Buying and Selling On Vinted - blog discussion

MSE_Jenny

Read MSE Jenny's blog: 

29 Vinted Tips

We're keen to hear from anyone who's bought or sold on Vinted. What bargains have you scored? How much have you made? Have you ever paid to promote items with Vinted Spotlight? 

Many thanks,
MSE Jenny

soolin

I’ve been actively using Vinted for a couple of months now and am doing well. Some tips from me would include
1) go through the postage options carefully, read the weight and size limits in each category, lots of sellers get caught out by thinking something is light so must be ‘small’ for postage but finds it exceeds the size limit specified by certain couriers. 

2) make sure you disable any couriers you can’t use , if for instance UPS is no good for you, remove it as otherwise the buyer can choose it.
3) Be careful with using Royal Mail, Vinted costs cover standard RM postage but the money is not usually enough for any form of tracking. So if sending a large letter you have to rely on buyer confirming receipt before your money is released. I have disabled RM as no one ever confirmed delivery in a timely manner and whilst a reminder asking if something had arrived usually resulted in confirmation, it did mean an average wait of 3 weeks or so for payment. All other couriers are integrated , so you get sent a label and that automatically goes into the Vinted system.
4) Vinted tracking is awful, it can take days for Evri parcels to show as despatched, if it gets close to 5 days you get a warning about shipping or item will be cancelled, so watch for that notice and click the button to confirm it has been sent.
5) don’t expect fast payouts. Money isn’t released into your Vinted balance until 2  days after item shows as delivered, then payouts to your bank can take a further 2 days.
6) don’t panic if you accept an offer and buyer doesn’t pay, the item remains live until paid for (unless you reserve it for the buyer).
7) be careful when buying as any returns, even for faulty goods are paid for by the buyer. 

I’ll add more if I think of them. 

Buster_Danog

There are many bargains to be had and there is sometimes more choice and a lower price than ebay. I started this year and have had decent t-shirts, shorts etc. during summer. Brand names and even high street brands seem to do well if you are selling. I haven't made much money on there as I have only sold five items. It is not quite as busy as ebay in terms of items sold. 

Some tips for buying.

1. Check what other items the seller has for sale. If you see a lot of feedback and hundreds of items in different sizes they may buying and selling, and this can effect how much attention they pay to each item in terms of cleanliness and flaws.
2. Ask for additional photos, measurements, and confirmation of  details / labels in order to avoid returning items, or being left with items you don't want.
3. Sometimes if you are in two minds consider the fact that a popular brand / item can be sold on if it doesn't fit. I have missed out on items where I should have pressed the buy button and then sold it on if it didn't fit.

soolin

Buster_Danog said:

There are many bargains to be had and there is sometimes more choice and a lower price than ebay. I started this year and have had decent t-shirts, shorts etc. during summer. Brand names and even high street brands seem to do well if you are selling. I haven't made much money on there as I have only sold five items. It is not quite as busy as ebay in terms of items sold. 

Some tips for buying.

1. Check what other items the seller has for sale. If you see a lot of feedback and hundreds of items in different sizes they may buying and selling, and this can effect how much attention they pay to each item in terms of cleanliness and flaws.
2. Ask for additional photos, measurements, and confirmation of  details / labels in order to avoid returning items, or being left with items you don't want.
3. Sometimes if you are in two minds consider the fact that a popular brand / item can be sold on if it doesn't fit. I have missed out on items where I should have pressed the buy button and then sold it on if it didn't fit.

I don't entirely agree with point 1 - someone with lots to sell and with experience will in my opinion be better at packaging and shipping . Sometimes the smaller sellers don't have suitable packaging and so just 'make do' and then don't bother shipping for days as they only have one item to go and it isn't worth it. 

I think the one important thing to remember as a seller though is that apart from RM, all labels are supplied by Vinted so for certain couriers you will need a printer. That means you have to choose which couriers to disable in your settings to disallow buyers option for a courier that does not provide a label at drop off point.

There are a lot of Vinted threads all over various forums recently, and so many sellers are getting caught out with the postage,  not realising that they have to use the option chosen by the buyer. This morning I have 4 items to go, 2 Evri, 1 Yodel and a UPS.

