Photos and a profile that get the first message

What the numbers say about new profiles

panty.com follows every new seller's first two weeks and counts one thing: did a buyer write? Each group has at least 200 sellers, and the figures are recalculated every night.

• A profile picture. 50% of new sellers with one got a first buyer message within two weeks.
• A listing in week one. 55% of new sellers who listed in their first week got a first message within two weeks.
• All three (a picture, a listing in week one and an About me of at least 80 characters): 76% heard from a buyer.

These are correlations, not promises: sellers who set up all three may simply log in more often. They count first messages, not sales or income. Our own counts also suggest that extra listing photos or a longer description make only a small difference to a listing's views. The profile is where the difference is made, so start there.

The profile picture: no face needed

Your profile picture appears next to your nickname in chats and on your profile. It can be anything that looks cared for and gives nothing away.

• A detail: the strap of a top, the lace edge of a pair, a ribbon or a button on a fabric you like.
• A flat lay: your favourite pair on a plain sheet, folded the way you'd present it.
• A styled corner: a chair, a scarf, a mug, as long as nothing in the frame belongs to a recognisable room.

The quickest route is built in: under Profile picture, "Choose from my photos" turns one of the photos on your profile into your picture with one tap. Don't use a photo you've posted anywhere else, because a reverse image search can find it; the guide to selling anonymously has the rest of the privacy checklist.

Listing photos: four that do the work

The listing editor takes up to eight photos (JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 10 MB each), and each empty space suggests a shot: Cover, Detail, Worn, Label, then Close-up, Size, Parcel and More. The first four answer most buyers' questions.

1. Cover: the whole pair, laid flat, with nothing else in the frame. This is the photo on every card.
2. Detail: the fabric up close: the lace pattern, the cotton weave, the trim.
3. Worn: a shot that shows the cut. An explicit photo won't pass the check for public view.
4. Label: the tag with size and fabric, the two things buyers ask about most.

Guests and search engines only see listings that passed the check for public view, and only the photos in them that passed it too; members who are logged in see more. With Private profile switched on in Settings, guests and search engines don't see your profile or listings at all, while members still do and can message you. If you want a photo to be seen by everyone, keep it to the pair itself.

Light and phone settings

Good photos of fabric come from good light, not a better phone.

• Daylight from the side. Put the pair near a window, out of direct sun, so the light falls across the fabric and shows its texture.
• No flash. It flattens lace and leaves glare on satin and lycra.
• A plain background: a sheet, a towel or a wooden table, the same one for every listing, so your listings look like one shop.
• Wipe the lens, tap the screen to focus on the fabric, and move closer instead of zooming.
• Switch off location before you shoot. On an iPhone: Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > Camera > Never. On Android the setting is in the camera app and varies by manufacturer; turn it off there, because Google Photos can't remove a location the camera has saved.

Words: About me and the listing

About me is the text buyers read before they write. At 80 characters or more it counts towards a complete profile, and three or four plain sentences are enough: what you list, how you pack, when you usually reply, and anything you don't do. For example: "I list my own pairs, worn as each listing says. I pack them in a zip-seal bag inside a plain envelope and post within two days. I reply in the evenings."

The listing works best when it leaves nothing to guess. Most listings don't say how long a pair was worn, so filling in "Worn for" (or choosing "Ask me" and saying so in the description) answers one of the most common first questions before anyone asks it. Fill in the rest too:

• Fabric, Size and Cut, as on the label;
• "Worn while", if one of the options fits;
• whether postage is included, in one line;
• a title that says what it is, for example "Black lace thong, worn 2 days".

What to charge has its own numbers in the pricing guide.

After you list: reply quickly

A first message only counts if it gets an answer. Buyers write for free; you need Premium to read and reply. Without it, you still see that a buyer wrote and can send them one of your listings, but reading the message and replying in text need Premium.

Across panty.com, half of sellers' replies to a first message arrive within 59 min. 59% of first messages get an answer within a day. Replying within the day keeps you in step with most sellers, and the buyer is still there when you do.

Keep the conversation on panty.com, where you have it in writing. Anyone who pushes you onto another app can be reported with the reason "Wants to move off panty.com" and blocked straight away.