Vinted - buyer hasn't paid

[WhereAreWeNow]

I sold a pair of shoes. The buyer requested Royal Mail postage which is one of the only options which requires the seller to pay for the postage up front. There's no tracking on that option (although I've got the proof of postage).
Buyer isn't communicating. I'm guessing I don't get paid until buyer tells Vinted that they've received the order. I've messaged the buyer to check everything is OK but no reply.
It's been a week since I posted. What do I do?
Vinted doesn't seem to have any way of contacting them for help.

I don’t understand.

The buyer hasn’t paid for the postage, or they haven’t paid for the item?

If they haven’t paid why have you posted the item? How did you know where to post it to?

Vinted release the money to the seller eventually if the buyer doesn’t click everything is ok/or have an issue. Im not sure how many days though. But didn’t think it was that long. Also it’s Royal Mail so may take longer to actually be delivered? It’s been the weekend etc.

I don’t understand the Royal Mail thing though. I’ve selected that as postage before as a buyer and it’s been added to the price of the item I’m ordering so I’ve paid it up front not the seller?

Op, you can always contact vinted to see what they say. There's the 'i' button on the top right which will bring up a 'help' option. I don't think they'll be very helpful and will most likely tell you to wait until 'X' date for funds to be released (usually 3 weeks post sale, I think).

@Musiclover234, the buyer will have paid for postage but this is withheld (like payment for the actual item) until the buyer confirms everything is ok with the order. As the seller isn't reimbursed until after the sale, OP is currently out of pocket.

I don't understand how you sent it if they didn't pay for postage?

Do you mean the buyer has paid but the funds haven't been released to you?

If so, they can either press that they received and all ok and money gets sent to you or after a certain amount of time, if they don't report a problem vinted will automatically release the money. Can't remember how long that takes though

@Comedycook, I'm not OP but the problem here is that RM isn't tracked through vinted. It's therefore down to the buyer to confirm that the item has been successfully delivered but it seems they are ignoring OPs attempts to get them to do this.

Oh I see...I didn't know that.. thanks

This is why I don't offer Royal Mail.

And it really annoys me when people receive their item and make me wait for Vinted to auto complete the sale!

Thanks everyone. I've removed Royal Mail as an option now so I don't have to deal with this again.
I worked out how to ask Vinted for help and got an auto reply saying I have to wait 13 working days from postage (so middle of next week) and if buyer still hasn't confirmed receipt, I can submit my proof of postage and I think the payment will be released to me.
I've tried messaging the buyer again. Not sure what's going on. Maybe they're away or something.
Thanks

Hi - I had a similar issue. I sold an item on vinted. They buyer purchased the wrong size postage and to accommodate their request for the package to be mailed ASAP, I made the mistake of sorting out the postage. This therefore meant that the postage details were not logged on the Vinted account. From the Royal Mail delivery reference, I saw that the package was delivered. The buyer has been radio silent. I have been chasing. Because they did not mark the package as received, the item has been relisted and the funds released to the buyer. It is ridiculous. I am out of pocket £175 for the item. they basically stole from me and I'm not sure if there is anything I can do about it. I'd be open to any suggestions. Thanks. Be careful when selling on Vinted - always make sure that the buyer pays for the postage themselves.

IME some buyers are slow or lazy in acknowledging receipt of the item.

I use Royal Mail because it's more convenient for me.

I've had a couple of sales where I had to chase the buy to ask if it had been received. One had a rather feeble reply to my question, like it had been in her doorway and she didn't know.

I do think some buyers might feign no delivery.

Agree this really boils my piss. It takes, what, 30 seconds to do? Especially when you check their profile and can see they are on Vinted all the time.

It's just fucking rude.

Your funds will not be released with just proof from Royal Mail. I provided this to Vinted and was told that I needed explicit confirmation from the buyer that they received the item. As I did not get this, the item was relisted and the funds sent back to the buyer. I really hope this doesn't happen to you. Good luck.

This!!!!! It takes 10 seconds. So rude!

When postage is used without a Vinted generated label you must add the reference number yourself

https://resellerassistant.com/vinted-tracking-not-updating/#:~:text=Soon%20after%20you%20ship%20an,the%20valid%20“Tracking%20Number.”

Though the most basic Royal Mail option does not have tracking you (should) get a proof of postage. You may need to ask when dropping off, then add the reference to Vinted as above

Though en route tracking progress is not provided it would then be possible to obtain confirmation of delivery
(and if not showing on RM you can raise a request for non delivery, under which the RM internal system would be able to confirm)

The amount charged on Vinted for RM options does not cover any more than the most basic level. Therefore the best advice is to disable it as an option (if you have other local options) and failing that to consider paying a bit more for suitable tracking & insurance for the item value

With a confirmed delivery the buyer then has the set time to show any problem
(If they dispute delivery then as RM is not a prepaid Vinted label then the problem is between the seller & the RM claims process - another reason to check your postage options in Vinted as a disputed delivery on a ore-paid label from Vinted is between Vinted and the carrier)

All options require buyer to pay for postage upfront, not just RM!

@biedrona OP said the seller not the buyer

Yes- it didn't take me long to stop offering Royal Mail as a postage option.
My buyers took ages to acknowledge delivery and pay up.
'Luckily' they were among my very first customers, and when I was sending parcels at the PO, the guy said it was only a small amount extra to get a tracked service. So I paid a bit extra ... and was glad i did. My buyers hadn't acknowledged receipt a full week after I could see from tracking that the items had been delivered.
I sent a polite message through Vinted asking them to acknowledge receipt etc.
They all claimed they didn't know they had to do this.... but I thought it was fishy, so just went with Evri and InPost after that.
RM may be a bit better integrated into Vinted these days?? This was last summer-I'm not selling at the moment, so not sure.