How to photograph clothes to sell online

Photos do most of the selling. A buyer scrolling a marketplace sees your first photo for a second, maybe less, and decides from that alone whether to tap. Once they're on the listing, the rest of your photos have to answer the questions they'd ask if they were holding the piece: what colour is it really, how does it hang, what's the fabric like, and is that a mark on the cuff?

You don't need a studio or an expensive camera to do this well. A recent phone, a window, a plain wall and a routine you repeat every time will get you most of the way. This guide walks through the setup, the shots to take, and the small habits that make a shop look consistent.

1. Light: a window beats a lamp

Soft daylight is the easiest good light there is, and it's free. Set up near a large window that doesn't get direct sun, or shoot on a bright overcast day. Direct sun throws hard shadows and blows out whites. Indoor ceiling bulbs tint everything yellow or green, and mixing them with daylight makes colours impossible to match.

• Turn the room lights off. One kind of light at a time keeps colours true.
• Put the window to the side of the piece, not behind it. Light from behind turns the piece into a silhouette.
• Bounce light into the shadow side with a sheet of white foam board or card. It costs a few dollars and lifts dark folds without a second lamp.
• Shoot at the same time of day if you can. Morning light and late afternoon light look different, and a shop photographed at random hours looks patchy.

If you shoot after dark or in a room without good windows, two matching daylight-balanced LED panels or softboxes, one each side, will give you steady light all year. Buy a pair of the same model so they match.

2. Background and how the piece is shown

The background's job is to disappear. A plain white or light grey wall, a sheet of seamless paper, or a smooth bedsheet pulled tight all work. Avoid busy floors, beds with pillows, and anything else in the frame that a buyer might think is included.

There are three common ways to show clothing, and each has its place:

Pick one main method for each type of piece and stick to it. A shop where every coat is on the same form, against the same wall, from the same distance looks considered, and buyers can compare pieces at a glance.

3. The phone and its settings

Most phones from the last few years take photos that are more than good enough for any marketplace. A few settings make a bigger difference than the phone itself:

• Clean the lens. A thumbprint smear is the most common reason a phone photo looks hazy.
• Shoot at 2x and step back. At 1x the phone's wide angle stretches and warps a garment, especially at the edges, and the ultra-wide lens is worse. 2x keeps the shape true to life.
• Hold the phone level with the middle of the piece. Shooting down from above makes the top look wide and the hem look short.
• Tap to focus on the fabric, then drag the exposure slider down a touch if whites look washed out.
• Turn off filters and portrait mode for listing photos. Blurred edges can hide the very details buyers want to see.
• Use a small tripod or prop the phone so every shot is taken from the same height and distance.

Check the size each marketplace asks for. eBay, for example, requires at least 500 pixels on the longest side and doesn't allow borders, added text or watermarks, or stock photos for used items. A phone photo is far larger than that minimum, so the real rule is simply to upload the original rather than a screenshot.

4. The shot list

Take the same set of photos for every piece, in the same order. Buyers learn your shop's rhythm, and you never forget the one shot that would have answered a question.

1. Front, full length. This is your cover photo. The whole piece, centred, with a little space around it.
2. Back, full length. Same distance and framing as the front.
3. Side or three-quarter view, to show shape and drape.
4. A close-up of the fabric, so buyers can see the weave, knit or texture.
5. The brand label. Sharp enough to read.
6. The care and content label, including country of manufacture. These help buyers trust your dating and materials.
7. Details that add value: buttons, hardware, a lining, embroidery, a zip pull.
8. Every flaw, close up, with something nearby for scale.
9. A measurement photo if you like: tape laid across the chest or along the inseam.

The order matters most for the first photo, which is the one that appears in search results. Make it the clearest, best-lit view of the whole piece. Save styling shots and outfits for later in the set.

The label shots earn their place twice. When you list with VYA, it reads the brand, the fibre content and the RN number from them to fill in the listing.

