Inspired by this vinted thread, is it really worth the effort?

[worriedMiL33]

this thread seems encouraging and we have so much decent quality "stuff" to clear out.

I've often wondered if sorting/photographing/describing/uploading and posting is really worth the financial gain though?

AIBU; yes, because it's totally worth the "effort"
YANBU; no you're not BU, it's more hassle than it's worth.

I'm interested in everyone's perspective, many thanks for giving your views.

I have just started this in the Christmas holidays and have sold 5 items and made £30.

it’s a faff if you do it adhoc but I dedicated a couple of hours took photos and listed things.

also post with digital label so no printing, and wrap in bags for life.

glad to have made a bit of money as electricity bill £30 more this month.

I put off selling stuff as I really don’t enjoy the whole process but every time I do I’m pleasantly surprised by how much money I’ve earned, even if some stuff goes for peanuts.

I far prefer selling on Vinted to EBay as buyers there see to understand that you can’t pay a fraction for something and expect it to be in mint condition, nor can you come up with some flimsy excuse that it doesn’t fit.

I use Vinted as I tend to be able to sell enough to cover bits I buy.
I dont mind the faff, there are parcel drop off points not too far from me. I quite like that dropping off parcels gives me a reason to get out for a walk.
Packing costs nothing as I reuse packaging from other orders.
I'm not making millions.

I started selling in October and have been flabbergasted how well my stuff has sold. Often within a day! DD says I am under pricing but I am delighted it can generate me a little extra cash. I accept offers, post quickly and do not get bothered if people are a bit silly.

I love vinted, it's a great way for me to have some flow or change in my wardrobe without huge expense and guilt.

For me, I wait until a have at least a few things, then I iron, take pics, and fold to store in an unused chest of drawers in the spare bedroom. As it's out of my way, I can wait for a good offer. I also keep any packaging we get so that I don't have to buy it, and I do the digital label option mentioned upthread. So it's no cost to me outside of my time.

I've blocked two customers so far (been selling about a year or so) but otherwise it's been straight forward. The two I blocked were people who made ridiculously low offers and then harranged me for another post or two. I post at a price that anticipates a minor reduction, but I won't sell to people who I suspect could cause me angst down the line.

"post with digital label"

Ah! now that is interesting @Strategies25 so it seems I could have Royal Mail come and collect from home, bringing the label?

Could someone summarise what the parcel posting options are and how you decide what to offer? I've never sent anything with dpd/yodel/evri etc despite having sold tons of stuff on eBay with Royal Mail some years ago.

I did it during lockdown and made about &950. Now though, our post have had gone, Tesco have removed Evri from our local one. My kids use it all the time though.

all of the different delivery companies have drop off points , so royal mail is your post office, evri is usually at a newsagent, yodel is the co-op and in post is the lockers that you see everywhere.

digital label means you either scan a barcode and the shop prints the label , or at the lockers the door just pops open when the parcels are collected they put the labels on.

one of my teen DC does ours. He keeps profits.

With Vinted i find if you like to buy middle to decent brands they will sell well. Also i am / was plus size so good brands of plus size clothing tend to do well.

i like monsoon for example, so if i buy a dress for a wedding then sell it on, it sells almost instantly and for about a third of what i paid for it.

any generic clothing i find is not worth the hassle for the money you get.

same with kids clothing, branded stuff will sell quickly for a decent price , for example i used to sell a lot of boden / monsoon / jojo when my daughter grew out of them.

ive made about £1800 on stuff that normally i would just leave in the wardrobe for years then donate, so not too bad really!

I’ve made quite a lot selling on there, I find it very easy in terms of uploading and shipping. There’s a shop over the road about a minute away and bought a job lot of shipping bags on Amazon which are self sealing so no faff with packaging. My stuff generally sells within the day, good brands (not designer) that I put up relatively cheaply and often still the current season because I just want it out of my wardrobe.

I only find it worth it if I have fairly high value stuff. I'm not haggling over £2 dresses. But if it's worth £10 or over I'll do it.

After a couple of dodgy buyers though, I'm less keen now.

The combo together means I often just charity shop stuff now.

I sell on Vinted for two reasons 1) it gets stuff out of my wardrobe and 2) there’s a huge pleasure in seeing things get a second life rather than going to landfill. I also use Freecycle for furniture and kitchen things and donate bric a brac and lower value clothes to charity shops.

it isn’t about the money for me - it’s about the sustainability and I buy from Vinted and charity shops for the same reasons.

I find the uploading process simple and tend to use InPost so I don’t have to queue and can pick up and drop off at any time.

I’ve just started using it. Made £40 for bits I would have literally taken to the clothing bank. I’m giving it a go. Decided anything not sold after a month won’t and can go to the charity shop or the clothing bank depending on what it is. I am reducing prices though so if something hasn’t sold I will knock it down a little and keep going until it does.

If someone needs money then of course it’s worth it. Thirty years ago I used to sell my clothes through a dress agency. They were evening and cocktail dresses worn once because I had a lot of black tie and formal functions and also nice dresses for weddings as we had a lot of wedding over around 5 years. I would buy a dress for £50 and make back £25. These were very decent quality items.

I have bought one item off Vinted a very specific sports top for DS that was a past season. I don’t buy clothes. I still donate to charity shops but we don’t need the money.

I agree that the sustainability angle is great. There must be tonnes of unwanted clothes that other people would happily buy, instead of creating demand for something new to be produced. I've long thought there should be a central repository bringing together all the charity shops, ebay, etc! Not that that would work as lots of my second-hand purchases are because I've seen it in person in a shop. But Vinted seems very popular... i remember looking for a specific kids' jumper in the next size up on eBay, and nothing was there. Loads of them on Vinted.

Last year I sorted a wardrobe & cupboard in our spare room, i'd used it for storing older clothes i no longer wore. They were mostly brands like monsoon, boden etc & i made £1,200 in a few.months. i was astonished as some of the stuff was 15 years old! In excellet condition but still..

I only got through about half of it & then i lost monentum but i'm considering starting again now that i have some time again

I don't buy much on it. I think its a great idea but i also think its full of scammers selling fakes so that puts me off

I love it. Last January I made £100 from not much at all.

I buy second hand too, I have just sold a me&em blouse that cost £40 on ebay three years ago, for £18. That's sustainable fashion!

Good brands, well presented generally sell.

I have just looked and I’ve made just under £1000 on about 35 things.
all branded and good quality - highest individual return was a toast jumper for £95!

I cleared all my autumn winter stuff so am going to sort and start listing spring things this afternoon. A few bits are already on so I’m going to de list and re list with new pictures