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I've used Vinted for years: here are my 11 tips for buying and selling
What I’ve learned about pricing items to sell, timing listings and getting a bargain
I’ve been using Vinted for a while now, but moving house this year gave me the push to finally deal with the drawers of clothes I’d been ignoring. Since October, I’ve listed about 15 items and made more than £100.
I’m not the only one turning unwanted things into extra cash. Research from Royal Mail, based on a poll of 1,000 people with an online side hustle, found they make an average of £452 a month, or around £5,420 a year. Among those selling online, old clothing is the most common item sold, followed by books, accessories and tech.
Vinted is where I sell most of my unwanted items, and after years of using it, I’ve learned the small tweaks that turn an ordinary listing into one that sells. Here are my 11 tips for selling and buying.
How does Vinted compare with Depop and eBay?
The platforms may differ in style, but many of the tricks that work on Vinted will work across other resale apps. The table shows how the main platforms compare on fees and features.
| Platform | What sellers pay | What buyers pay |
|---|---|---|
| Depop | No fee for UK sellers, although payment processing fees apply | No buyer fee |
| eBay | List up to 300 items for free each month; after that, you'll pay 35p per listing | No buyer fee |
| Vinted | No fee for UK sellers | Buyer Protection fee covers support, secure payments and compensation for issues. This is a small fixed amount plus a percentage of the item value |
Correct as of 5/12/2025
- Find out more: best and worst places to shop second hand online
1. Show your items at their best
Good listings start with good photos. Vinted’s feed is entirely image-led, so clear pictures give you instant visibility.
I take all my photos in natural daylight, and I use a plain background where I can. Structured pieces such as dresses and trousers look better on a hanger, while items like cardigans can be folded neatly, and I'll use a steamer to get out any bad creases.
Once I’ve taken the images, I crop them into a square style on my phone. Vinted uses a square feed, so by doing this, it prevents the app from cutting off the bottom of clothes.
2. Speed up your listings
Descriptions can be slow to write, and something I put off the most.
eBay now has an AI tool that can generate a full title, description and category from a single photo. Vinted doesn’t offer this, so you can use an alternative such as Chat GPT or Gemini.
To do this, I'll take photos of the label, which includes the fabric composition, and ask for a short heading and a couple of sentences.
AI isn’t perfect, so I always read it back before posting. Details can get muddled if I’ve been photographing similar pieces, and only I can add what buyers care about, such as how often I’ve worn it, whether it fits large or small and any small flaws.
3. Research prices before you list
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that buyers will usually pay far less than you think an item is worth. Although it's still better than what I made at my recent car boot sale (where I was haggled into selling coats for a couple of quid).
You can’t see sold prices on Vinted, so the best way to set a realistic amount is to look at what similar items are listed for. If I see someone listing the same item I'm trying to sell, I'll give their listing a like – this means I'll get a notification when it sells.
For example, when I sold a coat that had become too small, I’d already bought the same one in a larger size. I priced the old one at the same amount I’d just paid for the new one, and because it matched similar listings on Vinted, it picked up likes straight away and sold within a few days.
If someone has liked an item, I sometimes send a small offer. It can be enough to nudge a buyer without permanently lowering your price.
4. Time your listings right
Listing regularly makes a real difference on Vinted. I take all my photos in one go, but I upload little and often to keep my listings appearing in more feeds.
Payday and weekends are a good time of the month to list.
After around three to four weeks, I might boost a listing or rethink the price. A 'Boost' on Vinted is a paid tool that boosts your item for a set period, increasing how often people see it. The fee varies depending on your item’s price and how long you choose to boost it for.
But a boost isn’t always worth the cost. I recently paid £1 to boost a coat I was selling. My views jumped from around 20 to more than 100, but I still didn’t get any sales or offers.
5. Expand your shipping options
I try to offer as many shipping options as I can, especially as some services don’t operate everywhere. For example, InPost isn’t available in Northern Ireland.
If you’re struggling without a printer, it’s worth joining your local library. Mine charges 10p for black and white printing, which means I can print labels when I need to without buying any equipment – and borrow some books at the same time!
