Vestiaire Collective (VC) avoid paying seller after item got lost during shipping

e19

Hi there,

Would be great if someone could provide some advise on what next steps I could take regarding my experience with VC.

I sold a dress on VC in December 2020 which got lost during transit by UPS (shipping company), and until today I still haven’t received any payment from VC after numerous chasing!!

I contacted UPS to try to locate the package but without success (basically they can’t help) because the shipping cost was paid directly by VC using their corporate account, so I can't deal with UPS directly.

I was in contact with the buyer via the chat in the app to try to understand what had happened and trying to sort this out but VC subsequently blocked my chat function because I was trying to contact the buyer privately (and they refuse to activate my chat function with other members after I contacted them explaining the situation). The buyer told me she has received a refund. 

I contacted VC at least five times the last three months and they have promised a payment date twice but both times failed to pay. The last time I contacted them yesterday to say I will escalate if they don’t get back to me yet they have not responded so far.

It's hard for them to explain themselves they are not deliberately trying to avoid paying. They even removed the record of my sale from the app and I can't see it from my account anymore!

Can I pursue them through small claims court? or are there any consumer rights ombudsman organisation I could use? I’ve looked into the latter but they don’t seem to cover companies like VC (buy/sell market place, basically like eBay).

Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

Many thanks!

soolin

I’m sorry but I’ve never heard of this selling site, I will go and take a look. 

Is it in their terms and conditions that sellers get paid even if item gets lost on the way to the buyer? You say it is like ebay, if that is the case then seller would be expected to carry the loss and make their own claim from the courier, they would not end up with payment for a lost item. 

e19

soolin said:

I’m sorry but I’ve never heard of this selling site, I will go and take a look. 

Is it in their terms and conditions that sellers get paid even if item gets lost on the way to the buyer? You say it is like ebay, if that is the case then seller would be expected to carry the loss and make their own claim from the courier, they would not end up with payment for a lost item. 

Hi there
Thanks for your response! 
They operate slightly different from eBay, in that they pay for all the shipping, and all sellers need to do is to print off a postage slip they provide and then take the package to a drop-off point. All shippings are recorded and insured. 
As such sellers do get their money even if the item is lost during transit. They have already responded a few times saying they will pay, the problem now is, they don't do what they say and have missed the agreed payment deadline!
 

theonlywayisup

Where are they based?

forgotmyname

France it seems, I had a quick look at their terms and conditions which contradicts itself several times over.

I would not have used them.