5. Photograph flaws honestly

Vintage comes with history, and most buyers accept that. What they don't accept is a surprise. A stain, a pulled thread, a small hole or a faded patch should each get its own clear photo and a line in the description saying where it is.

• Shoot each flaw in the same light as the rest, so it isn't hidden by shadow or exaggerated by flash.
• Put a coin or ruler beside small marks so buyers can judge the size.
• Show the flaw in context too: a close-up of a mark, then a wider shot showing it sits on the inside hem, not the front.

Clear flaw photos protect you. On most marketplaces, a buyer who claims an item wasn't as described is harder to argue with when your photos and description didn't mention the problem. When they did, you have a record.

6. Colour you can trust

Colour is the most common thing buyers say looked different in person. A few habits keep it honest:

• Shoot in one kind of light, as above, and don't mix daylight with lamps.
• If a colour looks wrong on screen, adjust white balance in your editing app using a white or neutral grey area of the photo, not by eye.
• For colours that cameras struggle with, like deep reds, cobalt blue and some greens, add a line in the description such as "true colour is closer to the close-up photo".
• Check the photos on your phone and on a computer before you list. If they look different, trust the one that matches the piece in your hand.

7. Light editing, not retouching

A little editing is normal. Crop so pieces sit in the same place in every frame, straighten anything tilted, and lift brightness a touch if a photo is dark. Stop there. Smoothing out wrinkles is fine when you'd steam them out anyway, but removing stains, pilling or fading from the picture misleads the buyer and leads to returns.

A clean white or light background makes a shop look consistent, especially on marketplaces where your photo sits next to everyone else's. You can remove a background in many editing apps, or by setting up a plain backdrop in the first place.

8. Steam first, shoot second

Preparation shows up in every photo. Before a piece goes in front of the camera:

• Steam or press it. Fold lines and creases from storage are the first thing a buyer's eye goes to.
• Lint-roll dark fabrics. Dust and pet hair show up sharply in a close-up.
• Do up the buttons and zips, and straighten collars and belts.
• Tuck away loose tags and threads you don't intend to show.
• For knits, a fabric shaver can remove light pilling, as long as you still mention the wear.

This is also the moment to check the piece once more for flaws you missed, while it's under good light.

9. Build a routine you can repeat

Speed comes from not having to think. Many sellers shoot in batches: steam ten pieces, then photograph them one after another with the same setup, then edit and list them all together. Batching keeps the light and framing the same, and it's far quicker than setting up for each piece. VYA's bulk upload takes a whole batch of photos at once and sorts them into pieces for you.

Mark where things go. A bit of tape on the floor for the tripod and on the wall for the top of the form means every photo is framed the same way, even weeks apart.

Once your photos are done, the title and description do the rest of the work. Our guide to writing listings that sell covers what to put in them, and how to price vintage clothing covers what to charge.

A quick photo checklist

• Soft daylight from the side, room lights off.
• Plain, uncluttered background.
• Lens cleaned, shooting at 2x, phone level with the piece.
• Piece steamed, lint-rolled and buttoned up.
• Front, back, side, fabric, labels, details and every flaw.
• Clearest full-length shot first.
• Colours checked against the piece in your hand.
• Light edits only. Nothing hidden.

How VYA helps

VYA turns the photos you've just taken into a listing:

• Listings drafted from your photos: title, description, brand, era, material and condition, for you to check.
• Labels read for you, including the brand, fibre content and RN number when they're legible.
• Background removal on every plan, on as many photos as you like.
• Ghost mannequin covers, with a monthly allowance by plan: 30 on Starter, 100 on Studio and 250 on Pro.
• Batches welcome: upload a set of photos and VYA sorts them into pieces.

Memberships are $49 (Starter), $129 (Studio) and $199 (Pro) a month, with 30, 100 or 250 AI listings a month.

Start selling with VYA

Common questions

Marketplace rules and fees change. Details in this guide were checked in October 2026; always confirm on each marketplace's or provider's own pages.