The two major flaws of Vinted

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1. As a buyer you cannot leave feedback if you return something. This means that poor sellers who try and palm off their bobbly, smelly old jumpers on people get away with it. And as a buyer, the feedback you are reading is not the comprehensive picture.
2. The buyer pays return postage, thus losing out financially even when a seller is dishonest and items are not as described.

After opening yet another bobby, vaguely smelly jumper this morning AIBU to say this is going to stop me from using the app?

Another issue is people don’t want to leave bad feedback as the seller can then retaliate. So be wary of sellers with too much auto-feedback

There's a typo in my poll but I can't edit it 😕

I agree, bought something and the seller had listed it as the incorrect size so I had to return it.

I had to pay return postage and the seller got to re-sell the item, was not out of pocket and I couldn't leave any feedback to say the item was a different size to the one listed.

I definitely think when it's the seller's error they should be paying the return postage, otherwise what's the deterrent? If they send a different item to the one described, they either get to keep the full amount if the buyer decides it's not worth returning or receive the item back & can re-sell to someone else with no cost involved.

I agree. Personally I never buy anything more than £5 from Vinted because that's the amount of money I'm willing to lose. It's a shame as there are lots of nice brands on there but I just don't want to take the risk.

I have an £8 limit for all these reasons - I see it as a bit of a punt.

There's a seller currently advertising a silk jacket by a non UK designer at £98. This brand uses its own sizing, 1,2,3 etc.

The label says it's a 2. The seller is advertising it as "XL 14". I know the brand and that particular style well. I own lots of it. It's neither XL nor a 14. A 2 in that particular style is a 10.

As a buyer I take a very "caveat emptor" approach to Vinted, and don't spend too much just in case. I also frequently relist things that don't fit. I don't mind the seller-friendly policies as it makes a nice change; seeing as eBay is now so buyer-friendly as to be seller-unfriendly, I feel it balances out.

I was looking at a Dolce and Gabbana skirt and was about to purchase it when I realised it wasn't even an adult's skirt but a child's six that they were trying to pass off as an adult's skirt (presumably since children's versions are far less expensive than the adult versions).

I always ask for actual measurements and the nature of the replies gives an indication as to the seller / their care. I've also asked for extra photos and again, those that care respond, those trying to sell a pup don't!

I never buy anything too expensive from there in case it turns out to be very different from what was advertised.

Vinted is like a jumble sale these days with people wanting to sell stuff in shit condition for ridiculous prices.

I'm not a fan of the buyer having to pay the 'fees' either

The law on secondhand is caveat emptor - buyer beware.

It’s hard to see how it could be otherwise - the stuff’s secondhand, used and can’t be categorised with its intricate history of wear. How would you do it? Exactly.

Vinted’s cheap. That’s why.

We’ve all fled eBay cos of scammers and fusspots. Let’s hope Vinted doesn’t go the same way.

Personally I’ve found Vinted really good - about 90% of the stuff I’ve received is as described and as expected. I’ve bought loads on there and can only think of two instances where I received something which really was poor quality (once there was a huge stain on a top and once I received a skirt which was so badly bobbled it was unwearable).

I find the condition of the item is usually obvious from the photos - just zoom in. I wouldn’t ever buy anything without lots of good clear photos. Or are some sellers uploading fake pictures of their items?

I’ve had nothing but bargains esp
on jewellery and cashmere.

Lone exception was a Cos jersey hilariously shrunk to be tight on Barbie but I fixed that.

*The law on secondhand is caveat emptor - buyer beware.

It’s hard to see how it could be otherwise - the stuff’s secondhand, used and can’t be categorised with its intricate history of wear. How would you do it?*

What you can have is a policy where items that are clearly not as described can be returned. Vinted already has this. The problem is that Vinted places the cost of this on the buyer. The buyer was not responsible for inaccurately or falsely describing the item on the listing, so shouldn't be responsible for the costs. The way that Vinted is set up leaves buyers out of pocket when sellers list an item as being a size L in Very Good condition, only for the item to arrive and be an XS with two holes and three blood stains.

Realistically speaking, however, that would put people off selling on Vinted. The seller-friendliness is what makes it worth selling things as cheaply as Vinted buyers expect. People take the piss on both sides - for every bobbly, holey jumper advertised as very good, you'd have at least the same number of people returning things because they didn't like them or changed their mind (or wore them for a party!). I think overall, the risk for buyers is made up for by the low prices. I've been stung a few times, but that is totally cancelled out by how many absolute bargains I've got.

