One week shopping in the "Wild West" of Vinted

Vinted is one of the fastest growing online C2C marketplaces in the UK, and it’s currently expanding to various countries including Australia and the USA. The visual interface and slick bundling system have definitely drawn me in and I buy all sorts of items on there, including kids items, clothes and, of course, board games and other tabletop gaming stuff.

However, it’s a love/hate relationship. For whatever reason, Vinted seems to attract many sellers who simply couldn’t care less about packaging quality and description accuracy (seriously, “Brand New” means in shrink wrap, like it’s on the shelf in a shop!). Combine that with a customer service system which is infuriating, unreliable and probably doesn’t even comply with consumer rights (why does the buyer have to pay for return shipping on damaged, faulty or fake goods?), Vinted is a frustrating experience at times.

But, there’s no doubt that you can find some bargains if you’re clever with your search terms, fast to make decisions and savvy about what you buy. I spent last week casually buying from Vinted and here’s my experience.

Things in Rings - £5.09 (All-In inc. Buyer Protection fees and postage)

• New in shrink and seemed like a bargain!

• Badly packaged in just a thin mail bag. Game box got dented on its travels.

• Definitely fake, but the seller has not accepted responsibility and I will have to pay to return the item

Regular Show Fluxx & Joking Hazard - £13.20 (All-In inc. Buyer Protection fees and postage)

• Great price made even better by bundle pricing and combined postage.

• Well-packaged in a cardboard box with padding.

• Seller has applied tape to keep the game closed and it is so strong it can’t be removed without damaging the games.

Oink Games Switch Game - £23.99 (All-In inc. Buyer Protection fees and postage)

• Possibly not a bargain, but an impulse buy as I had never seen this before and had ‘Vinted fun bucks’ to spend from personal items I’ve recently sold.

• Packaged adequately for the item type, in a thin mail bag.

Tussie Mussie - £5.79 (All-In inc. Buyer Protection fees and postage)

• Amazing price, especially given that Button Shy games are hard to find in the UK now.

• Packaged adequately for the item type, in a thin mail bag.

• Complete and in very good condition.

Go Nuts for Donuts - £7.89 (All-In inc. Buyer Protection fees and postage)

• Great price for an out-of-print game.

• Packaged well in a box with padding.

• Missing some cards. Seller refunded after they found out that I would have to pay for return postage.

In the past I’ve also bought some fantastic Warhammer bits, including genuine Forgeworld, rare dice sets and more, but it definitely seems much harder to find a bargain these days.

So…a cautionary tale. If you’re going to give Vinted a try, then here’s some top tips to shop as smartly as you can.

Photograph your packages when they arrive, before you open them, especially if the packaging looks poor.

• Vinted’s “super helpful” AI chatbot customer service demands to see packaging photos and if you’ve already disposed of that carrier bag, birthday wrapping paper, or nappy (yes, really, people package things in nappies!), then you’ve missed your chance to send the photo and your hope of a refund is out of the window.

Is it a fake? If it’s new and sealed and the price is too good to be true, then it’s highly likely to be a fake. Some tell tale signs are;

• A white label on the shrink wrap, usually stating “Game Name - New” and probably with some Chinese writing.

• No publisher logo.

• Cover art that doesn’t sit central on the box and bleeds over the edges.

• Typos on the box - many fakes of Deep Sea adventure have a mis-spelling of the word ‘suits’.

Check seller feedback and give honest feedback

• Vinted automatically gives 5* positive feedback if no feedback is given within a certain timeframe.

• Check for non-automatic feedback.

• Leave negative feedback if warranted to help warn others.

Consider avoiding overseas sellers

• No-one wants to receive a badly packaged board game, but bad packaging can sometimes survive the UK postal system if you get lucky. It certainly can’t survive overseas shipping!

• Overseas listings can be hard to spot. I usually spot them because they have exchange rate generated pricing eg. £5.27 rather than round numbers, and you also can’t buy using your Vinted balance when shopping overseas.