Have I been lucky with Vinted, or do some misunderstand it?

[Nocameltoeleggingsplease]

I’m a relatively new user of vinted; but so far I’ve been pretty impressed with it. I’ve only sold and bought things at pretty low cost, but it’s encouraged me to declutter and I’ve not bought any ‘new’ clothes for months. However lots of people complain about it. Have I just been lucky or are people not understanding what vinted really is?

Selling on Vinted has been good, managed to make some space in the wardrobe - then discovered buying! Buying is hit and miss, I have made mistakes, sometimes my fault as didn't properly read the description and photos - sometimes it just doesn't fit how I thought it would. Now I mainly stick to buying brands I know well.
I have found it great for finding specific items to buy - e.g. a top my son loved and wanted again in a bigger size.

Thanks people it seems to be as I thought. There are some scammers out there but hopefully most people are just declutterring same as me. And I also use lockers which keeps the postage down.

@AhBiscuits I'm always on the lookout for Monsoon dresses!

I have only had to report an issue once, in many years, and that was last week. A dress was sent to me that had had alterations done to it so that it was no longer the size it should have been. And once a (very cheap) dress was in really poor condition - I probably should have sent that one back.

Other than that I have annoyances... people who make offers and then don't buy, people who wait until the last minute to send, people who spray the clothes with Febreze before packing thinking it smells nice (it doesnt) and people who send things wrapped in supermarket carrier bags... but I have had no other problems either as a buyer or a seller.

Oh - and American sellers who CANNOT understand that UK sizing is different from US sizing and who list things as a 16-18 when they are actually a 22 - 24 ... and the UK sellers who don't bother to check the Vinted sizing and list things sized according to the label. Vinted categorises an L as a 16-18. In some shops 16-18 would be an XXL, so an L would be a size 14 at best.

As I said, only annoyances... I have learned that if the size isn't written in the description I need to check it, and if it is a US seller I need them to double-check they have listed the item with the UK sizing.

I use the lockers or delivery via Evri to a nearby shop so don’t usually pay more than about £2.50 postage. Which when I’m getting something from e.g. Boden for £8, I don’t mind!

I get almost all of my clothes from Vinted now. There is so much brand new stuff on there from the brands I like. The only issue is the search - I search for my size (20/22) and then a lot of the stuff that comes up is literally labelled size 16. Takes so long to scroll through.

I’ve had only 3 issues -
Sold a brand new dress to someone who claimed it had holes in and sent photos of said holes, but she wouldn’t raise this with Vinted or send it back to me, so draw your own conclusions from that.

Someone who never sent the dress and said she had been ill, but was happily listing and sending lots of other things.

A work shirt that had an ink stain on it when it arrived that didn’t wash out - seller said he’d seen it but didn’t think it would matter. My OH can’t wear stained shirts to work!

I too get a bit annoyed with stuff hanging around waiting to sell. I need to be more ruthless and set a time limit after which I will just give it to charity.

I’ve only recently started selling on vinted so I would say so far so good, but I am only selling lower cost items just in case I get scammed.

I have been having issues trying to list things today though. The categories are not all showing so I’m not able to choose postage, material, size etc. I don’t know if that’s a Vinted issue or a me issue.

I think of Vinted as a virtual car boot sale. I'm going into it looking for cheap stuff. I'm not going to buy anything high-end on there as it's virtually impossible to tell if you're being scammed until it's too late.

I don't sell as I CBA to keep track of things I've listed and then run around posting them but I buy quite a bit. No real bad experiences. I once bought a bundle and the seller only sent part of what I'd ordered. She refunded the whole purchase. Another time clothes arrived smelling of cigarettes. I washed them and hung them on the line and they were fine.

My local parcel shop stopped taking my orders for a while and a few things bounced back to the seller. I was refunded for all of them. One of them was a pregnancy pillow which the seller kindly re-listed for me. It arrived smelling REALLY musty. It was as if she'd washed the pillowcase and packed it while it was still damp and It had then obviously spent ages in packaging being sent all over the place. It was also a lot more stained than the listing suggested. It was an absolute bargain though. She'd listed it for cheap then accepted my lower offer and then had the faff of sending it twice! I washed the cover a few times and hung the whole thing outside to air and then it was fine.

If I'm buying it cheap I can afford to spend a bit of time cleaning it up etc. The only fine I was irritated was when I bought a highchair off there and it was still caked in food.

I'd agree with this. I've had mostly good experiences, and a few duff purchases.
Their customer service is rubbish, so I wouldn't risk anything valuable.
I got sent the wrong parcel once (a pair of shoes instead of a sweatshirt). It was the courier who'd messed up - it had someone else's name and address on it, but was in my parcel locker. Vinted were useless. It took weeks, and dozens of messages to get a refund, they kept sending me automated messages asking for photos of a (nonexistent) yellow label on the parcel, and saying if I didn't respond in 24h my claim would be rejected.
They didn't want the shoes back, so someone else missed out too.

I’ve given up with it, I bought 2 lots of three clothes. The first three was one good item, I so so item and 1 was unwearable. I tried again a year later and the same thing happened. I’ve decided it’s not for me.
I have lots of stuff I could seek buy I am happy to give it away.

I had a good run with it before they changed their sizing. I'm in between a 10 and a 12, so I used to just select to see sizes 10 and 12 and could scroll through what was likely to fit me. Or I know I'm a 12 in Boden tops but a 10 in bottoms so I could select Boden>trousers>size 10 and Boden>tops>size 12.

