Packing video proof

Packing video proof that holds up when someone disputes it

Film the order while you pack it. PallasMark fingerprints the file the moment it lands, so the recording stops being your word and starts being something the other side can check for themselves.

Free plan · No card · Works on the phone your team already has

An order is filmed as it is packed, the recording is fingerprinted on upload, and the sealed proof is shared as a link anyone can open.

What is packing video proof?

Packing video proof is a recording of an order being packed, tied to that order and stored so it can be shown later as evidence of what actually shipped.

The recording usually starts with an empty box and runs, without a cut, until the parcel is sealed and labelled. It shows the item, its condition, the order reference and the shipping label in the same continuous take. When a buyer later says the box was empty, the item was wrong, or it arrived broken, that clip is the only record of what was really inside.

Almost every seller can produce a video like this today with a phone. Very few can produce one that a stranger will accept, and that gap is the whole subject of this page.

A packing video becomes proof at the moment someone who does not trust you can check it without taking your word for anything.

A recording is not proof yet

Two questions decide whether a clip survives contact with a bank, a marketplace agent or a carrier's claims desk. Most packing video setups answer neither.

Does it belong to this order?

Usually
A file named IMG_4471.mov in a shared drive, or a clip in a vendor's dashboard next to a printed order number.
With PallasMark
The order reference and timestamp are drawn into the picture as you film, and the proof is attached to the order record itself — not filed beside it.

Has it been changed since?

Usually
A watermark. A watermark makes a file identifiable, not verifiable: it can be recreated, and it tells a reviewer nothing about whether the file was trimmed afterwards.
With PallasMark
A SHA-256 fingerprint is computed on the original bytes before anything else touches them. Change one frame and the file no longer matches the sealed record — and anyone can run that check themselves.

Anyone can check it, with no account

Every proof gets a public verify link. The buyer, the bank's dispute team, a marketplace agent or a carrier's claims desk opens it and the page tells them whether that fingerprint belongs to a sealed recording and when it was made. They never create a PallasMark account, and they never have to believe us.

See how the seal works

How packing video proof works

Five steps, all of them on the phone or laptop already in the packing area. No camera rig, no second dashboard.

  1. 1

    Open the order

    Scan the barcode or pick the order from the list, in a browser or in the iOS or Android app. Orders arrive on their own from Shopify or WooCommerce.

  2. 2

    Film while you pack

    One continuous take: empty box, item in, condition visible, box sealed, label readable. The date, time and order reference are drawn into the frame as you record.

  3. 3

    It seals itself on upload

    The raw bytes are fingerprinted with SHA-256 before transcoding, and the fingerprint is kept alongside the playable copy. There is no edit button — not for your team, not for the buyer.

  4. 4

    Let the buyer approve it, if you want

    For high-value or dispute-prone orders you can send the proof before dispatch and ask the buyer to confirm what they are about to receive. A claim is much harder to make after that.

  5. 5

    Share one link when a claim arrives

    The order carries a link you can paste into a chargeback response, a marketplace case or a carrier claim. Whoever opens it can verify the fingerprint themselves.

Four ways sellers do this, compared honestly

These are approaches, not brands. Each is a reasonable choice for someone — the point is to see what each one actually proves.

Four ways sellers do this, compared honestly
What you are askingPhone + a folderFixed camera at the benchWatermark-only appPallasMark
Tied to a specific orderBy filename, by handBy timestamp, matched laterYes, in the vendor's dashboardYes, and burned into the picture
Detectable if editedNoNoA watermark is not a checkSHA-256 on the original bytes
A third party can verify it aloneNoNoUsually a view link, not a checkPublic verify page, no account
Buyer confirms before dispatchNoNoNoOptional approval step
Works away from a fixed benchYesNo — one station, one placeUsually yesYes, phone or laptop
What drives the costStorage and your timeHardware per stationRecordings per monthOrders per month

Every claim in the PallasMark column is described in more depth on the feature pages linked at the bottom of this page. The other three columns describe how these approaches generally work, not any particular product.

Where a packing video actually counts

This is worth getting right, because a lot of what is written about it is wrong.

Card disputes about the item itself

Visa's dispute condition 13.3 covers merchandise that is not as described, damaged or simply the wrong thing. Visa's guidance to merchants is to provide as much specific documentation as possible and to address each point the cardholder made. A sealed recording showing the correct item, undamaged, going into the box is exactly that kind of documentation.

