Want to find the garment of your dreams at a low price? Vinted is the platform for selling second-hand products, whether for men, women, children, or even the home!
Very well known in France and Europe, Vinted is one of the most popular second-hand sales platforms, to the point of overshadowing Leboncoin and Cdiscount. Created in 2008 in Lithuania and arrived in France in 2013, it was originally a website to sell, buy and exchange clothes between individuals. Since then, the platform has expanded to ten European countries and expanded its business sector. You can therefore buy clothes, shoes and accessories for women, men and children, but also products for animals, toys, beauty products, small furniture, decoration, books and high-tech products. . Accessible free of charge via the online service or the Android and iOS application, you can freely view second-hand products on the platform, but you must create an account to be able to sell and buy.
A real small market
Vinted is like a thrift store, you have to dig around to find little nuggets. The home page offers a kind of news feed with the latest products put online that correspond to your previous searches, and highlights the most popular ones, or dressing rooms likely to hold your attention. Then, a series of tabs allow you to navigate through the different categories: women, men, children, home, entertainment and animals. But the most practical, for a precise search, is to enter your request in the search bar, and then to use the filters made available to find the article of your dreams: brand, color, material, category, size, condition… Each product offered for sale has a file, with photos – up to 20 – and a short description. You can bookmark your favorite items to find them later and subscribe to the seller to follow their next sales. If, after a glance, the object does not correspond to all your criteria, you can look among similar articles, but also among articles from the same seller. Besides, buying a set of several items can save money. You will also find an instant messaging service to communicate with the seller in order to obtain more information or to negotiate the price. Once you have made your choice, all you have to do is choose your delivery method – Mondial Relay, Colissimo, Relais Colis, UPS… – and pay for your item. Delivery costs are added as well as insurance costs for sellers.
On the sellers’ side, all you have to do is enter the product information and post a few photos to create your ad in two or three clicks. Once the item has been sold, all you have to do is print the packing slip and stick it on the package packaging. Once it has been received, the money is automatically paid into your virtual wallet or your bank account, depending on your preference. Regarding prices, Vinted suggests them based on the brand and condition of the item, but you can adjust them as you see fit. For each sale and purchase, the platform invites you to rate the transaction. Note that there is a Vinted Pro version for people specializing in the second-hand trade.
If, at first sight, Vinted makes it possible to avoid waste and gives a second life to objects and clothes – an ecological aim – the platform is the target of criticism concerning the reverse side of the coin of such a principle. Indeed, there are many products from fast fashion, such as Shein to name just one – which sells low quality items made in China at low prices, with all that this implies in terms of pollution and of human rights – which encourages some consumers to buy more and more, even if it means reselling new or little-worn products afterwards – because it should be remembered that sending by parcel, like any consumption, nevertheless has a significant impact on emissions. of CO2. In the end, you have to know how to maintain a certain balance in the use of the platform.
