Shein marketplace listing requirements: images, titles, attributes and the content rules

A Shein marketplace listing must have one main image, at least one and up to ten detail images, a product name in the default language, every attribute the category template marks as required, and a price, stock count, and the packed dimensions and weight. Shein's developer documentation gives main and detail images as 1,340 by 1,785 pixels, a 3:4 portrait, or square from 900 to 2,200 pixels, in JPG or PNG, RGB colour, 3 MB or less. ChannelEngine's guide lists the accepted ratios as 1:1, 3:4, 4:5 or 13:16 and gives the description 5,000 characters with no HTML. Since June 2026 Shein caps the title in the store's default language by category and language, and an upload over the cap fails.

Shein runs its marketplace on structured data. The listing form is a category template, and the template decides which fields are mandatory, what values they accept and which attribute drives the colour and size options. Get the template right and the listing goes live; miss one required field and the upload stops with a message naming it.

This guide takes each part of a listing in turn: images, title, description, attributes, colours and sizes, and the content rules, then gives a checklist to work through before you upload. If you are still deciding whether to apply, start with our page on selling on Shein, Wayfair, Kohl's and AliExpress.

What images does a Shein listing need?

A Shein listing needs one main image and at least one detail image, with up to ten detail images in all. The main image shows in product lists and is the first image on the product page, so it must sit in position 1.

Every image is 3 MB or less, in JPG, JPEG or PNG. Shein takes RGB colour only, so a file exported in CMYK for print fails. Images sent by link must be at a public address that ends in the file type, such as .jpg or .png.

The shape matters more than the size. Shein converts every outside image link before listing, and the conversion accepts main and detail images only at 1,340 by 1,785 pixels, a 3:4 portrait, or square from 900 to 2,200 pixels. Its older developer FAQ allows any rectangle from 3:4 to 1:1, and ChannelEngine lists 1:1, 3:4, 4:5 and 13:16, so make every portrait exactly 1,340 by 1,785 and it passes every route. Shoot with room above and below the product, so the portrait crop does not cut off a hem, a strap or a heel. Our table of image sizes for every marketplace shows how Shein's shape sits beside the square images Amazon and Walmart prefer.

What do Shein's image content rules say?

Shein runs a risk check on every image uploaded through its API, and it takes action against images with political, nude, discriminatory or violent content. Beyond that, the rule that matters is ownership: Shein's US terms bar content that infringes anyone's copyrights or trademarks, so nothing in an image may copy another brand's marks or another seller's photography.

Two practical points follow from how Shein builds the page. Each colour carries a main image of that colour, so a navy dress shows navy in its main image, never the black version from the parent. And because the main image cannot be reused as a detail image, the detail set needs real extra views: back, side, fabric close-up, fastenings, the label, the product worn or in use.

How long can a Shein title be?

Shein's title limit depends on the category and the language, and its developer documentation tells integrators to pass the category to get the maximum character count for that title. The product name in the default language is mandatory. Since June 2026 Shein sets the maximum for the default-language title by category and language, and a title over it fails the upload; in the example in Shein's documentation, a store whose default language is German gets 210 characters, and the same store's English title is capped at 150. ChannelEngine's guide gives a structure to follow: brand name, material, colour, pattern, keyword, length, then the category word. A Shein title takes no emojis, and ChannelEngine asks for 5 to 11 words with no special characters, such as @, #, $, % or &.

A title written that way reads: "Northfield Linen Sage Green Striped Wide Leg Ankle Length Trousers". ChannelEngine adds that a set must say it is a set in the title, so a two-piece reads "2 Piece Set" and a shopper never expects one item and receives two, or the reverse.

Write to the category's cap, never past it. Keep to the order ChannelEngine gives, brand, material, colour, pattern, keyword, length, then the category word, and leave out words that are not about the item, such as "hot sale" or "trending".

What goes in a Shein product description?

A Shein description holds up to 5,000 characters of plain text, with no HTML, emojis or special symbols. ChannelEngine's guide recommends covering use instructions, tips and key features.

With no HTML, write short paragraphs separated by line breaks, one point to a paragraph: what it is made of, how it fits, how to care for it, what is in the package. The attribute fields carry the filterable facts; the description is where you explain them. The guide on writing product descriptions covers the method.

Which attributes does Shein require?

Shein requires every attribute that the category template marks as mandatory, and the set differs by store and by category. Shein's documentation tells integrators to read the field rules before calling the listing interface, because "each store has different product listing field filling specifications (requirements) under different categories". A listing missing one stops at upload with a message such as "Material: The template attribute under type is required."

