The wrong colour or print
Textiles photograph differently to how they look. A saree that was burgundy online is sometimes maroon in daylight. You see it before you pay to fly it.
Included, no charge
We open every parcel and photograph what is inside
Ordering from eight thousand kilometres away is an act of faith. This is the part that makes it less so.
What does the inspection include?
Every parcel that arrives for you is opened, the contents checked against what you expected, examined for damage, and photographed. You get the photographs before anything is packed for export, while the item is still in India and still inside the seller return window.
Why it exists
The moment of truth should happen while you can still do something
The usual way a cross-border order goes wrong is quiet. Nothing dramatic happens. A box arrives weeks later, it is opened in a kitchen in New Jersey or Melbourne, and the colour is not the colour, or the set is four pieces instead of six, or a glass item has a crack that happened somewhere between a warehouse and an aircraft. By then the item is a continent away from the seller, outside every return window, and worth less than the cost of sending it back.
Inspecting on arrival moves that moment forward by several weeks and several thousand kilometres. At the point we open the box, the item is still in India, the seller is a domestic courier away, and the return process is the ordinary one they offer every customer. The difference between discovering a problem then and discovering it later is the difference between an inconvenience and a write-off.
On arrival
What happens to each parcel in the first hour
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01
Logged against your reference
The inbound parcel is matched to you from the reference on the label, and recorded with the date, the sender and the condition of the outer box.
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02
Opened and checked
Outer shipping packaging comes off. We check the contents against what you told us to expect, and look for damage, missing pieces and anything obviously wrong.
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03
Photographed
One clear photograph per item as standard, more if you have asked for specific angles, labels or details.
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04
You see it before it flies
Photographs and notes come to you on WhatsApp. If something is wrong, you decide what happens next while the seller is still an easy phone call away.
What we catch
The five things inspection finds most often
A short count
Sets arrive incomplete more often than anyone expects. Six bangles listed, four in the bag. Counting is free and takes ten seconds.
Transit damage from inside India
Damage that happened on the domestic leg, before we ever saw it. Photographed on arrival, it is demonstrably the seller problem, not yours.
Items that cannot legally fly
Camphor in a pooja set, a power bank tucked into an accessory box, oil in a pickle jar. Found on the bench, not at the airport.
A substitution you did not agree to
Out of stock items quietly swapped for something similar. Common, rarely disclosed, obvious the moment somebody actually looks.
An honest limit
What inspection is not
We are checking that the right item arrived in good condition. We are not authenticating it. We cannot tell you whether a silk saree is the thread count the seller claimed, whether a piece of jewellery is the carat on the tag, or whether a branded item is genuine. Those are specialist judgements and we will not pretend to make them.
What we will do is photograph the item, the label, the packaging and any certificate that came with it, clearly enough that you or somebody you trust can form a view while there is still time to act. On anything expensive, that is worth asking for specifically.
Common questions
Questions we get asked most
One per item as standard, taken on arrival, showing the item clearly enough to confirm it is the right thing and undamaged. If you want more angles, a close-up of a specific detail, or a photograph of a label or a size tag, ask and we will take it.
We open the outer shipping packaging on everything, because that is where damage hides and because customs declarations need to be accurate. We do not break manufacturer seals or unwrap something that is clearly gift wrapped unless you ask us to.
We photograph the damage and message you before doing anything else. Because the item is still in India and usually still inside the seller return window, you have real options: return it, ask for a replacement, or decide it is fine and ship it anyway. That choice disappears once it has flown.
Yes. Tell us what to verify and we will. Counting a set, reading a size tag, confirming a colour under daylight, checking an expiry date on a packaged food item. These are the checks that save a return, and they cost nothing.
Both, and they happen at the same moment. We need to know exactly what is in the box to complete an accurate commercial invoice, which is what keeps a parcel from being held at the destination. Photographing it while we look is the easy part.
Keep reading
Where to go next
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