How to Sell on Vinted: Everything You Need To Know

As a seasoned eBay seller, let me let you in on a little secret: I suck at selling clothes on eBay.

It’s fine, because I prefer sticking to retro toys, console games and other collectibles, but I used to marvel at the sellers I followed on social media that were making a full time income selling clothing on eBay.

So it got to the point where I couldn’t really be bothered to list everyday clothing such as my daughter’s outgrown baby clothing or good quality items I simply didn’t like any more. However, that was when I decided to try Vinted.

A quick caveat here, this post is aimed at the casual seller who just wants to make a little bit of extra cash selling their own things. Although there are no doubt some people making a full time income out of selling on Vinted, I’m not aiming this post at professional sellers who source items to resell, just your average person looking to sell their preloved clothing for a little extra cash.

If you’re now wondering why bother in the first place, read on to decide if selling on Vinted is right for you, and why I bother to do it.

What is Vinted?

Vinted is a marketplace where people can buy and sell second-hand clothing, shoes, and accessories. With over 37 million members worldwide, it’s no surprise that many people are turning to Vinted to clear out their closets and make some extra cash.

If you’re new to Vinted, it can be overwhelming to figure out how to get started. However, the process is relatively straightforward. Sellers can list their items for free, and unlike eBay, there are no selling fees and the buyer always pays the postage. This means that if you sell a dress for £5.50, £5.50 is what you will receive in your account.

Once an item sells, the seller is responsible for shipping it to the buyer. Vinted also has a feature called the “Bump” feature, which allows sellers to promote their listings to potential buyers. By using this feature, sellers can increase their visibility on the platform and potentially sell their items faster.

Setting Up Your Vinted Account

I would strongly suggest that before you think about listing any items to sell, you first explore Vinted as a potential buyer, and possibly buy a couple of items so you can see how the whole process works from the point of view of a customer. This post has everything you need to know about buying on Vinted.

Even if you don’t want to buy anything, setting up your account and browsing the items for sale will give you a good idea of the type of clothing and price points on Vinted.

Creating a Vinted account is free and easy, and it only takes a few minutes.

To get started, visit the Vinted website or download the app, and click on the “Sign up” button. You can sign up with your email address, Facebook account, or Google account. Once you’ve signed up, you’ll need to verify your account with your phone number.

After verifying your account, you can start setting up your Vinted profile. Your profile is your online storefront, so it’s important to make it as attractive and appealing as possible. Here are some tips for setting up your Vinted profile:

• Add a profile picture: Your profile picture does not have to be of you, but it can help to build trust with potential buyers if they can see you are a real person.
• Select a username: Try and use something that doesn’t give away too many personal details about yourself, although keep in mind that your name and address will be visible to other sellers if you buy something.
• Fill out your profile details in the About Me section: You may find this a little unecessary, but like all online selling platforms, there is the chance that you will get a boost in the search results if you fill this in. Just a couple f sentences about your favourite brands will do.

Once you’ve set up your profile, you can start listing your items for sale. Keep in mind that Vinted is a community, so it’s important to be friendly and helpful to other members. Respond promptly to messages and comments, and always be honest about the condition of your items.

What can you sell on Vinted?

While it originated predominantly to sell clothing, Vinted has since expanded the categories on offer. The full list of categories and subcategories are as follows:

Women >

• Clothes
• Shoes
• Bags
• Accessories
• Beauty

Men >

• Clothing
• Shoes
• Accessories
• Grooming

Kids >

• Girls clothing
• Boy’s clothing
• Toys & Games
• Baby Care
• Buggies
• Ride-on toys
• Car chairs and feeding chairs
• Kid & baby furniture
• School Supplies
• Other kid’s items

Home >

• Textiles
• Home Accessories
• Tableware
• Entertainment >
• Video Games and Consoles
• Games and Puzzles
• Music & Video
• Books

Pet Care >

• Dogs
• Cats
• Small Pets
• Fish
• Birds
• Reptiles

So as you can see, there are now a vast range of categories and items for sale on Vinted. While the listing process works in a similar way no matter what the item, I only have experience in buying and selling clothing and shoes on Vinted, so this article is focusing on clothing.

My general personal rule is I use Vinted to sell “every day” clothing from mainstream brands, and anything vintage or designer, or items from the other categories such as video games, I would always list on eBay first. This is because in my experience, Vinted customers expect lower prices than eBay customers.

Children’s clothing is especially popular, but I have sold men’s and women’s clothing too. Due to the low selling prices I don’t source any clothing especially for Vinted, rather I use it just to sell our household’s old items.

