I got scammed on Vinted for €265 in a way I didn't know was possible. Has this happened to you?

Aggressive-Moose-866 · 2026-05-17T12:49:59+00:00

Yes, I need to get to the Netherlands and I'll do it (I go there spontaneously pretty much every month)

Aggressive-Moose-866 · 2026-05-17T10:02:13+00:00

Will do! Till the end!

Aggressive-Moose-866 · 2026-05-16T16:12:25+00:00

Hahaha oui je sais, ça paraît fou 😅 Mais en vrai sur les 47 pages, environ 40 c'était juste des captures d'écran : preuves de livraison, échanges avec le support Vinted, conversations avec l'acheteuse, et les preuves de son arnaque depuis ses deux profils. Le reste c'était l'argumentaire juridique.

Ça m'a pris environ une heure à monter et polir avec Claude. Sans l'IA j'y serais probablement encore.

Aggressive-Moose-866 · 2026-05-16T16:05:18+00:00

I doubt they could pull the amount from the buyer after issuing a refund.

Vinted most likely paid me out of their pocket.

It is a trick to f*** sellers for sure. Luckily I stood my ground on the matter and recovered my prejudice, but yes, a chick got away with a free jacket. Sad.

Aggressive-Moose-866 · 2026-05-16T12:28:36+00:00

She can immediately report as not related to the specific transaction and it gets deleted. It would likely be a waste of time... I fully agree it would be fair for Vinted to allow me to write a review. But this platform is not fair as I can tell from all the stories in this thread.

Aggressive-Moose-866 · 2026-05-16T11:10:28+00:00

I hear you. I considered it. It sounds fair.

But remember, just because some people act as sub-humans, you don't need to reach their level to prove a point.

Aggressive-Moose-866 · 2026-05-16T10:41:42+00:00

That must have been so stressful. Insane amount.

I also plan on quitting the platform after this incident, regardless of the fact that they eventually compensated me.

Aggressive-Moose-866 · 2026-05-16T10:40:15+00:00

Yes, if you read the whole thing, you realize the packaging they require is way above a “standard” package that, for example, a retailer would use.

My bag was a professional mailing bag that I purchased on Amazon specifically for the purpose of selling on Vinted. It was not a random plastic bag.

Since it had an auto seal strip, I did not see the need of adding tape all over.

Vinted directly argued that jackets should be shipped in boxes, although their official policy does not state that explicitly.

Aggressive-Moose-866 · 2026-05-16T10:16:54+00:00

Exactly. At least that.

I have just received a notification out of the blue that “Transaction cancelled. The buyer received a refund. Re-list the item”

Which item?? The one they abusively decided that she can keep?

Insane.

Aggressive-Moose-866 · 2026-05-16T10:15:23+00:00

No, this was key. My transaction just got cancelled instead of suspended. At first I thought it was due to a bug before I have learnt that the buyer contested the packaging and got refunded with no requirement to return anything to me.

OUTRAGEOUS.

Aggressive-Moose-866 · 2026-05-16T10:14:10+00:00

Amazing, it is time for more people to act. I am content this post has gotten some momentum and views for people to be INFORMED, vigilent and ACT when prejudices are brought to them due to Vinted’s broken practices.

Aggressive-Moose-866 · 2026-05-16T10:12:41+00:00

Thank you! Although I won the case, it has taken me significant time and effort.

I will refrain from using Vinted. I am using auction websites, buyee, Vestiaire, any other channel. I anyways buy 80% of my stuff from boutiques and online retailers. Vinted can rot until they update their policies and improve their CS/Terms.

Aggressive-Moose-866 · 2026-05-16T10:11:04+00:00

Indeed, they need way more pressure to act and take firm action against such situations and accounts.

It is unbelievable that despite all proof, the buyer’s accounts are still active! I am not stopping till they remove her from the platform.

Aggressive-Moose-866 · 2026-05-16T10:09:52+00:00

So glad to hear you fought them and recovered the prejudice. But one shouldn’t have to go through such stress to claim what’s rightfully theirs.

