We’re not very good at haggling in the UK, are we? From our politicians down to the average guy or gal on the street, if we enter negotiations we don’t tend to walk away with the best deals. Maybe it feels like breaking some nationally ingrained politeness rules, I’m not sure, but haggling is uncomfortable for many Brits.
On Vinted, however, the process is faceless. You don’t have to look your opponent in the eye as you ask for £5 off that ‘Like New’ pair of Levi jeans, so it’s much easier to do.
This is why the ‘make an offer’ feature on Vinted is so popular. It is also why people will haggle over a £3.00 t-shirt…
If you are one of those people then stop it. Seriously, just stop it 🙄
There is an art to making an offer on Vinted, as well as to handling them as a seller, and having used the platform a lot, I’m going to give you my tips.
How to ‘Make an Offer’ on Vinted
Just quickly, I had better make sure everybody knows how to make an offer in the first place. If you already know how to do it you can skip this bit.
It’s dead easy, the option is right there next to the ‘Buy’ button, although it is found in a slightly different place on the desktop compared with the app:
On a separate note, you can see it saying this item is ‘In Demand’, which means other people have been making offers on the item. If there are lots of offers then it’s likely to seller is rejecting them all, but you never know.
And now the same item on the app:
Wherever it is, hit that button, and you will find the option to send an offer that you think is more appropriate. Once you do that, you will be presented with the following options:
You can see that Vinted automatically suggests a 10% or 20% reduction in price, but the custom button allows you to offer any amount you like. See, I have offered 50p 🤭 – I didn’t actually make that offer, just so you know, I’m not that girl.
Anyway, once you send the offer the seller will either accept it, reject it, or counter it. Countering is when they make an alternative offer, so if you offer £10 on a £20 item they might make a counter offer of £15.
You will get emails about this, but you can see how it went for the last thing I bought on Vinted:
Yes, a beard care kit, because my man has decided to grow a beard (must be a mid-life crisis thing) and he has no idea how to look after it 🧔
Anyway, they wanted £12.50, I didn’t want to pay more than £10 so offered under that, they countered with £10 and I agreed.
Just because you make an offer you don’t have to buy the product, even if they accept it right away you can still back out. But once you agree to a price and hit the buy button, the deal is done.
And that’s it, a few taps or clicks and the offer process has begun.
Tips for Buyers
Having been a buyer and a seller I can tell you something that you probably already know: no one likes being low balled.
If you have seen something you like and want to pay under the asking price, fine, but don’t be rude about it. I will refuse to sell an item to somebody who low balls me, I won’t even enter the negotiation, I just flat out reject the offer.
When I buy something on Vinted, I want it to turn up quickly, well packaged, washed, and smelling fresh. If you mess someone around over a few quid, or try to twist their arm too hard, they are less likely to deliver your item with care and in a timely fashion.
That’s my biggest tip, here are the others in brief:
- Don’t low ball, you will just annoy the seller.
- Don’t drag out the process in 50p increments. It wastes everybody’s time and feels petty.
- Don’t offer on very low priced items. It annoying and you save yourself approximately nothing.
- Offer under what you want to pay. Give the seller room to counter your offer.
- Feel free to message. If you want to explain your offer, you can always send the seller a message. It sometimes helps.
- Check when the item was listed. Items that have been on the site for weeks are more likely to have offers accepted.
- Don’t make offers on bargains. If it’s already cheap, snap it up at the asking price or someone else will.
It’s true that Vinted is a buyers market – unless you find something super niche – but most sellers have a decent idea of what is a fair price and what isn’t, and no one likes being insulted.
Bottom line here, is be reasonable.
Tips for Sellers
If you’re on the other side of the deal, I have tips for you too!
- Overprice your item. Buyers are going to make offers, so set the price a little above what you actually want for it and allow yourself to be ‘negotiated down’ to the price you wanted in the first place 😈
- Always counter an offer. For some reason, countered offers tend to lead to sales whereas accepting the first offer often leads nowhere. I’m not the only one who finds this to be true.
- Ignore low ballers and penny pinchers. There are 16 million UK Vinted users, you don’t need JayneFlower123’s £2.50 that bad.
- Reply quickly. Buyers are spoilt for choice on Vinted, and will move on fast. So if you want the sale, don’t dawdle.
- Ignore ‘favourites’. Sometimes sellers send messages to people who have ‘favourited’ their items, but in my experience this has never led to a sale.
For sellers, it really boils down to ignoring time wasters, pricing strategically, and acting fast when someone with genuine interest comes along.