Showcases
Permanent product galleries on your 12sell profile — what to put in a Showcase, when to use one instead of a Deal, and how to make showcases that win business.
Your catalog, always on
Showcases never expire. One good Showcase keeps generating messages for months. Build a few; they compound.
A Showcase is a permanent product gallery on your 12sell profile. Where a Deal is a single transaction post that expires, a Showcase is your catalog: a richly described product (or product family) with photos, that lives on your profile and signals what your business actually does.
Showcases are the Showcases tab when you open 12sell — the second feed you see, right after Deals.
When to use a Showcase vs a Deal
| Use a Showcase when... | Use a Deal when... |
|---|---|
| You want a permanent listing of a product | You want a single buy/sell post |
| You're presenting your catalog or capability | You have a specific transaction in mind |
| You want photos of the product to be the centerpiece | Photos aren't the focus — terms are |
| It should live on your profile and be discoverable months later | It should expire after the deal is done |
| You want to be found in the Showcases feed | You want to be found in the Deals feed |
A simple rule: Showcases describe what you offer; Deals announce what you want to do right now.
What a Showcase contains
| Field | What it is |
|---|---|
| Photos | Up to 5 photos. The first photo is the cover — pick the best one |
| Title | The product name, model, or category headline |
| Description | The full pitch: specs, use cases, MOQs (minimum order quantities), origin, certifications, why someone should pick you |
| Categories, subcategories, brands | What this Showcase represents — drives matching to the right audience |
| Target Business | The audience profile this Showcase targets, picked from your saved Target Businesses |
| Privacy | Public (default) or added to a Private List |
Showcases don't have a duration — they stay live until you delete them or close them.
How to post a Showcase
The whole Showcase is composed on a single screen — add your photos, write the pitch, pick the audience, and publish without stepping through a wizard.
- Tap the + button.
- Choose Showcase.
- Add up to 5 photos. The first one is the cover. Drag to reorder. For each photo slot you can Upload from your device or Generate with AI (see AI product images below).
- Add a clear title.
- Write a description. Two helpers sit in the editor: Paste drops your clipboard text in, and AI Rewrite returns a polished version of what you wrote — keeps your facts, improves the structure.
- Pick the right categories, subcategories, brands — or pick one of your saved Target Businesses.
- Optional: turn on Boost to put the Showcase at the top of matching feeds (paid in tokens, same pricing as deals).
- Tap Preview to see how the Showcase will look before publishing.
- Tap Post.
Posting a Showcase is free. You only spend tokens if you turn on Boost to lift it to the top of matching feeds, or if you generate a photo with AI.
After posting, the Showcase goes through automatic review — usually instant. Approved Showcases land in the matching feeds and on your profile.
AI product images
If you don't have a clean product photo on hand, tap Generate with AI on any photo slot. 12sell creates a brand-safe, wholesale-style product image from your title and description. Each generated image costs 10 tokens (the exact price is shown live before you generate), and AI-generated images are clearly marked. You can mix uploaded and generated photos in the same Showcase. The same option is available when creating a Tale.
Photo #1 is what shows in feeds, in search, on your profile. It's roughly 80% of the click decision. Single product, clean background, well-lit. No stock photos, no watermarks.
How to write a Showcase that wins business
A Showcase is read by buyers who want to know if you're worth a message. The pattern that converts:
- Cover photo: well-lit, single product, clean background. The cover photo controls whether anyone clicks at all.
- Photos 2–5: angles, packaging, scale (a hand or a coin in the photo), boxes, certifications. Show you actually have the goods.
- Title: product name + key differentiator. Example: "OEM iPhone 15 Pro Camera Modules · Original · Bulk Available". Bad title: "Phone parts".
- Description structure:
- One-line value prop at the top.
- Specs (model, capacity, condition, certifications).
- MOQ and pricing tier or "contact for pricing".
- Origin / current stock location.
- What you can do that's special (lead time, customization, packaging, warranty).
- Categories and brands: precise, not exhaustive. Three accurate brands beat ten irrelevant ones.
