How to take product photos with your phone
You do not need a camera, a studio or editing software to take photos that sell. You need a window, a clean surface and five minutes.
Start with light, not with the phone
Light matters more than the camera. Take your photos in daylight, next to a window or outside in the shade. Direct sunshine creates hard shadows and bleached colours; a bright but cloudy day is ideal. Switch the flash off: it flattens the item, adds glare to screens and glossy surfaces, and makes colours look wrong.
Clear the background
A buyer should see the item, not your living room. Put small things on a plain table, a sheet of paper or a neutral blanket. Photograph furniture against an empty wall, and move the laundry basket out of the frame. For cars and bikes, an empty parking space works better than a crowded street.
Clean the item first
Wipe fingerprints off screens, dust off shelves, mud off tyres. It takes a minute and changes the impression completely: a clean item looks cared for, and buyers assume it works as well as it looks.
Take more angles than you think you need
One photo raises questions; six answer them. A useful set looks like this:
- The whole item from the front. This is your cover photo.
- The back and the sides.
- A close-up of the label, model number or size tag.
- Details that add value: ports, soles, tyre tread, the inside of a bag.
- Everything that is included, laid out together: box, charger, cables, manuals.
- Something for scale when size is not obvious, such as a hand, a coin or a tape measure.
Make the first photo count
The first photo is the one buyers see while scrolling. Fill the frame with the item, keep it straight, and hold the phone sideways: a landscape shot fits the ad cards on MooN Market best, with nothing important cut off at the edges.
Show the flaws
Photograph the scratch, the dent and the worn corner up close, and mention them in the description. It feels wrong to advertise defects, but it works in your favour: buyers who have seen the flaw do not argue about it at pick-up, and clear photos are the best evidence of an item's condition if there is ever a disagreement after delivery.
Keep it real
Skip the filters. Heavy editing makes colours misleading, and catalogue pictures copied from a shop tell the buyer nothing about your item. Buyers want to see the actual thing they will receive.
This is what the Live photo badge is for. When you post an ad from your phone, you can take the picture with the camera inside MooN Market instead of choosing one from your gallery. That photo gets a badge showing it was taken on the spot, a simple signal that the item is really in your hands.
Protect your privacy
- Cover or avoid licence plates, addresses on parcels and documents with personal details.
- Watch for reflections in mirrors, windows and screens.
- Location data is not stored with photos on MooN Market, whether you upload them or take them live.
Common mistakes
- Dark, yellowish photos taken at night under a ceiling lamp.
- A blurry shot, because the phone moved. Rest your elbows on the table and tap the screen to focus.
- Only one photo.
- Screenshots of a web shop instead of the real item.
- The item half out of the frame.
Once the photos are done, the rest of the ad is quick. See how to write an ad that sells.