Scams on Vinted to sellers and buyers - What are they? [2024]

In Vinted, as in all online buying and selling platforms, there are problems that are growing at the same time as its fame grows.

Vinted is not a dangerous APP, not more than any of the others, you just have to be aware of the existing scams to customers and sellers, since being an activity between individuals, both are in a position of vulnerability.

Types of Vinted scams sellers

It sounds strange that sellers can suffer scams since they are the ones who sell and not the ones who buy. In most online stores sellers have their own rules. But this is not the case with Vinted, where the platform gives the customer's reason almost 95% of the time.

This makes it very easy that if the customer is not in good faith, the seller can be scammed on Vinted in a quick and easy way.

Being so because Vinted is an intermediary and does not know what the seller or the client is doing, and when in doubt, the reason is given to the client.

Thus, the most common Vinted scams are the following:

• The customer wants you to sell the product outside of Vinted.

• The buyer stains the product and blames the seller by opening an incident.

• The buyer says that the size is wrong even though it is the one marked by the seller in the ad.

• The buyer asks you for the return shipping money, something that the customer must pay.

• The customer tells Vinted that the product is imitation to keep it after the payment is stopped.

Finally I will tell you that there is also another key point, which is not a scam, but it does piss off sellers a lot, and they are the users who buy from you and cancel at the last minute or when you are sending the package. It is not usually common and is usually due more to chance, but you must know it to know that this can happen.

A similar case is that the client asks you for continuous discounts, although this is day to day on the Vinted platform and it is not understood as an invalid action either, but it does piss off the sellers.

On the other hand, there is a situation that could be understood as a scam but not because it is the seller who would be to blame, and that is that the customer buys two products from two separate ads from the same seller, and the seller unintentionally sends the products together and just use one tag so the other product won't show up as shipped and you'll be left without the money. To solve this, the seller can send the other empty package with some padding and the label of the product that he did not send.

How to avoid being scammed on Vinted by a buyer

On Vinted sellers have a very hard time protecting themselves from bad buyers. Since his closet is open and anyone can buy. However, you must go by your intuition and if the client talks to you through chat and you see too many changes of opinion or make you suspect a comment, you can always block that client so that they do not buy from you.

Remember that you should never leave the platform to sell anything, and I do not advise you to sell in person to protect your integrity.

Detail the product well in the description, including defects and photos of them, add the size and the actual measurement of the garment and the measurement of the stretched garment so that the customer cannot tell you that you did not notify them.

Record when you are packing the product to have proof that you have wrapped it in good condition when it reaches the customer and prevent him from claiming that the product was stained or torn and that it is the seller's fault.

Save purchase receipts for your luxury products so you can tell Vinted that it's not an imitation when the customer wants to stop payment.

Types of Vinted scams to buyers

Buyers also suffer from scams on the Vinted platform, however, they always have the upper hand as Vinted advocates for the defense of the client:

• Dirty product, with stains or defects not indicated in the photograph.

• Imitation product sold as luxury items.

• Ask the customer to log out of the platform and process the sale outside of Vinted.

• The seller, in order to make a return, asks the customer to put the product on sale in his closet so that he can open a claim when the product arrives and keep the money.

• Ask the client to write to you by email.

How to avoid getting scammed on Vinted by a seller

The best thing you can do to avoid being scammed on Vinted is to never leave the platform when making your purchase. Do not use emails or phone numbers that sellers send you.

Open the package as soon as possible after receiving it, because if you don't, the purchase will end and the money will be transferred to the seller and you won't be able to claim.

Always record the unpacking of the order after receiving it by focusing on the order label before opening it with your mobile will serve as evidence in case you need to claim.

He checks the article thoroughly in case it has any defects and photographs the garment to have data on how it has arrived.

If it is a luxury product, check as soon as possible if it is real or not, since the sale of imitation items is very common in Vinted.

The best and most important thing is that you open an incident as soon as possible if you think the product is wrong, has a defect that the seller did not report.

You can continue reading more Vinted secrets in all the articles you will find on the blog.