From Closet To Cash: A Vinted Update

I’ve been using Vinted for around 18 months now, before then I tried selling clothes on both Depop and eBay and neither was particularly successful. But the past year and a half has brought relative success on the Vinted front so I thought it was about time I did a bit of a Vinted update.

Why I prefer to use Vinted

I break down a lot of my preferences for Vinted in my Vinted Vs Depop post. But generally I prefer the app because it sorts out all the postage for you. And you just get the money for the physical product, they sort the postage costs. When I used to use eBay I’d have to pay for postage myself and then take it out of the money I made at the end. This is why I don’t have Royal Mail as an option switched on, as I don’t want to have to worry about my own postage.

The fact that the postage tracks through the app as well makes it a lot easier to be a seller. Plus sellers not paying fee’s is a complete win, especially when you’re selling lower value items.

I am part of some Vinted groups on Facebook and see a lot of negativity from both buyers and sellers but I feel very thankful that I’ve not had an issues (yet).

The types of things I sell on Vinted

The main two things that I sell on Vinted are clothes and books.

I’ve bought a lot of clothes over the years, and both my size and style has changed a lot. So anything that doesn’t suit me or just doesn’t fit my style is sold. And when it comes to size I’ve ha  to be honest with myself with some clothing that I know I’ll never fit into.

Then books is the other big product type that I sell. Any books that I finish that I don’t love or want to keep as part of a series gets sold. Partially because I know I won’t re-read it or want to display it. But also because I don’t have the space to keep everything that I’ve read.

For anything higher value I do prefer to sell on eBay as I don’t feel like there’s as much protection with Vinted.

Vinted update- how much I’ve made

Over the 18 months that I have been using Vinted I’ve made around £1,200. Now none of this is technically profit as everything I have sold has been less than I paid. But for items that were just sitting in my house not getting use it’s pretty good.

I definitely find that the months where I’m uploading more I make more sales. So there were two months that were super quiet as I wasn’t uploading. But there will come a point where I’ve listed/ sold everything I want to. But hopefully I’ll be able to do another Vinted update in the future having made even more.

How I’ve made my money on Vinted

Steady uploads

When you upload regularly your items are more likely to come up on the front page of the app. So more people are going to see your item and then your whole wardrobe. So steadily uploading can keep you coming up on the front page. I find when I’ve uploaded a large number of items at once I’ll see a spike in sales, then it will dwindle. Whereas when I upload a few items a day it stays more consistent.

Plus Vinted do like to flag people that they think are ‘commercial sellers’. And because it’s done via some sort of algorithm it could flag a genuine person. When I first started uploading I had a week ban as they kept saying I was a commercial seller as I uploading too much too quickly. In actual fact I’d just done a clothing clear out and was mass uploading.

Good photos

I know when I’m buying items on Vinted I’ll rarely buy something where there’s just one photo. And even less so if it’s a bad quality photo. So as a seller I like to reflect on this. For clothes I take photos of the front, the back and the tag at a minimum. And for books I always take photos of the spine as well as the front of the book.

Good photos can help showcase the item, but also highlight the condition properly.

Competitive prices

I could probably have made more money on my items but realistically I just want to sell it. Buyers have to consider the buyer fees as well as postage so item totals come out higher. Sellers don’t see any of the fee or postage money but I like to consider it when I’m pricing up my items.

I’d rather upload something slightly cheaper and sell it in the first week than upload it higher and risk never selling it.

Putting items up slightly higher than I’d be happy to accept

Alongside being realistic with my prices I always upload very slightly higher than I’d actually accept. This is usually 10-20% of the price depending on the item. This means if someone sends an offer I can consider it and not just have to say an outright no.

A lot of people like to think they’re getting a good deal so even just a few pence off the advertised price can be a win.

Sending offers

When someone favourites an item of mine I will send an offer to them usually a day or so later. I know for some people this is a big no-no, but I find it works for me. It acts as a reminder of the item they favourited, but also a cheeky little discount.

I am against messaging anything else, so I won’t say anything around if they purchase when I can post etc. Then if the prospective buyer isn’t interested they can just ignore the offer.

Do you sell on Vinted? Do you have any tips?