I was late to the game when it came to Vinted. I signed up in June last year and listed some of my daughter’s old clothes. They didn’t sell and the pile of clothes sat in the corner of her bedroom gathering dust. Eventually someone offered me £1.50 for a massive bag of clothes and I ended up spending £2.70 on a postage bag big enough to fit them all.
It was not a good first experience and vowed to not bother trying again.
But for some reason I did try again.
I listed a pair of my son’s trainers that had barely been worn. I priced them too low and they sold in less than a minute. I learned a valuable lesson about pricing but I was hooked. I smugly drove to my local Evri drop-off thinking that was the easiest tenner I’d ever made.
I got home and then scurried around my house collecting items we no longer used. Cookery books, ornaments, shoes, coats, toys. I listed it all. If it hadn’t moved for a week, I listed it.
My Vinted balance went up and up (you can choose to withdraw your money or you can keep it there as your balance mounts up) but it wasn’t just the money that was motivating me, it was the satisfaction of decluttering my home.
I have three children and my home is constantly messy. I’m not a clean-freak (you can’t be with three kids!) but I do love it when my home feels neat and organised. I feel so much calmer when everything is in its place. I just always had too much stuff to keep it tidy!
Before I knew it, I’d made £180. I’d planned to keep it in my account but then a friend asked if I’d like to go to a health and wellbeing retreat. The cost? £180.
Well, well, well. You can see where this was going…
I was soon listing more with the intention of reaching enough to book a glamping break with the kids (£100). And then a flight to Lanzarote (£70). And then a hotel (£120). And then another spa (£90)!
Yes, within a few months I’d made over £500 on Vinted.
Now I know what you’re thinking. Who has enough crap around their house to sell it and make £500!?
I honestly didn’t think I had that much stuff either. The majority of the things I sold weren’t high value items. There were some items I got more than £20 for but it was mostly quantity over quality. I sold a lot of £2 items!
Travel Hack Tip: Keep an eye on the new ‘Side Hustle Tax’ for online sellers. If you’re earning more than £1,000 a year through a side hustle, you’ll need to declare it to HMRC and register as self-employed. For some people, it’ll be easiest to stop selling just before you reach the £1,000 threshold.
Here’s how I used Vinted to pay for my holidays!
1. Start by reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
If you aren’t feeling motivated to sell all your stuff then I highly recommend reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. There’s a Netflix series too!
Spoiler alert: The secret to tidying up is basically getting rid of 80% of your stuff!
I read this book years ago and I suddenly realised I had so much junk I didn’t need.
Once you’ve read the book, start watching documentaries like The Minimalists and then move on to YouTube videos about minimalism and decluttering.
Before you know it, you’ll have a massive pile of stuff you want to get rid of!
2. Uploading to the app
It’s really easy to upload items to the Vinted app and once you get into the swing of things you’ll be able to do it quickly.
I recommend taking photos in the app so you don’t end up with a camera roll full of random product items. It just makes the process quicker and easier too.
I like to post via Evri because I can then print the postage sticker at the drop-off station (my local petrol station) which is open long hours.
3. Take photos with good lighting and a plain background
Items will sell faster with a good photo but you don’t need to be a pro photographer!
Take your photos next to a window with natural lighting and make sure your background is clear, bright and uncluttered.
4. Use your phone to take photos
If you are a photographer and have a good camera, I actually recommend taking photos on your phone. People are suspicious if your photos are ‘too good’!
5. How to price items
You don’t need to pay postage fees (it’s charged directly to the buyer) and there are no selling fees on Vinted so you don’t need to factor these costs into the price.
Have a quick look to see how much similar items sold for before creating your listing. Vinted always recommends selling it for less so do your own research.
Price it a little higher because people will negotiate and try to knock you down.
Don’t forget that you can adjust the price at any time, so if you’ve priced it too high you can always bring it down after a day or two.
If it’s a little overpriced, people will ‘favourite’ the item but won’t actually buy. You can then reduce the price of all your listings on the same day and it’s likely they’ll all get snapped up and you can post everything together.
6. Price to sell
If you’re selling things on Vinted to declutter your home rather than to make money then you can price things really low and they’ll get snapped up so quickly!
I have times where I think ‘I just want rid of this now!’ and I’ll price it really low just to get it posted.
7. Clothes sell faster with a photo of a person wearing the item
In my experience, clothes sell faster if the first photo includes a person wearing the item.
It doesn’t have to be a great photo. Just a mirror selfie with your head chopped off will do!
If you’ve had a look on the app already then you’ll notice that most people photograph clothes laid out on the floor or hanging up against a blank wall. Yes, it shows the clothes but it’s difficult to imagine what the item looks like.
(I don’t do this with kid’s clothes, only my own.)
8. Steam or iron your clothes before uploading a photo
I also find clothes sell faster if you make a bit of effort to make them look good. If something is really creased then I’ll quickly steam it.
I use a steamer similar to this and it’s great. I love it for travelling and quickly getting rid of creases. I haven’t ironed since I bought it!
9. Don’t package things up BEFORE they sell
You might be thinking you’re getting ahead of yourself by packaging items up before they sell, so you’re all ready to post it quickly when it does sell.
Whenever I’ve done this I’ve found that people end up buying a bundle of items so I need to repackage it anyway!
10. Use post-it notes to label your packages
Let’s say you’ve sold 3 books, 2 jumpers and a pair of shoes and you’re packaging them up to sell. The parcels are all different shapes and sizes so you’re confident you know which is which.
And then you get to the post office three hours later and you have no idea which is which.
I either leave the parcel open and close it when I add the postage label at the drop off point or I add sticky notes to my parcels to remember which is which.
11. Bundle items that aren’t selling
If you’ve got similar items that aren’t selling, bundle them together into a cheap bundle and they get snapped up quickly.