I agree - I've stopped using it after I bought DD a Harry Potter robe described as a sz 12-13; when it arrived it was labelled clearly inside as a sz 7-8! There had been no pictures of the size label in the original listing.
When I realised I would be liable for the return postage, & the seller would get away with it, I kept the item, left a poor review & resold the item on FB for what I paid.

you'd have at least the same number of people returning things because they didn't like them or changed their mind (or wore them for a party!). But the only difference here is who pays the cost. The buyer can already return when the item is not as described. They just have to pay for the delivery. If you think that buyers could return things under a returns-only-if-not-as-described-but-now-the-seller-pays policy, then it's the same items that they can return under the current under a returns-only-if-not-as-described-but-at-your-delivery-cost. All that changes is who is responsible for the delivery fee. Currently, it's the person who isn't responsible for the problem, while the seller receives the item back and can sell it again to some other poor buyer.

If it's buyers seeking to chance a return because they don't like the item for other reasons, the policy isn't affected. They can chance it now by falsely claiming it's not as described and recoup at least the cost of the item itself if they're successful.

I guess it depends on whether you see buyers or sellers as more likely to be chancing it. My personal view is that returns are a major problem in the fashion world in general at the moment (new and resale) and should be discouraged unless absolutely necessary, so I think having that slight barrier of the postage cost as well as the usual hassle is a good thing. I think Vinted works so well because it's a bit like the wild west - you can get a bargain, but you also shoulder a risk. I've never considered returning any of the dud items; they either get relisted if they don't fit, or disposed of if they're not suitable for resale.

It's well known that Vinted's customer service is extremely lacking, so I wouldn't risk selling anything on there if I knew that spurious returns had to be paid for by me. It's only worth selling things at Vinted prices if it's easy and pretty much guaranteed. (It goes without saying that I photograph and describe my items accurately!)

Basically, for me the bottom line is that the advantage the buyer gets out of Vinted is ridiculously low prices, therefore it's only fair that the seller gets an advantage too.

My vinted limit is about £20 & luckily only had 2 really dodgy items-one cashmere jumper clearly shrunk (went in the bin) and work boots labelled as new and arrived well worn-they must have photoshopped the pics. Managed to resell luckily.

I scroll past items that have not seen
an iron, ditto only one photo and in one case the fingers holding out a sleeve were filthy!

To be honest, I've had no problems with Vinted. (Had problems with Inpost but that's another story.) I tend to stick to brands where I'm confident about my sizing, won't buy anything listed as anything less than 'very good' and and will ask the seller questions if I'm in any doubt.
Had a few bits that didn't suit but general manager to reVint them quickly.

On the whole I like Vinted however sizing is dreadful. Half the people selling clothes have clearly never tried them on/selling on behalf of someone else. I look at the size of other clothes they're selling and check it's not American sizing - I'm looking at you J Crew size 10 skirt which is a size 14.

I bought a dress which was advertised as a 10 but was clearly an 8 the size label was missing. I actually bought the exact dress in a 10 from Vinted which fitted fine.

So, I will re-sell the smaller one on E-Bay/Depop for more money. I didn't leave the seller feedback as it was in good condition and I hope to make a few quid from it/recoup the fees and postage. I was going to mention the sizing was wrong but then what feedback would they leave me?

I now take "worn once" as the seller has perhaps worn it once but it may not necessarily be brand new as they may have bought it second hand.

Overall I'm having fun with it and have more hits than misses. £15 is my limit though and I re-sell anything too big/small/doesn't suit.

It's very much a lottery. A few weeks ago I bought a stunning vintage Monsoon evening dress for £16 in perfect condition. I then bought some silk heels for £10 including postage. They never arrived although they were marked as delivered.

I have asked for proof of delivery and they have refused, so now I'm going to have to contact the legal dept. It may not seem like a lot of money, but I'm on disability benefits and needed an outfit for a black tie event my sister has very kindly paid for, hence the bargain shopping. Its really put me off buying from them again.

I’ve had some real bargains on Vinted but it does annoy me that sellers can list something as being completely the wrong size but then you as the buyer would have to pay for returning it! Considering there is a forced buyers protection that you have to pay, it doesn’t really protect you very much!

I presume that if I refuse to return the item and keep it instead (so I’m not out of pocket again with postage) and then leave negative feedback, they will then leave me negative feedback?!

It's almost impossible to contact the company if you have a claim. I had a parcel delivered. I marked it as received before opening it (stupid).

It turned out to be something completely different from what I'd ordered. But vinted didn't want to know.