Creating a Listing

To create a listing on Vinted, the user must first click on the “Sell now” button located in the top right corner of the website. Once clicked, the user will be prompted to upload photos of the item they wish to sell. This is why I really recommend using the Vinted app, as you can take the photos with your phone and upload directly to the app.

Taking Listing Photos

If you are brand new to online selling, there are a few tips to follow when taking photos of your items. One thing that is really important to remember is when users are browsing the Vinted feed, the titles of your listings do not show up.

All that appears is the brand, the size and the price. There is no indication, other than in your first photo as to whether this item is a dress, shoes or a babygro!

Therefore, it’s crucial to ensure that the first photo in your listing shows the item in full. Ideally, you should provide several well-lit photos showing the item from different angles and including any flaws.

Read more: The Do’s and Don’t of Listing on Vinted to maximise sales

Provide details about the item in the listing description, including flaws

After uploading the photos, the user should provide a detailed description of the item. The item description should include the brand, size, colour, and any defects or wear and tear that the item may have. It is important to be honest and transparent about the condition of the item to avoid any potential issues with the buyer.

Vinted’s buyer protection policy states that the buyer is entitled to a full refund if the item is “significantly not as described”, (SNAD) so it is important to list any flaws to cover yourself if nothing else. There is a section towards the end of this post covering in detail what consitutes SNAD according to Vinted’s terms.

Some sellers leave the item description blank, but again this can put potential buyers off if they want more details about the item.

Ensure you upload the listing into the correct size is also important. Confusingly, some of the sizing categories on Vinted don’t always match up with traditional sizing.

For example, UK women’s size 12 is classed as “Large” on Vinted. This is fine if you are uploading a size 12 item, as it will be displayed as 12/L. However, outside of Vinted, women’s clothing that is simply labelled as a Large is generally a size 16-18. This means that a size “Large” women’s t-shirt could be uploaded as a size 12.

An item being listed as the wrong size constitutes Vinted’s definition of SNAD, so it’s vital to get this right.

Pricing

One thing I love about Vinted as a buyer, is that is it super cheap. However, this is not so great as a seller. It can be hard to let go of the mentality of “I paid £30 for this Zara top 5 years ago, so I want at least £15 for it now” – unfortunately this is going to be highly unlikely!

This example shows two Crew Clothing dresses in a similar preloved condition. Although they are different colours and styles, I would be very surprised if the dress on the left sells for the price the seller wants for it, when the vast majority of dresses from this brand are priced more like the dress on the right.

When it comes to pricing, the user should research the market value of similar items on Vinted to ensure they are pricing their item competitively. Vinted also provides a “Price suggestion” feature that suggests a price based on the item’s brand, condition, and market value – but be mindful of this as they are always going to want you to price your item as low as possible to attract more buyers.

When I first started listing on Vinted I priced things way too high because I was thinking about their original cost to buy. Once I got into the swing of things, I lowered my prices and made more sales.

Once the listing is complete, the user can upload it to their Vinted profile and wait for potential buyers to make an offer. It is important to regularly check and respond to any messages or offers from buyers to ensure a smooth and successful transaction.

What is the Bump feature on Vinted?

You can choose to “Bump” certain items so they appear higher in the search feed and potentially sell faster. The price to bump an item will depend on the duration of the bump and the cost of the item. You can read full details on Vinted’s offical site.

I wouldn’t recommend bumping low price items, or as a beginner. I have managed to sell successfully without using the bump feature, so I would get a few sales under your belt before looking at paid add ons so you can get to know what works without them.

What is the wardrobe spotlight feature on Vinted?

In a similar fashion to the bump feature, users can also choose to spotlight their entire wardrobe to show up as a featured listings and higher in search results. This feature currently costs 99p per day. Again, I don’t think this is something you need to do as a beginner seller until you have figured out what works well for you organically.

Why are prices so low on Vinted?

When selling on Vinted, it is important to understand the buying fees that are involved. Because there are no fees for the seller, Vinted charges a commission fee to the buyer for each item sold, which is added to the sale price. The commission fee varies depending on the price of the item and ranges from 3% to 8%.

In addition to the commission fee, Vinted charges a fixed fee for buyer protection. The fixed fee ranges from £0.30 to £0.80 and is also added to the sale price. It is important to note that these fees do not include taxes, shipping costs, or other charges agreed upon between the buyer and seller, and they are non-refundable.

To give an example, this Hollister dress is listed for £2.00, but when the customer clicks to buy, a buyer protection fee of £0.70 plus 5% of the items price is added on (£0.80), plus £2.29 postage. this means that in total the buyer needs to pay £5.09.

