'It came up two sizes small'
A customer ordered your women's fit T-shirt in a medium and says it is far too small. You check the listing's size chart. It is the chart for the unisex blank you used when you first listed it. Since then, you added a women's fit option, and the chart was never changed. Another customer's hoodie was printed by your second partner, whose blank runs smaller than the first partner's, and the chart on the listing is from the first.
You offer a replacement in a larger size. The first shirt goes in the bin, or to the customer to keep. Either way, you paid for two prints.
Size charts are copied, blanks change
Size charts are usually added once, as an image or a table, when a listing is created. The blank behind the listing keeps changing.
- One listing can offer several fits, each with different measurements.
- Different partners print the same product type on different blanks.
- Partners replace blanks with other brands with different sizing.
- Size charts are images, so they cannot be updated in bulk.
- Charts show measurements in one unit when customers think in another.
So the chart a customer reads can describe a garment they will not receive.
What wrong sizes cost
Every wrong-size order costs a second print and shipping, and the first garment has no resale value because it is printed. On marketplaces, a return counts against you. Customers who get the wrong size once are less likely to order again. Most sellers absorb these costs without knowing how many are caused by the chart rather than the customer.
Time goes into each exchange: messages, a new order, sometimes a return label.
The size chart system we build
- Size measurements are pulled for every blank you use from each partner's product data, or entered from their size guides where no API provides them.
- Each listing variant is linked to the blank it prints on, including the partner that routing will send it to.
- Size charts are generated from that data, in your style, with both centimetres and inches, and added to each listing.
- When a blank is replaced or routing moves a product to a different partner, the affected charts update and you are told if the sizing changes noticeably.
- Wrong-size claims are recorded with product, size ordered and size wanted.
- A monthly list shows which products attract the most wrong-size claims, so you can check the chart or add a fit note.
| Situation | What changes | What you see |
|---|---|---|
| New fit added to a listing | Separate chart for that fit | Chart added to the variant |
| Partner replaces a blank | Measurements updated | Alert if sizing shifts |
| Routing moves a product | Chart follows the new blank | Alert if charts differ |
| Many wrong-size claims | Product flagged | Review chart and fit note |
Your exchange policy stays yours. The system makes sure the information customers read matches what they will receive.
Charts that match the garment
Every listing shows a chart for the blank that will actually be printed. When a partner changes a blank, you get a note showing the differences and the charts update. When wrong-size claims pile up on one product, you see it in the monthly list and add a note like 'runs small, consider sizing up'.
The exchanges that remain are genuine customer choices, not the result of an out-of-date chart.
Signs your size charts are out of date
- Size charts are images added when the listing was made.
- Different fits on a listing share one chart.
- You use more than one partner for the same product type.
- Wrong-size claims are common and not tracked by product.
- Your charts show one unit of measurement only.