Inspection photos, read as a batch rather than one at a time
Seller orders can arrive at different times. Review each photo set against its own order, and act on unresolved questions before packing.
Type what you are looking for, in English. Results are product cards you can hand to the agent.
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Two of these categories are the ones where a photograph settles the argument and two are where it cannot.
Triage
Sort the batch by the decision each item needs
Check each item’s current return and storage deadlines when it arrives. A photo upload records what was shown; it does not by itself establish the deadline or whether a return will be accepted.
Review the batch in a practical order: first resolve a visible mismatch or a time-sensitive question, then request missing details and decide which items are ready for a parcel.
Seals and clasps, readable size information, and paired or bundled items deserve specific checks. Record seal condition before requesting opening; ask for a measurement when a label does not answer your sizing question; compare both parts of a pair. These checks improve the evidence without guaranteeing a remedy.
What they are
A record of arrival, not a verdict
The photographs are taken by warehouse staff handling a parcel, not by a specialist examining a product. They show what came out of the seller's box, in the light of a warehouse, at a moment that is recorded.
That is genuinely useful and it is narrow. It settles whether the right colour arrived, whether a seal was intact, whether a pair matched, whether something was already broken. It does not settle whether a thing is authentic, well made or the same as a photograph on a listing.
For goods that need a real examination, the agent says so plainly: special items get no professional inspection, and your options are the photographs you were given or paying for more detailed ones. Knowing that before you order is the difference between a disappointment and a decision.
Method
Four passes, in the order that loses least
Reading the QC photographs properly is a four-pass job, and the order matters for one reason: the first two passes find problems that are provable, and provable problems are the only ones a return is likely to turn on.
Count before you look
Quantity first, because it is the only error that is both common and instantly provable. Two of three shirts is a shortage, and a shortage raised on arrival is a different conversation from one raised after shipping.
Check the seal, the clasp and the tag
These are the ones with a rule attached. A cut clasp on new trainers, a broken seal on anything sealed, a tag removed at your own request: each of those moves the item out of the guarantee, and the photograph is where you find out whether it arrived that way.
The official guide covers the flow; the rule is on the returns page. Measure instead of reading the label
Where the photographs include a tape or a flat-lay, take the measurement rather than the size letter. Sizing disputes are the most common kind and they need the window still open, so this pass is worth doing on the day.
Decide, then write it down
If something is wrong, the request goes in while the window is open, and the photographs go with it. If nothing is wrong, note the date you checked. Either way the decision is made once rather than revisited when the parcel is packed. Return budget is where the timing part of that decision lives.
Limits
What a photograph settles, and what it cannot
Useful evidence is evidence that answers a question somebody will actually dispute. Half of what people hope to read from these photographs is in the bottom two rows.
| Question | Can the photos answer it |
|---|---|
| Did the right colour and variant arrive | Yes. This is the main thing they are for. |
| Is the count right | Yes, and it is the easiest claim to make stick. |
| Was the seal or clasp intact on arrival | Yes, and nothing else ever will be. |
| Does it measure what the listing claimed | Sometimes, where a tape or a flat-lay is included. |
| Is it authentic | No. No professional examination is offered, and the terms say as much. |
| Will it last | No, and no inspection of any kind answers this one. |
Questions
About the photographs themselves
Do I have to ask for the photos?
For purchases made through the agent they arrive with check-in. For goods you forward yourself the warehouse unpacks and photographs as a matter of course, because forwarded goods must be unpacked for inspection. Forwarding covers what else is different about them.
Can I pay for better photos?
Yes, that is offered for items the standard pass cannot cover. Whether it is worth it depends on whether the thing you are worried about is visible at all, which the table above is meant to help with.
A shortage turned up at check-in. Who chases it?
For a purchase the agent made, it is theirs to chase. For goods you forwarded, the published answer is that you verify with whoever sent it, and a shortage not caused by the warehouse is not compensated.
The photos look fine but the item is wrong. Any use?
Yes, as a dated record of what arrived. It will not prove a fault that is invisible, but it does rule out the claim that the damage happened later, which is the argument that usually follows.
Review a mixed batch by the decision each item still needs.
Imagine three arrivals: a sealed collectible, a garment with an unclear size label and a pair of shoes with only one side visible. These are three different questions. Keep the collectible’s seal condition recorded; request a readable label for the garment; ask for the missing shoe view. Do not replace those checks with a single “all QC approved” note.
For every item, keep four short fields: the authorised option, what the photos show, what remains unknown and the next action. Add the current return/storage deadline from the account. Work on an unresolved, time-sensitive mismatch before a purely cosmetic question with no immediate deadline.
For an extra view, identify the object, angle or measurement. Confirm whether opening sealed packaging affects eligibility before requesting it. Neither the number of uploaded images nor a clean exterior establishes authenticity, composition or electrical function.
Only move an item to the parcel list after resolving its action or consciously accepting the remaining uncertainty. Reconcile quantities once more before packing, and retain the account record. The official guide below shows where warehouse inspection sits in the whole process; its old sample prices, route windows and countdowns are not current terms.
Where the flow is written down
The official steps, for reference
The agent publishes its own walk-through of buying, inspection and shipping. It is worth reading once as the operator's version of events; it describes the happy path and does not deal with the timing problem this site is about.
Read the official guide, then come back for the part about what a batch costs.
