Why eBay, Etsy & Poshmark Reject Your iPhone Photos (Fix Upload Errors)
Updated: January 2026
If you sell online, time is money. You just spent an hour taking perfect photos of your items with your iPhone. You sit down at your computer to create the listings on eBay or Poshmark, select your photos, and… ERROR.
Sometimes the upload fails completely. Sometimes the photos upload but appear as black boxes. Sometimes they upload sideways and can’t be rotated.
The problem is almost always the same: **HEIC files.** In this guide, we will show you how to fix your product photos instantly so you can get your listings live and start selling.
Why Can’t I Upload HEIC to eBay or Etsy?
Online marketplaces handle millions of images a day. To keep their websites fast, they rely on older, standardized image processing tools that were built for **JPG** images.
When you try to feed them Apple’s newer **HEIC** format, their systems choke.
- eBay: Officially recommends JPG or PNG. HEIC uploads often time out or fail to process.
- Etsy: Often gives a generic “Uh oh, something went wrong” error with HEIC files.
- Poshmark/Mercari: Desktop uploaders are notoriously buggy with HEIC, even if the mobile app sometimes accepts them.
Similar Issue: This is the exact same problem people face with government portals. Read our guide on Why Websites Reject iPhone Photos.
The Solution: Convert Before You List
You don’t need to retake the photos. You just need to convert the files you already have.
- Go to our Home Page Tool.
- Drag your product photos into the box.
- Download the converted JPGs.
- Upload these new files to eBay/Etsy. They will work instantly.
Listing 20 Items at Once?
If you are a reseller, you might have 100 photos for 20 different items. Converting them one by one is a waste of your valuable time.
Use our Batch Converter. It allows you to process unlimited files at once. You can dump your entire camera roll into the tool, get them all back as JPGs in seconds, and then organize your listings.
Learn how: Guide to Batch Converting Unlimited Files.
Stop This From Happening Again
If you sell online regularly, you should probably change your iPhone settings to stop taking HEIC photos entirely.
By switching your camera to “Most Compatible” mode, your phone will save future product photos as JPGs automatically, saving you this conversion step next time.
Change your settings: How to Switch iPhone Camera to JPG.
Seller FAQ
Will converting reduce the quality of my item photos?
No. In fact, eBay and Etsy compress your images anyway when you upload them. Our converter maintains high quality so your items still look crisp and detailed to potential buyers. Read more about HEIC vs JPG quality here.
I’m trying to email photos to a buyer and they can’t open them. Why?
If you are emailing extra photos to a buyer, and they are on a Windows computer or Android phone, they likely can’t open your HEIC attachments. Always convert to JPG before emailing images to customers to look professional.
Does this work for Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace?
Yes. While Facebook is better at handling HEIC than eBay, desktop users often still encounter errors. Converting to JPG is the safest way to ensure your listing goes live without glitches.