I use Vinted a lot. I sell everything on there. I buy a fair amount too. Especially for the kids.
It’s safe to say I am a fan of the platform, and I have written about it quite a lot on this site. However, that does not mean I am blind to its downsides. And it does have a downside.
Vinted is brilliant. Until it isn’t.
When everything works out it’s honestly unbeatable in my opinion, but if something should go wrong, it can turn into a nightmare.
Thankfully this is rare, but it’s common enough to make me think twice about selling expensive items on Vinted.
Why I Don’t Sell High Value Items on Vinted
I’m not saying you shouldn’t sell high ticket items on Vinted, plenty of people do, but I personally don’t.
The big issue for me is also Vinted’s greatest strength: you are dealing direct with other people. You aren’t buying or selling from a shop, you are buying or selling from a person. Vinted is just providing the marketplace.
There are some protections built it, but they are not as strong as traditional consumer protection when buying from a business. In other words, it leaves a grey area that is essentially filled by the personality of the person on the other end. If they are a dishonest crook, you might end up with issues, but you have no way of knowing before the sale takes place.
Since Vinted is just a middleman:
- there’s no retailer responsibility
- disputes rely on platform rules rather than legally enforceable retail protections
- outcomes aren’t always clear-cut
Call me a sensible Susan if you like, but if I’m shipping a £250 Reformation dress that doesn’t fit me anymore (😭🍰), I don’t want to take a chance on it getting lost or damaged, or on some scumbag buyer trying to rip me off.
Losing a £10 pair of jeans I can live with, losing an item worth hundreds would be difficult to come to terms with.
Vinted Customer Service Issues
If there is one thing that lets Vinted down, it’s their customer service.
Spend a few minutes looking at reviews on Trustpilot etc., and a pattern starts to emerge. People who have had negative experiences usually highlight three things:
- slow, unclear or generic responses
- unsatisfactory resolution result despite evidence
- impossible to escalate problems beyond initial support
Whether you have had delivery issues, lost items, items damaged in transit, or a dispute with the buyer/seller, you want customer service to sort it out quickly and fairly. Lots of people obviously feel this hasn’t happened.
I’ve only experienced it once myself, when a beard kit turned up broken and I had to pay delivery to return it and get a refund. I got my refund, but how is it fair that I had to pay to return a damaged item!?
This pales into insignificance compared to incidents like the person who was refunded just £7.50 when their £99 item was lost in transit. Despite having done everything correctly and producing the evidence to prove it.
Or the people who fall victim to Vinted scams such as buyers claiming the item arrived damaged, or not as described, then sending something else back in its place.
Imagine being in this scenario and receiving slow copy and paste customer service email replies that lead you around in circles, or ‘resolutions’ that leave you confused and angry.
No thanks. I’ll find other places to sell my expensive stuff thanks.
Advice if You Do Sell Something Expensive
Look, I’m not saying it’s not safe to sell expensive items on Vinted, I’m just saying that it isn’t without risk. Because if you should end up being the one in one hundred that runs into trouble, it could be a stressful nightmare to sort out, if it gets sorted out at all.
For me, it’s not worth the risk, for you, it might not be such an issue. Afterall, the odds of something going wrong are small, it’s just that if you get unlucky, the odds of any resolution coming quickly and without hassle are also small.
If you want to improve your odds of a stress free sale, here’s everything you can do.
Be Honest About Condition
No half truths. No “oh they will never notice that tiny hole”. Be 100% honest about the condition of the item.
The ‘Item Not as Described’ complaint is one of the most common reasons for a buyer rejecting something, so make sure you do everything you can to avoid it.
That means loads of good quality, well lit photos. Wide angle and close ups of anything important. Highlight any imperfections, however minor. Plenty of info in the description.
Keep Evidence
Not enough people keep evidence, but if you are selling something expensive it is so important.
Keep the images from your listing. Take photos of the item before you pack it. Even better, video yourself packing it from start to finish. Do the same when you post the item or hand it over. Keep all receipts or proof of postage.
This way, you can prove that whatever it is left you in the condition described, so responsibility for any issues is with the courier or the buyer.
Choose Postage Options Carefully
Where possible, choose more expensive postage options that are tracked, and have high compensation limits.
For anything over £100 I would want the full value covered.
Keep All Communication on Platform
Only ever communicate with the buyer on the platform. Don’t swap emails or phone numbers or anything like that. This creates a record that is easy to follow.
And send updates. “Hi, just letting you know I posted the item at about 2:30 this afternoon.” It shows you were doing all the right things and adds weight to your side of the story should there be a dispute.
So, Is It Safe?
It’s safe up to a point.
The problem is, Vinted protects the buyer more than the seller. If a buyer says the item you sent is different to what they bought, you need to be able to prove this is not the case. If you can’t, they get a refund.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s usually fine, but there are some loopholes that can be exploited, or cracks where things can naturally go wrong that might end up with you losing out. So you have to protect yourself. I have even read about people inserting small GPS trackers when selling high value items on the platform.
My issue is that a seller shouldn’t have to go to these lengths just to sell an item on Vinted. Their internal policies and protections should be enough to ensure the safety of sellers and buyers. And where there is a genuine dispute, it should be handled personally by a human being.
There is pressure on the platform to improve in this area, but until that happens, I’ll stick to only selling items worth £50 and under on Vinted.