Vinted - how do you find stuff that isn’t shit?

[Cocobeau]

Loads of friends use Vinted, for themselves but especially kids stuff. Son is entering the next age range in clothing so thought I’d have a look and see if I could save myself a bit on some basics.

Started with just looking at individual t-shirts, etc. Some ok stuff (aside from the endless Adidas sets), but by the time you add postage it really isn’t so much of a bargain. So I scrubbed that idea and opted to look at bundles. There was not a single one I would consider buying. If you could see specific items they all were not my cup of tea, as in mostly bright colours (red, yellow, etc) with big ugly pictures of cartoon characters or Disney. I choose to not dress my son in this stuff while he’s too young to tell me he wants it. 😆 Other bundles were just piled up together so you couldn’t see any details of what they looked like, not even if they were short or long sleeves, etc.
And then there’s people’s idea of what counts as great condition. I had set my filter to show “like new, without tags”. One image showed as I scrolled with a huge blob on a top. I looked at it to see if I had set filters correctly and the description was something like “one small mark hardly noticeable”. It was the first bloody thing I noticed!
It’s so frustrating. I was really hoping to stop myself doing my usual shopping splurge for sons clothes and save a bit of money but I just can’t be arsed, and don’t have the time to go through all that crap.

I’ve got a load of clothes of his I’d thought about listing but not sure it’s worth it now.

Just to clarify, my son isn’t just wondering about in plain, beige clothing as my post might suggest 😁

I use Vinted a lot for myself as a buyer and a bit less as a seller. I don't buy kids clothes (for a 3yo) as my experience has been like yours. And I will say as a seller the amount of times I've thought "ooh I'll list DC's nicer brand clothes on there" and then noticed all the small stains or marks and decided not to list. Realistically young children don't keep clothes clean! The only kids clothes I've sold on there are Christmas/ occasion dresses that have been worn once, or anything I have that's new with tags.

I buy loads on there bit only new with tags usually and you have to really hunt for the bargains and make offers. I will only pay 1/3 of the retail price including delivery.

I got 3 new with tags long sleeved t shirts (2 were Kite, 1 Boden for under £12 delivered. For myself I only buy things I already know will fit.

Are kids clothes so cheap anyway that unless it's something special, it wont be worth it? I know my daughter buys thinks like trainers and boots for the kids and fancy dresses for events which are good value.

I buy individual higher value items like coats or wedding outfits for my sons from Vinted. Yes the postage doubles the cost but it's cheaper than buying a brand new coat for them. I filter by brands but don't generally buy new with tags because I find people want to recoup too much money for second hand.
For other clothes I generally buy Next or supermarket brands which, as you say, come out roughly the same price as on Vinted.
But there is of course the warm fuzzy feeling that you're saving the environment or whatever when you buy second hand 😆

I tend to search for brands that I like - for my dd that's Boden, Joules, Jojo, Frugi etc. If you're just after bog-standard stuff then it's not necessarily going to work out much cheaper by the time you add on postage. I think it depends on age a bit as well as before the age of 2 I got so much free stuff (from friends and FB swapping groups) that it wasn't really worth buying anything!

I do find Vinted is especially good for shoes though, as they grow out of them so quickly.

Search the brands you like. You can set up alerts so that when anyone posts something matching you can jump in it,

With kids stuff I look at individual items that I like then see what else the seller has. Often you can build a bundle and then with only one postage charge it works out better.

I found it was good for children's clothing up to about 2 years. I think this is because they are only in each size for 3 or 6 months so they don't have as much time to get ruined.
Beyond age 2 children are in the clothes for a year so I think they are much less likely to be in good condition. Let's be honest toddlers aren't renowned for being the cleanest.
I generally filter on very good condition or new without tags and only purchase from sellers with lots of good reviews. I've only had one purchase I wasn't happy with and threw in the bin.

I am not that fussy about designs etc. but only buying newborn up to 2-3

if I find a top I like I look to see if the seller has other stuff same age and build bundles
so I only pay postage once

it does get harder as kids clothes get a lot more wear as they get older.

also some sellers have a different ethos to me.

i just want it out of the house!!!

Search the brands you would normally buy full price but choose with and without tags. There are definitely bargains to be found. Also once you start searching the robots will share with you similar items.

I use it for children's clothes I'm having to buy under duress, like bits for outfits needed for school events in colours or patterns I wouldn't buy by choice. In these cases I'd much rather reuse than buy new. Quality has always been decent and some things have made it into rotation as a bonus.

Have tried for school trousers this year as DCs are always getting holes in their knees and they don't last anyway, so will see how that goes.

I've resisted some bits but have never managed to sell anything yet - definitely a long game and a game of chance at that!

When my DC were small I sold on eBay, it was only worth it for more expensive items like coats or shoes, or really clean bundles of branded items like Frugi, Gap or Boden. Postage is minimum £2/£3 so nobody will buy an item like a single t shirt they can get new for less than that at a supermarket. You could buy at at NCT sale/car boot/local Facebook/charity shop if you want to avoid postage.

