Customer comments on product photos

Has anyone else ever gotten this one?

[DylanW]

Today we had a comment on the phone asking why the pictures found on a certain page of our site were drawings, not photos. I wasn't the one answering the phone, so I don't know the specifics, but I have heard this about 3-4 times in the last year or so about our site.

At the time I chalked it up to our photos (I'm more of a web designer/developer than a photographer or a Photoshop guru, and my boss wants the pictures to be bright, which requires quite a bit of editing. Needless to say they could be better.) Today I begin wondering if this was a correct assumption on my part. Has anyone else had customers make this comment (or similar comments that seem to be out in left field) about product photos?

[Shak]

Quality photographs are an absolute MUST on the internet.

a LOT of the buying decision is based on the quality of the image.

get your boss to pay for professional photographs asap, the rewards will far outweigh the costs.

Shak

[mivox]

If I were you, I'd try to get your boss to at least send the raw digital images to a graphic designer for editing. It would really increase customer confidence to feel they were looking at an accurate image of the product.

I got a printed catalog in the mail not long ago, full of childrens toys and things of that sort... and all of the products were illustrated! I compared a few of the products to another catalog I had (full of photos), and verified that the illustrations were accurate, but I still didn't feel comfortable ordering from them.