Vinted is growing, and for inexperienced internet users who do not know the digital world, it is necessary to mention that there are a lot of people who know a lot about how to cheat and do these scams. People who come from other sectors such as marketing, sales or bargaining who are back from this world and have no innocence.
I wanted to write this article to compile the most common Vinted scams that I have read on the Internet, although personally, except for one case that I warned Vinted without entering the game, I have not had any problems, either buying or selling. What happens is that I have not sold for some time, and Vinted is evolving, users are becoming more and more experts and the number of crooks who begin to know this app for selling second-hand clothes and begin to plan their Vinted scams. Wherever there is popularity and profit to be made, the crooks set their sights.
In this post I will talk to you about the objectives of Vinted Scams, how Vinted protects us from them, and the most common scams that have happened, as well as some tips on how to avoid them and what we can do about them.
What is the purpose of the Vinted Scams?
The Vinted Scams created by users completely external to the platform have two clear objectives:
- First objective of Vinted scams: to keep the product for resale.
- Second objective of Vinted scams: to keep the money and the product.
The aim of the crooks is to get something from you to profit themselves, so never devalue your products or take the necessary steps to guard against these Vinted Scams..
How does Vinted protect them from scams?
There are many people who have suffered from these scams, but in reality there are others who have not even noticed them or know of their existence and continue to interact with the platform as normal.
I really love Vinted and I hope it doesn't get a bad reputation, because the bad reputation comes from users outside the app, not from the Vinted team. These crooks are all over the internet, not just on this site.
The problem of Vinted is that it is an intermediary company selling second hand between individuals, this means that being an intermediary it cannot mediate one hundred percent between buyer and seller, as it puts the tools but individuals with their judgment and responsibility must bear their dangers if any.
Think that Vinted invests a lot of money to appear on TV so that users from different countries of the European Union use their application, we are talking about a lot of money to create an audience, if in exchange for this should regulate one by one as a judge the purchases and sales should charge more money for this work, so today has no commission, because only intermediates, but does not provide a full service to judge the purchase or sale.
But is it possible to complain?
Yes, you can complain. If an order arrives incorrectly, i.e. stained, broken, or in a size that is not the one promised in the description of the garment, they will rule in favour of the customer. But the seller, if the customer lies and says that the garment is wrong, there is little we can do if we have not recorded the packaging in detail.
It is easier to complain if you are a customer than if you are a seller, we must assume this and know it. (The customer is always right)
If they are right, the customer will get their money back and you will be left without your product. (Again, Vinted is an intermediary) In the end, if you decide to use the platform, you will have to play by their rules. But nothing else different from what happens in other applications such as Wallapop.
It is very difficult in any online shop to make rules that match all the casuistry, and even more when the number of customers is so high, that for each of them and their social interpretations of reality and intentions ocsuras (in the case of crooks) can occur, so the Scams on Vinted are impossible to stop and not because Vinted is the bad guy, if not because they are infinite options for regulation and no one would ever be happy.
If as a customer you are afraid of Vinted sellers, read here about customer protection of shipments.
I hope I'm explaining myself. If you have an online shop or were considering creating a marketplace with different sellers you would see how difficult it would be to create rules that would make everyone happy. Even Amazon itself lets its own third-party sellers be the ones who say how to do returns with customers, and it's a super big and well-known company!
I have worked for a company that sold on Amazon and there are complaints too - selling online is like life itself! We just have to protect ourselves and be smart about the potential dangers. We have to be vigilant.
Tips to avoid Vinted Scams
Let's take a look at some tips to avoid Vinted scams. If you apply these tips to your use of the app you are 95% guaranteed to have no problems in the future:
Don't go to another platform
The reason why there are scammers on Vinted is because Vinted works hard to have users who actively use their platform and this means that they have purchases and sales and can buy from you. So if you go to another platform where there are no scammers it is because there will not be many purchases and sales and it will not be of interest to anyone.
Don't trust anyone
The number one rule on the Internet, especially for non-technical users, is to be sceptical and not to trust everything. In this chaos, technical users of technologies have it easier as they are used to detecting what is and what is not reliable.
