Check every checkpoint before you GL. Tap each item as you verify it in your agent's photos.
QC photos are the moment between your money leaving your account and your rep leaving China. It's the only intervention point in the entire process. Once you GL (green light) the shoes and they ship, whatever you approved is what you're getting. Take the photos seriously.
The most common QC mistake is rushing. Buyers get excited, the photos look roughly right, they GL immediately. Then the shoes arrive and the swoosh angle is slightly off, or there's a glue stain they missed, or the toe box shape isn't quite right. These things are visible in QC photos if you look carefully with a retail reference image open beside them.
The most important single checkpoint is swoosh angle and placement. The Nike swoosh has a specific geometry — start point, end point, curvature. An off-angle swoosh is the most immediately visible flaw on any Nike rep, and it cannot be fixed after the fact. Check this first, every time, before anything else.
Natural light photos are significantly better than flash for QC. Flash washes out color accuracy and creates reflections that hide texture flaws. If your agent sends flash-only photos, it's completely reasonable to ask for natural light versions — most agents will accommodate this without issue. Don't GL photos you can't properly evaluate.
This checklist is silhouette-specific: Air Force 1 checks differ from Dunk Low checks in the details that matter most. The QC guide explains each checkpoint in depth.
Use this checklist alongside the batch index — knowing what to expect from your specific batch helps you calibrate what is acceptable versus what is a real fail. The agent guide covers how to communicate QC photo requests to CNFans, Kakobuy, and Sugargoo specifically. The model directory has silhouette-specific QC notes for every Nike model.