A Comprehensive Guide to Shopping on Vinted

Raeann Lim

My life and shopping habits changed immensely after discovering Vinted. The resale app boasts a galore of amazing vintage finds, without ridiculous price tags as opposed to competitors like Depop. However, because Vinted does not have an interface that sorts by aesthetics, it can be daunting for a new user to sift through. Almost every time I mention Vinted to someone, they exasperatedly say: “I can never find anything good on there!”, to which I say, here are my tips.

Keywords, and the importance of understanding what you want.

Vinted requires an additional amount of effort compared to apps like Depop because of the latter’s conscious approach to -core aesthetics, flooding the internet at any given moment. This is why specific keywords are important on Vinted - searching trendy buzzwords like “vintage”, “coquette” or “y2k” as standalone terms are unlikely to yield the cheapest or best finds. Instead, think carefully about what you want and how you would describe it to someone who does not use the internet. For example, to get results for a cardigan like this from Urban Outfitters: I typed in “crochet mesh cardigan”, refraining from using terms like “fairy” or “y2k”, which would have summoned the ruthless vintage sellers attempting to sell me more expensive products instead of regular folk just doing a closet cleanout. Here are the first few listings I saw:

If your first search does not return anything you like, change up some words! “Knit mesh tie front top” or “Knit lace cardigan” are also search terms that will give similar results. It's all about having a vision and being as descriptive as possible.

Saving brands you like 

 Whenever you find items you like, ALWAYS take note of the brand it is listed under. Save this brand by clicking on it and hitting “Follow”, and scroll through listings under that brand for similar pieces. This also helps Vinted understand what you like, and increases the chances of similar pieces showing up in your home page. Here are some great brands to search for:

Denim: Uniqlo, Weekday, Miss Sixty, Levi’s, Gap, Old Navy, Topshop, DKNY, Denim Co, French Connection Leather jackets: Helium, Cuir, Vera Pelle, Oakwood, Blue Deep, Gipsy, Mauritius, Danier, Arturo 

Dressy tops/vests/camis/dresses/skirts: Aftershock, Jasper Conran, Monsoon, Jigsaw, St Michael, Quiz, Etam, MNG, Per Una, Morgan, Specchio, French Connection, DKNY, Principles, Sisley, AllSaints, Dixie, Next, Papaya, Precis Petite, Karen Millen, Jane Norman Boots: Faith, Nine West, Moda In Pelle, Bronx, Dune, Jones, Hobbs, River Island, Kurt Geiger, Ravel Kitten 

Heels/Mules: Roland Cartier, Contra, Dune, Aldo, Nine West, Dolcis, Jacques Vert, French Connection, Faith, LK Benett, Farfalla 

Bags: Dolcis, BHS, Coach, Borse In Pelle, Osprey London, AllSaints, Francesco Biasia, Luca Bocelli, Abro, Gianni Conti

“Recommended for you” 

 This is a section on your Vinted homepage that becomes more and more tailored to your tastes as you follow brands, and like sellers listings. Make sure to check it on a daily basis!

Making offers 

 You can request a price reduction up to 5 times a day for each item, use this wisely! You can make offers on any item and most sellers are willing to accept reasonable asks so you might as well try.

Spotting “fake” vintage items 

 When searching for extremely trendy items, like football baby tees and ruffle dresses, or “that” dreamy lace top that you have seen on Pinterest far too many times while curating a coquette moodboard, always do a reverse image search of the item in the listing. This is because many “vintage sellers” on Vinted get “dupe” items off fast fashion sites like Shein and Aliexpress to pass them off as vintage. How else can a seller make their money? Here is an example of such a listing, and the results from a reverse image search on Aliexpress:

If you do not want to bother with the reverse image search, it is also useful to ask yourself these questions: Does the seller list the item under a legitimate brand? As most of these items are from Aliexpress, there is often no tag and sellers list them under pseudo-brands such as “Vintage”, “Y2K”, “Coquette”, and “Fairy” (this is because Vinted requires sellers to declare the brand of every item in a listing). If in doubt, ask the seller for a tag, or a brand Does the seller have a suspiciously large arsenal of trendy clothing at their disposal? These items come from Aliexpress at a price less than a coffee from Spoiled Life, so sellers usually buy in bulk to resell to those who don’t know any better. If a seller has too many y2k baby tees and trendy tops, that’s definitely a red flag.

Avoid getting scammed 

Vinted customer support is efficient and has always refunded me in cases where the seller never posts the item or when the item is faulty, but to be even safer, try to avoid sellers that have no reviews. Be wary of listings that look too much like stock images (again, reverse image search when in doubt), and of sellers that have too many listings but no reviews. These usually manifest as bots that try to scam users by posting 30 listings of a Ralph Lauren teddy jumper for £50, hoping that someone takes the bait. I hope this article showcased the unbridled potential of Vinted as a tool to elevate your current wardrobe, or to reinvent yourself every semester. 

There are so many bargains waiting to be discovered and brought into a new and loving home - and if you are smart with your purchases, these items are usually unique, made of fantastic quality, and much cheaper than buying first hand from high street retailers. Happy (sustainable) shopping!