Checklist before posting photos to sell something online
Selling secondhand means showing photos taken in your home to strangers. The GPS coordinates inside the file are one risk, but the background of the photo can also hint at where you live. One quick pass through the steps below prevents most of it before you post on Facebook Marketplace, eBay, Craigslist, Vinted, Gumtree or any other marketplace.
1. Check the information inside the file
The coordinates of a photo taken at home are, in effect, your home address. Some marketplace apps remove this information when they re-save uploads, but each app handles it differently and few say exactly what they do. So the default is to remove it yourself before uploading.
- iPhone: tap Options at the top of the share sheet and turn off Location, or open the photo's info, tap Adjust next to the location and choose No Location. Step-by-step guide
- Galaxy: turn on Remove location data in the share panel. Step-by-step guide
- Check: open the photo in PhotoBookInfo and look for the "No location" badge in the summary. If it says "Location found · tap to show", upload the file made with Save clean copy instead.
Marketplaces usually show buyers a rough area such as your town or postcode district. That is very different from exact coordinates, which can point to your building within a few metres.
2. Check what is in the frame
Removing metadata does nothing about what is visible in the picture. Before posting, zoom in and look into every corner.
| View from the window | Buildings opposite, shop signs, street names, house numbers, and landmarks such as hills or bridges all narrow down your location. |
|---|---|
| Parcels and mail | Names and addresses on shipping labels, bills and receipts. Item boxes very often still have a shipping label on them. |
| Reflections | Mirrors, monitors, glass and glossy appliance surfaces can reflect your face or the inside of your home. |
| What is on screens | When selling a phone or laptop, make sure no lock-screen notifications, names or account details are visible. |
| Family and vehicles | Children's faces, school uniforms or school names, car number plates. |
| Unique product numbers | Publishing a full serial number or IMEI invites misuse. Cover part of it if needed, and show the full number only to a buyer who has committed to buy. |
3. Habits that reduce risk while shooting
- Shoot against a plain wall, floor or cloth. The item also shows up better, which helps it sell.
- Do not shoot with a window behind the item. You avoid backlighting and keep the view out of the frame.
- Remove the shipping label from a box, or turn the box so the label faces away.
- If you often take photos for selling, consider turning off location recording in your camera app.
If you crop a photo to remove the background, some editing methods can leave the uncropped image in the small embedded thumbnail inside the file. PhotoBookInfo shows the embedded thumbnail too, so take a look. What is an embedded thumbnail?
4. The checklist on one page
- Location data is removed, or a clean copy is ready.
- No view from the window, shop signs or house numbers are visible.
- No shipping labels, receipts or mail are visible.
- Nothing is reflected in mirrors or screens.
- No faces, number plates or school names are visible.
- Serial numbers are shown only to the buyer who needs them.
Once all six are ticked, go ahead and post. When the sale is agreed, meeting in a busy public place is safer than meeting outside your home.
Check what your photo is carryingPhotoBookInfo reads photos inside your browser and never uploads them. It tells you if a location is stored and makes a clean copy for you.
Check a photo