To think that Vinted is a lawless scam ?

[Thistooshallpass.]

I have sold an item on Vinted and the seller claimed part of it was missing - it wasn’t it was in the parcel . Vinted answer was for her to keep the item and get a refund .
Today I have bought something on Vinted .. the item is missing parts . Asked the buyer and they said yes it was missing those parts - so I can return . But I have to return at my expense! For an item that is not as described and useless .
Vinted answer - return it at your cost .
So whatever your problem is and no matter how much evidence you provide Vinted provides no protection ?
There is no escalation process and all answers are met with basically it’s your problem!

Hi,

It's very difficult to know which way Vinted is going to go. I take photos of everything before posting, during wrapping and at the post office. It's tedious but it works. If anyone ever raises an issue I immediately offer to take the item back and cover the postage. Vinted will then not refund them. 99% of the time they are at it and of course don't return the item so you then get paid 48 hours later. This has never not worked for me. As soon as an issue is raised I write on the chat if you are not happy with the item I will pay for the return. This pretty much stops it in its tracks. I once had someone agree and send it back. I relisted and sold it again and they got a refund. I lost 2.50 in postage. No big deal. Stick with it I've had some absolute bargains.

When you are the buyer, only buy from someone with perfect feedback. Unfortunately these things happen but it's few and far between I have bought and sold hundreds of items and only had the odd issue.

I love Vinted and buy lots on there, mostly without issue.
However I did have one infuriating experience, when I bought a pair of expensive leggings. The seller described them as being in very good condition, but with a few loose threads. Fine, I thought, I can snip them off.
Turns out that they were full of holes. This apparently means the same thing as loose threads! I had to send them back at my own expense and was raging! Sellers get to decide if they cough up for the return or not, and it’s extremely unfair on an innocent buyer.
In hindsight, I ought to have kept them for the satisfaction of leaving a bad review!
YANBU.

I should add that she included no pics of the holes and had fantastic reviews 🤯

Vinted have the worst customer service I’ve encountered. I always sold things on eBay but moved to vinted and items sold so much quicker. Most people don’t use eBay now but the customer service at eBay is brilliant. I wish everyone wld boycott vinted and return to eBay. I love buying on vinted but I’ve also had a few bad experiences and they insist I paid the return postage even though the poor packaging had caused the damage. They are never consistent either. If I had sent the item like that they wld no doubt have refunded the person without a return!

Yes I agree Ebay customer service is far superior but unfortunately I'm just not getting the sales on there.

It's a bit of a risk but I've found issues to be really rare. Out of everything I've ordered I've had only a handful of problems. Nearly all my daughter's clothes were from Vinted.

I’ve sold well over 100 items and only had one issue. The buyer bought some short trousers and sent them back as they were short!

Hi I have a high price item about £35 to post. I’ve been thinking of photographing it all. I’m thinking of doing a video when I’m posting it as well just in case or just photos will work?

Do the video. It takes 1 min but could save you a lot more minutes.

FWIW, Vinted was a great idea when people were selling rare bags and cool jackets.

Today people see it as a second income and many of those 'sellers' don't really want to provide a decent business, so are perfectly happy to play games with descriptions etc

And buyers want to act like it’s a shop! It goes both ways

Yes I would do all of that just to cover yourself. So for example I sold a high end item at £200 once and I took photos and videos. I also contacted the buyer before posting to say that if she was unhappy with the item for any reason I would pay for the return. I think this would also deter any scammers. If you use RM keep a hold of the paper receipt they give you as this allows you to track the item yourself also. Unfortunately you do get scammers on Vinted so you need to be on the ball. This has happened to me on less than 1% of transactions. I also wouldn't sell a high value item to any buyer with no feedback. I would want to see that they are a genuine user.

Please remember the vast majority of users are genuine 😁 I wouldn't have made it through maternity leave without my little side hustle ☺️

This is good advice. Does that only work if you offer to pay the postage? What happens if you select buyer pays for it? Thank you.

This is the issue, it’s not a side hustle. It’s a buying and selling site.

I don't get your point? I use it as a buying and selling site. I use it to sell what I don't need and with what I make I buy preloved kids clothes and toys. It was so useful to me on maternity leave when funds were low.

It works with both however in my experience if the buyer then escalates this to Vinted because they don't want to pay the return postage you run the risk of Vinted siding with the buyer and you won't get the item back so I always offer to pay the return. If the item is genuinely damaged in transit or not as described they will return it. If they are at it and want the items for free they won't. I have only ever once had someone return the item. I never quibble. Don't need the stress and in 4 years of using I have only had this a few times. Sometimes for silly reasons like reporting an issue because the package is damaged (while admitting the item inside is perfect but they still want a refund).

Also anything over £4 goes in a box as so often the mail bags get ripped. You must wrap well. Always double wrap.

Thank you for this.

Honestly dd has had a few clangers but I’ve bought and sold on there sporadically and never had any issues. A couple of things haven’t suited me but I’ve just passed them on to someone or resold.
Only clothes though, not sure what you’re buying and selling with parts but I know you can buy/sell pretty much anything on there - I’ve only ever looked at clothes.

I guess what I’m saying is the not the idea of Vinted itself .. it is the arbitrary nature of the customer service . When it does go wrong there is little recourse and Vinted make a decision that you have no right to dispute .
So today the seller says I can return the item a get a refund as they admit parts are missing . But they’ve put in for a return with me paying for it !
So I either keep a faulty item or pay return - either way I’m worse off and yet the CC seller falsely advertised?!

Yes it's the downside. You can escalate that to Vinted and send your proof that it's faulty. State that you have tried to discuss with seller and they are not willing to cover the cost of the return. Make sure you tell Vinted that the seller has admitted fault!!

You have nothing to lose. They may say you need to pay the return but they may not. Send as much proof as you can. Eg if the packaging was damaged send photos of that along with the item.

Don't just accept it if it's genuinely not as described. Raise an issue again.

I’ve done all this and they just say that you have agreed to the terms and conditions and that means you pay the return price !

Ok are you getting a bot response or an actual person? If you haven't already then click I still need help and say the seller has not sent the full item and has confirmed this so you should be able to claim under buyer protection.

How much was the item OP? If it was more than the postage I would return it worst case scenario as you will get your original postage/fees and item cost back. This has never happened to me but I know it's common and frustrating from what I've read on here from other users. I find with Vinted if you can get past the bots the level of help can be better.

[email protected].uk is the address I've seen others say they had some success with. Never used it but that's for escalating complaints.

I’ve clicked I still need help but it just ignores responses after they say it’s final . I’ve tried that email - so we shall see . Given past experience I don’t hold much hope !