ?? minutes or until heated through.
9. Dip leaves into mustard sauce.

Serves 8

Tip: If desired, the leaves may be removed and arranged on a platter before serving. The fuzzy choke should be removed and the heart of the artichoke cut for serving.

Posted by DCW Member Cindy at the DCW Message Forums - http://www.dotcomwomen.com/forums

CRAFTS

Dough Heart Magnet

Materials:

Bread Dough
Waxed paper
Small amount of acrylic paint
Magnet or pin back
Thick craft glue
Small heart shape cookie cutter or sharp knife
Paint brush
Acrylic sealer (matte, glossy or glitter)
Small ribbon rose, color of your choice

Instructions:

Using prepared bread dough you may color the dough by kneading a few drops of acrylic paint into the dough or you may paint the finished pin/magnet. Between pieces of waxed paper roll dough to a smooth 1/4" thick sheet. Using the cookie cutter or knife cut heart shapes from the dough and allow the hearts to dry thoroughly. When dry place a coat of the acrylic sealer on the front and back of the heart and allow to dry. Attach the pin back or magnet to the back with the craft glue and the ribbon rose to the front just below the dip in the heart.

BEAUTY TIP

A simple remedy for Pimples

Make a paste of tender neem leaves and turmeric (Cosmetic variety, not the one used for cooking). Apply on face and wash after 20-25 minutes. Helps in curing pimples.

The process can be repeated once or twice a week.

Neem, which is a natural antiseptic, will kill the pimple causing bacteria. Turmeric is a natural bleach and also has deodorizing properties.

Submitted by DCW Member Poornima

'The Dot Com Woman' Ezine is published by Lata Tokhi, Editor & Contributing Author.

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