[Reviews] Vinted, my Shopping Experience

Do you know the Marie Kondo method of tidying up, which consists in keeping around only those things that bring us joy? After seeing some very nice things on the Instagram of a Mario Kondo consultant, I realized that I no longer liked my clothes. Being teleworking in old Mickey Mouse pajamas with a hole in them, I’m not very motivated anymore.

Before, I didn’t realize it because I was absorbed in my travels. Being surrounded by beautiful landscapes, I didn’t need to be surrounded by beautiful clothes. Now that I’m not at home anymore, I look at my little wardrobe and I find its contents super sad and super ugly.

After 4 years around the world, I reduced my business to the minimum union business but it is true that I kept some things damaged, which no longer gave me joy by telling me it was a memory of this or that country. Or if it’s a technical garment, so ugly by definition, I wear it, whereas one can clearly have technical clothes that are quite presentable. So I took advantage of my long stay in France to redo my wardrobe.

I kept only the winter clothes because I like them a lot and they are still in excellent condition (my merino wool t-shirts, my cashmere sweater, my trekking pants, my walking shoes and my Uniqlo down jacket). For the rest, I took advantage of my presence in France to hunt on Vinted (you can go through my sponsorship link here to boost your first 3 ads online for free).

Vinted is a used products site. My main use is: to buy clothes from old collections that I liked, but that I was forced to part with because I wore them too much and damaged them too much.

This article is NOT sponsored

How do I find a piece of clothing that I liked a lot?

I just need to remember the brand and some details of the said garment (color or pattern or fabric) to do a little research on Vinted. That’s how I found my three favorite dresses, from the 2009, 2011 and 2013 collections (I’m used to buying clothes online, that’s why I was able to find the dates by going back in the emails). It’s a joy to find them again, in excellent condition. I know in advance thatthey will bring me joy because I already bought them once.

The disadvantage is that you don’t find THE garment you’re looking for the first time. You have to come back often, or vary your search. For example, for my blue dress, the saleswoman didn’t specify “blue dress” in her description, and didn’t choose the right color category, so I didn’t find it right away. I had to type “brand name + dress” and sort on my size, and after 50 pages, find it again.

What about buying something you’ve never seen in real life?

Let’s say that the photos taken by individuals, like you and me, are of poor quality. Absolutely gorgeous clothes in real life can look very ugly on Vinted.

Moreover, Vinted doesn’t leave much room for descriptions : the sellers on Vinted are lazy to make a correct description so we don’t have a lot of info about the clothes. That’s why I only buy clothes that I’ve already seen in real life or that I’ve already worn and liked. But if you know the brand very well and know how it’s cut, the overall quality of their fabric, why not. Then, you can also ask questions to the salesmen to get more information.

I’ve seen a lot of white clothes turned into blue or pink (because of a wash that went wrong) but the salespeople didn’t mention this detail, and the description suggests that the garment is light blue at the base. Since these are clothes that I know very well, I know the color is related to a bad wash, but if it’s a garment you’ve never seen in your life, you might think it’s the original color. If it’s a well-known brand and the garment has a particular detail, don’t hesitate to look for the original photo of the new product on Pinterest. You can find a lot of pictures of clothes from old collections on there.

If the label (with the size) isn’t photographed, remember to ask the seller for confirmation because sometimes they mark 38 but the label says 40, or the opposite. There are marks that cut small, or cut large. The salesman will be able to tell you what size he usually wears and in relation to that, you will know if it’s the right size for you or not.

If in doubt about the condition of the garment, ask for a photo of the composition label. A “like new” garment cannot have a half-faded composition label.

Why buy at Vinted?

The other advantage of going through Vinted is the quality of the clothes. The recent collections are almost all in viscose, polyester… materials that I can’t stand at all as soon as the sun comes out. Whereas the old collections still used noble materials such as real silk, real cashmere… or at least 100% quality cotton.

Moreover, recent collections have to follow fashion, and that doesn’t necessarily suit me. Buying in the old collections means having more choice and more chance to find a fit adapted to my morphology.

