For less expensive books, group pictures are fine. The question is, what is "less expensive" for me, I scan pretty much anything, but I can see group pictures for books sold in lots that average less than $2.00 each.
I also don't mind a picture instead of a scan, as long as they are not blurry. Too many cell phone pictures are blurry, but they CAN be great if you just take the 10 seconds after to hold the camera (phone) still while the phone updates..
I think anything above a $1 should have a scan that's just me. I think most sellers/buyers would agree.
A lot of issues lately are just from the new influx of boardies that are trying their hand at selling for the first time. I just don't think we are as flexible as we used to be. We grab the torch first now a lot of times and some seem to enjoy it.
I would agree with you, but I'm seeing boardies with newer start dates and with start dates going way back who don't have scans on books marked for way more than $50, sometimes hundreds.
As a collector, I want to SEE what I'm buying and many times the pictures attract me to something that I had no idea I "needed".
Maybe we have more and more people who see comics as stocks, you don't see pictures of stocks, you just buy and sell pieces of paper.
Kind of sad, there is so much to love in the medium.
I buy books I never heard because of the pictures if it looks interesting. More so on cheaper books.