---
title: "User-generated content (UGC): meaning and marketplace rules | Herofab"
description: "Photos, videos and reviews made by customers or creators rather than by the brand, often reused on product pages and in ads with their permission."
url: https://herofab.app/glossary/user-generated-content
language: en
updated: 2026-11-06
---

# User-generated content

Photos, videos and reviews made by customers or creators rather than by the brand, often reused on product pages and in ads with their permission.

Also called **UGC** · **customer photos** · **user-generated photos**

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User-generated content shows a product in real homes and on real bodies: a customer's mirror photo in a dress, a short video unpacking a bag, a review photo of shoes after a month of wear. Shoppers read it as evidence because the seller did not stage it, which is why it often sits next to the product images or in the review section. Paid creator content made in the same style is often called UGC too, but it is commissioned and should be presented as such.

A public post does not give a brand the right to reuse it. Putting a customer's image on a product page or in an ad needs the creator's permission, and where another person is recognisable, often theirs as well; commissioned content should come with a written agreement on uses, period and editing. Many marketplaces require sellers to own the images they upload or to hold the rights to use them. A clear request, recorded in writing, and a credit where agreed is the usual practice.

User content rarely meets the technical rules of a gallery: the light is uneven, the background busy, the product partly hidden and the colour shifted by a phone camera. It belongs beside the product images, not in place of them, and should not be edited to look better than the original, since its value lies in being untouched. Before reuse, a check that the item shown is the current version and the right colour avoids promising something the listing no longer sells.

## User-generated content, answered.

**Can I repost a customer's photo of my product on my shop?**

Only with the customer's permission, even when the photo was tagged or posted publicly. A short written request that names where the photo will appear, and a reply agreeing to it, is the usual record. Where another person is recognisable in the picture, their permission is needed as well, and a credit should be given where it was agreed.

**Should I edit customer photos before showing them?**

Only lightly, if at all: cropping or straightening is fine, while changing colour, light or the product is not. Customer photos are trusted because the seller did not stage them, and an edited one loses that value and can misrepresent the item. Where a photo shows the product poorly, it is better left out than improved.

## What marketplaces say about it.

Updated 25 September 2026

- **Ricardo:** Only images you created yourself or whose use the rights holder has approved; picture and text must not contradict each other [Official page](https://help.ricardo.ch/hc/de/articles/115002488945-Wie-beschreibe-ich-meinen-Artikel-professionell)
- **CDON:** The merchant must own the copyright to the images used or have explicit rights to use them for commercial purposes [Official page](https://support.cdon.com/hc/en-us/articles/37519125790612-Product-Image-Guidelines)

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