Adding your first product

Photos, name, description, price, stock — every field on the product upload screen, explained.

Your first product is the hardest

The first one feels like a lot of fields. The second one takes 90 seconds. After three or four, you stop thinking about it.

This guide walks through every field on the product upload screen so the first one is painless.

Before you start

Have ready:

• 2-5 photos of the product (more is better — 3 is the minimum most buyers want).
• The price in UGX. Decide what you want to charge.
• A name for the product.
• A short description in your head — what's it made of, what comes with it, what size or weight.
• An idea of stock — how many do you have?

You don't need it to be perfect. You can edit any of this after uploading.

How to open the upload screen

In the Seller Hub:

1. Tap the Products tab.
2. Tap the + Add product button (usually a floating round button at the bottom-right of the screen).

The upload screen opens. It has 6-7 sections.

The fields, in order

1. Photos

Tap the + Add photos placeholder. Pick from your gallery or take new ones with the camera. You can upload up to 10 photos per product.

The first photo is the main image — the one that shows up in search results, on shop pages, and in carts. Pick your best one.

What makes a good product photo:

• Good light. Daylight by a window, or outdoors in shade. No flash, no fluorescents.
• Plain background. A wall, a wood floor, a folded cloth. Not your bed, not a cluttered kitchen.
• The product centered. Buyers shouldn't have to guess what they're looking at.
• Multiple angles. Front, back, top, close-up of detail, person holding/wearing the item if relevant.

What kills photos:

• Watermarks or text overlays. Buyers want to see the product, not ads.
• Heavy filters. They distort colour, which leads to "this isn't what was in the photo" disputes.
• Photos pulled from Google. We watermark-detect and you'll lose trust fast if a buyer recognizes a stock image.

You can drag photos to reorder them after uploading.

2. Name

The product name. Up to 100 characters. Be specific.

Examples that work:

• "Black Kitenge Wrap Dress — Size M-L"
• "Boda Front Brake Pad — Boxer 100/150 fitment"
• "Pickled Mango Jar 250ml — Mild Spice"

Examples that don't:

• "Dress" (which dress?)
• "Brake pads" (for what bike?)
• "Pickled mangoes" (how much, what flavour?)

Include the size, model, or quantity in the name when it matters. Buyers search for specific things.

3. Description

The longer text below the name. You can write as much as you want, but the first 2 sentences are what most buyers read.

Cover:

• What it is in plain words.
• What it's made of (cotton, polyester, leather, plastic, etc.).
• What size, weight, or quantity it is — even if it's also in the name.
• What comes with it (a box? a charger? a manual?).
• What it does NOT come with if buyers commonly assume.
• Care instructions (washable? handle with care?).

Be honest about flaws. "Small stain on the back, otherwise perfect" sells better than "perfect condition" followed by a buyer's disappointed review.

You can use simple formatting — bullets, line breaks. Keep paragraphs short.

4. Price

The price in UGX. Whole numbers only — no decimals (UGX doesn't have cents anyway).

A few pricing principles:

• Look at competitors. Search for similar products on the app and see what others charge. Aim for the middle of the pack unless you can clearly justify being higher.
• Include the platform fee. KampalaSnap takes about 5% on each sale. If you want to end up with 50,000 UGX, list at about 52,500 UGX.
• Round to a clean number. 50,000 reads better than 49,750. The buyer doesn't care about the 250.
• Don't price too low. Cheap-looking prices on luxury-looking items make buyers suspect you're selling fakes.

5. Stock quantity

How many of this item you have right now. The number drops automatically when buyers purchase, and the item is marked "Out of stock" when it hits zero.

If you have unlimited stock (you make-to-order, or you can always get more), put a high number like 999.

If you have one of one (a unique piece), put 1. After the sale, it auto-marks as out of stock.

You can edit stock anytime in the product edit screen.

6. Category

Pick the closest category from the dropdown. The categories are fixed — you can't add a custom one. If your product is borderline between two, pick the one your buyer would search.

