How To Create Listing Photos That Make $13,916/Mo

About this video

The creator breaks down three listing-photo mistakes she says make products look worse than competitors’ and cost clicks. First, one-dimensional photos: removing the background and placing the product on a flat white, colored, or themed background, especially with a border, plus even lighting with no shadows, makes the item look artificial and unfocused; a real photo with directional light and natural shadow around edges and handles looks far more convincing. Second, distracting or dated props, both in the seller’s own photos and in mockups, can polarize buyers and date a listing. She advises avoiding items such as Converse sneakers, bright green or silver-dollar eucalyptus, farmhouse shiplap and wooden beads, dated denim, Gerber daisies and tulips, pots of succulents, sunglasses, flip-flops and other footwear, coasters on wooden desks, and marble. Props should never be shown in full or become the focus; show only a cropped sliver, keep the product sharp and the background blurred, for example with phone portrait mode. Third, she gives an 80% rule: the product should fill at least 80% of the thumbnail and be centered on the product alone, because buyers decide in search results, mostly on phones, not on the listing page.

Key takeaways

• Avoid flat cut-outs on white, colored or themed backgrounds — use real directional lighting and shadows so the product looks three-dimensional.
• Audit every prop in photos and mockups and remove dated, distracting or polarizing ones, including farmhouse staples and footwear.
• Keep props partial and out of focus — never show the full couch, table or plant if it is not part of what is being sold.
• Fill at least 80% of the thumbnail with the product itself and center the frame on the product, not on surrounding props.
• Judge photos at thumbnail size in search results on a phone, where text and detail must still be readable to earn the click.

Episode details: published March 24, 2025 · 6:47 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dylan Jahraus’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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