Vinted: Seller underpaid postage

Cuilean

I've been buying and selling on eBay for years, so I'd know exactly what to do if this was an eBay issue, but I'm a Vinted newbie, so would appreciate some help from those who know the platform.

Cutting a long story short, it appears my seller sent the jumper I purchased as a large letter, when it should have been a small parcel.  Royal Mail want £3.50 to release it.   The jumper was only £2 in the first place, and I can definitely live without it if I'm going to have to pay another £3.50 to receive it!

Vinted's help page essentially says "Ask your seller to bank transfer you the unpaid postage fee". 

Seller has been lovely to date, but my eBay experience tells me that it might all change once she sees my message!

I'm guessing my options are:
1) Refuse to collect it and let it go back to her, then hope for a refund
2) Ask her to bank transfer/Paypal F&F me the £3.50

However, I'm new to Vinted, so if anyone has any experience of underpaid items and how they handled it, I'd appreciate hearing it.

Brie

If you've only paid £2 for an item and she's paid whatever the cost of a large letter I can't imagine she'll want to pay another £3.50 as she'd then be out of pocket completely.  It would be better for it to go back to her and hope she refunds.  But I am not a Vinted person.

Pembroke

I've just had a scan through the FAQ's the seller lists an item and chooses shipping options that as the FAQ says "they are in a position to offer". Then when you buy an item you are presented with the shipping options and you chose the one you want which you pay for. The seller will then get either a prepaid label or be charged for the postage.

So if your seller only choses large letter as her option then I think it's down to her if the post office don't agree that that is a suitable method for the item and she should pay the extra fee. 

When I sold on eBay, I had one of those plastic measure things that had the various packet sizes on it so there was no doubt as to whether the item was LL or not.

Here's a couple of snapshot pages from the FAQ that might help.

Who pays for shipping 

https://www.vinted.co.uk/help/458?

Manage Shipping options for selling

https://www.vinted.co.uk/help/447?

Finally here's their refund policy 

https://www.vinted.co.uk/help/465-vinted-refund-policy?

you've only got two days to complain from date the parcel is shown as delivered so you'd better get your skates on if you want a refund.

Oh and to answer @Brie there doesn't appear to be a sellers fee. The site says "list for free" the selling instructions say there's no fee to pay when the item sells. So no idea how Vinted make their money.

MalMonroe

If it were me, I'd leave it. If you pay the extra postage then it's cost you £5.50. More than double. 

According to the Vinted website, the buyer pays postage, not the seller -

https://www.vinted.co.uk/help/458-who-pays-for-shipping

I don't like the way Vinted works, tbh.

KxMx

Vinted charge the buyers a fee which is presumably how they make their money:
https://www.vinted.co.uk/help/342-buyer-protection-fee-on-vinted

JWM

Brie said:

If you've only paid £2 for an item and she's paid whatever the cost of a large letter I can't imagine she'll want to pay another £3.50 as she'd then be out of pocket completely.  It would be better for it to go back to her and hope she refunds.  But I am not a Vinted person.

Ah but you are assuming she put her address as sender on the large letter.

If she didn't then it won't be returned to her to issue a refund to the buyer.

soolin

JWM said:

Brie said:h

If you've only paid £2 for an item and she's paid whatever the cost of a large letter I can't imagine she'll want to pay another £3.50 as she'd then be out of pocket completely.  It would be better for it to go back to her and hope she refunds.  But I am not a Vinted person.

Ah but you are assuming she put her address as sender on the large letter.

If she didn't then it won't be returned to her to issue a refund to the buyer.

Does vinted not have buyer protection in cases of non receipt? 

forgotmyname

Vinted terms and conditions are a joke, shocked people use them.

Buyers have 2 days to open a dispute from the day marked as delivered even if it was not delivered???
Funds are released to the seller if you miss the 2 day deadline.

Surely a joke?

https://www.vinted.co.uk/help/550-buyer-protection

Cuilean

This is where Vinted seems to get a bit complicated, hence looking for someone with Vinted experience (Not that I don't value everyone's thoughts here, I am grateful for them).  From what I understand of Vinted's postage system, it's like Pembroke described.  

At the point of selling, the seller has to decide whether their item needs a small, medium or large postage box, and which carriers they'd be happy to send it with.  Vinted use some sort of algorithm which suggests that, for example, coats are generally going to need a large box, while T shirts are fine in a small box.  It's up to the seller to say "Actually, my item would need a smaller/larger box" and choose a different size.  You then move on to the screen where you choose the couriers you'd be willing to use.  Vinted have some sort of magical integration with Evri/Hermes and Yodel, and much like eBay, a tracked item is automatically marked as delivered once the buyer receives it.  Until the parcel is known to be received, the seller doesn't get their money.

They don't appear to have this integration with Royal Mail, so right now there's no tracking information on my parcel.  The seller sent my jumper untracked anyway.  My only option as a buyer is to press the button and tell Vinted the parcel was delivered, which it hasn't been. I'm also not keen to release the money to the seller, because I don't have the goods.  It feels like she has all the cards right now.

My latest communication with her is going exactly the way my inner pessimist suggested.  She's now going with "That couldn't be my parcel you're hearing about, because I used the postage label Vinted gave me, which couldn't possibly be wrong"  I've told her it's an item which was incorrectly sent as Large Letter when it should have been Small Parcel.  I sense a fight is coming.  

Updated: She's come back and said she's not willing to pay any more, and if the postage label is wrong, that's Vinted's fault, not hers, so I should get them to pay.  I have opened a support request with Vinted.  

Mokles

Well, good luck with raising your case with Vinted. Their customer support is non existent in my experience. The buyer protection doesn't protect the buyer. I received an incorrect item from a seller who was adamant they'd sent the right one and virtually accused me of lying. Long story short, because Yodel confirmed a parcel had been delivered they released my money to the seller. I have been trying to get answers as to why buyer protection hasn't protected me but it's like hitting  your head against a brick wall. I've tried to have it escalated but they don't offer that service.
 I came on here to see if anyone else had any  similar experience. Like Cuilean I have years of experience buying selling on ebay with only one problem that couldn't be resolved but Vinted is unbelievable! I am relieved that the utem in question didn't cost much and the only reason I've been pursuing it is the principle  - what if it had been a £100 item?
I would recommend everyone to stay well clear of Vinted until they get their customer service in order!

custardy

I get the vibe Vinted relies on novice sellers/buyers making odd purchases vs regular sellers.
The type who are less likely to know processes and perhaps just let things go.