MSE_Jenny

Thanks so much for all your feedback - I've added some of those to the guide. I know what you mean about packaging - I had something turn up in an old chocolate cereal box the other day. Oh well, it's eco and the product was fine.

Buster_Danog

soolin said:

I don't entirely agree with point 1 - someone with lots to sell and with experience will in my opinion be better at packaging and shipping . Sometimes the smaller sellers don't have suitable packaging and so just 'make do' and then don't bother shipping for days as they only have one item to go and it isn't worth it. 

I think the one important thing to remember as a seller though is that apart from RM, all labels are supplied by Vinted so for certain couriers you will need a printer. That means you have to choose which couriers to disable in your settings to disallow buyers option for a courier that does not provide a label at drop off point.

With regards to point 1 I didn't mention packing and shipping. My point is one that I have found to be true: sellers who are trading in clothes seem to be more likely to sell items that are unclean or have flaws. If I give them the benefit of the doubt I might say they are buying and selling clothing. However, if my local clothes donation banks and charity shops are anything to go by many donated clothes are taken for free by people who know there is money to be made online (I'm not sure if you can technically steal from a clothes donation bank).

I have had two items turn up in terrible condition, one with some kind of chewing gum / glue in the material and another with dirt on the sleeves. One seller admitted she was trading although her account made no mention of it. Another looks like she is trading but I never opened a dispute. I have had no such issue with private sellers.

With regards to postage options the settings in the app allow you to deactivate different couriers. I presume it is possible to turn off as may as you like. I have deactivated InPost during their backlog, and Royal Mail during the strikes.

soolin

Buster_Danog said:

soolin said:

I don't entirely agree with point 1 - someone with lots to sell and with experience will in my opinion be better at packaging and shipping . Sometimes the smaller sellers don't have suitable packaging and so just 'make do' and then don't bother shipping for days as they only have one item to go and it isn't worth it. 

I think the one important thing to remember as a seller though is that apart from RM, all labels are supplied by Vinted so for certain couriers you will need a printer. That means you have to choose which couriers to disable in your settings to disallow buyers option for a courier that does not provide a label at drop off point.

With regards to point 1 I didn't mention packing and shipping. My point is one that I have found to be true: sellers who are trading in clothes seem to be more likely to sell items that are unclean or have flaws. If I give them the benefit of the doubt I might say they are buying and selling clothing. However, if my local clothes donation banks and charity shops are anything to go by many donated clothes are taken for free by people who know there is money to be made online (I'm not sure if you can technically steal from a clothes donation bank).

I have had two items turn up in terrible condition, one with some kind of chewing gum / glue in the material and another with dirt on the sleeves. One seller admitted she was trading although her account made no mention of it. Another looks like she is trading but I never opened a dispute. I have had no such issue with private sellers.

With regards to postage options the settings in the app allow you to deactivate different couriers. I presume it is possible to turn off as may as you like. I have deactivated InPost during their backlog, and Royal Mail during the strikes.

The postage seems to catch a lot of people out , they don’t realise they can’t choose the postage themselves and then panic when buyer opts for a service they can’t use. I would always recommend looking at the options very carefully and disallowing any that would cause you problems as a seller. 

andyplymouth

Something to be aware of if you don’t have a printer is that although Evri ParcelShops offer a ‘print your label’ service, Vinted don’t actually supply the QR code that you need to be able to access it so you do need to print your own.

soolin

andyplymouth said:

Something to be aware of if you don’t have a printer is that although Evri ParcelShops offer a ‘print your label’ service, Vinted don’t actually supply the QR code that you need to be able to access it so you do need to print your own.

I thought that was available on your mobile? Although I haven’t tried to access it as Evri labels print beautifully on my Zebra label printer. 

soolin

Another thing I just thought of- Vinted have limited categories for selling, it isn't like ebay where you can sell virtually anything  - it has to be in certain categories.  For instance you can't sell things like wool or craft items unless they fit into one of the 'children's toys' categories. 

I am unable to sell vast amounts of my items as I sell vintage and antique things, and unless they fit into a clothing or jewellery catagory, or one of the household categories they cannot be listed. 

Ineedaservant

Can Vinted be used on a laptop?