Vinted Review: Is Selling on Vinted a Good Way to Make Money?

Vinted is a selling app that was originally founded in Lithuania. It has since expanded to 16 countries, including the US, and has a user base of 75 million people worldwide.

Unlike online consignment shops like Decluttr, Vinted is an open marketplace where sellers advertise their goods directly to customers. It’s a bit like eBay, although it’s much smaller and more narrowly focused on secondhand clothing and fashion accessories.

Placing a listing on Vinted is simple: after you download the app and create an account, you just take a picture of the items you’d like to sell, set a price, and you’re all set.

Buyers can either buy items directly for the listed price or make a counteroffer. If their offer is too low, you can reject it and wait for a better one.

Shipping and receiving payment

When someone purchases an item, you have 5 days to ship it. The buyer pays for shipping, so all you have to do is download and print out a prepaid shipping label, then send the item on its way.

You’ll have a variety of different postal carriers to choose from. It probably goes without saying that you should pick one with a drop-off location that’s convenient for you. You can turn off ones you don’t want by going into the Settings > Postage menu in the app.

Once the buyer receives their item, they have 2 days to confirm that they’re satisfied with it. Assuming they do, the app will process their payment and send the money to your Vinted Wallet (more on that below).

Marketing your items on Vinted with Item Bump and Closet Spotlight

Vinted offers two paid features that let sellers increase their items’ visibility, shown in the table below.

They work by boosting the items’ placement in customers’ feeds and search results. They also prioritize customers who the app’s algorithm has determined are likely to be interested (based on factors like their preferred brands, clothing types, sizes, and so on).

Vinted’s Paid Marketing Features

If you purchase an Item Bump or Closet Spotlight, you’ll receive weekly updates that show the number of people who looked at and interacted with your item over time. That way, you can measure the increase in attention you gained.

Notably, when you purchase an Item Bump, you cannot raise the price of that item, only lower it. Consider your price carefully before bumping your item.

Vinted is primarily an app for selling secondhand clothes. That’s what the platform is most associated with and what most customers on the site are looking for. However, you can use it to sell many other types of goods, listed below.

Items that Vinted accepts

You can sell all of the following on Vinted:

• Clothing
• Shoes
• Bags
• Accessories (belts, gloves, handkerchiefs, sunglasses, etc.)
• Beauty products
• Textiles (blankets, linen, etc.)
• Home accessories and decor (clocks, picture frames, mirrors, etc.)
• Tableware
• Holiday decor
• Video game consoles
• Games and puzzles
• Media (e.g., CDs, DVDs, etc.)
• Books
• Pet care items (clothing, collars, leashes, litter boxes, habitats for reptiles, etc.)

Items that you can’t sell on Vinted

Vinted does not accept any of the following items:

• Food or beverages
• Medication or medical devices (including UV beauty lamps, sleeping aid devices, thermometers, etc.)
• Tobacco products
• Musical instruments
• Sports equipment
• Garden tools and equipment
• Worn underwear
• Cosmetics that have already been used or are not in their original packaging
• Sanitary products
• Used jewelry
• Currency or items related to currency reproduction
• Firearms and weapons

Vinted additionally states that they do not accept counterfeit, stolen, or illegal items, anything that infringes on intellectual property rights (e.g., bootlegged media), or “items that promote violence,” although it’s not entirely clear what falls into this category.

In general, if you use the app to sell normal, everyday goods, you’ll almost certainly be fine and won’t run afoul of any of their restrictions.

Your earnings on Vinted will entirely depend on what items you have on hand (and are willing to sell).

The more pieces you have and the more expensive they are, the more money you’ll make. It’s up to you how you price them—do some research into their usual resale value and charge accordingly.

With all of that said, most sellers seem to use Vinted to get rid of low-value items, with most orders totaling under $20. We’ll elaborate on this near the bottom of this review.

Will Vinted take a cut of your profits?

No, Vinted won’t take a cut of your profits as a commission. They do charge “buyer protection fees” that range from 3% to 8%, but these are paid by buyers, not sellers, as their name suggests. The price you set and agree on with your buyers is what you’ll actually get paid.

Payment options on Vinted

While buyers on Vinted have four different payment options (credit or debit card, Google Pay, Apple Pay, and Vinted Wallet), as a seller, you’ll always be paid via direct deposit to your bank account.

Vinted’s payment process features an intermediary step. Once a buyer confirms that an order has been completed, the money will be transferred to your account balance, called your “Vinted Wallet.” Once it lands in your account, you can withdraw it to your actual bank account.

Transfers from Vinted Wallet to your bank account can take up to five business days. Currently, there is no option to receive an instant transfer.

Signing up for Vinted is simple. Whether you’re a seller or a buyer, you have the same options. You can sign in by:

• Linking your Apple, Facebook, or Google account
• Creating a separate account with your email

The process is straightforward and takes less than 5 minutes to complete.

After you create your account, add a profile picture and write something about yourself in your “About you” section. Filling this out will help buyers get to know you, making them more likely to buy something from you.

As an extra layer of security for buyers, you can verify your account through Google or Facebook. Users see this information when browsing your profile, and it will put their mind at ease when considering whether or not to purchase your products.

Does Vinted have requirements for sellers?

Vinted doesn’t list seller requirements on their website. However, you almost certainly have to be at least 18 years old to sell your goods on their platform.

Additionally, you must be able and willing to package your products and drop them off at a shipping location.