Why category matters:

• It's how buyers filter ("show me shoes only").
• It's how the algorithm matches your product to buyers who like similar things.
• Wrong category = your product gets shown to the wrong people.

If no category fits well, pick the broadest one that could fit, and mention the specifics in the description.

7. Delivery options (optional override)

By default, your product uses the delivery options you set on your shop profile. If this specific product is different — say, you ship this one nationally even though your default is local-only — tap Override delivery and set just this product's options.

See Setting up delivery for the full breakdown.

8. Flash sale (optional)

You can set this product on flash sale at upload time, or any time later:

• Sale price — must be less than the regular price.
• End time — when the sale ends and the price reverts.

Buyers see a strikethrough on the original price and the sale price in red. There's also a small countdown timer.

Flash sales work best when:

• The discount is real (at least 15% off).
• The time window is short (24-72 hours).
• You actually plan to revert the price after.

A "permanent flash sale" where you never actually charge full price trains buyers to wait you out.

9. Tap "Publish"

Bottom of the screen. The product goes live immediately. There's no admin review for regular product uploads.

(There IS admin review for special programs like the affiliate catalogue — see the verified-seller guides for that.)

After you publish

The product shows up:

• On your shop page under Products.
• In search results for matching keywords.
• In your category's feed.
• To anyone who follows you (next time they refresh).

If you want it to spread further, post a video that features this product. See the next guide: Recording and uploading your first video.

Editing a product later

Open the product → tap the three-dot menu → Edit. You can change:

• Photos (add, remove, reorder).
• Name.
• Description.
• Price.
• Stock.
• Category.
• Delivery options.
• Flash sale status.

Changes save when you tap Save. The product stays live the whole time — there's no "draft" state for an edit. If you want to take it offline first, tap Mark as out of stock before editing.

Common questions

Can I list a product I don't have in stock yet?

Technically yes — set stock to 0 and the item shows as "Out of stock." Buyers can still see it but can't buy. Some sellers do this to gauge interest before sourcing inventory.

Better practice: don't list it until you have at least one in hand. Out-of-stock listings look bad and don't sell.

Can I delete a product I uploaded by mistake?

Yes. Open it → three-dot menu → Delete. Confirm.

If buyers have already ordered the product, the orders are unaffected — deletion only removes the listing from your shop.

Can I have variations (size, colour)?

Today, you handle variations by listing each one as its own product — "Black Kitenge Dress Size M" and "Black Kitenge Dress Size L" as two listings. Native variations (one product with a size picker) are a feature on the roadmap but not live yet.

A common workaround: list the "main" variation as the published product, and put a line in the description like "Also available in sizes S, L, XL — message me on WhatsApp." Buyers contact you, you either change the product or guide them to the right one.

What's the difference between "Add product" and the affiliate program?

This guide covers regular product uploads — items that go in YOUR shop, sold by you. The affiliate program is a different system where verified sellers submit products that other people (creators) can promote in videos and earn commission. Affiliate products go through admin review.

For your first products, use regular Add product. Affiliate is a later-stage feature — read about it in The path to verification.

My product is illegal or restricted — will it pass?

We don't let people sell:

• Weapons, ammunition, explosives.
• Drugs (recreational or pharmaceutical).
• Live animals.
• Counterfeit goods (fake brand items).
• Items requiring prescriptions / licenses (alcohol delivery, firearms, etc.).
• Stolen goods.

Listing any of these gets your product removed and may get your account suspended. See Community Guidelines for the full list.

Why is my product not showing up in search?

A few possible reasons:

• Just published — give it 5 minutes. Search indexes update on a schedule.
• Category mismatch. If you put a clothing item in "Electronics," buyers searching clothes won't find it.
• Photo failed to upload. Products without a main image don't surface in search. Re-upload the photo.
• You're searching from your own account. Sometimes the algorithm filters out your own products from your view. Search from a friend's account to confirm.

What's next

• Recording and uploading your first video — make a video featuring your new product.
• Setting up delivery — get delivery right before orders come in.