Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think I've been ripped off / scammed? Vinted

231 replies

TemuMuggedOff · 03/03/2025 20:06

I was browsing vinted for a (BNWT) handbag to treat myself to for my upcoming birthday.

I came across this one (advertised with these pictures) for £35 and thought it looked lovely. The seller has dozens of positive reviews.

Well, the seller posted it out to me today and after she did she promptly sent me a message afterwards with a bunch of additional photos that weren't visible on the original advert.

It's absolutely shit quality and so flimsy. I would not have bought it with those images on there. The advertised pictures are misleading. She also told me she has sprayed it with antibacterial spray.

I asked why that was necessary and she assured me it doesn't damage the bag as she has sold this same bag 7 times and done the same with all. Apparently it's a spray for bags (?)

Long story short, I've discovered that she's buying them in bulk on Temu for under a tenner and upselling them for over three times the price.

Bags from Temu/Shein arrive smelling of strong chemicals (or fish!) so that's why she's claiming the BS about antibacterial spray.

I don't want a smelly temu bag.

Her profile states no refunds or returns.

Do I have a leg to stand on here and am I being unreasonable to raise a grievance with vinted?

WWYD?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
23
Original poster
TemuMuggedOff · 03/03/2025 20:09

Apologies, here are the pictures.

To think I've been ripped off / scammed? Vinted
To think I've been ripped off / scammed? Vinted
OP posts:
Waterlilysunset · 03/03/2025 20:11

Is it being delivered to your house? Because if it’s to an in post locker or Evri shop collection then just don’t collect it within the 3-5 days time frame. Then it gets returned to sender and you get your money back (but not your postage cost)

Summerhillsquare · 03/03/2025 20:11

Yes, when it arrives you provide proof to Vinted that it was not as described, and you send it back. She doesn't have any option to not accept refunds, its not old style Ebay.

SneakyLilNameChange · 03/03/2025 20:14

Ask for a refund and report your suspicions to Vinted.

Original poster
TemuMuggedOff · 03/03/2025 20:16

Unfortunately it's coming via royal mail (signed for and tracked)

I sent her a message asking whether she bought the bag on Temu and she said no she sells them for her friend who has a shop in London.

She has literally used the same picture from Temu. Hasn't even tried to cover her tracks.

See attached our exchange just now.

What a knob.

To think I've been ripped off / scammed? Vinted
OP posts:
NC28 · 03/03/2025 20:18

Yeah I think she’s scamming.

Ask her for a link to her friend’s shop website, or one of their socials.

Farkinhell · 03/03/2025 20:18

Can you refuse the royal mail delivery? It will get returned to her then.
What a cheek to send more photos After she's sent it. Has Vinted given you tracking details yet?

Original poster
TemuMuggedOff · 03/03/2025 20:19

I have attached some images but it says they're under review.

In a nut shell she's claiming they're not from Temu, her friend with the shop in London just sends her the pictures apparently.

So she can't just refuse a refund then? That's good. Hopefully the buyer protection means they will find in my favour when I raise a dispute.

What a CF.

OP posts:
Original poster
TemuMuggedOff · 03/03/2025 20:21

I have the royal mail tracking code now yes.

I'm not sure what will happen if I refuse to accept it at the door.

Good idea RE asking for her friends shops details!

OP posts:
NC28 · 03/03/2025 20:22

TemuMuggedOff · 03/03/2025 20:19

I have attached some images but it says they're under review.

In a nut shell she's claiming they're not from Temu, her friend with the shop in London just sends her the pictures apparently.

So she can't just refuse a refund then? That's good. Hopefully the buyer protection means they will find in my favour when I raise a dispute.

What a CF.

Once you show Vinted that the photos on the ad are nothing like what you have received, they’ll try and get you and her to resolve it (usually you post it back at your expense, then you get a refund once she receives it). But if she’s being arsey, Vinted will take over and decide who’s in the wrong.

MagentaRocks · 03/03/2025 20:22

Why does her friend need her to sell them on vinted?

Can you post the extra photos she sent?

megacat · 03/03/2025 20:27

There is no need to refuse delivery, that's bad advice, all that will do is make sure you don't get a full refund of delivery and buyer protection fee.

When I've had problems with items not as described I've just opened a dispute, Vinted don't even get involved and the buyer either refunds and lets you keep, refunds and pays for a return, or if they are a complete arse refunds and makes you pay postage back.

The photos are clearly from an online advert not real life so be more wary in future but the most you can lose in this situation is postage back.

