Reviews
Part of How to read product photography reviews and run a fair studio comparison
A product photography selection checklist starts with what the image must prove
A product photography selection checklist for English ecommerce teams, covering sample images, copy clearance, contract terms and a worked cost example in pounds.
What to take away
- Decide the job the images must do before you score any supplier: conversion, returns reduction or channel compliance.
- Ask for unretouched samples shot against your own product type, not a curated portfolio.
- Check that the supplier understands advertising copy clearance, because imagery sits inside the ad rules.
- Price the whole workflow (brief, shoot, retouch, file delivery, rights) rather than the day rate alone.
- Keep a written scorecard so a second reviewer can challenge your shortlist.
Start from the decision, not the shortlist
You are choosing between three or four studios and you have one budget line. The checklist exists to make that choice defensible to whoever signs it off.
Write the decision first. For example, a team that needs 120 cut-out images a month for marketplace listings is buying throughput. A team launching six hero products is buying art direction. Those are different purchases and different suppliers.
Evidence to request before any quote
Ask for sample images that match your category and lighting conditions. A jewellery portfolio tells you nothing about how a supplier handles matt plastic or reflective packaging.
Ask who retouches, and whether that person is in-house or subcontracted. Ask what happens when a file fails your marketplace specification on the first upload.
Then ask for two references in your sector and ring them. If a supplier cannot name a client who will take the call, treat that as a gap rather than a red flag.
Compliance sits inside the brief
The Advertising Standards Authority's Copy Advice service offers pre-publication guidance on ad content, including imagery, so it is worth checking proposed claims before a shoot rather than after. Build that check into the checklist as a line item with an owner.
If your paid social plan includes commerce visual advertising, the LinkedIn ads guide sets out the format and specification constraints that studio output has to meet. Specifications change, so re-check them each campaign.
Distance selling rules also matter if you sell online and rely on images to describe goods. The distance selling and cancellation rules for online retailers are a starting point for what a buyer is entitled to see before purchase.
Score the commercial terms
Rights are the line most often missed. Establish whether you get unlimited use, or a licence tied to a channel or a period. Ask what a renewal costs before you sign, not after.
Check the reshoot policy. If a batch arrives with the wrong colour cast, who pays for the second shoot, and how quickly does it happen?
Finally, check payment terms against your own cash cycle. A 30-day invoice against 60-day receipts is a working capital decision, not a photography one. Our guide to product photography reviews and comparison methods for 2027 sets out how to run that comparison fairly across suppliers.
A worked example
A small English retailer needs 150 images a month. For illustration, assume the studio charges £2,000 for two shoot days, £600 for retouching, £150 for file preparation and delivery, and a one-off £500 for a usage licence covering 12 months. That is £3,250 in month one and £2,750 thereafter.
Compare that with a per-image quote of £22 for the same 150 images: £3,300 a month, with no separate licence fee. The per-image route costs more over a year but removes the reshoot argument, because each image is priced individually.
Neither is automatically right. The point is that the checklist forces both numbers onto one page.
Check the supplier's own operation
Ask where the shoot happens and who has access to your stock. If products leave your premises, your insurance and theirs both need to cover it.
Ask how files are stored and for how long. If the supplier keeps your pre-production images on a shared drive, that is a data question as much as a creative one.
A shortlist of English studios with different operating models is covered in our round-up of product photography best providers in England, which is useful when you need to compare in-house, agency and freelance routes on the same criteria.
Common questions
How many suppliers should be on a shortlist?
Three is usually enough to test the market without wasting your own time. Two makes price comparison weak, and five means you will not read the quotes properly.
Should the checklist differ for video?
Yes. Motion adds questions about editing, music licensing and delivery formats, so run a separate list rather than bolting video onto a stills scorecard.
How often should the checklist be reviewed?
Review it before each seasonal buying cycle, or when a marketplace changes its image specification. Otherwise the list drifts away from what you actually need.
