Can I just use my supplier's or manufacturer's photos?

Do I need permission to use a supplier’s product photos?

Yes. Copyright in Australia is automatic, so the photos belong to the supplier or its photographer from the moment they are taken, and using them without permission can infringe it.

As business.gov.au puts it, copyright protection is free and automatic under the Copyright Act 1968, and there is no register to check. A photo with no copyright notice is still protected.

Many suppliers want stockists to use their images and say so in the wholesale or dealer agreement. Others limit them to certain channels. Ask for written permission that covers:

• Every place you will use the photos: your store, marketplaces, social media, paid ads, email and print
• How long the permission lasts, including after you stop stocking the product
• Whether you can crop, resize, recolour or place the product in new scenes
• That the supplier owns the rights it is giving you, rather than holding a limited licence from its photographer

This is general information, not legal advice. If a supplier relationship depends on it, have the agreement checked.

Can supplier photos cause problems with customers?

Yes, when they show something different from what you ship: a different colour, an older version, extra accessories, or a finish you do not stock.

The responsibility is yours as the seller. Under Australian Consumer Law, any goods you sell must match the description you give, and a listing photo that shows a different colour or version can mislead buyers. Check every supplier photo against a sample of the stock you receive.

Do shared supplier photos make my store look generic?

Yes. When several stores show the same photo of the same product, the buyer compares price and delivery time, and your brand gives them no other reason to choose you.

• In Google Shopping, your listing sits beside other stockists with the identical image
• In Meta ads, your ad looks like every other stockist’s ad for the same product
• Supplier photos are shot for the supplier’s brand, so they may not match the look of your store
• They are often a single angle on white, with no scale, detail or room shot

What if my supplier will not give permission?

Take your own photos of the stock, or have images made from them. Photos you take yourself belong to you, and they show the exact product you ship.

A plain background, daylight from a window and a phone on a tripod are enough for a clean main image. How to make product photos look professional walks through the setup.

When are supplier photos good enough?

For long-tail products, quick launches and technical images such as dimension drawings, as long as you have permission and they are accurate.

A sensible split is supplier photos for the products that sell slowly, and your own images for the best sellers, the new launches and anything you advertise. How to get photos for hundreds of SKUs explains how to divide a large catalogue.

How do I make supplier-photo listings stand out?

Keep the supplier’s clean shot as one image and add images only you have: the product in a room, in use, in close-up and beside something that shows its size.

Bartley Studio makes these from a couple of phone photos of each product, taken in daylight, so the stock you already hold is enough and nothing is posted. Every frame is made with AI and finished by hand, and on full payment you own the delivered images, worldwide and indefinitely, with no separate licence. The smallest order is one product with six images for $350 plus GST.