Photo Size Limits for Poshmark, Mercari, Depop, eBay: One Set for All

Export each photo as a square and resize to approximately 2000 x 2000. Center your item in the photo and leave a margin. Depop allows a limit of 8 photos and that is the strictest of all the marketplaces, so whatever you put in slots 1 to 8 reaches all the buyers on all the sites.

Before you start: what each marketplace does to your photos

Because marketplaces have different rules on the number of photos and how they are cropped, one set has to be made for the strictest rules. If you crosslist by hand you’ve likely seen a jacket’s collar sliced off by Poshmark, or discovered that Depop has deleted your measurement photo because it was number 11. Both of these happen because you’ve edited for one site and uploaded for all.

Below are the rules published at the time of writing. Marketplaces often change their rules, so check the upload window the first time you list after you’ve read this. The plan in this guide will still work if a number changes, because it is designed for the smallest count and the strictest crop.

When it comes to the numbers, the smallest photo count is 8 on Depop. The tightest common crop is square with Etsy allowing a wider crop for search thumbnails. If your photos are square and the subject of your item sits in the middle 80% of the frame, then the item is in the photo and nothing is important in the corners that get cut off.

Here's what you need before you edit:

• 10 to 14 photos of the item taken with good lighting. The more the better.
• A phone editor that is free and allows you to crop a 1:1 ratio and set the resolution. The iPhone Photos App, Google Photos, and Snapseed all let you do this.
• An album or folder named after the item you want to sell.
• A note of the item's measurements and flaws to let you know where to put the photos. The first 8 photos of the item should be the clearest and best so no cropping can improve this.

Crop to 1:1. No cropping can fix poor exposure, take better photos first!

Steps: edit once, upload everywhere

You’ll crop, check, rank, rename and export once for each item, and the process takes about 10 minutes per item. Follow these steps in this particular order, because ranking only makes sense after you see which shots made it past the cropping.

1. Copy the raw shots for one item into their own album so you never edit the originals.
2. Delete clearly bad photos. These include blurry photos, duplicates, and photos of items behind hand or other clutter.
3. Open the first photo in your editor and set the crop ratio to square, 1:1.
4. Position the crop so that the whole item is within the center 80 percent of the square, leaving a margin on all sides.
5. Straighten the photo so the item's center seam, hem or label edge is level.
6. Adjust brightness and white balance to make the color as close as possible to the item in daylight. Buyers return items that look different in color.
7. Repeat the steps crop, straighten and color for the rest of the photos, using the same settings on your editor where you can copy the edits.
8. Rank the photos: cover shot first, then back, brand label, size tag, flaws, measurements, material tag and key detail.
9. Check that every flaw and measurement shot is in positions 1 to 8; move them up if not.
10. Rename or number the files 01 to 12 in that order so upload screens sort them correctly.
11. Export at 2000 by 2000 pixels as a JPEG to maintain file size, while going above and beyond eBay's minimum of 500 pixels.
12. Upload the full set where the limit allows it, and only photos 01 to 08 on Depop.

Most people skip Step 4. posts on Poshmark need a square crop that fills the frame edge to edge. Etsy uses a wider thumbnail, so you lose the hem in the post. Using a square site is free and saves you from having to crop the listing on the other sites.

Step 9 is very important, and it happens on Depop and other reselling platforms. Last photos always fall off. With Step 9, if you need to list an item with fewer photos than planned, the flaws fall off first. This also protects you during disputes, because the buyer cannot claim you were hiding the flaws.

Worked example: a 12-photo jacket cut down to a square-safe set

An original set of 15 photos of a denim trucker jacket ended up as a 12-photo square set. Here is a step-by-step analysis of how that edit went.

The 15 photos were taken on a phone in portrait orientation, captured 3024 x 4032 pixels. The photos were taken on a hanger against a white door. Three photos were deleted during the second step. Two were similar front shots and one was a back shot with the hanger hook blurred.