This allows you to get your hands on limited collections. H&M and Etam, for example, have collaborated with several renowned designers in the past. People threw themselves on it, and it all went away in 10 minutes. I’ve never been able to get my hands on a single item, let alone one in my size.

The last advantage is the price, of course. Everything is negotiable, you just have to put an article in favorite so that the saleswoman, desperate to sell the article since 3 months, offers me directly 5€ of reduction. I admit that for those who are as bad at negotiating as me, it suits me well. But you have to be careful because some clever people propose prices as high as the new price. Keep in mind that these are second-hand clothes.

Why not buy at Leboncoin?

Leboncoin is a platform that I like a lot too, but I’m more of a Leboncoin seller than a buyer.
Vinted gives much more chance to clothes and offer more advanced searches specific to clothes (for example the possibility to sort by size or gender) than a “tote bag” platform like Leboncoin.

Why not sell on Vinted?

I’ve started to sell some stuff on Vinted and here are my 6 tips to sell well on this platform.

Then, those who have sold a lot on this platform often complain about the following:

• having to prepare and send parcels all day long – whereas most transactions are done live and hand-delivered via the online checkout process
• people ask too many stupid questions and negotiate for 1€. There’s even a compilation of the most LOL trades on Vinted, check out this Instagram account, it’s to die for laughs
• there is a lot of abuse on the part of buyers. They regret their purchases and do not come to pick up the package at the relay, then ask for a refund. There are also freaks who destroy the item and ask for a refund. It is tiring for the sellers.

How to buy on Vinted ?

After doing some research, click on a product’s card and you will see the part on the right with details about the garment and when it was put on sale.
If the item was put up for sale 2 years ago, it’s worth sending a message to ask if the seller still has it 🙂

This garment was put online 7 months ago so nobody was interested in it. In addition, there is only one user who has bookmarked it (that’s me) so the margin of negotiation can be quite good. I just have to bookmark it (by clicking on “favorites”) and wait a little. As soon as someone bookmarks an item, the sellers are alerted by email, so if they’re eager to sell, they’ll make an offer.

As expected, the saleswoman makes me an offer within 2 hours. Or I could have clicked on “send a message” and then “make an offer” to negotiate the prices

If on the contrary I crack immediately (because the price already suits me, or the item is recent at the right price), I can click on Buy and I can pay by credit card or Paypal.

I strongly recommend to pay via PayPal (it’s at no extra cost to you) because :

• You automatically have an additional insurance in case of non-delivery (i.e. you will be reimbursed if you do not receive your goods, even if it is a private shipment. The seller must be able to justify the receipt of the package). This is also taken care of by Vinted but the after-sales service of Paypal is more efficient.
• the return costs are paid by PayPal if ever the item does not correspond to your description or arrived damaged (Vinted does not reimburse you the return costs). I made a return via Colissimo (I don’t like to bother printing the label with Mondial Relay or others) and I was refunded anyway. More info here

If you don’t have a PayPal account yet, I can sponsor you. Click here to get 5€ discount for your 1st order (> 10€)

It is the Vinted site that receives money to pay the seller. The seller has absolutely no access to my PayPal account or to my card number, of course.

You can then choose the delivery option that suits you. Delivery charges differ from one seller to another (some have access to a Mondial Relay, others only Chronopost…) and the weight of the item. In case of grouped purchases, it is entirely possible to contact the seller to make a single shipment and thus pay less shipping costs. It can also have rules: for example 2 articles bought, -10% on the second one. So don’t hesitate to negotiate at all, that’s what it’s made for. There is also about 1€ service charge to pay in addition. So, roughly speaking, a 6€ item finally costs me 10€ (shipping and service fees included).

Mondial Relay and Chronopost both have problems. You really need to test to see which service works best for your city. In Rouen for example, Mondial Relay is more reliable in my opinion.

Once the payment has been sent, the seller can print a pre-paid slip, which he will stick on his package to send it to you.

The tracking number is communicated directly in the system and I receive a notification and a tracking link. The sellers have 21 days to send me my article, which is very long. But mine were very reactive (I bought from the high rated vinties with a lot of stars).

If a salesman is absent, he can put himself in “vacation” mode, so his articles will be hidden for 90 days maximum.

