To think that a lot of new items on Vinted or Ebay are stolen goods?

[Somethingthecatdraggedin7]

Especially small, easily pocketed things like beauty products? I see sellers advertising lots of luxury brands for half or two thirds the real price and wonder how they are doing this?
I don’t mean someone who has a one off unwanted gift.
Where do these things come from?

Wouldn't surprise me.

I would say most are fake rather than stolen on Vinted. I would never buy any cosmetics on there, as the amount of fake perfumes, candles, shampoos (all high end) aren't real.
I'm big into board games, and there's a seller there who is selling fake board games like Ticket to Ride, Azul etc. I've reported to Vinted but they don't care. As soon as one of the games sell they upload it again. Even the reviews state the game is fake but they're still selling them.

I think a lot are stolen, possibly from staff that work in the shops. one seller was all M&S clothes and shoes, various sizes, BNWT - they have to be stolen because who has that variety is all different sizes of the same outfits and shoes lol

My friend who works at M&S gets invited to really good staff sales and picks things up for really cheap. Could be that rather than stealing.

My sister and I (mostly her) have a small business selling candles, reed diffusers, wax melts, room sprays etc.

We sell on Ebay (alongside Etsy and other online forums) as there is a fantastic market for it. We can sell more cheaply on Ebay than Etsy, for example (lower fees) which means customers can get a candle made with the exact same fragrance oil that Jo Malone use, for a fraction of the price. Instead of £85.00 for a Lime, Basil and Manderin candle we charge £20 - and it is the exact same fragrance oil, strength, size, burn time etc.

We've been accused of stealing 'Jo Malone' scents. We haven't. They just buy their fragrance oils from the same place we do and then because they're 'designer' they mark up their profits to 400% or something insane. Lots of others in the same industry do the same. You can get lots of handmade, homemade items on Ebay from small businesses.

But yes, I agree things like clothes (if there are multiple sizes of them) and beauty products are likely stolen. But not everything is. As with any online outlet, you need to be careful about what you buy.

Yes stolen goods are pretty common on that sort of site. In many cases the goods won't have been stolen yet, they wait until they get the order before heading into town to procure the item.

This system works so well because there's little risk to the vendor. Shoplifting is effectively decriminalized these days so the chances of getting stopped while stealing is miniscule. And if something gets lost in the post or the buyer demands a refund, no great loss because the seller didn't pay for the item anyway.

@LandSharksAnonymous can you DM me a link to your shop please?

I think you can get a reasonable amount of legitimate but discontinued clothes on ebay - some will be seconds or returned stock where brands find it too expensive to restock their returns so they sell it off to a third-party company. Sort of like TK Maxx but on ebay.

Some people just have really bad shopping habits (looking at my past self)
But i also know someone who sells stuff on behalf of family and friends for a cut of the pie, I suspect quite a lot of people do that!
But yes, there's a couple of pages where I've come across them and thought hmmm!

Where it all comes from is a mystery, like the changing of the seasons and the tides of the sea.

I am going back quite a few years, and used to spend a lot of time in women's prisons (not as a "guest"). I recall one particular group of women who were like boomerangs - they'd be returning every 2 - 3 years. They were professional shoplifters, and I don't mean they shoplifted a lot. They would literally go into a high end store, and walk out with a rail or two of clothes - all still hanging on the rail! They told me that it was exceptionally rare that anyone ever stopped them, and they made so much that the occasional couple of months in prison was worth it.

Some will certainly be stolen but most will simply be fakes.

I agree OP - I've bought things before that are ridiculously low in price and turn up with tags on, they're not things that I would imagine people would bother making a fake version of. I bought a pair of trousers for £30 (new with tags) and they were still in shops for £150.

I'm a member of a few dumpster diving fb groups and some people sell on what they find at car boots / vinted etc.