1. Purpose
Inspect each returned unit, record its condition on the checklist, and capture where it is going, so that the grade and the disposition come out right first time. Sets out exactly how the grade is calculated, because it is calculated rather than judged, and an inspector who does not know the rule will fight it.
2. Scope
Covers inspecting the units on a return that has already been received, from the dashboard. Receiving is covered in SWI-030 and executing the resulting dispositions is covered in SWI-032. Building the disposition rules that choose what happens to each item is configuration work and is not covered here.
3. Roles & Responsibilities
Inspection team: examines each unit, completes the checklist honestly, and captures where the unit is being put.
Operations lead: owns the disposition rules, and reviews overrides, which are the signal that the rules are wrong.
Support: reads the recorded grade and checklist when a merchant disputes an outcome.
4. When you need this
A return has been received and its units need working through.
An item came out at a grade the inspector did not expect.
Everything is coming out on hold and nobody knows why.
A returned unit needs to go back to a specific bin, with its lot or expiry carried across.
5. Key concept: the grade is calculated from five tick boxes, not judged
What people assume | What actually happens |
|---|---|
The grade is the inspector's opinion of the item. | It is derived from the checklist. Ticking the boxes produces the grade, and the only way to record a different one is an explicit override carrying a written reason. |
Every box on the checklist pulls the grade down. | Only Damaged and Missing Components can take an item below B. Tags Attached and Minor Wear decide A against B, and Original Packaging only ever decides A against B. |
An item returned without its original packaging drops to C. | It does not. An item with no damage and nothing missing cannot go below B, whatever state the packaging is in. |
Grade D means the item is badly damaged. | It means Damaged and Missing Components are both ticked. There is no severity dial anywhere on the checklist, so a lightly scuffed item missing one accessory grades the same as a crushed one. |
The inspector chooses what happens to the item. | The disposition rules choose, from the grade and the rest of the detail. The inspector sees the result and may override it, again with a reason. |
A wrong inspection can be fixed by inspecting the item again. | It cannot. Each unit is inspected once and the screen refuses a second pass. A wrong call has to be handled at disposition instead. |
The put-away location is a note for whoever puts the item away. | It is the bin the unit is actually added to when a Restock disposition is executed. Leaving it empty hands that decision to a fallback. |
6. Procedure — inspect the units on a return
Open the return and click Inspect Items, or click Continue to Inspect on the receiving result screen. The address is /dashboard/<organization-slug>/returns/<return-id>/inspect.
Check the progress bar at the top. Units are presented one at a time and the bar is the only indication of how many are left.
Scan the unit's barcode into SKU Verification, or type the SKU. This records whether the item in your hand matches the item expected, and the disposition rules can be written to key off it.
Work through the Condition Checklist against the unit: Tags Attached, Original Packaging, Minor Wear, Damaged, Missing Components.
Read the Condition Grade panel, which updates as you tick. If it disagrees with the item in your hand, the checklist is wrong, not the grade.
Add any Defect Codes that apply. These are separate from the grade and do not move it, but disposition rules can be written against them.
Set the Put-away location. It arrives pre-filled with a suggestion, usually the SKU's home bin or the bin already holding the most of it, and it is editable. Add the lot number and expiry date where the product carries them.
Add inspection Notes if there is anything the grade and defect codes do not capture.
Use Override Grade / Disposition only where the calculated answer is genuinely wrong. A reason is required and the form will not submit without one.
Submit the unit and move on to the next. The return moves to Inspecting on the first unit and to Processing once the last one is done.
6A. How the grade is calculated
The rule runs in order and stops at the first line that matches, so a higher line always wins.
Condition | Grade | Label |
|---|---|---|
Damaged and Missing Components both ticked | D | Defective |
Damaged or Missing Components, one of the two | C | Acceptable / Damaged |
Neither damaged nor missing, but tags removed or minor wear | B | Good |
Tags on, no wear, nothing damaged or missing, original packaging | A | New / Like New |
Tags on, no wear, nothing damaged or missing, no original packaging | B | Good |
The practical reading is that Damaged and Missing Components are the only two boxes that decide C and D. The other three sort the undamaged items into A or B.
6B. When everything comes out on hold
Hold is not something the checklist can produce. It is what the disposition rules return when no rule matched the item, so a run of items all landing on hold almost always means the rules do not cover them rather than that the stock is suspect.
An organisation with no disposition rules configured at all sends every inspected unit to hold, by design. The fix is to write rules covering the grades and reasons that actually come back, not to override each item as it appears. Clearing the resulting backlog is covered in SWI-033.
7. Verification
The progress bar reaches the full count and the screen reads Inspection Complete.
The return reads Processing once every unit has been inspected, having passed through Inspecting.
The Inspection Results card on the return lists each unit with its grade and the disposition it was given.
An overridden unit shows the override and its reason, and no longer cites a rule.
The put-away location and any lot or expiry appear against the unit, ready for restock.
Execute All Dispositions is now offered on the return, which it was not while units were still uninspected.
8. Constraints and caveats
The return must read Received or Inspecting. A return that has moved on to Processing cannot be inspected further.
Each unit is inspected once. There is no re-inspection and no correction pass, so a mistake found afterwards is handled at disposition or by adjusting inventory later.
An override of either the grade or the disposition requires a reason, and one reason covers both.
Overriding the disposition detaches the unit from the rules entirely, so the record no longer shows which rule would have applied.
Defect codes never move the grade. They exist so disposition rules and the hold queue have something more specific than a letter to work with.
Lot and expiry can only be entered once a real put-away location has been chosen. They are carried onto inventory only on the precise restock path, which is the path a captured location creates.
Where the unit was returned against an original shipment, lot and expiry are pre-filled from it and marked as coming from that shipment. They stay editable, which is what makes returns from channels we did not ship workable.
An inspection fee is charged per unit where one is configured, and it can be set to differ by grade.
Inspecting the last unit also closes the return's parent task, which is what makes the return eligible for disposition.
Where a refund is configured to trigger on inspection, submitting each unit is what fires it.
9. Worked example
A brand operating through a 3PL found that every returned unit was arriving on hold, and asked why inspection was rejecting good stock.
What was observed | What it meant |
|---|---|
Items with a clean checklist were still landing on hold. | The checklist was not the cause. A clean checklist produces grade A, and hold is not a grade. |
The organisation had no disposition rules configured. | This was the whole cause. With no rule to match, every inspected unit falls through to hold. |
Inspectors had begun overriding each item to Restock. | Understandable, and the wrong lever. Every override was a manual decision that a single rule would have made automatically, and each one detached the unit from the rules. |
An item returned in its original box graded B, not A. | Original Packaging had been left unticked. That box is the only thing separating A from B on an otherwise clean item. |
One item ticked as damaged and missing parts came out D, and the inspector expected C. | Both boxes together is the definition of D. Either one alone would have been C. |
Two rules were written, one sending grades A and B to Restock and one sending C and D to Liquidate, and the hold backlog stopped growing the same day.