Lovegobuy: writing QC notes that separate facts from guesses

The short answer

Split every note into three columns. The first holds observations: things a second person can point at in the same frame. The second holds inferences: what you think the observation means, clearly marked as unconfirmed. The third holds follow-ups: the exact image or detail that would settle the open question. Never merge the columns, and never let an inference sit in the observation column.

This guide belongs to an independent series that supports a Lovegobuy spreadsheet workflow. It is about note-taking discipline around product photos. It does not authenticate items, grade quality, or represent the official Lovegobuy site.

If your images are still incomplete, read making a fair side-by-side comparison first, so you know which observations are even supported. When you are ready to ask for more, the detail photo request guide turns follow-ups into sentences a person can act on.

Observation, inference and follow-up

An observation answers “what is in the frame?” It should be short, physical and checkable: a stitched line runs a certain distance from an edge, a label sits inside a collar, a colour looks warm under this light. An inference answers “what do I think that means?” It might be right, but it is a different kind of statement and needs its own column.

A follow-up answers “what would settle this?” It should name a view, a distance and a detail. The three columns work because they force each sentence into the right category before it reaches anyone else. In a team setting this prevents the classic failure where one person’s guess becomes the next person’s fact after a couple of forwards.

Keep the columns narrow. A note that fills a whole page is harder to re-read than a note with four lines. If you cannot compress an observation to one line, it usually contains an inference as well.

Rewriting weak notes

Most weak notes are not wrong; they are just doing two jobs at once. “Stitching looks sloppy” mixes a physical description with a judgement. Split it: the observation is the stitch spacing you can actually see, and the judgement becomes an inference with a follow-up. The rewritten note is longer by a few words and much easier to act on.

Watch for three phrases that almost always hide an inference: “looks like”, “seems cheaper” and “definitely”. The first two announce a guess, which is fine — just put the guess in the right column. The third removes room for a follow-up, which is usually premature.

Numbers deserve their own care. If you write “2 cm below the collar”, say how you measured: from the seam line at the top of the label, on a flat surface, from the photo. Without that, the number looks more precise than it is, and a later reader may treat a rough estimate as a measurement.

A note template you can copy

This block is the format used across the guides on this site. It is plain text on purpose, so it pastes cleanly into a spreadsheet cell or a message. Keep the header line, because the date and source prevent a useful note from turning into an unusable one.

ROW:        category + short id
SOURCE:     listing photo / warehouse photo / seller photo — date
OBSERVED:   one physical fact visible in the frame
INFERRED:   what it might mean (unconfirmed)
FOLLOW-UP:  view + distance + detail needed
STATUS:     open / answered / cannot be confirmed from photos

The status line is the one people skip and later regret. Marking a note “cannot be confirmed from photos” is a legitimate ending. It closes the loop honestly and stops the same question from being re-asked in every session.

Worked example: counting what is known

Suppose a row has five notes. One is a confirmed observation, two are inferences, one is a follow-up already sent, and one is a question that cannot be answered from photos. It is tempting to describe the row as “mostly reviewed”, but that phrase hides the important part: only one of five points is actually established.

Teaching values: 1 confirmed out of 5 points = 20% established. 2 inferences out of 5 = 40% still unverified. 1 follow-up pending = 20% in progress. 1 closed as unanswerable = 20%. Those four numbers add to 100%, and each one points at a different action — none of which is “conclude now”.

This count is not a quality score for the item. It is a count of note states, which is exactly what a careful reviewer needs before deciding whether to ask again, keep waiting, or move on.

Where notes must stop

Notes are for organizing what images show. They are not an inspection certificate, and they cannot stand in for a material test, a measurement with a proper tool, or a statement from the seller about their own process. When a note reaches that boundary, mark it and stop.

It also helps to keep notes short-lived. Re-read them at the end of a session and delete any line that no longer affects a decision. A clean half-page of live notes is worth more than a long archive nobody opens.

Drop your open follow-ups into the coverage checklist on the home page, or start a new row from the category list.

Source note: this page describes a general note-taking method. Any statement about what an official warehouse check includes, what it reports, or how long it takes must be verified on the official Lovegobuy help pages for your country. The counts above are teaching values, not inspection results.

Where to go next

Turn your open follow-ups into requests with the detail photo guide, then keep the conditions matched using the side-by-side method.