Vinted buyers that never actually buy!

[areyoulisteningyet]

I’m selling a decent backpack on Vinted. I’ve accepted five offers on it this evening and not one of the buyers has come back to actually buy it! What’s the point in even sending an offer if you don’t want to buy it?!

AIBU to message them all and tell them I’ve had other offers and if they don’t buy soon, they won’t be able to?

No. Bad idea. Just makes you look desperate. Either lower your price or wait it out.

You said you’ve accepted the offers this evening… so possibly too soon to assume none of them will buy it. Some people just aren’t online all the time

Sometimes if I’m looking for a specific item I’ll make an offer to a couple of people with it and then see what works out the best with the different postage options etc.
An offer on vinted isn’t a commitment to buy.

Just ignore them & don’t let it annoy you. Sometimes they come back, sometimes they are just window shopping

I often offer on two of the same item, then whichever accepts soonest/best price I will buy.

I think that’s quite normal on Vinted?

Technically under contract law an offer and then acceptance of that offer forms a contract, so really it should be a commitment

I think you should send them this

To what end? She's hardly going to sue for breach of contract is she?

It's not a commitment, that's the whole point.

On ebay, an offer is a promise to buy if accepted. Vinted is different - which as a seller/buyer you need to understand. I will sometimes offer on more than one thing at once but only have the cash to buy one. Or I'll realise it's not that good a deal after all.

Sure it's annoying. It's happened to me today. But you need to accept it's the rules of the platform.

Not when it’s made incredibly obvious to both seller and buyer that an offer on the platform is not binding.

I just don’t really understand how the rules of the platform can go against long established principles of English law.

It’s non binding until payment which confirms the acceptance to enter into a contract which the seller then carries out their obligation by posting.

Anything before that is negotiation.

Take them to small claims then?

There’s no commitment monetarily at offer stage, there’s no acceptance of a contract either since the buyer can’t even see the postage prices available for the item until they hit “buy now” which only happens after the offer is accepted.
And most importantly Vinted does not only operate in England.

Offer + acceptance = contract though, consideration need not be adequate.

Vinted need to change how they do it, when you make an offer a holding charge is applied to your debit card with a final price (as displayed when you see how much it’ll cost in total) to be applied to your card when the offer is accepted. Way too many people are messing sellers around!

A buyer can’t even see the terms of the contract though.
You could be selling something and only offer postage via a method the buyer doesn’t want and at that point they don’t proceed with the terms.

You are not owed sales on Vinted, if you don’t like how it’s run move to another platform.

I don’t recommend it. I deliberately hid my likes because sellers would message to ask if I want it. If I want it, I’ll buy it. If I make an offer and you then message me, I lose interest immediately.

why like it if you don’t actually want to buy it?

Somebody offered on something on my page this morning which I accepted. They’ve only just paid for the item so I’d wait it out. One of them will buy it!

But once they offer, and even when you accept, it's not reserved or marked or sold or anything. So it's still for sale and anyone can come along and buy it. So what's the problem as you'd be in the exact same situation?

To bookmark something, to feed your algorithm…
You’re massively misunderstanding the platform.

When I was buying my daughter a coat, I liked perhaps 6 things then let her choose from that selection. Same as I might put things in my Amazon basket that I'm considering then choose from that smaller selection.

I’ve accepted five offers on it this evening

Surely you are in breach of this hypothetical contract (x5) then?! 😂

You posted at 19:30, and accepted offers “this evening”. How long are you giving these people before getting cross?

How funny. I have something on Vinted and this is happening to me today for the first time. (Accepting offers but they don't pay)

I wouldn't bother messaging them though! I just think "hmmmmm" and move on.

I "heart" / "like" stuff because it helps remind me it's there for when I have the money or it's pay day. In case it's still for sale. Sometimes it gives me inspiration on payday and I can remember what I "liked" previously and go and find similar (if it's sold)

But then I'm quite poor at the mo due to redundancy and I don't have an endless amount of cash available and have to pick and choose my buying carefully.