Missing product pictures in online miniatures shops

[Dent]

Am I the only one who gets frustrated that online sellers of figures don't have pictures of their product on there sites.


It is in my opinion, the very least they should do.

[Plynkes]

Indeed, that was always a bugbear of mine.  But honestly, it isn't something I have encountered for some years. Maybe I've just been lucky.

[fred]

It’s getting better, it tends to be the manufacturer with big old ranges, that are struggling to get the time to photograph their big back catalogs.

[N.C.S.E]

Unless I cannot get the stuff absolutely anywhere else - I take it to mean that a seller without pictures isn't really interested in my custom. I only break that rule if the miniatures are truly unique, otherwise, it's a safe bet, particularly with historicals, that someone else will have similar stuff available.

[Hammers]

Back in the day when I added a lot to the lead pile this drove me furious.

[zemjw]

Just as annoying as no pictures are tiny thumbnails that when you click on them to enlarge them, are still tiny thumbnails

I'm finding I'm less forgiving these days if sites don't have pictures. However, a google image search often turns up something, especially if it's an older range.

[Daeothar]

Just as annoying as no pictures are tiny thumbnails that when you click on them to enlarge them, are still tiny thumbnails

  Definitely a pet peeve, yes!

Online sellers not having decent pictures of their products might have been acceptable last century, but at this day and age, I find it extremely annoying and just plain lazy.

Now, if I really want a particular miniature, I will try and find pictures of it elsewhere. Usually this works. But if there are multiple ranges of the same subject matter, I will not even bother and simply go to those competitors who do have a good visual representation of their products...

[Dr. Zombie]

Oh this is not even a pet peeve. It is full on rampant rage.

It is unbelievable that there are still shops with no pictures of their products. It is 2019 for Croms sake. There are webshops that does not seem to have been updated since the 90's.

What really gets the blood boiling is Redoubt, who have drawings of their miniatures!? If you are going to take the time to upload a drawing, then why not upload a picture? It boggles the mind.

[Westfalia Chris]

What really gets the blood boiling is Redoubt, who have drawings of their miniatures!? If you are going to take the time to upload a drawing, then why not upload a picture? It boggles the mind.

I always found that rather quaint and charming, but I guess it stems from the fact that they still have the drawn images (back from when all their advertising used them, early 1990s WI issues come to mind) and, for capacity, cost, return-on-investment or whatever reasons, are unable or unwilling to produce photos to replace them all.

Given the large scope of Redoubt's ranges, I'd consider this understandable since it would be a lot of effort, though as pointed out before, if you wish to present a professional image these days, I'd say it is more or less required to have decent photos to illustrate your product.

[tuco74]

Just as annoying as no pictures are tiny thumbnails that when you click on them to enlarge them, are still tiny thumbnails

This. And in almost universal agreement with everybody else - why would I buy something of which I can't even see a picture?

[fred]

While as a customer I fully want to see nice photos of models. 

I think we need to understand the realties of most wargames businesses which are often single person business, often part-time. They have limited time and money, and spend most of both of these on fulfilling orders and commissioning new models. Updating websites is a lot further down the list of priorities. Especially if they are an establish business and are doing OK with their current business methods.

Newer miniature companies are doing much better, but its also a lot easier to photograph your range when it is 10 models, not 3000!

[black hat miniatures]

+1 Fred

If you take on a large range that has not been photographed before it takes a lot of time and effort to get the figures cast (all variants), cleaned up and then photographed, cropped and added to the website.

Time that never quite seems to be available.

When I bought Gladiator Miniatures in 2006 I fully intended to photograph the two ranges that hadn't been done (ECW and bliblicals) but when I sold the ranges 12 years later (!) I still hadn't managed to photograph more than a handful.

I had enough business from people that knew the ranges and were happy to buy them that I never had the time (or realistically, need) to photograph the whole range.

I find the comment that people are being lazy annoying - they aren't! They are making a conscious business decision based on the levels of business they have and the levels of business they want and can cope with.  If that annoys you then buy from someone else!

Mike

[Daeothar]

First I decided to not reply any further, but then I changed my mind.

I don't think that anyone is requiring a full spread of studio quality beauty-shots of professionally painted miniatures either. A simple phone-picture of a bare metal miniature would suffice for those of us not in the trusted inner circle of customers knowing the product already.

Or maybe ask some of those regular customers to send in pictures of their painted miniatures you can then put up on the store's pages? Most hobbyists would be thrilled to have their work displayed as the 'official studio models'. There are plenty of low-effort ways to put up pictures if you really want to.

But while I now understand that consciously deciding not to put up pictures on your web-store can be an actual strategy, it's still not one I was expecting from people making a living selling their products.

If one's livelihood is depending on those sales, I reckon it's not wise to just sell to people who already know the product, because for every customer who is intimately familiar with your product line, there are ten who aren't.

And to then state that such potential customers should take their business elsewhere if they don't like it does not strike me as a particularly good business model.

So if a dwindling existing customer base is enough for you to get by, by all means, do not put up pictures. Us ignorant folk not in the know will then take your advise and buy from someone else...

[Antonio J Carrasco]

If that annoys you then buy from someone else!

That's what clients do, don't they? I mean, they vote with their wallets.

I feel your pain. Truly, I do. I also have a shop, physical and online, and  it always seems that you have time for just a fraction of what you need to do. However, we live in a time when image is everything. If you don't have photos of your products and your competitors do, you are losing business. If you don't care about it, well, lucky you... I know I have not that much money to afford being that non-chalant with my clients' needs.

[black hat miniatures]

I am not saying that people are deliberately putting off customers, I am saying that people realise that not putting up pictures is going to affect their sales BUT the amount of effort to put up the pictures is better directed to other parts of their business such as new releases, sending out orders, attending shows, etc , etc  as that will earn them more money than adding pictures to their ranges.

It is simply a business decision about WHERE to put the effort in your business not an attempt to piss off potential customers.

And it has been shown by Geoff at QRF that adding photos to old ranges does NOT increase his sales of those codes...

There is a limit to how much can be done by a small one man business and if you are happy with running a business the way you want and you earn enough from it you don't need to chase new sales - look at Navwar as an example.

Not all us go into the business looking to grow to the size of GW

Mike