Then they changed the sizing so it's now S (8-10), M (12-14). Well that's useless to me as searching throws up all sizes from 8-14!! Searching for anything takes ten times longer now.

I've now seen that they've now also included items from the USA and Australia with no way to filter by country.

So the combination of those two feature downgrades means I no longer use the app at all.

Give it time.
It’s great until it isn’t.

I have already received loads of flak for expressing my opinion on here, mainly about the attitude of some sellers when asked politely if they would be able to send an item as soon as possible please. It has just come to me that that attitude assumes that the seller is doing the buyer a favour by 'allowing' them to buy something. It is the other way around surely?

My DH was just asked when he would be able to ship an item as it is needed for a wedding in 9 days. His attitude was not 'I've already been out and sent something this morning, so I'll do it when I feel like it". It was, I CAN send it today so I will. If he couldn't he would reply politely to say that he couldn't send it until tomorrow, or Wednesday, or whenever. Not throw a major hissy fit at the so-called 'entitled' attitude of the prospective buyer.

Ive bought & sold plenty on vinted never had any major issues or been scammed or whatever!

I've got some designer boots I need to sell and I'm scared of something like this happening. I guess eBay is better?

I love vinted. But I only buy cheap stuff and see it as a reasonable loss. One pair of shoes that were actually wide fit, but they cost £2, so I just stuck them in charity shop. I buy a lot from charity shops too.

I sell too, mostly to fund my buying! I price cheaply and have only had one issue with a buyer complaining about a loose thread (most expensive thing I've sold at £18).

I have had very good experiences on the whole but the one that went wrong was horrible - the seller was a nasty piece of work and tried every trick in the book to make me pay for something not as described and returned. She just lied and lied, it was awful. Luckily I had the foresight to get videos and also confirmation from the manufacturer that it was not 'new' as sold. Urgh, it did put me off.

I am only dipping my toe in the Vinted waters, and honestly, I'm so picky I doubt it will be really for me, and I am very careful with clothes and wear them forever, so not a lot to sell; but two of my DC have a great time on Vinted. My DD (19) sells and buys but at low cost (both) and it works out great, lots of cute bits that suit for going out etc. Every so often something won't suit, she relists it and doesn't worry - nothing is ever much more than €10. One of my DSs (15) sells expensive tracksuits he's no longer wearing, often perfect just he has grown. They are snapped up and he then purchases items himself; I don't entirely love this as he can end up buying tat (my view, he loves it).

I do think I'd be very cautious about buying or selling high-end items, too much to lose if it goes wrong. Cheap & cheerful is the way to go.

I love it. I get most of my clothes, daughter's clothes, her school dresses etc, and a lot of vintage cookery books which I collect. I've only had one item not be as described in three years I think.

I have bought lots and generally happy, I only buy new (with or without tags) because people's idea of 'very good' differs.

I've sold a lot with no issues but the offers irritate me, I only sell if I expect at least £20 otherwise it goes to the charity shop.

I did get scammed once by someone pretending to post but not, I don't even understand how that scam would work but vinted refunded.

I've had several 'new without tags' items with damage, marks, stinking of BO. All refunded.

I do hate how long they give the sellers to send something. You buy it then have to wait 10 days to see if they send it or you get a refund. There's been a few times I've bought then I see 'seller last seen 169 days ago...' and realise it's not coming but daren't buy the other item I had my eye on in case they send it.

My DD regularly buys through Vinted. One dress arrived stained and the seller immediately refunded her and told her not to bother returning it, and she’s cut the skirt off and hemmed the top. One item was mis-sized. Said it ‘fits a 12’ when the size label was 16 and it swamped her. I think she resold it as she waited too long to return it. She’s had some great buys too - a stunning backless silk and lace ball dress for £15 that fit her like a glove for example. She’s just been away on a six week internship abroad where they awarded prizes at the end and she got ‘most fashionable’ - as 95% of her outfits are thrifted she was chuffed.
The packaging people use can be very creative! And if you are a seller please measure the length of skirts - the question she has to ask most!

I’ve only ever had great buys (some really nice coats, replacements of things I bought years ago in my new size or when they’ve been worn out) but very much approach it with this mentality - every purchase is a gamble and am I willing to lose the money if it isn’t what I think it is.

I do get a bit irked by the buyer protection which seems absolutely meaningless but I have to pay for (at least offer a worthwhile protection scheme if it’s an itemised amount - is rather they call it a platform fee), and have stopped buying since the change of size scandal that has made it a mission to find anything that is actually my size.

I bought a gorgeous chiffon dress to wear to the races yesterday, it cost £4. Oasis brand probably a good few years old but in mint condition.

I also bought some BNWT never walked in as the labels were on the bottom Clark’s Mary Jane’s, haven’t worn them yet.

People who are still buying on Vinted, any tips on how to find your size?? I honestly cannot be bothered to scroll through pages and pages of everything from sizes 8 to 14 just to find the bits that are sizes 10 and 12.

I’m a size 12, so don’t need to look in both sizes. I tend to narrow down by brands I like and then only open them if they say the size on the title.

I can’t stand people who don’t put the size anywhere or even a photo. So it’s just a 12-14!

I absolutely adore Vinted! Like other posters I never spend more than I can afford to lose when buying and have bought some really lovely items. Nothing high end but just really nice high street items that I would probably never have stumbled across as I don't shop in those particular outlets. When it comes to selling I only sell really good condition stuff I've never / hardly ever worn and will wait to get an acceptable price. I don't overprice ( I don't think) but won't give things away as it's not worth the hassle. I'm on Mounjaro and Vinted has been a total godsend in restocking my wardrobe as I drop sizes.