Wornfy

Selling guides

One guide per kind of garment: how to photograph it, what buyers check before they message you, and the mistake that costs the most sales. No invented statistics — just what the item itself demands.

Knitwear

Knitwear is the hardest thing to sell from a flat photo, because the whole appeal is how it hangs. Laid on a bed a cable knit reads as a shapeless rectangle, and the buyer cannot tell whether it is oversized, cropped or true to size. Shown on a body the same jumper sells itself.

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Dresses

A dress is bought on drape and length, and both of those are invisible on a hanger. The two questions in every message a dress seller receives are where it falls on the leg and how it sits at the waist — a photo on a body answers both before anyone has to ask.

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Jeans

Jeans sell on measurements more than on photographs, because sizing is inconsistent between every brand ever made. The photo's job is narrower than usual: show the wash, the leg shape and the rise honestly, and put the real measurements in the description.

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Jackets

A jacket is structure, and structure photographs badly flat. Shoulders collapse, lapels fold in on themselves, and a well-cut blazer ends up looking like a bin bag. This is the category where showing the garment worn changes the perceived value most.

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Coats

Coats are the highest-value item most casual sellers ever list, and the one where a bad photo costs the most money. Weight, length and how the collar sits are what a buyer is paying for, and a coat crumpled on a duvet communicates none of them.

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Trainers

Trainers are bought by people who already know exactly what they want, which makes this category unusual: the buyer is searching for a model name, not browsing. Your title does most of the work and your photos only have to confirm condition honestly.

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Boots

Boots hold their value better than almost any other second-hand item, and buyers know it. They expect wear and are looking for whether it is the kind that polishes out or the kind that means the boot is finished.

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Bags

Bags are the category where buyers are most alert to fakes, which changes what a good listing looks like. Photographs of hardware, stitching and interior labels do more for a bag listing than any styled shot ever will.

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Skirts

Skirts are almost always bought on length and waist, in that order. Because the same nominal size varies wildly between a mini and a midi, the measurement in the description carries more weight here than in any other category except jeans.

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Trousers

Trousers other than jeans are a quieter category with less competition, which makes titles matter. A buyer searching for tailored, wide leg or cargo is describing a shape, so the shape belongs in the first three words of your title.

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Hoodies

Hoodies move fast and cheaply, which means the winning listing is the one that took the least effort to trust. Buyers are mostly checking that the print has not cracked and that it has not been washed to a smaller size.

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Cardigans

Cardigans sit awkwardly between knitwear and outerwear, and buyers treat them as both. The listing that does well makes clear which one it is: a thin layering cardigan and a heavy coat-weight one attract entirely different searches.

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Blazers

Blazers are bought for a reason — an interview, an office, a wedding — which means the buyer is often in a hurry and has a date in mind. Listings that state the fit and the shoulder measurement clearly get answered first.

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Activewear

Activewear is bought on brand, size and honesty about wear, in that order. Because the fabrics are technical, buyers care about things that do not apply anywhere else: whether the fabric has gone sheer, whether the waistband still holds, whether it has been washed with fabric softener.

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Occasionwear

Occasionwear is seasonal and deadline-driven: your buyer has an event in three weeks and is searching in a panic. Listings that mention the occasion in plain words — wedding guest, prom, black tie — appear in the searches people actually type.

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Shoes

Shoes other than trainers and boots are a broad category where the buyer is usually looking for a shape rather than a brand: loafers, ballet flats, mules. Naming the shape in the title matters more here than naming the maker.

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Accessories

Accessories are small, cheap to post and easy to photograph badly. Scale is the whole problem: a scarf, a belt and a piece of jewellery all look the same size in a photograph unless you put something familiar next to them.

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Shorts

Shorts are strongly seasonal and strongly length-driven. The gap between an inseam of seven centimetres and one of thirteen is the difference between two entirely different garments, and buyers filter on it hard.

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