To despair of Vinted/eBay/charity shops?

[madeinmanc]

This is just a moan really, I'm so upset today all sparked by the fact that I bought a hand-knitted cardigan on Vinted which I was really looking forward to opening. I thought It would be a dainty crochet look; it was listed as a 10, but even when I got the parcel I realised that couldn't be right just from the size of the bag. Anyway it's more like a size 16 and doesn't look right on me even worn as loose, but it turns out even if I can return it I'll have to pay postage so I'll be about 10 pounds down for nothing. I can't afford that.

Plus so many things arrive smelly, sprayed with Febreeze or stinking of fabric conditioner that won't even wash out 😞 I left a skirt like that on a pile of new clothes and the smell has "infected" the other stuff! With Vinted it's more likely something will smell than not, even if listed as new 😕

I replied to someone's thread about spending 1000 on clothes and was thinking how amazing it would be to pick out clothes that didn't smell!

When I browse the charity shops, I know what I'm letting myself in for

Repairs, adjustments or just buying for scrap material - I'm fine with that

I don't like buying clothing online anyway, but secondhand clothing on the Internet is a no-no

Febreze, air freshener, sweat or smoke - in charity shops I can have a aniff and decide, online, no chance

Febreze is not meant for normal clothes, it's quite a strong freshener that neutralises bad smells, it's for really bad stuff, I have used it on DH's fishing outer clothes and stuff like that they stink out the garage and the smell of Febreze is slightly better than old fish.

Agree with this. Charity shops, second hand market, dress agency - it's all still taking a punt and it can still turn out to be a bad decision but at least it's an informed one and I've no-one to blame but myself.

Plus in a charity shop (at least in the ones round here). I have a right to return it and ask for a refund.

Vinted sounds more like a lucky dip with added brand name and photo. I used to think it was only a matter of time before I gave it a go but actually, the more I hear about how it works, the less interested I am.

I forgot to say, I've had a couple of BNWT items that smelled strongly recently, so clearly they've sprayed them with something before posting because the tags were on the front, they were definitely new.

The worst case was a pair of running leggings, the fabric conditioner smell has never washed out and it wafts up towards me while I'm running and makes me feel like 🤮

I've seen clearly worn items with tags reattached and described as new in charity shops so I assume it happens on Vinted too.

If you are so against buying second hand then don't.

Ermm I think most of us posting on this thread buy second hand! We're discussing whether the additional gamble of buying it unseen and unsniffed is worth it.

Tbh I wouldn't buy things like running leggings second hand - they get a lot of use and I think are more likely to have worn patches or stitches coming apart.
I think it's better for items that aren't likely to be worn everyday, or for handbags, where you can zoom in and examine the photos.

I adore vinted. First thing I do when I get a new item is soak it in the bath with stain remove and then a long wash with my favourite fabric conditioner. Has world a treat so far.

Why do people talk about Vinted as if the problems with smells etc are a new thing? EBay has been around for 25 years and there’s plenty of smelly clothes being sold on there too, so I don’t get why Vinted is being singled out. I’ve bought two coats on eBay, one Febrezeed and one that’d been washed in perfumed washing powder even though it was supposed to be dry clean only and I could actually see a bit of felting in the wool. I’ve given up trying to buy a coat second hand, and the smell wouldn’t even out with dry cleaning either.

But I will say that every bad seller who sells smelly stuff makes things more difficult for all of us sellers, because every person who makes a decision to stop buying on Vinted means one less buyer for the good sellers too.

The perfume smell I can deal with as I'm a fan of strong nice smells. I find unstoppables good for changing the smell. My worry at the minute would be bed bugs and it's kind of putting me off buying anything else

It's worth pointing out that not everyone has the same sense of smell, just like some people can see better than others or some can hear better than other people. I'm convinced that people who are called "sensitive to smells" quite often just have a better sense of smell.

Why do people talk about Vinted as if the problems with smells etc are a new thing?
Fair point, I was using 'Vinted' as shorthand for all online second hand clothes sites but that's a bit lazy. I don't use Ebay either for the same reasons

Vinted is the thing of the moment. A lot of people seem to have shifted over there from eBay and a lot of people are buying and selling on Vinted that didn't use eBay. That's how it seems to me.
In my couple of forays into Vinted, it looked like a lot of items were photographed very badly crumpled - compared to what I see on eBay. Maybe that translates to more poorly laundered items.

I had a look at Vinted this week for the first time as someone suggested it in my coat search.

Someone said it makes good clothes look bad and I have to agree!

Exactly. This is what is wrong about people thinking fabric conditioner smells ‘clean’ - no! It’s entirely the opposite. It means you’ve added some artificial, slimy chemicals and quite often it’s masking that musky sour bacteria smell when clothes aren’t washed and dried properly. Vile.

Having to try and get rid of that adds wear and tear to a garment you bought in good faith.

Fgs wash your clothes properly, on a proper temperature, line or dryer dry quickly and stop using unnecessary stinky artificial chemical crap into the water system.

Was charity shopping with teenage DD today and for £12 she got: a pair of Pull and Bear cargo pants, 2 little black dresses from Zara and a Zara silver "clubbing top". All BNWT.

Still bargains to be had.

I am a volunteer in a different charity shop and my latest bargain was a black Hobbs shift dress, which I paid £7 for. Would have been £100 + new.

@Stroopwaffels I am guessing your Zara bargains etc were from The British Red Cross. I love seeing what bits they have in the Zara section.

Oxfam in Alnwick. I think they must have had a corporate donation. We were somewhere else on holiday last year where there was a Red Cross with lots of Zara too. A friend who is an Oxfam volunteer says they had dozens of boxes, mostly internet returns. So wasteful - but yay for bargains.

Our British Red Cross has a Cos section! Which would be great except it’s all the extremely weird things that I guess didn’t sell, so I’ve never found anything I wanted.

I've never had a problem getting other people's detergent/fabric conditioner smells out of secondhand clothing - first thing I do even if the item is BNWT is wash it. Usually normal detergent is fine but if I had an item where I thought a smell might linger I'd use enzymatic detergent or a vinegar soak.

Our Oxfam receives BNWT Zara customer returns, some might have slight faults that need addressing eg corner of a pocket lining coming unstitched.

Febreeze and unstoppables(name?) are definitely almost impossible to get out. Plus woollens are handwash only if you want them to stay nice, a recent case was that I was sent a NWT crochet Mango cardigan that had been sprayed, there's nothing I can do.

You can use the dilute vinegar rinse on woolens, it's pretty good for them in fact (acts as a natural softener).

For a crochet item it's more likely to be a cotton based yarn I would guess - could try a laundry bag to prevent snags and letting it soak with a biological detergent.

I freely admit I play fast and loose with my delicates but I've not lost or damaged one to laundry processes yet (other than when my husband accidentally put a woollen in a colours wash). It helps our machine has a good cold handwash setting.

Febreeze and unstoppables(name?) are definitely almost impossible to get out.
I bought something and failed to get the smell out. It took several soaks to get the slimy texture off. The smell didn't wash out.
I tried vinegar, zoflora, etc.

I had the best results with handwashing in washing up liquid (Fairy, not an eco one) but that's time-consuming and not suitable for all fabrics.