I had some kid’s school trousers that weren’t selling. So I bundled them together with school shorts, PE shorts and PE joggers and they sold immediately.
12. Buy postage bags from Temu
I recommend keeping any boxes or postage bags you get when you buy anything online. But eventually you’re going to run out so buy your postage bags on Temu. I found Temu to be cheapest but be aware that it can take up to 10 days for Temu to deliver items so you’ll need to get prepared. You can buy them on Amazon too but they’re a bit more expensive.
13. Offer discounts for bundles
You can set up a discount for buyers to purchase multiple items. You choose the discount % for the amount of items bought.
I find this works really well for low value items, especially books.
14. Upload regularly
Items are often listed on Vinted by ‘What’s new’ so if you’re uploading every few days then you’ll always be near the top.
Buyers might see a book you’ve just uploaded and then go onto your profile and see more items you listed a week ago, so it’s worth uploading as often as you can.
15. List all books
I used to be the kind of person who had bookshelves filled with books. I was so proud of my books! But the books slowly became a nuisance, taking up valuable storage space and becoming another thing that needed dusting.
I prefer to read on my Kindle and I never read the same book twice so I decided it was time to get rid of my books.
I’ve now sold nearly all of my books, including coffee table books and cookery books, and I’ve made about £200 on books alone. OK, that’s a fraction of what I originally paid for them but it’s enough for a weekend away!
I’m now in the process of selling children’s books that my kids have outgrown but I’m finding these a really emotional one to let go off!
16. Ladies accessories sell well
Bags, shoes and jewellery sell really well and for a fairly high value in comparison to clothes.
17. Baby items also sell well
We all know how quickly babies grow out of things, so Vinted is a brilliant place to buy and sell baby items.
18. A steam cleaner is great to clean up trainers and shoes
I’m always surprised by the amount of people who list dirty shoes on Vinted! Just give them a quick scrub and you’ll get an extra tenner for them!
If you’ve put your shoes in the washing machine and they’re still a bit grubby, a steam cleaner is a great way to get rid of the final stains.
19. Don’t dismiss low value items
You may be thinking there isn’t much point selling things for £1. And you’d be right, there isn’t. By the time you’ve photographed it, uploaded it, packed it up and taken it to the shop or Post Office it really wasn’t worth your time.
But if you’ve got 10 x £1 items to post then it starts becoming a bit more worth it.
Again, you might be thinking it’s not worth it even for a tenner but it adds up quickly.
Like I said in the intro, the vast majority of my Vinted sales have been low value items.
20. You’ve got 5 days to post
Don’t forget you’ve got 5 days to post your items so you can wait a few days and post when you’ve got a big bundle. If you have to travel to your drop off point then this can make it more worth your time.
But don’t forget the buyer leaves feedback which stays on your profile and you’ll get better feedback if you post items quickly. I try to post within 3 days and my feedback is very good.
21. Reduce items by 50p on a Sunday evening
Sunday evenings are a big day for internet users, especially shoppers. This is often when I sell a big chunk of whatever I’m selling on Vinted.
Vinted users can ‘favourite’ items. Once they’ve favorited it they’ll get a notification if you drop the price. So drop the price of lots of items on a Sunday evening and you’ll notice people will snap them up because they’re already on their phone and see that notification.
22. You can sell used beauty items
This might be controversial but I’ve sold lots of opened beauty items. You have to select that they’re ‘new with tags’ but if you put it in the item description that it’s been opened and used then people will still buy them!
I recently sold all my nail varnishes, my dip nail colour pots, two electronic cleansing brushes, a facial steam cleaner and some essential oils which had all been opened.
I wouldn’t sell half a bottle of shampoo or anything like that but some people don’t mind a bottle of essential oil with a few drops missing!
23. Don’t forget to change your shipping method
When you buy something from Vinted you can select which delivery courier to use. You might want Yodel, Evri, Royal Mail, InPost or DPD and the buyer will select whichever is most convenient for them.
But don’t forget to select which is most convenient for you!
When I first started selling I didn’t realise I could adjust this because almost everyone selected Evri. But then someone selected Yodel and I had to spend 30 minutes driving to a Yodel delivery drop off point at a random petrol station miles away. I got lost, there was a massive queue and I had the kids with me and ended up spending more on sweets and chocolate than I’d earned through selling my item!
I now have my selling postage preferences set so I only post via Evri. I haven’t noticed any difference to my sales so I assume most people don’t mind.
24. Sell seasonal items during the right season
If you can hang on to items until the appropriate season then you’ll get more money for them. Try selling swimsuits in December and you’ll see what I mean!
25. Don’t buy sweets and chocolates when you post items!
You may have noticed that the postage counters are always next to a confectionary aisle! I got into a habit of buying sweets and chocolates each time I posted by bag or parcels…and then realised I was spending more on chocolate than I was earning.
If you’ve got kids, I highly recommend not taking them with you to post items.
26. Have a ‘selling goal’
When you’ve sold a few items on Vinted you’ll have a stash of cash in your Vinted account and it’s going to be very tempting to spend it! Try to avoid temptation and don’t splurge on that bargain pair of Doc Martens or those trainers you’ve wanted for ages (I’m talking to myself here. For the record, I bought both and regretted it!)
Have a goal in mind and keep the money in your Vinted account until you’ve reached that goal.
Realistically, if you earn £30 a week and you transfer the money into your bank account, you probably won’t notice that money coming in. But if you keep it there and wait until you’ve £300 and book a holiday, that’s going to make a big difference!
27. Don’t REclutter
If selling on Vinted has taught me one thing, it’s that I don’t need to buy all this clutter in the first place.
Most things sell for less than 10% of the original value so the best way to save money and avoid cluttering up your home is simply to not buy it in the first place!