Original poster
TemuMuggedOff · 03/03/2025 20:27

These are the photos she sent me after she posted the bag.

It does look substantially more shit doesn't it, or is it just me?!

It's definitely from Temu and I don't want it 😔

To think I've been ripped off / scammed? Vinted
To think I've been ripped off / scammed? Vinted
To think I've been ripped off / scammed? Vinted
OP posts:
Newmumburnout · 03/03/2025 20:28

Take pictures of you opening the bag and it's quality. If you can take screenshots of the original ad. If it's not the same quality vinted should refund you. The money is not released until you say your satisfied. You 100% have a leg to stand on.
However I can't see a difference in quality between the two sets of pictures you sent

Newmeagain · 03/03/2025 20:30

When you first saw the bag on Vinted, did you ask what brand it was? And what it was made of? The reason why I ask is that if she claimed it was a leather bag from e.g. Sezane or Russel and Bromley - then yes, this is a scam. But if this is just a random unbranded bag, then it’s really buyer beware…

Original poster
TemuMuggedOff · 03/03/2025 20:33

Thank you very much.

An expensive (to me) lesson learned.

I think she might have seen this thread!

To think I've been ripped off / scammed? Vinted
OP posts:
Original poster
TemuMuggedOff · 03/03/2025 20:35

Newmeagain · 03/03/2025 20:30

When you first saw the bag on Vinted, did you ask what brand it was? And what it was made of? The reason why I ask is that if she claimed it was a leather bag from e.g. Sezane or Russel and Bromley - then yes, this is a scam. But if this is just a random unbranded bag, then it’s really buyer beware…

Unbranded, unfortunately. It would have been more straightforward otherwise. Ugh.

I should have done my due diligence before buying but didn't want to lose out on what I thought looked like a lovely bag (loads of people had put offers on it - unless she's somehow managed to fake those aswell)

OP posts:
badtimingisrubbish · 03/03/2025 20:35

Newmeagain · 03/03/2025 20:30

When you first saw the bag on Vinted, did you ask what brand it was? And what it was made of? The reason why I ask is that if she claimed it was a leather bag from e.g. Sezane or Russel and Bromley - then yes, this is a scam. But if this is just a random unbranded bag, then it’s really buyer beware…

This is the issue. I think £35 is a lot to pay for a bag on Vinted that isn't from a known brand. What did the original blurb say?

Hopefully Vinted will side with you because you can show that the pictures are from Temu so she's lying out of her arse. But in future, stick to brands you've heard of.
Good luck!

CelestialBeing · 03/03/2025 20:36

Vinted should have removed the listing because the pictures aren't her own. That was your first red flag.

Quinlan · 03/03/2025 20:36

Where did she claim the bag was from in the listing? What did you think you were buying?

I wouldn’t have bought it from her original photos either. It doesn’t look good and it’s doesn’t look worth £35. It really looks cheap and poor quality in the original photos, just like in the second set of photos. I don’t see a difference; I see a cheap flimsy bag in both. But you obviously felt it was worth £35 so… why? Where did she say it was from?

It’s not a scam to sell stuff she has bought cheap at a higher price, as long as she isn’t claiming that it is a label from somewhere else.

MagentaRocks · 03/03/2025 20:37

Have you screenshot everything she sent you so she can't just delete any of it?

TheseCalmSeas · 03/03/2025 20:39

I would say mark as an issue and say it’s not as described then she can either offer discount or you can return it

I doubt she’ll want a rubbish review and will accept a return

badtimingisrubbish · 03/03/2025 20:41

@TemuMuggedOff when you say loads of people had put offers on it do you mean loads of people had "liked" it (the little heart on the listings). I didn't think you could see offers made by others, or am I missing something?

Farkinhell · 03/03/2025 20:42

Good luck with getting a refund. If you do choose to open it please film yourself doing so (showing the original packaging/label and then you opening it) so that she can't claim you're lying about the bag or have swapped it in a bid to stop having to refund you.

WinWhenTheyreSinging · 03/03/2025 20:42

TemuMuggedOff · 03/03/2025 20:35

Unbranded, unfortunately. It would have been more straightforward otherwise. Ugh.

I should have done my due diligence before buying but didn't want to lose out on what I thought looked like a lovely bag (loads of people had put offers on it - unless she's somehow managed to fake those aswell)

Show quote history

What did the listing say, though? If it didn’t claim anything that wasn’t true - like saying it’s leather if it’s not - then you’ve just bought a crap bag. Lesson learned, move on, surely?

Swipe left for the next trending thread