A first order, checked in order
Twelve checks. The order matters more than the list: the sequence runs from what cannot be undone to what can be negotiated, so stopping early still stops in the right place.
Most checklists are organised by the thing being checked, which produces a list that reads well and fails in practice. Reading a toebox before establishing whether the listing is the product at all wastes the effort: the first finding is worth nothing if the second one fails. This sequence is therefore ordered by reversibility. Deal credibility comes first because money paid to the wrong object is not recoverable. Structural defects come second because they cannot be repaired by talking. Surface and finish come third because most of it is negotiable. Handover comes last because those failures are usually settled rather than returned.
Each step below names the evidence it needs. Where a step requires a specific photograph and the seller has not sent it, the honest answer is not a guess but a request. That is why several steps end not with a verdict but with a message to send.
- Step 1
Establish that the page you were sent is the item, not a stand-in for it.
Compare the listing title, the category breadcrumb and the thumbnail against the row you were sent. Then check whether a size or variant selector exists.
E3 — the live listing page. Enough to shortlist, never enough to judge workmanship.
Stop here if: Stop if the title, breadcrumb and thumbnail all describe an unrelated low-value item. - Step 2
Get the model, colourway and size named in writing before any money moves.
Ask inside the platform message thread. A seller who will only confirm outside it cannot be held to it.
E1 — a written reply in the platform thread.
Stop here if: Stop if the seller insists on moving the conversation off-platform before naming the product. - Step 3
Check the price against the range that build actually sells for.
Compare with two or three other listings for the same build rather than for the same words.
E3 — public listings.
Stop here if: Stop if the price is far enough below the range that the build cannot be the one described. - Step 4
Get a photograph set that can actually support a decision.
Ask for an overhead pair, a side-on pair with a ruler in frame, a rear view of both together, macros of seams and stamps, and one exposure showing any label beside the item.
E1 — seller-supplied before dispatch, at the required angles.
Stop here if: Stop asking and start deciding only when the set covers the angles the steps require. - Step 5
Read the set in the order that stops losses earliest.
Deal credibility first, structural defects second, surface and finish third, handover last.
E1 throughout.
- Step 6
Decide the parts that cannot be repaired.
Work through toebox and midsole alignment, stitching density and outsole bonding before touching cosmetics.
E1 — the macro and pair shots from step 4.
Stop here if: Stop the order if any structural criterion lands in its return set. - Step 7
Separate what is negotiable from what is not.
Mark each surface finding as pass, query or return, and send queries back as a re-shoot request.
E1 — a second set covering the queried angles.
- Step 8
Work out the delivered total rather than the listing price.
Enter the tiered unit price, the destination and the carrier tier, and read the eight segments including the returns reserve.
Recorded freight, duty and payment bands, each with a check date.
- Step 9
See what the border will assess and on what figure.
Run the declared value and the freight through the duty estimate for your destination.
Recorded bands and thresholds. Estimates, not a customs determination.
- Step 10
Check that the size you are ordering corresponds to a measurement you own.
Measure a garment that fits you across the chest, doubled, and compare it with the recorded band.
Recorded chest bands with sample sizes.
- Step 11
Decide whether cover is worth taking on this lane.
Read the expected value and the absorption test separately. They are allowed to disagree.
Recorded loss rates and premium bands.
- Step 12
Know what to keep so that a problem later is provable.
Keep the listing snapshot, the chat thread, the photo set, the payment record and the unboxing shots in one place from the start.
E2 and E1 together, assembled before you need them.
After the sequence
Three self-checks before you commit. First: can you state, in one sentence, what you are buying and from which listing, in the seller's own written words? Second: is there any step in the sequence you skipped because the photograph was inconvenient to ask for? Third: does the delivered total still make sense at the price you are paying, once the returns reserve is included rather than switched off?
If any answer is no, the sequence is not finished. That is not a reason to abandon the order; it is a reason to send one more message.
What this list cannot do
- It cannot establish authenticity, and nothing on this desk issues an opinion on it.
- It cannot judge what a photograph does not show: how a zip feels, how a garment smells, how a watch wears.
- It cannot tell you what a particular seller will agree to. It tells you what to ask for and how to read the answer.
- It cannot substitute for the current terms of the platform, the carrier or your own customs authority.
51 judging points sit behind this sequence. Start with the category you are buying from, or read what a spreadsheet actually is.