How many photos should a car listing have, and in what order?
How many photos to post per car, which shot goes first, the order buyers expect, and how to keep every listing on your lot matching. With each site's photo limits.
Post 20 to 30 photos of a used car, starting with the front 3/4 shot, then the walkaround, the interior, and close-ups of any damage. Use the same order on every car, so a buyer flipping between your listings finds the odometer and the trunk in the same place each time.
How many photos
Only eBay puts a number on it in its own help pages:
| Site | Photos |
|---|---|
| eBay Motors | Up to 24. Its Motors photo guide asks for at least 12 |
| CarGurus | Its dealer blog says 20 or more work best for leads |
| Google vehicle ads, Cars.com, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace | No number on their own help pages that we could find |
20 to 30 covers a full walkaround, the interior and the damage without padding. Don't fill the count with near-duplicates. Each photo should show something the others don't: the other side, the back seat, a feature, a scratch. The photo requirements by site has sizes and file rules for each site.
Which photo goes first
The first photo is the one buyers see in search results, so it decides who clicks. Use the front 3/4 shot from the driver's side, at about 45 degrees, with the whole car in the frame and some room around the mirrors, roof and bumpers. Google vehicle ads asks for that angle and rejects a rear view as the main image (image guidelines). On eBay and Craigslist, the first photo is the one shown next to your title.
The order
- Front 3/4, driver's side
- Straight front, then front 3/4 passenger side
- Passenger side
- Rear 3/4, straight rear, other rear 3/4
- Driver's side
- Dashboard, with the odometer readable
- Front seats, rear seats, trunk
- Engine bay
- Wheels and tire tread
- Every dent, scratch, chip and worn seat
A convertible needs the top up and down, and a work van needs the cargo area. The phone photo guide covers how to take each shot.
Check the order after the feed
Your website, Autotrader, Facebook and the rest usually get the photos through your inventory feed (vAuto, HomeNet or your website provider), and the order doesn't always survive. A site that shows fewer photos than you sent keeps the first ones, so the damage close-ups at the end are the first to go. After a car goes live, open the listing on each site on your phone and check that the right photo is first and the rest are in order.
Make every car match
Save one good set as the example everyone on the lot follows: the first shot, how much room around the car, the order. When someone new takes the photos, they match the example instead of guessing.
Shoot in the same spot and similar light. A matching background makes your listings look like one shoot. A photo booth gives you that by fixing the room, at a cost covered in the booth guide. Replacing the background on lot photos gets the same look without one.
The Porsche was parked next to another car outside an office. With the background replaced, it matches a studio set without a booth. The reflections in the windshield are still from where it was shot, because LotReady doesn't relight the car.
Check the next few listings
Compare the next few listings with your example. If the first photo is too tight, step back. If the interior is missing, add it to the list. If the wrong photo shows first on a site, fix the order in the feed. Before you post edited photos, check them against the originals with the edited photo checklist.