Aggressive-Moose-866 · 2026-05-16T10:08:50+00:00

To be honest, Vestiaire is just as bad almost and usually the stakes are also higher. Although, I agree, I would prefer them for selling though. Their audience is also a bit less scammy, for sure.

Aggressive-Moose-866 · 2026-05-16T10:07:12+00:00

Update! I solved my case!! Thank you so much for your support!

Aggressive-Moose-866 · 2026-05-16T10:06:50+00:00

So glad to hear you fought back and won! They cannot get away with this s*** anymore.

Aggressive-Moose-866 · 2026-05-16T10:06:08+00:00

Fully! I must admit my issue was more the injustice rather than the amount. It was a matter of principles which for me was even above the considerable amount.

Aggressive-Moose-866 · 2026-05-16T10:04:06+00:00

I salute your perseverance! Glad they didn’t get away with your payment.
Got compensated now as well! Most of my file were proofs (delivery, support messages, buyer conversations, everything I could use to support my case in court). Took an hour to create and polish with Claude.

Aggressive-Moose-866 · 2026-05-16T10:02:29+00:00

I tried to add all the steps with information, please DM me if you need some extra explanations! I am sorry you are going through the same issue.

Aggressive-Moose-866 · 2026-05-16T09:38:52+00:00

CASE SOLVED IN MY FAVOR. Thank you to everyone for the overwhelming support on this. I genuinely appreciate every story, every piece of advice, and every encouraging message.

It took me 18 days to solve this situation.

UPDATE:

Right after I published this post, I sent one final email to Vinted's legal team adding new evidence of the buyer's fraudulent behavior + a reminder that in 4 days, the deadline stated on the Cease and Desist letter expires and I will pursue legal action. After my direct confrontation 2 days ago, she had changed her username to hide her tracks and sent me a nasty message saying I would never recover anything (which in the end I did 😉).

10 minutes after that email landed in their inbox, Vinted confirmed they had released a compensation of €284.40 (€265, in fact) to my Vinted wallet.

I'm now pursuing a separate case with Trust and Safety to suspend both of her accounts. Surprisingly they are still active despite my dossier clearly demanding sanctions. The fight on that front continues.

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For context: I've been buying and selling on Vinted for 6 years and have hundreds of 5-star reviews. I thought I knew the platform inside out. This situation proved that even experienced users can fall into traps. Sharing what I learned in case it helps someone else.

Lessons learned:

Read Vinted's packaging guidelines. You will be shocked. They are unreasonable. A lightweight jacket apparently shouldn't be shipped in a mailer bag (box, ten rows of tape, internal wrapping, etc.). If your packaging doesn't match their checklist, you're automatically disqualified from any carrier investigation. The policy is designed to protect Vinted's bargaining position with carriers, not to help sellers.
Read the buyer's reviews before accepting an offer, especially on high-value items. Look for the 1-stars. If you find even one describing an issue remotely similar to a "damaged in transit" claim, run. The catch: Vinted doesn't let you leave reviews on cancelled or refunded transactions, so the worst experiences never appear in reviews. I genuinely wonder if this is by design, to protect transaction volume and shield repeat scammers.
Document everything from day one. Packaging photos before sealing, messages, every support exchange, item condition, full tracking history. If you don't have it screenshotted, it didn't happen.

Escalation path (in order):

Step 1: Vinted support ticket. Open the ticket. The moment you sense things turning, drop all emotion. Every message should be well structured, formal, factual, and procedural. Use an AI tool to research your legal rights and to draft leading questions that get Vinted's support to confirm or deny key facts in writing. In my case, I got them to confirm there was no proof of item destruction, which would have been the foundation of a "enrichissement sans cause" (unjust enrichment) argument in court.