It’s still a complete bargain, but if the seller upped the selling price of the dress to what most would consider a still very reasonable £6.00 for a used Hollister dress, this takes all the fees and postage up to £9.29. At this price point, more customers are likely to be put off at paying almost £10 for a second hand dress that was probably around £25 new several years ago.

There is also something psychological at play when it comes to paying for postage and fees. If the dress was £5.09 with zero fees and free postage, some people would find this easier to swallow than £2.00 plus fees and postage, even though it is the same amount!

The buyer fees are why I would not recommend Vinted as your first point of sale for designer or high priced items, as the 5% of the item’s value could price your buyer out. Take advantage of 80% off selling fees promotions on eBay instead.

What does it mean if someone has favourited my item?

When browsing the feed on Vinted, potential buyers have the option to favourite items by clicking on the heart icon. As the seller, you will get notified that your item has been favourited. This is good news, as it will tell the Vinted algorithm that your item is gaining popularity, and show it to more people in their feed.

However it does not necessarily mean that person is going to buy. They may just be browsing items to come back to later, or narrowing down potential choices.

Personally I have favourited items as a customer and then they have sat in my app for months, after which time I may not even be interested in buying them any more, but I haven’t bothered to go back through and unfavourite them. Other times I have bought favourited items straight away – it really does depend.

Similarly, I have items for sale that have been listed for months with several favourites but no one has bought yet. Because I understand the mentality and behaviour of my customers because I am also a Vinted customer, it helps me keep to the etiquette of the platform.

As a seller you can choose to message a buyer with an offer or ask if they are interested as you are posting that day, and this can work well, but try not to be too pushy and send multiple messages. Anyone who has favourited one of your items will get a notification if you reduce the price, so this can be a more indirect way of encouraging a sale.

Making or Accepting an Offer on Vinted

Buyers can make you an offer on items they like and are allowed to make up to 5 offers a day for up to 40% of the asking price. As a seller you can also entice buyers by sending them an offer if they have favourited an item, for example.

However, it is important to note that unlike the offer feature on eBay, a buyer is not obliged to buy even if you accept their offer. Equally, the item remains listed for sale after an offer is accepted until the point that a sale is made, meaning another buyer can still purchase it if they get there first.

Shipping Options

When it comes to shipping options on Vinted, sellers select the size of the item from the options listed – Small, Medium or Large, and the shipping options are automatically generated to the buyer by Vinted. At the point of sale, the buyer chooses from the options available to them which includes shipping to their home address or to a pick up point.

Included couriers are as follows:

Vinted-generated prepaid labels – Evri, Yodel

The Vinted-generated prepaid label is the easiest and most popular shipping option. When a buyer purchases an item, the seller will receive a notification to generate a shipping label. Once the label is generated, the seller can print it out and attach it to the package. The label includes postage and tracking, so the seller doesn’t need to worry about anything else.

As the buyer automatically pays for postage at the point of sale, there is nothing further for the seller to pay. The seller must ensure that the package is dropped off at a designated drop-off point within five days of generating the label. If the package is not dropped off within this timeframe, the label will expire, and Vinted may automatically cancel the sale and give you an automated 1 star feedback.

Royal Mail

Sending via Royal Mail is another option, however a lot of sellers do not like this option because there is no tracking. Vinted also advises sending the buyer a proof or postage receipt which means a trip to the post office rather than just posting in a postbox.

Managing Sales and Checkout

Once a buyer has confirmed a purchase, the seller will receive a notification from Vinted in the messages section of the app that their item has sold. This serves as a 1-to-1 communication thread between the buyer and seller should any messages need to be sent and allows both parties to track the delivery of the parcel.

The seller is then responsible for shipping the item to the buyer within 5 working days. You should ensure that the item is packaged securely and shipped promptly.

The buyer will receive automatic updates through Vinted, but it can be polite to just drop them a quick message saying the order has been sent. If you are sending via Royal Mail, you will need to manually confirm the item is sent by clicking the button in the message thread.

After the buyer receives the item, they have three days to rate the seller and accept the item. If the buyer accepts the item, the funds are released to the seller. If the buyer fails to accept the item within 48 hours, the funds are automatically released to the seller and automatic 5 star feedback is left as the transaction is complete.

If the buyer is not satisfied with the item, they can open a case with Vinted within two days of receiving the item. Vinted will investigate the case and make a decision on whether to issue a refund to the buyer or not. See the section below for details.

The seller will receive the payment directly to their Vinted Wallet within two to five working days after the buyer has confirmed receipt of the item. You can then transfer the money to your bank account or use it to purchase items on Vinted.

