Facebook Marketplace photo tips that actually sell items
The listing photo is the whole ballgame. Buyers scroll fast — a clean, bright, clutter-free shot is the difference between "sold in a day" and "relisted three times." Here's how to shoot second-hand items well with just a phone.
1. Light it like a window, not a lamp
Daylight is free and flattering. Shoot next to a large window during the day, with the light coming from the side rather than behind you. Turn off the ceiling light — mixing warm bulbs with cool daylight gives everything a muddy colour cast. Never use the phone flash; it flattens the item and throws a harsh shadow.
2. Kill the background
A messy background makes even good gear look like junk. Buyers subconsciously read "cluttered photo" as "dodgy seller." Options, in order of effort:
- Drape a plain bedsheet or a sheet of poster paper behind and under the item.
- Shoot against a blank wall or a clean floorboard.
- Or skip the setup entirely and remove the background afterwards (see the one-minute trick below).
3. Fill the frame, then leave a little air
Get close enough that the item takes up ~85% of the frame, but leave a small margin so nothing is cropped awkwardly. Shoot at the item's eye level, not from above looking down — top-down angles distort proportions and make furniture look small.
4. Show the truth (and the flaws)
One hero shot to stop the scroll, then honest detail shots: any scratches, labels, model numbers, and what's included. Buyers trust listings that show wear — it means fewer time-wasting "is it actually mint?" messages.
5. Square it up for the feed
Facebook and Gumtree crop to a square in the grid. If your hero shot is a wide landscape photo, the crop will chop the item in half. Frame with a 1:1 square in mind, or export a square version so the thumbnail looks intentional.
The one-minute clean-up trick
If your item is already photographed but the background is busy, you don't need to reshoot. Listshot takes one phone photo and gives you three listing-ready versions — a clean studio-white cutout, a soft-shadow version, and a square crop — right in your browser. Free to preview.
Clean up a photo →6. Reuse a consistent look
Sellers who move a lot of items win by looking like a "shop": same white background, same square format, every listing. It signals reliability and lets buyers focus on the item, not the mess around it. Consistency is cheap and it compounds.
Do these six things and your items will read as cared-for and legit — which is exactly what makes someone message "still available?" instead of scrolling past.
Category guides: photographing furniture · photographing sneakers for Depop.