Outerwear: pre-purchase judging points

For outerwear the two failures that come up most are these: down fill that is unevenly distributed between baffles and shows as cold patches, and zip tape that is stitched straight but binds at the curve of the chest. Both are decided by photographs a seller can take before dispatch, which is why the points below start where they do.

Outerwear is the bulkiest category here, so volumetric weight can exceed actual weight and change the carrier tier you should pick.

For outerwear, 6 distinct things have to be visible in the set a seller sends — beginning with one uncut video, 20 seconds, jacket held flat against a bright window or a lamp with the arms hanging free and the camera steady:

• one uncut video, 20 seconds, jacket held flat against a bright window or a lamp with the arms hanging free and the camera steady
• a video of the seller pinching the cloth between thumb and finger along three rows on the front and three on the back, holding each pinch for two seconds
• a video of the seller shaking the jacket twice by the shoulders and laying it flat, with the backlight behind it for a further 30 seconds
• one side-on photo of the jacket folded once across the chest and left for a minute, with a tape measure standing against the fold
• one photo square to the front with the badge, both shoulder seams, the placket zip and a tape measure in frame
• four macro photos, one per corner and one along the longest edge, taken in indirect light with the badge edge in frame

Asking for that set in one message is what the photo request wording is for. When a seller skips one of these shots, the gap surfaces first at down fill distribution between baffles, which is why that point sits at the top of the list above. What each angle can and cannot show is set out on the photo limits page.

Outerwear is the bulkiest category here, so volumetric weight can exceed actual weight and change the carrier tier you should pick.

4 gauges cover this category, listed beside this column with the date each parameter set was last read. On outerwear orders the line that moves first is outerwear is the bulkiest category here.