Once I receive the package, I indicate that I have received it. The seller gets his money and I am delighted with my purchase. We leave each other an evaluation.

It’s a platform where everyone trusts each other, I find the experience very pleasant and easy. I admit that I also take all my precautions in choosing models that I have seen in real life, reasonable prices (I don’t pay more than 15€ even for brands like Sessun), I only buy brands I know, and from sellers that are extremely well rated (4.4 stars out of 5).

Here are the clothes of old collections that I could buy on Vinted, the prices indicated include the purchase of the garment, the shipping and the service charges. As you can see, the pictures taken by individuals aren’t terrible, but in real life, these clothes are super nice.

Scams

Some people abuse too much on the price. With the shipping & commission, it is possible that you pay almost or more than the new price.
For over-estimated brands like Sézane, the second hand prices are higher than the new price, i.e. the model is no longer in stock. Even Zara or H&M clothes are resold at higher prices. WTF !

For me, these aren’t people who are looking to empty their cupboard but real professionals who buy the whole stock to resell it at a higher price. Or people who over-consumer, buy the new collection to wear 2-3 times and then resell for 3€ less than what they paid.

I alsoadvise against buying luxury brand name clothes on Vinted because there are a lot of counterfeits and you don’t have a sharp eye for that. Many show invoices they have stolen elsewhere (online, from another seller for example), or fake invoices.

As for cosmetics, if the same seller has 10 copies of the same product, if the brand does not sell sealed products, and you find completely delirious prices on Vinted, it’s a BIG WARNING. The Ordinary, for example, never seals their products, so the bottle may really be the brand, but who knows what’s inside.

Be smart and responsible consumers. Don’t give your money away to dishonest sellers.

To minimize these inconveniences, buy only from highly rated sellers (read each comment on their profile) and DO NOT VALIDATE the transaction until you have reviewed everything (you have 2 days after receipt to check everything). If the transaction is validated while your item is a counterfeit, too bad for you and it’s marked in the general conditions of the site. Conditions that you have clearly accepted consent by registering on the site.

Security & Returns / Exchanges

In spite of the purchase of the clothes indicated in “very good condition”, it happened to me 3 problems on the 8 purchases.

• a very pretty dress in real but with small holes everywhere, not reported in the ad (it was marked “very good condition”). Considering the price of the dress (2€), I simply threw it in the trash, but I could have gotten a full refund
• a top marked “very good condition” but with stains and a hole, not reported in the ad. I created a dispute and the seller apologized by refunding me the purchase in full and asking me to keep the garment.
• a dress arrived in size 38 while the ad indicates size 36 => parcel sent back to the buyer, the return costs reimbursed by PayPal and the order (shipping, costs + value of the item) fully reimbursed by Vinted. More info here

So I advise you, as soon as you receive the package, to check from every angle, including the label, the size, the possible holes and the good working order of the high-tech objects (even if it’s in blister pack, you have to open and test them). If everything is ok, you can indicate “all is ok” and the transaction is closed. Otherwise, you have 48 hours after receiving the package to click on “I have a problem” and open a dispute to request a refund.

If the item does not match the description, it isn’t necessarily because the seller is acting in bad faith (whatever…). When you get rid of a huge quantity of clothes, it’s not always easy to detect small defects. When opening the dispute, be courteous anyway (don’t insult the salespeople).

The parcels, handled by Mondial Relay and Chronopost take forever to arrive because of the de-confinement, but I was in no hurry anyway.

According to the feedback I’ve read, Vinted puts itself a little too much on the buyer’s side, to the regret of the sellers. They specify on their site, that one can open a dispute if there is the slightest problem: “We will refund you if your article was never sent, arrives damaged or isn’t as described. You have 2 days to make a claim. Without a common agreement, the return costs are at the expense of the buyer”

After receipt of the package, the clothes received must of course be washed thoroughly. If possible at 60°C. Don’t even try on the clothes at the reception, we don’t know under which conditions these clothes have been kept while waiting to be sold 🙂 You can however look if there are holes, if the size corresponds to the label etc.

Have a good shopping!