Use AI Rewrite if your first draft feels rough. It restructures and tightens what you wrote without inventing facts.
Browsing the Showcases feed
The Showcases tab is a visual feed — photos first, captions short. You can:
- Filter by categories, subcategories, brands, region.
- Search by keyword.
- Tap any showcase to see the full description, all photos, and the poster's profile.
- Like to save and signal interest.
- Message the poster directly.
- Share the Showcase with anyone via link.
Like the Deals feed, the Showcases feed is personalized to your profile setup. The categories and brands you picked at sign up — plus anything you've liked or messaged — control what surfaces at the top.
Boost
You can boost a Showcase the same way you boost a Deal — pin it to the top of matching feeds for 1 day, 3 days, 1 week, or 1 month. Boost is most valuable for new showcases in their first month, when they'd otherwise be invisible at the bottom of feeds.
When the boost ends, the Showcase stays live but returns to its normal feed position. See the Boost page for full pricing and patterns.
Private Showcases
If a Showcase is for a specific audience — distributors, repeat customers, an insider price tier — add it to a Private List. Only approved subscribers see Showcases you post to it. Only verified Company owners can create Private Lists.
Lifecycle of a Showcase
- Active — live, in feeds, on your profile.
- Boosted — pinned to the top of matching feeds.
- Edited — you can edit anytime. Changes that affect moderation re-trigger a review.
- Removed — Showcases that violate the rules are removed with a reason.
- Deleted — you can delete any Showcase from your profile at any time.
Showcases don't expire, so they accumulate on your profile over time. A profile with 8–15 well-curated Showcases looks dramatically more credible than one with 1–2.
Insights on your showcases
From My Showcases, each showcase shows interaction counts, and an Insights view breaks down views, likes, and the businesses who liked it or messaged you about it. Because showcases are permanent, insights are the clearest signal of which products are pulling demand — lean into the winners and refresh the quiet ones.
Reporting and moderation
Every Showcase is automatically reviewed before going live. The system rejects:
- Photos that aren't of the product (random images, unrelated screenshots, copyrighted material).
- Descriptions that don't match the photos.
- Prohibited goods.
- Duplicates of an existing Showcase.
Rejected Showcases come with a reason. Edit and resubmit.
You can report any Showcase that breaks the rules from the menu on the Showcase. Reports are reviewed and acted on.
Common questions
How many photos can I add?
Up to 5 per Showcase. Pick the strongest one as the cover — most users decide whether to tap based on the cover alone.
Can I edit a Showcase after posting?
Yes. Open the Showcase → menu → Edit. If you change the photos or core description, the system re-runs review.
Do Showcases expire?
No. They stay on your profile and in the feeds until you delete them. This is the main reason to invest care in Showcases — one good Showcase keeps working for months.
What's the difference between a Deal and a Showcase, again?
Think of it this way: a Deal is "I want to do a transaction now, this week". A Showcase is "This is what my business sells, on an ongoing basis". Most professional 12sell users have a handful of Showcases for their core inventory and a steady stream of Deals for current opportunities.
Can I have a Showcase and a Deal for the same product?
Yes — and many users do. The Showcase establishes credibility ("we sell this regularly"); the Deal announces a specific batch ("500 units in stock now, $X each"). The two cross-link in the user's profile.
How does AI Rewrite work?
Tap AI Rewrite in the description editor and the assistant restructures your description for clarity and B2B conventions. It uses what you wrote — it doesn't invent specs, prices, or claims. You always see the rewrite before it's saved and can keep, tweak, or discard it.
Why was my Showcase rejected?
Most rejections are about photos not matching the product, descriptions that don't match the photos, or duplicates. The rejection message tells you which. Fix it and resubmit.
Can I move my Showcase to a Private List later?
Yes, edit the Showcase and choose the Private List. Equally, you can move a private Showcase back to public.
Next steps
- Deals — the transactional sibling of Showcases.
- Tokens — pricing for posting and boosting.
- Tales — short, time-limited stories for daily updates.
- Verification — verified businesses get more clicks on their Showcases.
- Writing showcases that win business — photo selection and ongoing cadence.