Not what a packing video is for

Condition 13.1 is "merchandise not received", and that is a delivery question, not a packing question. Visa's own advice there is carrier proof of delivery. And the compelling-evidence rules that get quoted most often — Compelling Evidence 3.0 — apply to fraud conditions and ask for matching device, IP, address and account history, not for video. Anyone selling you a packing video as a Compelling Evidence 3.0 remedy has misread the rule.

Marketplace and platform claims

Marketplace cases are decided by a support agent reading a thread, usually in minutes. A link that opens instantly, shows the order reference in the picture and proves it has not been edited does more in that thread than a paragraph of explanation ever will.

Carrier damage and loss claims

Carriers ask you to show the item was packed adequately for transit. A recording of the packing material going in, taken before the parcel left you, answers the question their claims form is actually asking.

Works with the store you already run

Orders arrive on their own, so nobody retypes an order number at the packing bench.

Shopify

Orders sync in and the proof link travels back to the order. Install from the Shopify App Store.

WooCommerce

A free plugin on WordPress.org connects a WooCommerce store in a few clicks. Most tools in this category are Shopify-only.

Anything else

A REST API and webhooks for a custom stack, a WMS or an ERP — create an order, attach a proof, get notified when the buyer approves.

What it costs

There is a free plan with no card, and it includes the parts that matter most: sealing, the public verify page and the forensic metadata stored with every proof. Paid plans raise the monthly order volume and keep proofs longer — retention runs from each order's own date, so a dispute window that opens months later still has the recording behind it.

  • Free plan, no card, sealing included
  • Proofs kept 90 days on Free, 365 days on paid plans
  • Orders with an open dispute or return are never purged
See plans and limits

Questions sellers ask

What is packing video proof?

It is a recording of an order being packed, tied to that order and stored so it can be shown later as evidence of what shipped. It normally runs in one continuous take from empty box to sealed parcel, with the item, its condition, the order reference and the shipping label all visible in the same clip.

Does a packing video actually help in a chargeback?

It helps in the disputes that are about the item — wrong product, damaged, not as described. Visa's guidance for that dispute condition asks the merchant to provide as much specific documentation as possible and to address each point the cardholder raised, and a sealed recording of the correct item going into the box is that documentation. It does not help with "I never received it", which is a delivery question answered by carrier proof of delivery.

What stops someone editing the video afterwards?

Nothing has to stop them, because an edit is detectable. The fingerprint is taken from the exact bytes that arrived, so changing a single frame produces a different fingerprint and the file no longer matches the sealed record. That is what separates a sealed recording from a watermarked one: a watermark makes a file identifiable, it does not tell anyone whether the file was changed.

Can a buyer or a bank verify it without an account?

Yes. Every proof has a public verify link. Whoever opens it sees whether that fingerprint belongs to a sealed recording and when it was made, with no PallasMark login on their side.

Do we need a special camera or a fixed packing station?

No. Your team films on the phone or laptop already in the room, in the browser or in the PallasMark app for iOS and Android. A mounted camera at a permanent bench is a reasonable setup for one high-volume station, but it stops working the moment packing happens in more than one place.

How long do we have to keep packing videos?

Long enough to outlast the dispute window you are actually exposed to, which is usually months rather than weeks. Proofs are kept 90 days on the free plan and 365 days on paid plans, counted from each order's own date rather than from a single account-wide cutoff. Orders with an open dispute, chargeback or return are never purged.

Is it legal to film our own packing process?

Filming a parcel being packed on your own premises is ordinary business record-keeping. The care needed is about your staff, not the parcel: tell your team the packing area is recorded, keep the frame on the bench rather than on people, and store the recordings only as long as you need them. If you operate in the EU or UK, treat that notice as part of your normal employee privacy notice.

Does this work for a 3PL or a multi-warehouse operation?

Yes. Proofs can be tied to a facility, warehouse staff can be given an operator role that does not consume a team seat, and where location is available it is compared against the facility's geofence and recorded honestly as match, mismatch or unknown. Indoor GPS drifts, so it is a supporting signal rather than an identity check.

What happens if we already record video another way?

Keep doing it, and check the two questions on this page against your setup: can a stranger tell which order a given clip belongs to, and can they tell whether it was edited. If the answer to either is no, the recording is still useful internally but it is not yet evidence.

Start sealing your packing videos

Free plan, no card, and the first sealed proof takes about five minutes to produce.

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