QC (quality check) is the process of evaluating photos of your specific rep pair before approving shipment. This guide covers how the QC process works, what to look for by model, and how to make GL (green light, approve) versus RL (red light, reject) decisions.
When you order Jordan reps through an agent, the agent receives the shoes at their warehouse before shipping to you. QC is the step where you receive photos of those actual shoes and decide whether to approve shipment (GL) or reject and have the agent source a different pair (RL). This is your only quality checkpoint — once you GL, the shoes ship and returns on quality grounds are difficult.
Standard QC photos from most agents include: both shoes from the side (lateral and medial), both shoes from above (top-down), outsole photo, and heel tab photo. These four angles cover most critical checkpoints but may not show everything. You can and should request additional photos for specific checkpoints — agents expect this for detail-critical models like Jordan 4 and Jordan 5.
| Model | Standard Photos | Additional Request | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jordan 4 | Side, top, outsole, heel | Back-lit wing eyelet photo | Translucency only visible with backlight |
| Jordan 5 | Side, top, outsole, heel | Angled light on tongue | Reflectivity only visible in angled light |
| Jordan 11 | Side, top, outsole, heel | Direct light on patent panel | Gloss level requires good lighting |
| Jordan 1 | Side, top, outsole, heel | Direct heel-on heel photo | Swoosh angle most visible from behind |
| Travis Scott J1 | Side, top, outsole, heel | Lateral view both shoes together | Reversed swoosh position needs comparison |
Jordan 4: Wing eyelet translucency (most important), ankle netting texture, Air unit window clarity, midsole stitching line, heel tab text proportion. Check in that order — eyelets and netting are the most differentiating and should be checked first.
Jordan 5: Tongue reflectivity (most important), lace aglet weight, shark tooth outsole depth, tongue tab text. The tongue photo is worth requesting specifically — standard QC photos often do not capture reflectivity accurately.
Jordan 11: Patent leather gloss (most important), carbon plate texture, lace jewel weight, outsole Jumpman sharpness. All four are visible in standard QC photos with good lighting.
Jordan 1: Heel tab swoosh angle (most important), toe box profile curvature, tongue label font weight, colour blocking accuracy. Heel-direct and profile photos are most useful for Jordan 1 evaluation.
Jordan 3: Elephant print texture (most important and only critical check), toe box profile, cement midsole speckle distribution. Request close-up macro photo of elephant print zone specifically.
GL (green light) means: the QC photos show quality that meets or exceeds expectations for the batch tier you ordered at. The critical checkpoints are correct. Minor variations in non-critical areas are acceptable — no rep pair is identical to retail in every detail, and minor colour variations in non-visible areas do not warrant RL.
RL (red light) means: one or more critical checkpoints are clearly wrong — wing eyelets are solid, tongue is not reflective, patent leather is matte, heel tab swoosh is horizontal. RL on a critical checkpoint is appropriate. RL on non-critical variation (slightly different shade in a non-prominent area, minor stitching variation in a hidden zone) is generally not justified and will not produce a significantly better replacement.
Jordan 4: opaque eyelets even at mid-tier batches (request back-lit photo if unsure), uniform netting at OG batch. Jordan 5: non-reflective tongue at budget and OG batch, light aglets at OG and LJR batch. Jordan 11: matte patent leather at any budget batch. Jordan 1: horizontal heel tab swoosh at H12 and budget batch, flat toe box at budget batch. These issues are consistent across the community and reflected in batch scores.
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Batch-specified · April 2026