How to get high quality product images from suppliers?

I signed up for a SaleHoo account recently.

There's a very glaring issue that I don't see being discussed here. And that is, the lack of good product images.

I run a Shopify store and also sell on Amazon. As online retailers, I guess we all understand the importance of good product images in our listings.

Unfortunately, most of the wholesalers / dropshippers have very low resolution images. And most often, there is only a single image per product.

Am I missing something here. Is there a way to get more images through some other means?

I would very much appreciate your input on this, as this issue seems to severely restrict my use of this directory.

Thank you for your time.

Regards
Daniel

Hi Daniel, welcome to the forum,

It is a subject that that comes up on the forum every now and then when someone runs into the exact frustrating problem as you currently are. I couldn't agree more about a picture/s being a super important marketing tool, but for whatever reason, many suppliers just simply don't share that same opinion and provide sellers with nothing short of garbage.

What's the solution?
Well here everyone has the exact same limitations. If you are working with an ignorant supplier who simply doesn't get the value of providing their agents with quality tools to help get the job done, then you have the following options.

1. Try to convince them of the importance and see if they will go out of their way to do that (doesn't hurt to ask, but the chances are it won't work)
2. Try Google Images to see if you can find any usable copyright free images that suit
3. Buy one of each product and set-up your own pics
4. Hire an artist to do replica art work of the products, not something I have seen many do, if any at all, but and option non-the-less

Unfortunately we can suggest that suppliers do many things to help out our members in providing them with all sorts of tools to assist in getting sales, which after all benefits both the seller and the supplier, but that's all we can do ... make the suggestion ... and experience has taught me that supplier ignorance will win out over common sense every time.

Simple fact, many sellers simply aren't switched on at all, just like many sellers. Both look for the easiest possible way of doing things and they just aren't interested in moving from that course. Of course then when they ultimately fail, it's everyone else's fault, never they're own ignorance, but that's just the way it works unfortunately.

If by chance you are interested in exploring the possibility of getting some replica art work done for product marketing, shoot me a PM and I'll pass on contact info for a studio that I work with on different projects.

Cheers

Hi Mark, thank you for a very detailed answer. Really appreciate your effort.

You mentioned that you can suggest to suppliers that they provide good tools for Salehoo members.

But instead of suggesting, why can't Salehoo make that a major criterion for entry into the directory.

When suppliers wish to be listed on Salehoo, if you tell them that they can't get in unless they provide good pictures, wouldn't that motivate them to focus on getting better pictures for their products.

Everyone gains from that. The suppliers, Salehoo members, buyers, and finally Salehoo itself.

But it all depends on Salehoo making this a strict entry criterion for suppliers.

If Salehoo strictly enforces this rule, then it would make the directory extremely useful. But without good pictures, the directory's usefulness is severely crippled.

Thanks again for your consideration.

Regards
Daniel

Hi Daniel,

Ideas like your always seem good in theory, but can have a serious impact in reality. For example, we get dozens of suggestions like this, some suggest we only list suppliers with the best prices, others suggest we only list suppliers from a single country (usually the one the member is in of course), we even have members suggesting we only list suppliers with fast shipping times and the list goes on.

If we were to implement such suggestions can you imagine how many suppliers there would be left for our members to safely trade with ....... I'm just guessing here, but I'm thinking not many at all.

We can only ever suggest ideas to suppliers that we feel will assist our members in selling their products and therefore, the members and the suppliers are both making money. We can't force any supplier to do what they simply refuse to do, so what we do is verify as many options as we can for members to choose from. Then if they have a problem with one for whatever reason, bad pics for example, then they can choose another that is far more understanding of their requirements.

In an ideal world every supplier would be switched on to the point of knowing what they need to provide to maximize the chances of sales and provide those tools to their agents, but unfortunately many just don't and refuse to. The quickest way to change their mind is to not deal with them, if their business suffers, then that usually catches their attention.

For me, this is just a reason to NOT use a supplier because if they are this ignorant, then what sort of garbage customer service will they be providing?

What tends to happen now in this industry is that they are flooded with so many customers, that they don't care of they loose 50 customers a day because they are too lazy to take decent pics because they know those 50 will be replaced by another 50 who will just accept the poor images and try their best with what they have ... as silly as that is.

Change like this comes from customers like you demanding change from the supplier.

Thanks Mark. I'll try to force as many suppliers I am interested in, to provide better pictures.

I wish you success, because any success you have lays the ground work for others to also benefit. It might also be a good idea to share some correspondence you get in regards to your request, will give others an insight into the mentality of the suppliers.

Cheers