Damage claims are decided by strangers looking at pictures. They are not deciding whether you're honest. They're deciding whether the file in front of them supports the amount you're asking for. Good photos make that easy. Vague photos make it someone else's judgment call.
The ten-minute checklist
Do this before you throw anything away. Carriers can and do ask to inspect the box and the packing material.
- Photograph the package unopened, from all four sides plus the top. Crushed corners, punctures, and water stains are the evidence that the damage happened in transit, not in your kitchen.
- Get the shipping label in a sharp, readable close-up. Tracking number, carrier, sender, and any "Fragile"/"This Side Up" markings.
- Shoot the box next to something for scale — a ruler, a credit card, your hand. Photos of dents lie about size without a reference.
- Open it on camera if you can. A continuous, unedited video of the unboxing is the single strongest artifact you can produce. Start recording before the tape comes off.
- Photograph the interior packing before removing anything. Was there any padding? Was the item loose? This is often the deciding fact in a carrier claim.
- Photograph the damaged item in place, then removed. Wide shot for context, close-up for the actual break.
- Capture every serial number, model number, and included accessory. This preempts the "wrong item" and "missing parts" back-and-forth.
- Photograph the packing slip or invoice so the value in your claim is provable, not asserted.
- Write down the date and time you took delivery, and note whether the driver left it, handed it over, or asked you to sign. If you signed for a visibly damaged box, note that too.
- Keep the box, the padding, and the item until the claim is fully closed. UPS explicitly reserves the right to inspect packaging, and USPS may ask you to bring the whole package into a Post Office.
Twelve to twenty photos is normal. Nobody has ever lost a claim for having too many.
Shoot for a stranger, not for yourself
The reviewer has never seen your product, your porch, or your box. A few habits that raise your hit rate:
- Light it flat. Overhead light plus a dark crack equals an invisible crack. Turn on a lamp, move to a window, or use a second phone as a light source.
- Don't crop, filter, rotate, or "enhance." Any editing gives a claims adjuster a reason to ask questions. Send originals.
- Don't screenshot your photos to share them. Screenshots strip the file's metadata and re-compress the image. Attach the originals.
- One subject per frame. A single photo showing the label, the dent, and the broken item at once proves none of them cleanly.
- Include one photo with the label and the damage in the same frame. This is what ties this damage to that shipment.
Know which door you're knocking on
There are usually three separate paths, and they have different rules and different clocks.
The seller or marketplace. This is almost always fastest and should be your first move. Most large retailers have a returns window for damaged, defective, or broken items, and a specific flow for requesting a replacement. You typically don't need to prove much — but photos turn a "we'll look into it" into a same-day replacement.
The carrier. Note that carrier claims are usually filed by the shipper, not you, since they hold the contract and the insurance. The deadlines are tight and they're worth knowing so you can push the seller to move: UPS requires domestic claims to be started within 60 days of the scheduled delivery date; FedEx requires U.S. damage claims within 60 calendar days of the shipment date, with a shorter window for concealed damage discovered later; USPS requires damage claims no later than 60 days after the mailing date, though you can file immediately.
Your credit card. If the seller stonewalls, the Fair Credit Billing Act lets you dispute charges for goods that weren't delivered as agreed. Send written notice to your card issuer's billing-disputes address so it arrives within 60 days after the statement containing the charge was sent to you. Note the limit: the FCBA covers billing errors, not disagreements about quality — "it arrived shattered" qualifies, "I expected better stitching" generally doesn't.
Write the message like a claim, not a complaint
Lead with order number, delivery date, and what's damaged. State the resolution you want — refund or replacement, pick one. Attach the photos in a logical order: package exterior, label, opened package, damaged item. Keep it short. Adjusters process volume; the easy claim gets approved first.
Why tamper-evident photos help
The unavoidable weakness of a damage photo is that a reviewer can't tell when or where it was taken — a JPEG's timestamp is just editable metadata, and everyone in the claims business knows it. That's the gap EtchImage closes: photos are captured with a C2PA Content Credential, a cryptographically signed, tamper-evident record of the capture that shows the image hasn't been altered since. It doesn't replace the checklist above; it just means the honest photos you already took can be verified as such, which matters most when a claim gets pushed back on.
Sources: UPS — File a Claim · FedEx — File a Claim · USPS — File a Domestic Claim · FTC Consumer Advice — What To Do if You're Billed for Things You Never Got · C2PA Content Credentials Specification