Sellers should keep track of their sales and payments on Vinted. They can view their sales history and payment status in the “Sales” section of their profile.

It is important to note that Vinted does not offer any protection for cash transactions or transactions outside of the platform. Sellers should only accept payments through Vinted to ensure a safe and secure transaction.

My Buyer Has a Problem with their Item

Under their Buyer Protection Terms, Vinted states in their help centre that they can assist a buyer with a refund if the item is significantly not as described (SNAD). 

Here are the main cases that would be considered SNAD:

• Wrong colour
• Incorrect size
• Missing item parts
• Bundles with missing items
• A damaged item (stained, ripped, broken or damaged in any other way) that wasn’t detailed in the description or photos 
• Different main materials from the listing
• Counterfeit
• Any other visible flaw that wasn’t in the listing

This is why it is crucial that any flaws and the correct sizing are including in both your listing description and photos. If you have stated flaws and the buyer has not read them, then Vinted will probably choose not to refund them.

The following features are not considered SNAD:

• Items you don’t like or don’t fit you (sizing correct as listed)
• Minor differences to an item that don’t affect its use or look

This means that a buyer is not entitled to a refund if the item doesn’t fit but it is listed in the correct sizing, or they don’t like / don’t suit the item. You are not obliged to refund them in these cases, but you may choose to do so depending upon the circumstances.

If a buyer chooses to return an item, they must pay for the return postage. Due to the low selling prices, the cost of the postage may often negate the refund option for a buyer. Occasionally I have bought items I didn’t like, but I knew this is not the fault of the seller and instead I chose to re-list them myself or donate them to charity.

Customer Service and Support

Thankfully, in over a year of buying and selling I have not had to use Vinted customer support so I can’t give any personalised feedback about the process. Users can contact Vinted’s customer service team via email or through the contact form on the website. The team usually responds within 24 hours.

If users have any questions or concerns about their account, they can visit the Vinted Help Centre. The Help Centre has a comprehensive list of frequently asked questions, which covers topics such as how to sell on Vinted, how to buy on Vinted, and how to use Vinted’s payment system.

Vinted also has a vibrant community of users who are always willing to help each other out. Users can ask questions on the Vinted community forum, and other users will respond with helpful advice and tips.

In Conclusion…why do I like selling on Vinted?

You may be thinking that if selling prices are so low, why do I bother selling on Vinted when I have far more lucrative side hustles as discussed elsewhere on the blog. Well, the answer is, I don’t really view it as a proper side hustle.

Any money I make selling on Vinted tends to go straight back into buying clothes on Vinted, because I am a little bit addicted to just how amazing some of the bargains are! This in turn has saved our whole family a fortune on buying new clothes, in particular children’s clothing that is quickly outgrown.

So not only does selling on Vinted provide me with a little bit of extra money to buy Vinted clothing, but I am helping the platform thrive by selling my clothes at affordable prices for others. After all, if no-one bothered to sell on Vinted, then no-one could buy on Vinted!

The added bonus is the sustainability side of things. These days, I’d rather buy a pre-loved clothing from a quality brand such as Boden or Barbour than buy a cheap fast fashion item. I’m currently compiling a post about my best Vinted bargains as a buyer, but here’s one example:

Read more in my complete buyer’s guide to Vinted

How to sell on Vinted Frequently Asked Questions

What items can be sold on Vinted?

Vinted is a platform for primarily selling second-hand clothing, shoes, and accessories for men, women, and children. However, they have recently updated the platform to allow categories for Home, Pets, Entertainment, Baby Items and Toys.

How much does it cost to sell on Vinted?

Vinted does not charge any fees for selling items on the platform. Instead, the buyers pay the fees and the postage. However, sellers must pay for any packaging materials they may need.

What does it mean when someone has favourited my item?

Many customers like to browse the Vinted platform and “favourite” items that they may wish to buy at a later date. It is no guarantee that they will come back and buy, but getting a lot of favourites on an item generally means it is getting lots of views and will potentially sell faster.

Do I have to accept a buyer’s offer on Vinted?

If someone sends you an offer, you can either accept or decline it. If you choose to accept their offer, unlike eBay they are not obliged to then go on to make the purchase. If they do not make the purchase, your item will continue to be displayed to other customers at the full price.

How do sellers receive payment on Vinted?

Sellers receive payment through Vinted’s integrated payment system. Once a buyer has received the item and is satisfied with their purchase, Vinted will release the funds to the seller’s account. Sellers can then transfer the funds to their bank account or use them to purchase items on the platform.

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