Selling on Vinted and labels for posting

[confusedlots]

Having bought a few things on Vinted over the past couple of months, I want to list a few things myself. I've read the information on Vinted but just can't work out the posting 🙈. If someone buys something, then I package it up and take it to the drop off point (with no label on it?) and get a label printed out there? Is that right? Do I need to pay for the label?

Sorry if this sounds stupid, but I'm just not sure of the process!

It depends on the courier, some you need to print and attach the labels at home and some you just take it and they do it for you. You get shipping instructions on the Vinted app when something sells so you can check which way to do it

With Evri and Yodel, you just select ‘digital label’ and you’re sent a barcode for the drop-off point to print. This only works if you use a manned drop-off point and not a locker.

I don’t know about the other couriers, as they’re not convenient for me, therefore I have changed my settings to not accept them.

Hi, so when you make a sale the buyer will pay for a label which is emailed to you and also appears in your vinted app. You have the option to either download a digital label or a physical one. If you get the digital one you just go to your local drop off which is often an Inpost box and scan the barcode there, it’s very easy, the screen at the box gives you step by step instructions. If you choose to get a label to attach you can go into your local drop off point ( sometimes co op, Tesco,you can click on find nearest drop off point ) and they will print you a label and attach it and give you the scanner to add your email address so that you can track the package. Hope that makes sense and isn’t too waffly!

I'm not 100% on this either but I know you can edit your postage options. One of them will be Royal Mail and, AFAIK, that works differently and is more a case of going to the Post Office and sending it and paying yourself. Personally I have deleted Royal Mail as an option because I live far from a Post Office and I prefer the label to be printed for me.

The InPost lockers you just scan the code, put in the locker with no label and somehow it makes its way to the recipient- it’s like witchcraft 🤣

I sell on Vinted. I bought plastic mail bags to post the items. When someone buys something off me, I print off the shipping label and stick it on the front of the bag. It has a barcode and the address. I then go to the drop off lockers (Tesco) and scan the bar code on the computer terminal and walk through the steps or if it is Yodel, drop it at my local newsagent.

It sounds complicated but once you’ve done it once it is so easy.

That’s pure magic!

Vinted could definitely work on and improve the information they give, considering the size of their business.

Some of the lockers allow digital labels - presume courier has a handheld printer that they use as they empty the lockers.

InPost aren't magic, they're terrible! 75% of the parcels I've sent/bought by InPost have got lost, never to be seen again.

InPost - I won’t send with them or have items delivered by them due to the high amount I’ve had go missing. How they keep going as a business is mind blowing!

I have Evri and yodel set up when I sell, it’s just so easy to select digital label and just drop off. Not had any go missing either which is a bonus.

Oh fair enough. Sorry you’ve had that. I had Evri lose a parcel of mine that I sent via eBay. It was a mint condition boxed model car that my dad got me when I was a kid and I was quite gutted as I just wanted someone to have it who would take care of it and enjoy it

Before you start selling, make sure you review your settings (and keep reviewing them often as they add new couriers and have them auto selected when they do).

Check your courier options and ensure you have them nearby (personally I only use royal mail as I rely on the collection system as I'm a carer and it's always easier than needing to leave the house. I always send via rm48 so there's tracking if the person doesn't update and say it has arrived as I sometimes have to prompt a week or so later).

Check your discounts too. When I started selling bits about 3 years ago I hadn't done a deep dive in those too and my 50 percent off discount had been auto ticked by vinted! Quickly disabled that when I realised!

Thanks everyone! I've selected Yodel and Evri now. Don't have Inpost near me. Do you think that's enough or should I also select Royal Mail? Just sounds like a bit of a pain if I have to pay extra to track it on Royal Mail?

I love Inpost! Never had a problem and I have sold a lot.

I've taken RM and Evri off my mailing options. The post office is a faf and the printer keeps breaking at my local evri drop off.

Like others have mentioned, review the postal options and just select the one(s) that works best for you.

I live rurally so only have Yodell as an option as I can pop into my local shop and they print the label and it gets sent from there. It also means I see them scan the item and it's automatically logged as having been shipped.

I'd avoid inpost. I've bought 2 items that were posted via that service. One went missing, the other took a week to arrive. Just doesn't seem a particularly safe/reliable service.

Wow that’s unlucky! I’ve posted tonnes of stuff through InPost and never had an issue.

I need to edit my settings as, when I first started, I naively thought it would all be done through the local post office (which I pass several times a day) or the local Evri drop off point (which I could pass at least every other day) but I've been here, there & everywhere to various different lockers as, given the option, the buyer will understandably choose the option most convenient for them.
I don't want to limit it too much as that will limit who can or wants to buy my items. I do need to get more astute at seeing what option they have selected as soon as it sells.
What I find a real hassle - unlike eBay where you control the end time - is that you don't know when your item will be bought and the five day period starts immediately. I'd had something on for two weeks and then it sold on a Sunday evening and I was off on a work trip from the Monday to the Thursday. I hadn't expected my priority on the Friday to be to drop off a Vinted parcel!

I’ve sold quite a lot have InPost and Yodel selected only, so 2 is enough choice.

Never had any problems with InPost, except having to wait until a locker is available.

Won’t use RM as my local post office is crap. Evri is also using our post office as their main drop off point so won’t use them now.

Yodel is my favourite the shop prints the label and it always arrives with the buyer within 2 working days, where as Inpost can take longer.

Personally I don't pay extra, I just set all my items at medium (3.45 I think it was that covered the rm48) for tracking.

The other courier labels should have tracking on them. I'd avoid inpost as had been said as I often hear of the wrong parcel being delivered to the wrong person when labelless posting was used.

Tell a lie I also have DPD selected but no one ever seems to choose that as their postage option.

For future reference you can mark yourself as on holiday on your account and it temp hides your stuff.

Narrowing down your options won't limit who purchases from you as long as you have the options chosen to send to the persons house rather than other lockers or parcel shops etc. I often don't complete a potential purchase if they don't post to the house as I can't get out to parcel shops or similar as a carer. Especially as you only get 3 days with inpost lockers.

Something I don't get is how it calculates what should be charged. E.g. I was thinking of selling a heavy wool coat, will it definitely be accepted by Evri etc. for the same rate?

As well as holiday mode, the five days is to trigger the label, you get another 5 days after that to then actually post it. If I can't post I'll often wait a few days before I trigger the label to extend the clock.

I don't trust the Inpost at locker wizardry any more and always label anything before it goes in the locker. This is after one my my buyers received men's trousers instead of baby tights. I've never sold any men's stuff so the parcels must've been mixed up at collection when the driver puts the labels on.

I'd like to know this too. I'm hoping to start selling too after a year of buying rather a lot! How does it work out the delivery charge? Do I need to input it? If I send a parcel through Royal Mail then I'd weigh it at the PO. Will I need to weigh things before I list them?