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

[TemuMuggedOff]

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?

Buying cheap and seeking for a mark up isn't a scam.

Ripping photos from a designer website, which are used to show quality, and then using those to sell your items, whether or not those photos came directly from the designer or via a third party which also ripped off the designer, is.

Simply marking the bag as "unbranded" doesn't matter if she wasn't badging them as MA. The simple fact is Op spent £35 because she saw something of a particular quality, and only discovered (very naively) afterwards, that wasn't what she'd paid for.

THAT is the scam. If the seller was using her own photos then it wouldn't have been a scam because Op would have been paying for what she saw.

It's also a breach of copyright in the images...

Of course it's a scam.

The Consumer Rights Act states that goods must be as described at the point of purchase.

The markup isn't the scam, knowingly using a photo of a different product to the one you are selling at the point of purchase is. It's also against Vinted policy, you are supposed to use a photo of the actual item for sale in the listing. The seller is only sending photos of the actual bag after the point of purchase (and it's a substantially lower quality bag to the one in the listing).

My maximum is £20, but that's if its a new item (from a brand I like) with the tags still on it.
Only spend on Vinted what you're prepared to lose in effect.
This seller has told you your bag is non branded, that they would spray it and sent you additional pictures.
The 219 people have liked it not offered on it.
You're feeling silly as you've spent £35 on something you could have bought yourself from China.
You might even like the bag when it arrives!
Really the pictures I.the listing were obviously not taken by the seller. You should have asked for extra info/pictures before you sent money.
Hopefully you've learnt your lesson.

I'm going to start my own cake business and use pictures from Crumbs & Dollies and other cake businesses.

Then when the posters on here that see no issue with the stollen bag photos receive my inferior quality cake complain, I'll shrug and be like 'well it's a fucking red velvet cake, I didn't say it was a Crumbs & Dollies fucking red velvet cake did I? how's it a scam?'

😂😂😂

As this poster says.
You click on there's a problem, and item not as described. Add the photos.
Vinted will resolve.

Not helpful but why on earth would anyone buy a used item from a stranger who warns that they had to disinfect it before sending? I shudder to think what on earth could have happened to make that necessary? 😳

Agreed, I appreciate someone who states that all items will be freshly washed before posting but antibacterial spray? That isn't normal.

I think it's pretty obvious the seller warned the OP after the purchase that she's had to disinfect it.

I’m still really confused about the profile pic - who was the deceased woman everyone is referring too? To me it just was a badly AI’ed woman on a motorbike?

Oh I’m not sure, I’ve only had a couple of issues (same as you actually - marks on trainers) and the seller sorted it.

Not sure how Vinted are but I have heard the buyer protection fee criticised by a lot of buyers.

I think the photo of the woman walking with the bag (white trousers and loafers) is maybe Felicia Akerstrom. So probably temu seller ripped it off her instagram. I don’t think she has ‘scammed’ you per se. I think you are naive and bought a counterfeit bag (very very popular) of which there are hundreds available and didn’t realise and now overthinking it. Just get the bag and return it if you don’t like it!

I sell (have lost weight so clearing out some clothes etc) on Vinted instead of EBay as Vinted tend to side with sellers for most disputes. I do buy on Vinted as well and feel like Vinted are really ripping buyers off with the alleged “buyer protection”.

But like everywhere, there are some really dodgy buyers AND sellers on there. I’m very careful what I buy and who I buy from and 99% of the time everything is great. I’ve actually had some really positive experiences with some sellers. But there are a few really dodgy buyers who have put me off selling. It’s harder to ‘police’ buyers when you’re selling as you have no control over who buys your items. I had the £80 brand new & boxed very niche designer shoes that apparently changed into a used pair of Adidas trainers in transit. And miraculously the designer shoes appeared for sale on Vinted (at a much higher price) the very next day. Vinted did nothing about it and I lost both the shoes and the money. Then there was the buyer who insisted the new sealed & boxed skincare (that was a gift to me direct from the manufacturer) was “counterfeit” because the pump didn’t need priming. Vinted rules about counterfeits meant that I couldn’t have it returned so I lost it as well as didn’t get paid. I’m sure that the buyer knew exactly what he was doing when he reported it as “counterfeit”.

1

I used to sell quite a bit on Vinted but must admit I had the fear (especially with higher value items) that the buyers could easily lie about what they had received and get a refund whilst still keeping the item. Thankfully hasn't happened yet and I've run out of things to sell!

As a buyer I've had a couple of refunds accepted but only because the seller was happy to honour. One time the item arrived covered in lots of tiny dried leaves (!) and the other time the listing was for straight leg jeans when they were clearly skinny. I was surprised I got a refund the second time tbh.

@TemuMuggedOff she's gone on holiday now and all her items are hidden. She must have made enough money by selling dodgy bags

Unfortunately it's why I won't buy bags or sunglasses etc off vinted - far too many doing this practice - a fair bit of fake 'brands ' too - I stick to TK Maxx so I can feel and look inside or put on etc

If you advertise something using a photo of something else - that is the scam.

Cheap goods have also been flooding the EU market;

Feb 2025
The commission said many of the billions of low-value products that enter the EU each year were not compliant with its laws, and European companies that respected the rules were losing out to competitors selling unsafe or counterfeit products.

“We have seen a surge in low-value products sold by non-EU traders sold by online marketplaces,”

Last year, 4.6bn low-value parcels entered the EU, equivalent to 12m a day, three times more than in 2022. More than 91% of parcels valued under €150 came from China, where Temu and Shein make and dispatch most of their goods.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/feb/05/eu-to-tighten-checks-on-goods-sold-by-sites-such-as-shein-and-temu

@littleluncheon absolutely - it's ripping people off and if not unlawful- is extremely unethical

I don't know how so many people on this thread aren't getting this!

@PeppyLemonPombear - yep think I will set up a page photographing what look like a pair of decent quality Raybans and actually send ones that are £4 off temu

I by the way experienced similar with a product from SHEIN - it was absolute tat and nothing like the photograph ( this was a top) - yes it was cheap £11 - it was still total tat

Too late now .. but l always take a screen shot and do an image search.
I was the same looking for a padded bag on vinted... found one l like the look of for £33.
Image search came up as Shein for £13.
Also Vinted don't allow site photos.. so you can report her for that.
Hope you get your money back.. good luck.

This. Don't refuse delivery, just raise a dispute immediately as it lands, as you've got 48 hours to do so. Don't get dragged into any more conversation with them, just be clear and plain that you're rejecting it and for what reason. Read up on Vinted T and Cs for buyers so you know where you stand in the meantime.

If this is the seller's "business and livelihood" then they should be operating as a business seller, including offering refunds in accordance with consumer law on distance selling, and not using product shots swiped from Temu.

Vinted will ask you if you have any issues before they release the payment so say yes and explain. Surely Vinted don't allow sellers to refuse a refund or exchange because in that case people could send anything whether it meets the description or not.