For the past 3/4 years, I have been using the app Depop to sell my old clothing items and any other unwanted items I have lingering around in my wardrobe. At the start I did love Depop and have sold a whole lot of my clothes on there, however, I do feel over the years it has turned much more into a profiting game with people buying just to resell double the price, as well as a lot of people creating their own stores on the app. This is great, but it also takes away from the reseller usability of the app, I was finding I had stuff listed for months and still was getting no interest even at all-time low prices. Another thing about Depop which is a little bit of a turn-off for me is their seller fees, they take a 10% cut of every item sold on their platform, which makes selling anything under £5 pretty pointless.
Due to all these downsides to Depop, I decided I would give Vinted a go, as I had seen many different advertisements all over the TV about it, and I genuinely am so glad I did.
So what is Vinted?
Vinted is great, it is an online selling platform where you can resell all of your old clothing items, home decorations, makeup- and almost anything else you can imagine. Vinted have stringent guidelines, which makes the user experience so much more enjoyable. For example, on Depop, when listing items people frequently will write a whole load of keywords at the end of the description which most of the time have nothing to do with the item, meaning it will come up in several different people's searches. On the other hand, Vinted does not allow this, and any items uploaded with wrong or misleading descriptions will be hidden or deleted immediately. Vinted also does not take any seller fees, which means if you sell something for £40, you get £40, which is incredible.
Why you should download Vinted and start selling today
It's Light And Easy To Navigate
By light, I mean using Vinted is super easy to do- I believe anybody could figure out how to work it. The app is so easy to navigate, and when uploading items all you have to do is fill in the question boxes with simple questions such as the size and colour of your item.
It Feels Right
The fashion industry is the second largest polluter in the world, just after the oil industry. Our fashion consumption causes greenhouse gas emissions, soil degradation, rainforest destruction, freshwater and ocean contamination, excessive water consumption, textile waste in landfills, and heavy use of chemicals (non-exhaustive list).
People are addicted to shopping, and fast fashion is forcing itself upon shoppers all over the world, influencing short-term decisions, that have very long-term consequences. I must admit, I myself am definitely not an angel when it comes to shopping myself- I love a bargain from fast fashion brands such as PLT, SHEIN, and Boohoo, and no I don't think twice before purchasing myself that seamless Primark underwear set in every colour possible. But one thing I can say is ever since I downloaded Vinted, before looking on all these fast fashion websites for a specific outfit I have been wanting, I always check vinted first to see if anyone is selling anything similar first. Not only are you getting the same item but at a way lower price, but you are also helping with the decline of the fast fashion industry and reusing old clothes which would otherwise be dumped in a landfill.
It may not sound like a lot, but if everyone in the world did this before checking their fast fashion favourites, it would create a huge impact.
It's A Side Hustle
I do see Vinted as sort of a 'side hussle' alongside my current full-time job. Don't get me wrong, Vinted can be time-consuming, especially if you are selling a whole lot of your old clothes- you need to package and post your items. I don't know how many times I have headed to the post office to post a parcel, then got home and had a notification something else has sold. That's the beauty of reselling.
The amount of money you can make on Vinted is crazy. I have had the app a good few months now, and have made over £200. I love the app so much, I actually got my boyfriend to clear out his wardrobe so I could list all his old items to make him some extra cash before Christmas. After being hesitant about how well men's clothes would sell on a female-dominated app, I was utterly shocked. After listing about 70 items, in one day, most of these sold. My boyfriend made £278 in one night from his old clothing which would have otherwise just been thrown into the loft to collect dust for another few years. That's how easy it really is to make yourself an extra bit of money on the side with Vinted! Needless to say, my boyfriend is also now addicted.
It Feels Personal And Real
One thing I love about reselling on Vinted is how personal and one-to-one it feels. When you buy from a big fast fashion store, it's almost as if you have no idea where your money is going or who it is going to, other than creating more landfill and waste.
When you buy from someone on Vinted, you are supporting a person. A person who may ned that extra £5 to pay their bills, feed their children, or even put towards their dreams. When you see it this way, it feels so much better buying clothing on Vinted. There is something deeply authentic, human, and intimate about sharing clothes. It’s an act of female bonding.
It's also the small things that count. I have had lots of parcels come to me with items that I have purchased and alongside them, there are some cute little freebies such as sweets, alongside a thank you note- which always makes me smile.
I have also had messages from people haggling my items down to see how cheap they can get, and although it is down to personal discretion whether you go down in price or not, the reasoning behind it always resonates with me. I had someone just a few days ago asking if they could get hair extensions I was selling for £20 down to £10, and at first, I hesitated as they are brand new in packaging. The message from the woman read that they were for her daughter as she was attending a party at the weekend and wanted to look pretty, and she only had a £10 pocket money allowance a week. I immediately sold her the extensions, I just love how personal reselling is and everything it stands for.
Call me cheesy, but this sort of stuff is heart-warming to me, especially these days. And I promise you, it feels genuine and real to wear a dress from a woman with an actual name, who sent it to me from Holland, in a package with some Easter eggs and a hand-written enjoy-the-dress note:)
Don’t be mistaken though: this is not a tribute to Vinted. In fact, should they start losing track of their original spirit, trust me, I’ll be the first to abandon ship and take my lovely wardrobe elsewhere, just as I did with Depop.
So there we go! That is my take on reasons why you should download Vinted and start selling today. Surely some extra cash, a cleared-out wardrobe and supporting other people in need is a good enough reason to start?
Stay tuned for some other Vinted posts in the upcoming future, as I am wanting to tap into Vinted clothing hacks which will be a big help in boosting your earnings on the app.
Visit my Vinted store here: laurenrhicard - member profile - Vinted