What's in the Box Image: Count Parts Before Shipping

A what's in the box image is the cheapest insurance on a multi-part shipment, and most suppliers still skip it. The buyer opens carton one of three, finds two hinge packs where the listing implied four, and files a missing-parts claim. On eBay that reason sits in the significantly-not-as-described list, which means the seller pays return shipping whatever the listing's return policy says.

Nothing was missing. The parts were in carton two, under the foam. But by the time anyone proves that, you have paid for a return, a refund, or both, and the buyer has told a review thread that your packing is unreliable.

This is the build order for a contents image that actually gets used: the parts list first, the shot order second, the numbering third, then the export and the platform placement. Six steps, one checklist, and one rule that covers the whole thing. Shoot the packing bench, not the studio.

What a what's in the box image actually is

A what's in the box image is a photograph of every part, bag, fastener and accessory in the shipment, arranged and numbered so a buyer can count it against a printed list in one glance.

That definition rules out three things suppliers routinely send instead:

A contents image is a counting tool: allowed to be plain, not allowed to be incomplete.

It is also not a packing list. The packing list travels with the commercial documents and is checked at customs. The contents image lives on the listing and in the buyer's chat, where it sets the expectation before the carton is opened. You need both, and they must agree.

Step 1: Write the package contents list before you shoot

The photo is a rendering of a list. If the list is wrong, the photo certifies the wrong thing with great clarity.

Build the package contents list from the bill of materials and the packing bench, not from the product catalogue. Then fill this template:

Four rules make this list survive contact with a buyer:

• Use the buyer's vocabulary. "Cam lock" and "cam bolt" are what the assembly sheet says. "Connector set" is what your ERP says. Use the assembly sheet.
• Count fasteners by type, not as "hardware". "Hardware: 1 set" is the single most common source of missing-parts claims, because nobody can count a set.
• List the tool. Buyers assume the Allen key is missing when they cannot see it. Put it on the list as its own line with a quantity of one.
• List spares separately. If you ship four spares, say "4 spare" in the note. Otherwise the buyer counts eight where the assembly sheet says four and reports a discrepancy that is not one.

If your product has a parts list in the assembly instructions, the contents list must use the same reference numbers. Two numbering systems in one carton is a support ticket waiting to happen, and product breakdown diagrams only work when the numbers match the words the buyer already has in hand.

Step 2: Shoot in packing order, not display order

The most useful contents image looks like the packing bench five minutes before the carton closed, not like a catalogue page.

• One frame per carton. If the order ships in three cartons, shoot three frames and number them. A single frame of everything piled together tells the buyer nothing about which box to open first.
• Shoot the bag open and closed, side by side. One sealed bag shows the packaging; one opened bag shows the contents. This kills the "the bag looked empty" argument without emptying every bag in the shipment.
• Keep the carton edge in frame. The buyer recognises the carton, not your studio backdrop. A strip of the carton flap at the top of the frame tells them they are looking at the right box.
• Use the same light as the product photos. Mixed white balance between the contents image and the listing makes the parts look like a different finish, and finish disputes are their own category of return.

Shoot on a plain surface: grey kraft paper or a neutral workbench, nothing styled.

Step 3: Number the parts and put the numbers on the photo

Numbers turn a photo into a lookup table. Without them, buyers scan, give up, and open the claim form. The placement conventions are the same ones behind readable product photo callouts.

• Number in reading order. Left to right, top to bottom, the way the eye already moves. Do not number by assembly sequence unless the image is laid out in assembly sequence.
• Keep the number outside the part silhouette. A number printed on a black hinge disappears. A number on a white tag beside it does not.
• Match the list exactly. If the list has six lines, the photo has six numbers. A photo with nine callouts against a six-line list reads as a packing error before the buyer has opened anything.
• Test at phone size. Open the exported file on a phone at normal zoom, not on the 27-inch monitor you edited on. If you cannot read the numbers without pinching, the buyer will not read them either.

This is where a general-purpose image editor starts to hurt. Numbers added by hand drift off the part when a marketplace crops the image, and a callout pointing at the wrong hinge is worse than no callout. Software that locks numbered labels onto the actual photo and exports at each platform's spec size keeps the numbering stable through every crop.

Step 4: Make the count unambiguous

The camera counts what it sees. The buyer counts what they can distinguish. Close that gap deliberately.

Two practical notes. First, "×12" next to a single screw is more readable than twelve screws at any export size, and it is far less likely to be miscounted. Second, when two parts look alike, label the difference, not the part. "L" and "R" beat "bracket" twice.

Step 5: Split multi-carton shipments across frames

Multi-carton orders are where missing-parts claims concentrate, because the buyer's mental model is one box.

• Put the carton number on the frame. Burn in "Carton 1 of 3" if your platform allows text on secondary images. It is the single most useful label on the image.
• Show the carton marks. Match the shipping marks on the box to the image, so the buyer can tell which physical box the frame describes.
• Name the hardware carton. If all fasteners ship in carton two, say so in the image and in the listing text. It is the first place a buyer looks and the last place they think to open.
• Keep one overview frame. One wide shot of all cartons side by side, closed and labelled, then one contents frame per carton. The overview answers "how many boxes should have arrived", which is a different question from "what is inside this one".