To make a portrait shot into a square, you have to remove about a quarter of the photo, usually from the bottom. The default crop of the first photo of the set took off too much, so it was cropped to show the collar and a good amount of the white door. The hem was also cropped to show the good amount of white door. It was zoomed out slightly to show the edge of the sleeve since it was really close. The colors were adjusted a little so the denim wouldn’t look as gray as it is in real life.

Finally, the ranking. Here it is:

1. 01 Front with a buttoned full jacket (cover).
2. 02 Back with a full jacket.
3. 03 Brand patch on the back waistband.
4. 04 Size tag on the collar with an M.
5. 05 Flaw with a close up of a small fade spot on the left cuff with a coin for scale.
6. 06 Pit to pit measurement with a tape measure, 21.5 inches.
7. 07 Collar to hem measurement, 25 inches.
8. 08 Material and Care tag with 100 percent cotton.
9. (01-08) Everything a buyer needs to decide, including the flaw and both measurements, is in 01 to 08. Nice-to-haves are in 09 to 12.
10. (09) Close-up of one of the buttons to show the stamp on the hardware.
11. (10) Shirt lining and seams.
12. (11) Chest pocket detail.

(12) Alternate view of the front, unbuttoned and slightly turned, as styled.

12 were exported at 2000 x 2000 pixels, each roughly 1 to 2 MB. The upload was as follows: Poshmark took all 12, with room for 4 more. Mercari took all 12. eBay took all 12. Etsy took 01 to 10. Facebook Marketplace took 01 to 10. Depop took 01 to 08 and the shop's grid preview showed the front cover with full collar and hem view.

I didn't edit any single picture more than once. The processing time was around 12 minutes, and the uploads were the long part, which was unavoidable if doing this manually.

Export checklist for any free phone editor

Test your final set against this list before you upload. It only takes a minute and almost always catches any mistakes in counts or crops.

• Every photo is exactly square, 1:1, with no stray portrait shot left in the set.
• The item has a visible margin on all four sides in every photo.
• The cover shot shows the whole item, front facing, on a plain background.
• Flaws and measurements sit in positions 1 to 8.
• Files are numbered 01, 02 and onward so they upload in order.
• Each export is around 2000 by 2000 pixels; nothing is below 1000 pixels.
• Color matches the item in daylight on a second screen, not just your phone.
• The set is 12 photos or fewer, so Mercari never forces a cut you did not choose.
• You know which 8 go to Depop before you open the app.

Crosslist one photo set to six marketplaces with PrimeLister

Once your photo set fits every marketplace, the next time sink is uploading it six times and remembering to pull the listing everywhere it sells. PrimeLister helps automate this process. You create your listing once, with your photo set that covers all the markets, and send it to the other marketplaces, which puts the same jacket in front of more buyers, without doing the upload work.

• Crosslisting to Poshmark, eBay, Mercari, Depop, Etsy and Facebook Marketplace from one listing.
• Inventory sync with auto-delisting once an item sells, so the jacket cannot sell twice.
• Bulk actions on multiple listings, useful when you update a batch of items at once.
• A free find-duplicates tool to catch the same item listed twice in your inventory.
• Analytics on sell-through rate and time on market, so you can see which items need fresh photos.

The Poshmark and Depop Bots each have 7-day free trials and do not require a credit card. If you sell on these platforms, you will most likely be interested in these offers.

Frequently asked questions

Is square mode on your camera app a good feature to use? Generally speaking, it’s best not to use it. In the traditional camera aspect ratio of 4:3, you can always crop if needed. This allows for greater flexibility to move the focal point and leaves less chance for failure.

Does eBay require larger photos than other platforms? The minimum requirement on eBay is 500 pixels for the longest side. This allows buyers to zoom in on details. A 2000 pixel square photo takes care of this, and allows details to be shown on other platforms as well.

What if I only sell on 2 marketplaces? Build for the stricter of the 2 platforms, but keep the 8 picture limit. If you later add Depop or other platforms, your existing listings are already ready to go.