Rant about Vinted

[ChilliPB]

Just a proper rant really!

I try and buy a lot of my stuff second hand an usually get stuff on eBay and have never had a problem, but Vinted just has been a nightmare.

Sellers don’t respond to messages, or take ages to do so. I was interested in an item and asked a question, three weeks later the seller replies.

Bought a different item from a different seller, who now a week later hasn’t dispatched or replied to my messages so if it’s not sent shortly I’ll have to cancel and try and get a refund 😫They are meant to send in 7 days. EBay often sellers send within a day or two.

Have I been unlucky? Should I give up? Any tips for avoiding crap sellers?

Oh and so many fake items on there too.

I've had positive experiences with Vinted. Never not received a parcel although some have taken longer to arrive than others. In my experience communication has always been good but that's dependent on the seller I suppose. Sounds like you've just been unlucky, don't give up. I find it brilliant for kids clothes. You get stung on postage but even then it's loads cheaper than buying new.

I think you've been unlucky. I buy and sell on there all the time and never had an issue- items always as described and sent quickly. Are you checking reviews before you buy?

Interesting!
What am I doing wrong? Are you just looking at reviews or is there anything else I should be looking for?
I have checked reviews but some sellers don’t have many reviews. I’m usually looking for something specific - or a particular brand - so sometimes the options are limited. The seller I bought this item from had good reviews, but hasn’t replied to me, and hasn’t sent the item a week after I bought it. I’ve sent her a message saying if it’s not sent today, I’ll cancel it, so maybe that’ll get her moving. The same item is on eBay so I don’t want to miss out on that one if I don’t receive the Vinted one.

I haven’t had any issues on Vinted, I’ve bought and sold a few things.

If the seller doesn’t post it after a certain time you automatically get a refund, you don’t need to worry about that, you don’t need to do anything.

If you don’t get your notifications setting right then you either get bombarded with them; or none at all.

it may be that the seller has forgotten to check the app.

Ive had a few issues of missing parcels but that’s down to the couriers. Vinted have always refunded.

With Vinted, you can put up your items for sale and forget about them. Items that have been listed more recently will be at the top of your search and the seller will be more likely to be checking for messages, still have the item to send etc. If something has been listed for months I just assume the seller has probably forgotten about it - if it's something I really want I might message and see if they're still selling it, but I wouldn't buy without checking.

(You can check how long the listing has been up by clicking on item description)

Purchase automatically cancels if seller doesn’t send item within 5 days. Admittedly I have been that seller, as I don’t have a printer for evri / yodel labels and need to go to a friends house for printing which is a hassle. I now insist buyer chooses Royal Mail on item descrip as that’s the easiest postage option for me. Almost every buyer ignores this and chooses a cheaper option. For the sake of an item I’m selling at £2 I can’t always be bothered to go back and forth with the buyer so I’ll just cancel sale straight and add in comments that they didn’t choose the right postage option.

I thought you could change your settings so only certain postage options are available to the buyer?

I’ve only had good experiences on there. But I tend to buy and sell at a fairly low price point so fakes etc are unlikely to be an issue.

I used to buy on eBay a lot. That market has massively dried up, and I have been using Vinted since. Never had a positive selling experience - price negotiated to around half original listing, requests for refunds after buyer has accepted that it was all ok. Buying has largely been ok, although something I bought on 6 Sept arrived yesterday - I blame post strikes.

As a buyer and seller I always forget that you have to respond to emails/app every step of the way. I did not confirm on the app that I'd sent a item recently (although I'd messaged the buyer), which resulted in Vinted refunding her a week later!

I wonder if some of the problems you are having are done to other ex-eBayers getting unused to a different system?

It’s good to get an auto refund but it’s still annoying! I’m looking for something specific and might miss out on other items on sale if this one doesn’t work out.

That’s a good point. In this case I made an offer and it was accepted so the seller definitely knew it was sold!

Maybe it’s a case of getting used to a different system. (For me too!). Interesting to hear how it works from the selling side too with notifications/having to update everything so that explains it a lot too.

You can change your settings and remove evri and yodel as postage options. Also you can get the labels printed in store if using evri/yodel. If the seller hasn’t posted within a certain time frame then vinted will automatically cancel and refund you. I’ve never really had a problem, buying or selling.

It’s annoying that some sellers take forever to post things, I have been waiting ages for some items. I think the hassle is still worth it though, as the items are so cheap!

You can change your postage options in settings. I just removed Inpost from my options as they’ve been dire.

So annoying for you.

I have to say I'm one of those Vinted sellers who is always in communication letting you know when I've dropped to Evri Yodel etc and always send within 48 hours!

For the poster that doesn't have a printer, you don't need one for the Yodel option.
The store where you drop scans the barcode and prints there.

You've been unlucky, though if you're after rare or expensive items Vinted is probably not the best place (lots of scammers for those high value items). For everyday things like dresses and skirts there are loads of listings. I've bought a lot and have had few problems - like yourself the seller didn't send (after agreeing on a deal). After 5 days you get an automatic refund unless they're new in which case they get an extra 7 days to complete their paperwork I think. Don't cancel without the seller's agreement as it will be marked against your own record, but you can cancel with the seller's agreement without penalty.

Always check the reviews! If someone has few reviews tread with caution and don't spend much money, if they have bad reviews leave well alone. If it sounds too good to be true it's probably fake or a scam.

I'm also a little bit distrustful if someone has lots of auto completed 5* reviews - makes me think the items weren't that great as the buyers didn't bother to leave reviews, but didn't want to leave a bad one. Lots of actual reviews are a good sign though.

If you go onto your settings you can remove shipping you don’t want from your listings.

The shop near me has an Evri label printing machine that’s really useful, it’s worth checking if there’s one near you.

I've sold some stuff on Vinted this month for the first time. About half a dozen items. Posted them straight away. Buyers all chose Inpost or Evri. It's been over a week since I posted anything and none of the items have arrived. Which means I won't get the money and I'm out of pocket. I know it's not Vinted's fault but it has put me right off!

Vinted automatically gave me shipping methods I can’t use. I thought I’d set up Royal Mail only.

anyway along comes a buyer who made an offer and I said “sure, but I can only do Royal Mail”. She went ahead and selected a courier.

42 fucking miles away for a drop off. 84 mile round trip? I don’t fucking think so.

so I didn’t send it - and I couldn’t find anywhere on Vinted to cancel it and get her money back to her asap so ended up just having to wait ages. I felt shit for her - but more annoyed at Vinted for “improving” my courier options.

It’s not anything really expensive I’m after really. Just higher end high street brands. Sézane and that type of stuff - not £2 for an item though. The item I’m waiting for is a Stand Studio jacket, I bought it last Friday and it hasn’t been sent but it also hasn’t been cancelled automatically - do I need to do anything?
It’s annoying as the exact same one is on eBay so I’ll be pissed off if the Vinted one doesn’t get sent and I miss the eBay one!

I think it's a mixed bag tbh. I've had lots of basic questions about items go unanswered which really irritates me.

Listing is really easy but encourages people to leave basic descriptions (eg "nice blue dress" - well I can see that! Give me some measurements!)

Agree that inpost is dire and I've removed it from.my options. BTW those of you who say you can print labels with Evri - are you sure? And if so how? With ebay and store returns you get sent a qr code which you can use to print in store, but I've never found a way to do that with Vinted. They've always just sent me a label to print at home.

It'll be cancelled automatically if they don't send it. Really annoying, I agree- I missed out on a really nice Jigsaw jumper for the exact same reason.