Where to download Vinted

You can download Vinted using the buttons below.

App Store Google Play

Note that it’s also possible to sell via Vinted’s website, if you’d rather use your computer than their mobile app.

While selling on Vinted is relatively straightforward, there are tricks you can use to sell products more quickly. Take a look at some of our recommendations below:

Take high-quality photos

When selling used clothing or other items on Vinted, it’s important to take clear photos that bring out the best in the products. Pay attention to:

• Composition: Your item should be front and center in each picture, with no distractions. Take pictures from different angles and show the tags (if the item still has them) and anything else that shows its brand.
• Background: Backgrounds should be muted and calm to draw attention to the items. If possible, use the same background for all of your photos.
• Lighting: Needless to say, your items should be clearly lighted so that buyers can see them. If possible, use warm-tinted lighting, which can be more flattering. You can also achieve this with editing.

You don’t need to have a professional studio setup (although if you happen to have one, that’s a plus!)—it’s possible to take great-looking photos with a smartphone. Just pay attention to how you’re setting up your shots so that you’re making your wares look as good as you reasonably can.

Describe your products accurately

Make sure to describe your products accurately and with relevant keywords. If your description is misleading, people will have trouble finding your listing. Similarly, if the product your buyer receives doesn’t match their expectations, they might not confirm the order (meaning you won’t get paid).

For the same reason, it’s best to be realistic about your product’s condition. If it has a little wear and tear, highlight that instead of hiding it (and if it’s extremely worn, it may be best to donate or recycle it instead of selling it at all).

Check similar listings from experienced sellers to see which words they use. Learn from their strategies so that your products come up higher in search results.

Post new items consistently

If you have a large collection to sell on Vinted, it’s best to post new items on a consistent basis. Reportedly, refreshing your store with new items will give you a boost with the app’s algorithm and keep people coming back to your page.

Set an appropriate price point

What counts as “appropriate” for you depends on your goals. Are you trying to make the most profit possible on a certain item, or do you just want it off your hands?

Take a look at the price points for similar products and use that information to determine how to set your own. High-end designer garments sell for a lot more than typical department store offerings on the secondhand market, so research is key here.

Offer bundle deals

Vinted allows you to bundle multiple items together as a set—a great option if you have a closet stuffed full of things you’re desperate to get rid of. You can incentivize buyers to spring for your bundle deals by pricing them more favorably than your individual items, essentially giving them a discount.

All in all, Vinted is a decent selling app, although what you’ll get out of it is determined by what you put in. The app’s interface is simple and user-friendly, and there’s no “catch” (it won’t jerk you around with hidden fees). It doesn’t provide a way to get rich, but it performs well enough for what it is.

What real users say

To gauge the overall sentiment toward Vinted in the online selling community, we’ve collected a variety of reviews from experienced users of the app (sourced from online message boards like Reddit). Here’s a representative selection:

Selling on Vinted is easy, but you have to watch out for scammers

In one Reddit thread on the r/vinted community (which is independently run and not affiliated with the app), most commentators seem to agree: using Vinted is a cinch.

One writes that “it’s really easy to sell on Vinted,” and characterizes the selling process as simple and intuitive.

However, several users caution that the app does have its share of “scammers.” Vinted is a legit app, and it’s largely safe to use, but scams are a risk on any selling platform. You may occasionally run into buyers who fraudulently claim that your item wasn’t as described or simply that it never arrived and request a refund. Vinted has a dispute process for situations like that, but some sellers claim that they typically side with buyers.

To prevent this, several commentators recommend using Vinted to get rid of cheap goods in bulk, but selling particularly expensive pieces (e.g., designer items in good condition) on other platforms, such as eBay.

Vinted is a convenient place to sell large volumes of unwanted clothes

In another Reddit thread, several Vinted users question the prevalence of scams on the platform. They acknowledge that they exist, but note that people are more likely to post when things go badly than when they go well, which can make it easy to overestimate how common they are.

One person comments that you “will only see … people complaining when things go wrong, but most transactions are smooth.”

The other users in the thread generally corroborate this, pointing out that if you mainly sell cheap items you’d have otherwise donated to charity, it’s relatively unlikely that anyone will bother to scam you, and you have relatively little to lose anyway.

Vinted’s rules can be complex and hard to navigate

As mentioned, Vinted prohibits people from “reselling” (i.e., buying items specifically for resale on their platform). They also have broader restrictions on the classes of items you can sell than general-purpose marketplaces like eBay (e.g., by not allowing sports equipment).

In the second thread we linked, several users complain that navigating all of this can be surprisingly difficult. One writes that “Vinted is a bit complex in terms of rules,” which “you have to get a feel for.”

Another says that they “had a really crappy time” selling on Vinted, and that (in addition to having trouble accessing the money they made), Vinted sometimes removed their listings or threatened to ban their account “for no reason.”

However, the majority of users report no issues, and claim to have used Vinted successfully (largely for low-value transactions).

The upshot: it’s worth using Vinted to declutter your closet, but keep your expectations realistic

It’s important to take posts on message boards and review sites with a grain of salt—it can be hard to tell if people are representing their experience accurately—but the overall picture of Vinted is fairly clear.

The platform isn’t perfect, and you have to keep your wits about you, but by and large, it performs as advertised. You won’t get rich as a Vinted seller, and it isn’t necessarily the best place to sell your most expensive pieces, but if you have a ton of clothes lying around and you’re hoping to turn them into quick cash, this app is a decent bet.