Feedonomics, which connects sellers to Shein, lists what every Shein listing carries:

• category
• title and description
• brand name and product number
• category attributes, such as fabric, fit or batteries
• images
• dimensions and weight
• price and stock

Shein also changes the rules themselves. Its developer documentation says platform rules change, such as adding sales attributes or changing whether an attribute is mandatory, and recommends refreshing the attribute data weekly. A feed that uploaded cleanly in September can stop in October because a field it skipped is now required, so check the template before each large upload, not once.

How do colours and sizes work on Shein?

Shein structures products in three levels: the product, each colour of it, and each size of each colour; ChannelEngine describes this as a grandparent, parent and child structure. Colour is usually the main sales attribute, and Shein creates a separate code for each colour of a product.

The practical rule: images belong to the colour. A seller who loads the same image set on every colour has a listing where tapping "Red" still shows blue. For clothing and shoes, pair the size values with a measured chart; our page on size charts explains how to build one.

What gets a Shein listing removed?

Shein removes material that infringes another party's rights, and its US terms bar content that "violates or infringes the copyrights, patents, trademarks" of anyone. Its intellectual property notice says Shein may remove or disable access to material a rights holder reports, and its US terms let it end access for any third-party seller who repeatedly infringes.

In practice, the listings at risk are:

• Borrowed images: product photos copied from a supplier's site, a brand's catalogue or another marketplace.
• Brand names you do not have rights to, in the title, the images or the attributes, including "style of" phrasing that trades on a brand.
• Images that do not match the item: a colour, a print or a fit the shopper will not receive.
• Wrong attributes: a material value that the label contradicts is a return, a complaint and a reason for review.

Shein also measures you after the sale. Feedonomics' 2024 guide gives Shein's targets as orders processed within 24 hours, shipped within 48 hours, carrying tracking within five days and reaching the customer within seven business days. A listing that promises what the warehouse cannot ship in that time costs you more than the sale.

The Shein listing checklist

Work through this before each upload, whether through the Seller Hub, an integrator or the API:

1. Pick the most specific category, because it decides the template and the required fields.
2. Read the template's required attributes for that category before each upload, and fill every one with a true value.
3. Write the title in the default language, in the order brand, material, colour, pattern, keyword, length, category word, within the category's limit.
4. Write the description as plain text, up to 5,000 characters, with no HTML, emojis or special symbols.
5. Make one main image for each colour, 1,340 by 1,785 pixels or square, RGB, 3 MB or less, in position 1.
6. Add one to ten detail images for each colour, none a copy of the main image.
7. Add an 80 by 80 colour block for each colour of a product sold in more than one colour.
8. Set price, stock, and the packed dimensions and weight for each SKU: Shein asks for length, width, height and weight including packaging.
9. Check every image and word is yours to use and shows the item the shopper receives.

How Commicorn helps

Commicorn makes listing images and copy for Shein from your product photos, to Shein's rules: the portrait crop, the detail set for each colour and the description in plain text. Start free.

Questions sellers ask

What size should Shein product images be?

Shein's developer documentation takes main and detail images at 1,340 by 1,785 pixels, a 3:4 portrait, or square from 900 to 2,200 pixels a side, in JPG, JPEG or PNG, RGB colour, 3 MB or less. ChannelEngine's guide lists 1:1, 3:4, 4:5 and 13:16 as its accepted ratios. A 3:4 portrait at 1,340 by 1,785 pixels is the size Shein documents, so make that your main image unless the product is square in shape.

How many images can a Shein listing have?

A Shein listing has one main image and one to ten detail images for each colour, a square image (optional on the US site, required on Shein's other sites) and an 80 by 80 pixel colour block for each colour when the product comes in more than one. Where the category supports them, up to ten more detail-page images sit below the product information, best at 3:4 and over 900 pixels. The main image cannot be uploaded a second time as a detail image.

Does Shein allow HTML in descriptions?

No. Shein's developer documentation allows up to 5,000 characters in a description and asks for no HTML, emojis or special symbols, and ChannelEngine's Shein guide says the same about HTML. Write in short plain paragraphs separated by line breaks.

Why does my Shein upload fail on attributes?

A Shein upload fails when a mandatory attribute for the category is empty. Shein changes which attributes are mandatory and adds sales attributes over time, and its documentation recommends refreshing the attribute data weekly, so read the current template for the category and fill every required field before you upload again.

Can I use a supplier's photos on Shein?

Only with the rights to them. Shein's US terms bar content that infringes anyone's copyright or trademarks, and Shein may end access for sellers who infringe repeatedly. Photograph the item you ship, so the images are yours and show exactly what the shopper receives.

The last word

Shein is a template marketplace: the category template is the listing, and the images and words hang off it. Choose the narrowest category, fill every required attribute with the truth, and give each colour images of that colour. Do that and the upload goes through, the filters find you, and the shopper receives what the page showed.