Always inform Vinted
Do not hesitate to ask Vinted any questions you may have and to report anything that you think is not optimal, no matter how small or unimportant you think it is that you have doubts about.
Beware of big packs
If someone asks you to make a very big pack for little money and is trying to get as many products as possible from you, be careful and if they don't convince you because they ask you too many questions, don't continue talking to that user or block them, it's up to you.
We are talking about the scams on Vinted, but if you need some tricks because you sell almost nothing then read here the Vinted tricks to sell more.
More scepticism about anonymity
Those users who do not show their photo or have very strange names should be the target of your low confidence in them. If they don't want to give their name and don't put their photo, there must be a reason!
Raise the price of your products
The higher the price of your products and the less you twist hands with your customers and don't be permissive, the more potential scammers you will eliminate.
Never talk outside of Vinted
There are users who ask you to process orders or talk outside of Vinted and this is just a tactic so that you can't complain if they do something to you. In fact, Vinted's rules urge us not to take people off the platform for this very reason: to protect ourselves.
Beware of users with no reviews or empty cabinets
Users with no reviews are those who have not bought or sold on Vinted and there are people who recommend being careful with them. Although in my case I have sold to people without reviews and nothing has happened, sometimes they are people who have not started using the APP or only use it as a first time buyer, often inexperienced, it does not mean that they can become crooks.
Record the handling of parcels
In order to prevent customers from saying that nothing has been sent to them, and the person who sent you the product that it was perfect when it was not: record how you pack and record how you open the order so that you can contact Vinted with this information if there is a problem and they can deliberate in your favour.
Most common Vinted scams
These are the Vinted Scams that you should be aware of as they are the most common. However, stay alert as more and more scam strategies are being created every day on the web in general:
Sellers who give you their number so that you can talk to them by Whatsapp: with the aim of taking you out of Vinted and being able to do whatever they want with your products as you will not be able to complain to Vinted.
Sellers who send you an empty package instead of the product: when you open this product, if you do not record it when you open the order, you will not be able to complain to Vinted. It is advisable to engrave it in order to make a claim and get your money back.
Sellers who send you a stained product: these sellers show a perfect product in their photographs and then send it to you so that the customer can see the real deplorable state of the product. Fortunately, this chaos can be easily reclaimed at Vinted.
Customers who complain about the product just to get their money back: Your customer may make a complaint about the item that doesn't really exist just to complain about the product and get their money back from Vinted. This is often more common than we think, rather than the more obvious scams.
Sellers with very expensive or luxury products at low prices: if someone is selling a branded product at very low prices such as 1 euro or similar, be suspicious, because you may be traded in for an imitation, with the photographs being taken from the Internet of the real product.
Return scams: there are sellers who ask their customers to return products at a higher price than they bought them for in order to keep the money.
Customers who wish to make a purchase outside the APP: these customers ask for the products to be sent to them via DHL, telling us that the customer will pay for it once it arrives at their location, i.e. cash on delivery, but the DHL shipping company does not make this type of shipment.
How to find out who's a scammer on Vinted
Before I give you my opinion on Vinted Scams I want to talk to you about how you can know who a Vinted scammer is, and quickly identify them to avoid a Vinted scam.:
- Users with strange names or with a lot of numbers.
- Users without a photograph.
- Users who ask a lot of questions.
- Users who sell luxury products at very low prices.
- Users with bad or disrespectful vocabulary.
- Users who talk to you repeatedly over time.
- Users with no items for sale.
If you are a customer, you need to know how to make returns on Vinted because they will help you protect yourself when you need it. Here I explain how to make Vinted returns.
My opinion on the Vinted Scams.
In my opinion I can tell you that I have not had any problems with Vinted in terms of scams. In my case I am a native Internet person as well as very sceptical by nature, I do not usually trust things, and I do not tend to give my trust, which is why perhaps I have been luckier not to suffer these scams.
But online sales are here to stay and we must all make an effort to denounce these cases, and day by day we must become smarter by working together to learn more about these problems, and to continue to enjoy exercising our freedom on the Internet.
If you liked this article you should know that I still have many more on Vinted where I like to talk about topics that help us all to discover the ins and outs of selling second hand clothes, and not to be afraid of any scam, see you in the next article!