The folks at Swapalease.com released a blog post on their site this week regarding photo-taking mishaps to avoid when selling a vehicle online. While most of these tips are aimed at private sales, these guidelines are good to keep in mind for dealer sales, as well. The following 11 suggestions from the Cincinnati-based marketplace are situations and photo-taking practices to avoid:

1. Poor photo filters: Filters might be okay to use on your Instagram for your night out on the town or a trip to an exotic locale on your vacation. But for selling transparency? The clearer, the better.
    
2. Stretched photos: Make sure the photo accurately represents the true dimensions of the car.
    
3. Inappropriate vehicle location: A photo of your car right next to a dumpster doesn’t exactly give the right impression, does it?
    
4. Improper photo orientation: Your cars are designed to navigate the horizontal planes of life — make sure your photos reflect that. You’re selling a car, not a rocket ship.
    
5. Nighttime photos: Just like you try to keep your lot as well-lit during business hours as possible, customers want the same in an advertisement for the vehicle.
    
6. Poor photo cropping: Show the whole car — having parts of the car off-frame may suggest there are parts of it you’re trying to hide.
    
7. Sun glare photos: Once again: the clearer, the better. If you’re having trouble finding a good angle at a certain time of day, move the car to a better location, turn it around, or take the photo at a different time.
    
8. Inappropriate vertical shots: If you’re taking a photo in a pinch while working on a tight deadline and have to use your phone, be sure to turn it sideways so the photo is a landscape, not a portrait.
    
9. Not having interior shots: Customers want to see the inside of the car just as much as the outside.
    
10. Modeling shots: Many customers won’t get the right impression if the camera is focused on something other than the vehicle for sale.
     
11. Modeling the features: Customers are smart. You don’t need someone to point out the features one-by-one in the photos. If you say it has a sunroof, they’ll notice it by the simple fact it has one in the photos. No need to go any further than that.