If the order can ship in different carton counts depending on configuration, say which configuration the image shows and list the alternative. A buyer who ordered the two-door version should not be counting parts against a three-door frame.

For a single-SKU handoff, the same logic applies to the dimension annotation demo: one photo, labelled measurements, no ambiguity about what the buyer is looking at. The contents image is the same discipline applied to parts instead of dimensions.

Step 6: Export it so it survives the handoff

A contents image has three lives: the listing, the buyer chat, and the warehouse printout. Export for the worst of the three.

• Longest side at 1,600 px or more. Amazon enables zoom at 1,000 px on the longest side; 1,600 px is the working standard that survives chat compression.
• JPG at high quality, sRGB. Wide-gamut exports shift on Android phones, and a shifted finish colour starts a different argument.
• Name the file for the carton. sku-1234-carton-1-of-3-contents.jpg beats IMG_8841.jpg when a colleague has to find it in six months.
• Write real alt text. Not "image1". Something like "contents of carton 1 for SKU 1234, showing side panels, cam locks and hardware bag A". Alt text is what a buyer on a slow connection and a search engine both read.

Where the image belongs on each platform

Placement is where a good contents image gets rejected for the wrong reason. The rules differ, and they differ in a way that matters for text-heavy images.

The Google rule is the one that catches suppliers out. Its image specification for image_link bars added text, barcodes and overlays, and directs extra angles and detail shots to additional_image_link. A numbered parts diagram is exactly that: a detail shot. Submitted as the primary image, it risks disapproval; submitted as an additional image, it is doing the job it was built for.

Amazon's rule points the same way from the other side: the main image is the clean product shot, so the contents image belongs in the secondary slots where labels are expected.

What the image cannot do

Set the boundary before you promise anything internally.

• It cannot prove what was in the box at packing time. Only a per-order packing photo, timestamped at the bench, does that. The listing image sets the expectation; the packing photo is the evidence.
• It cannot replace the packing list. Customs, freight forwarders and letter-of-credit checks read documents, not listing images.
• It cannot fix a wrong main image. If the hero shot shows a finish you do not ship, a perfect contents image just makes the mismatch more obvious.
• It cannot cover a configuration you did not photograph. One image per configuration, or an explicit note about what is not shown.

The practical combination is two photos per order: one generic contents image on the listing, and one timestamped bench photo per shipment kept with the order record. The first prevents the claim; the second wins it.

Pre-send checklist

• Package contents list built from the bill of materials and the packing bench
• Buyer vocabulary used for every part name, matching the assembly sheet
• Fasteners counted by type; spares listed separately
• Tool included as its own line item
• One contents frame per carton, plus one closed-carton overview
• Carton number burned in or labelled
• Each hardware bag shown open and closed
• Numbers match the list one-to-one and sit outside the part silhouette
• Export read at phone size before upload
• Longest side 1,600 px or more, sRGB, file named by SKU and carton
• Alt text written in plain language
• Primary image slot left clean; contents shot placed as secondary or additional
• Listing text names the carton that holds the hardware
• Timestamped bench photo retained per shipment

FAQ

What should a what's in the box image show?

It should show every part in the shipment, numbered to match a printed contents list, with quantities and the carton each item ships in. Show fasteners by type, the assembly tool, and any spares as a separate group. If the order ships in several cartons, use one frame per carton.

Does Amazon require a what's in the box image?

No. Amazon does not mandate a contents image, and its main image rules push added text and extra objects out of the primary slot. Treat it as a secondary image that reduces missing-parts claims, not as a compliance requirement.

Why do buyers claim missing parts when nothing is missing?

Usually because the listing never told them how many parts to expect or which carton holds them. A buyer counting an unlabelled pile has no way to tell a spare from a missing item, and the claim form is faster than an email to support.

Can I put text and numbers on the image?

Yes on secondary images, no on the primary one. Google's image_link specification bars added text, barcodes and overlays and routes detail shots to additional_image_link. Amazon keeps the main image to the product on white. Numbering belongs in the slots built for it.

How many photos does a multi-carton shipment need?

One closed-carton overview plus one contents frame per carton is the minimum. Add a frame for the open hardware bag and one for any configuration variation. Three cartons typically land at four to six images, well inside every major platform's image limit.

Sources & References

• Amazon Seller Central — Product image requirements (main image on pure white; 1,000+ px on the longest side enables zoom)
• Amazon Seller Central — Return reason codes for prepaid returns (missing parts or accessories is a listed return reason assigned to the seller)
• eBay Developers — Handling returns: buyer remorse vs SNAD (missing parts or accessories counts as significantly not as described; the seller pays return shipping)
• Google Merchant Center — Image link [image_link] (75–90% frame fill; added text, barcodes and overlays barred; extra views go to additional_image_link)
• Amazon — Amazon Return Policy (most items returnable within 30 days of delivery)