Better for the planet to buy fewer good quality clothes, look after them and donate them when outgrown.

I specifically search the brands I like and set my filter to new with tags and new without tags - I bought most of both my sons holiday clothes from there and it felt free because I used money I’d made from selling our own stuff.

The postage thing is annoying but you can also follow sellers who eg you have bought from before and can kind of ascertain their kids are slightly older than yours and might list lots of stuff in your kids size for you to bundle.

my mom sold a load of my son’s 3-4 clothes on vinted. Clear photos and prices cheap. like £1-£2
Made over £80 which is more than we would have by passing along to my cousin as I had done previously.
helped towards a new wardrobe in 4-5.

some people want way more than people are willing to pay. You can make offers too

I get loads of good stuff on it but for children’s stuff I don’t look for things when I need it. I browse for the next size well in advance. I only bother looking for more expensive brands like Boden, Trotters or Konges Slojd. I’ve never received anything with stains but you are looking at paying close to £5-10 than £2 for those brands.

I’ve also sold a lot, almost £1,000 worth now! Decent photographs and I only sell things in immaculate condition so have lots of good ratings.

Apart from an issue I've got at the moment with a seller sending me a fake, my experience has been positive. I've sold things I've hardly worn and bought things I will wear with the money. I tend to look for specific brands.

If you're looking for 2nd hand kids clothes, I would use Facebook and find bundles. It's cheaper as no postage and they tend to be bigger - again as no postage to worry about.

However!! You have to play the numbers game and accept that you will end up taking 50% or more to the charity shop as it's crap / stained / not what you want. But if your son is younger it all gets marked so quickly I never worried too much about things being in good condition for day to day clothes.

I buy brands that are normally out of my price range and where I know my size.

Have some lovely designer stuff as a result.

I think it can be hit and miss. My main issue is that nearly everything I buy from Vinted turns up with pet hair on it 🤢, even if it smells like it's been washed. I always launder items straight away and then have a proper look at them. But if you had allergies, it would be a nightmare.

In terms of tips I'm not really fussy with the kids clothes as long as they're practical so I usually buy bundles and even if not all of the items are great the price I've actually paid still makes it worth it.

You can also look at individual items and then look at what else that seller has and build a bundle with them that gives you a bit of a discount and only one set of postage.

Or find sellers that you've had good stuff from in the past and follow them to keep an eye on what else they put up for sale.

I've had to put lots of items I've bought off Vinted straight into the charity clothes donation bins but I've also had some brilliant things from there and overall it's cost me a lot less than it would have done from new.

I used it for a lot of kids summer clothes this year. I set my filters to brand new with/without tags or very good condition and usually restrict it to brands I would normally buy eg M&S, Next, joules. I was pleased with my purchases, got a lovely brand new 5 set of T-shirts from next for £7 which would usually have been £20, lots of really good condition shorts. I did buy a bundle of t shirts which was very good condition but one of the t shirts had a stain which I couldn't get out, but I wasn't too bothered as my DS would probably quickly add a few more stains 🙈

I sell a lot of my daughter’s clothes on there. Some more expensive brands like Frugi and Boden and then also M&S / Next. I tend to sell the more expensive brands as individual pieces but do bundles for the M&S type stuff. I only sell stuff that’s still in good condition and put close up photos on. The bundles in particular sell very quickly probably because they’re really good value for the quality / condition. I suspect stuff that is reasonably priced and good condition sells very quickly making it harder to stumble upon it.

Thanks for all the answers. Some useful tips to think about trying here.

I tend to dress him in clothes from Next and M&S because I find the quality is good for the price. I should have mentioned that I actually did try filtering to just these brands, plus a couple of others I like with no joy (other than not wanting to pay double the price because of postage). But I hadn't considered seeing if a seller has other stuff I like to bundle up and save postage on so I'll definitely give that a go later on.

I think I might just be a bit fussy because I don't want to dress him in clothes I don't like.

Someone mentioned a carboot sale. I went to one recently which was at one point probably the most popular locally, but it was absolutely rubbish. It was a prime day for car boot sale but hardly any stools there. It's one you can see from the road and I've noticed since it's often nearly empty now. I think a lot of people just do Marketplace, etc now.

Vinted has definitely gone down hill the last few things I have purchased have been appalling some with very interesting stains on them 🤢

Kids clothing is very hit and miss I don’t normally bother just buy in the sales and I sell it on Facebook

• ask for extra photos to cover all angles
• ask for description of care label
• check feedback
• if they don't reply I don't take the risk
• I give honest feedback when I get my item eg one item was described as faded + had moth holes. The seller had lots of 5 positive reviews. I gave them 1 & stated the problem

ebay - things tend to be in better condition + you have recourse if its not