As a buyer, it’s often cheaper to ship to a pick-up point rather than choose home delivery. Luckily for me, my local InPost lockers sit right outside Aldi, so I collect my parcels before my weekly shop and usually save around 30p each time. It’s a small difference, but I find it can really add up.
- Find out more: Missing and late deliveries: what are your rights?
6. Save on packaging costs
I never buy packaging for Vinted. I keep the envelopes, boxes and padding from my own online orders and reuse the lot. It keeps costs down, and buyers don’t mind as long as the item arrives safely. Just remember to cross off your name and address first.
I’ve also received some very creative packaging myself. Recently, I received a small jewellery box that arrived inside an empty tissue box padded out with kitchen roll.
Make sure you label what you've sent so you don't mix up your parcels. I recently had the mortifying task of telling a buyer that, instead of the Nike vest top she ordered, I'd accidentally sent her a Tottenham Hotspur Santa hat meant for someone else.
7. Move your balance into savings
I never leave money sitting in my Vinted wallet. I withdraw each sale straight into a separate savings pot. Keeping my Vinted earnings separate from my main balance stops me from spending without thinking and helps build the sales into something useful.
If I want to be able to dip into the money whenever I need to, I keep it in an easy-access savings account. If it’s cash I know I won’t need for a while, I put it into a fixed-term account, which usually pays a higher rate.
- Find out more: best savings rates 2025
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Compare and choose8. Look in shops but find deals on Vinted
I buy on Vinted as much as I sell, and some of my best finds are pieces still on sale at full price.
If I’m out and like the look of something, I’ll take a photo and search for it on Vinted by the brand name. If the item is still on sale, the condition is often listed as 'new with tags' or new without tags', which helps narrow it down quickly, as you can set these filters on the app.
If I see the item listed but not in my size, I’ll still give it a like, as often another one will appear in my feed later.
I recently picked up an Oliver Bonas sweatshirt for £20 (currently £50 in store) and a cardigan for £40 that’s still £75 new.
Just remember that you can't return an item on Vinted if it doesn't suit you like you would with a regular online purchase (unless it wasn't as described). But if you already know the brand and the fit, it’s a great way to save.
9. Let the algorithm get to know you
I try to like as much as possible (which does mean I end up browsing Vinted quite a few times a day), because the more you like, the more the algorithm serves up things you might be interested in.
10. Search for misspellings
Misspellings can also work in your favour. Lots of sellers accidentally spell brand names wrong, which means fewer people find the listing, and prices are often lower. Search for variations like ‘Addidas’ or ‘Northface’.
11. Put in reasonable offers
Always put in an offer before buying to see if you can get a small discount, but try to be realistic so you don't annoy the seller.
Do you need to pay tax on Vinted sales?
Ruby Flanagan, tax writer at Which? said: 'Most people selling on Vinted won’t need to think about tax – selling your own second-hand clothes is generally treated as disposing of personal possessions, not trading. But the rules change if you’re buying items specifically to resell or running something closer to a small business. In those cases, HMRC is more likely to view what you’re doing as trading, and you may need to pay tax on any profit.
'The key threshold to know is the £1,000 trading allowance. You can earn up to £1,000 a year from all your side hustles combined – not £1,000 per side hustle – without needing to register as self-employed. Go over that, and you’ll usually need to complete a self-assessment tax return unless you already filed one for another reason.
'Digital platforms such as Vinted and eBay must now report information on certain sellers to HMRC. Under rules introduced in 2024, the platforms will share data if a seller makes 30 or more sales and earns more than around £1,700 in a year. HMRC says this doesn’t change what taxpayers need to do, but it does make compliance easier to monitor.
'If you’re unsure where you stand, you can use HMRC’s free online checker on Gov.uk to see whether you need to tell HMRC about extra income.'
- Find out more: could your Christmas side hustle land you with a tax bill?
A previous version of this article said the average person makes £5,420 a year from selling online. This was incorrect. The figure refers to people with an online side hustle and is based on a survey of 1,000 people by Royal Mail. The article has been corrected.
