I downloaded Vinted for the first time this year. I’m incredibly late to the party, since the app has more than 16 million UK users and launched here in 2014. My not-so-conscientious objection was rooted in a hatred of secondhand clothes. My inner (teenaged) self said I’d worked my way to being able to afford nice (ie new) things, and I didn’t want my wardrobe to look like I’d raided a jumble sale. Shopping secondhand would make me feel poor again.
Two things changed. Every other time I asked a well-dressed friend where her jumper, bag or trainers were from, she would say Vinted. Then, as I emptied my wardrobe from the storage unit it had been living in for a year, I was greeted by my secret shame: two unworn shirts from a cult (ie expensive) brand that I bought years ago and missed the window to return.
I got the app, snapped a few pics of the shirts and wrote what I considered to be an enticing sales pitch. I sold my first shirt on the same day and received a five-star review from my buyer. I was an ethical entrepreneur! I was saving the planet! I was spreading joy and getting paid! Riding a dopamine high of “free” money, I listed more clothes and waited for the cash to roll in.
To my utter dismay, my extremely fashionable, hardly worn clothes were no longer flying off the shelf. A friend explained I had probably priced the shirts too cheaply and my other clothes too high. The app’s pricing algorithm agreed. Still, it felt like a personal rejection, like the internet was saying I had bad taste.
It’s not just selling that gives you a dopamine hit. The app can generate endless pings and updates to keep you engaged. I have notifications turned off on my phone, but I got 21 emails from Vinted the first week I started using it. You get told when someone “likes” an item you’ve listed (a way of saving something they might buy later). Meanwhile, as a buyer, if you like an item, the seller often slides into your inbox offering it at a discounted price. I found this very stressful at first, like the digital equivalent of making eye contact with a slightly desperate salesperson.
Fast fashion rightly gets a bad rap but Vinted’s platform was built using the same digital tricks that keep us scrolling on Instagram or TikTok. There’s an algorithm that predicts what you want, gamification and variable rewards that keep you hooked. Six months in, it’s easily one of the most used apps on my phone.
My smug sense that I was participating in the circular economy was undermined when I told a climate-conscious friend how cheap secondhand books are on Vinted (I don’t understand how anyone is making money selling them). She pointed out there’s a pretty big environmental cost to shipping books around the country, and that perhaps my local library was a more sustainable option. And that’s before you factor in the pay and conditions for delivery drivers at most of the big delivery companies.
Not only have I lost hours scrolling, Vinted has also made me petty. As I switched from selling to buying, I learned how small-scale haggling is built into the platform. Vinted automatically calculates a 5% or 10% discount on something you like so you can offer less than it’s listed for. I spent an entire month “negotiating” the price down on a summer dress. In the end we were haggling over less than a pound and when it arrived I got three wears out of it before it became too cold. I punched the air when I got £2 off a slightly worn winter coat. It turned up with a tear in the lining that wasn’t in the listing. I felt simultaneously outraged and delighted – surely I could squeeze some more money off from the seller? She called my bluff and suggested I post it back so she could sell it to someone else. Pay for postage twice? Over my dead body.
Vinted has saved me money and brought me joy. But I’ve definitely spent more than I earned from those shirts. It’s probably time to take a break, but if you’re interested in a hot pink wool coat from Cos (good condition) I’m still open to offers.
• Carys Afoko is a communications strategist, writer and host of the Over the Top, Under the Radar podcast