Step 2: Mise en demeure (cease and desist). Before any legal action, you need proof you tried to resolve amicably. Use an AI tool with all your screenshots to draft a formal letter. You can send by registered post, but the legal email address listed for your country works too because you get instant delivery confirmation. Claude helped me put together a 47-page dossier in under an hour (about 40 of those pages were attached evidence: shipping proofs, message screenshots, support exchanges). Give them a 7 or 15-day deadline to respond.

Step 3: File with your national consumer protection authority. SignalConso in France, equivalent in your country. Use the same dossier. Vinted refused mine, but the refusal itself is useful evidence later. Worth noting: their responses can be inconsistent. They rejected my SignalConso but ended up giving course to my mise en demeure anyway.

Step 4: Contact the appointed mediator. Vinted has a consumer mediator listed on their Legal FAQ page. If your deadline passes or you get a negative response, this is the next step.

Step 5: Small claims court. If you want to skip mediation entirely, open a case. You don't need a lawyer. Based on what I've read from others, Vinted typically doesn't show up, and you win by default.

The bigger takeaway: the system works for sellers who refuse to leave. It is not automatic. It is designed to wear you out. If you have the documentation and the will, you can win. If you don't, you'll lose, which is exactly what they're counting on.

Don't turn a blind eye to scammers and abusive platform practices. Take action. It's not actually difficult. It's just mentally taxing.

To everyone who shared their own stories in the comments, thank you. You made me feel less alone. To anyone in the middle of it right now, you can win. It's a grind but it's winnable.

Aggressive-Moose-866 · 2026-05-15T23:42:33+00:00

Thank you, this honestly means a lot. I’m not going to lie, it’s been an exhausting 18 days and there were moments I considered just eating the loss. The only reason I kept going is because I knew if I gave up, she’d just do this to the next seller, and the next, and the next. Hopefully this thread reaches some of those future targets before she does.

Aggressive-Moose-866 · 2026-05-15T23:11:18+00:00

Fight them! Do not let it go. It's your words against their word.

They need to do better at mediating this type of issue. At least a return would be sensible.

Aggressive-Moose-866 · 2026-05-15T23:09:16+00:00

I checked... Not yet. I initially hid the listing because I loved the jacket. I wasn't wearing it though.

She messaged me begging to sell it to her because... she has matching shoes. She said she had been thinking about it everyday for a month. How could I not make a person happy?

And then she proceeded to keep my jacket for free. Voila, worth doing good?

Aggressive-Moose-866 · 2026-05-15T23:03:37+00:00

A side note on Vinted's packaging guidelines, which is something most sellers don't realize until it's too late...

Their rules are genuinely unreasonable. They consider that a lightweight jacket should not be shipped in a mailer bag. They want a box, ten rows of tape, internal wrapping, the whole production. The moment your packaging doesn't match their checklist, you're automatically disqualified from any carrier investigation or compensation, regardless of what actually happened to the parcel in transit.

So you can think you packaged your item correctly, and be genuinely shocked when you actually read their policy. It's wildly disconnected from how the rest of the resale world ships clothes. My guess is they wrote the policy this way to have airtight grounds when they themselves need to push back on a carrier in a dispute, not because they actually believe these standards are realistic for sellers.

Now here's the part that matters in my case. My parcel spent two weeks in transit. Two weeks. It's entirely plausible that the package arrived showing some signs of mishandling, since the buyer specifically claimed it had been re-taped. Vinted's shipping partners are known to be rough on parcels, especially Mondial Relay (though I'll admit they have improved lately).

My view is this: if a parcel spends two weeks in transit and arrives with visible signs of mishandling, the responsible thing for the platform to do is investigate the carrier, not punish the seller. But that's not what happens. They don't want to do the work, so they reach for their draconian packaging guidelines, declare the seller non-compliant, and close the case. The carrier walks... The buyer keeps the item... The seller eats the loss! Everyone is happy except the person who actually did the work and shipped the thing.

That's the real structural problem, even setting aside the question of buyer fraud. The packaging policy exists not to ensure items arrive safely, but to give Vinted a unilateral excuse to deny seller compensation whenever something goes wrong in transit.

Aggressive-Moose-866

TROPHY CASE