Vinted vs eBay: Which is better to sell clothes on?
Whether you are planning to declutter your wardrobe or make a little bit of cash on the side, selling using online marketplaces such as eBay and Vinted seems to be a popular choice. However which is better Vinted or eBay?
Not long ago after doing a spring clean, I’ve decided it was time to declutter my home. I needed to make space in our wardrobes and drawers. I’ve noticed my daughter and I have so much stuff, we’ve been holding onto for years and don’t used. When I looked into our fully stuffed wardrobes and drawers, it kind of reminds me of the TV Series “Hoarders”. Though my home is nice and tidy, I don’t like the look and feel of my cluttered wardrobes. Someone once told me “Clutter in your physical surroundings will clutter your mind and spirit.”.
Since decluttering using Vinted and eBay, I’ve noticed that our wardrobes look more organised. Also I never realised how much the clutter was stressing me. I’ve also made some extra cash to put towards days out with my girl Yasmin.
Over the years, I’ve mainly used eBay and Facebook Marketplace and recently started to use Vinted to sell some unwanted things such as clothes and toys ,I found around the house. Shopping and selling on online with the help of platforms such as eBay and Vinted have become very popular over the years, as it’s much more convenient than going to car boot sales and it also has an environmental benefit. So here I’ll compare both eBay vs Vinted and list their pros and cons.
My experience of selling and buying on eBay
eBay is a very established online marketplace platform with 135mil users worldwide according to eDesk. In addition to the large number of potential buyers, eBay has a very large variety of categories. This means you could pretty much sell anything through this platform, not just clothing. The good thing as a buyer on eBay is that they offer buyer protection. Which means if you don’t receive your item or the item is not as described, eBay will refund you.
I’ve been buying and selling on eBay for many years, but haven’t really been using eBay to sell much for the past two years. Ebay used to be great to sell unwanted items or even turn into a little reselling business. I’ve had an eBay business since 2015, which did really well. Until eBay started to make the listing process a lot more difficult and long. They’ve added so many tick boxes and drop down boxes, which it did not have back then. Before this was introduced, I was able to list at least 50 items per hour. Now it takes me an hour to list 3 to 5 items. This is one of the reasons I’ve been put off to sell on eBay. Another thing is if you have posted an item untracked, even if the item has been delivered, if the buyer claims the item has not been delivered, you end up out of pocket.
To see whether eBay is the right place to sell for you I’ve made a Pros and Cons table. Hopefully this will help you decide whether eBay is suitable for you.
eBay: Pros and Cons
Pros
- Large audience with 135mil users world wide.
- Wide variety of categories compared to Vinted.
- Easy to use, but not as easy as Vinted
- You’ve the option to list as auction or as but it now.
- Trusted platform with a long history.
- You can sell world wide.
- Buyer protection as seller is great.
- Gives 999 free listings per month
- Does have an app
Cons
- Very expensive to use as seller, due to their fees to the seller when an item sells.
- Due to the wide variety of categories, it’s not strongly focusing on second hand clothing.
- Though ebay gives you 999 free listing a month. If you wish to list more, the cost of fees quickly add up.
- Listing an item is a lengthy procedure compared to Vinted.
- You have to print out your postage label and stick it on your parcel or go to the post office to purchase postage which can be very time consuming and use up a lot of your paper, printer ink and tape.
- You must weigh the item before listing to select the correct postage. If you haven’t weighed and asked for the correct amount for postage, you might end up out of pocket. I’ve once sold a whole suit and didnt charge enough postage and ended up having to pay £12 extra out of my own pocket.
- Ebay always sides with the buyer despite having proof of postage if they claim it hasn’t arrived. Therefore you must use tracked postage to prevent someone falsely claiming item has not been received.
My experience of selling and buying on Vinted
Vinted is a marketplace with a focus on second-hand fashion and has 75 million users according to Financial Times. Hence it’s easy to find an audience of people who are searching for clothing. Unlike eBay, Vinted has a social aspect allowing you to connect with other users and create a wishlist.
It’s completely free to list and sell with no limits to how many listings you can have. Yes NO SELLING FEES at all unlike eBay. Hence a perfect platform to declutter your wardrobe and make space for the outfits you do like. Although you can sell and buy via the Vinted website, I highly recommend the Vinted app. It’s so much easier and quicker to list, manage your account and communicate with your buyers or sellers using the app. The app is available for Android and Apple mobile phones.
Since Vinted has started, they have slightly widened their range or categories but are still focused on clothes. Now you can also list in the home, entertainment and pet care category.
The app is very easy and straight forward to use. Once you’ve downloaded the app you can use your Facebook or Google account to sign in with. Making signing up pretty much instant. Once you are ready to start selling, take clear pictures with preferably clear background. Then mention any imperfections in the description box and chose a price. Before uploading chose a parcel size and that’s it. Very quick and simple.
To help you decided whether Vinted is the right platform for you to sell your clothing, I’ve made a pros and cons list:
Pros
- NO SELLING FEES!
- Buyer pays for postage and all no printer is needed. You can print the postage label at the shop for free.
- Very easy and quick to list your preloved items.
- You can sell to anywhere in the UK. Unfortunately it’s not worldwide, but even on eBay international sales are not very common for high street branded second hand clothing.
- Parcels are tracked for free through Evri or Yodel. You can send via Royal Mail but they are more expensive and no tracking is provided.
- Since Evri and Yodel are usually in corner shops, they tend to have longer opening hours than the post office. Therefore you are not as time restricted.
Cons
- Things seem to be listed at a lower price compared to eBay or Facebook. But if you don’t mind selling for a little cheaper just to get rid of things then that’s not a problem.
- The money doesn’t arrive straight away for sold items. It can take about a week for the whole transaction.
- Can’t select collection option and wish there was this option.
So here is my verdict on eBay vs. Vinted
It’s worth noting that both online marketplace platforms are great for selling high-quality vitnage and designer items that are in good condition. Though eBay is great to list anything on, when it comes to decluttering our wardrobes, I find Vinted wins hands down. The huge bonus is that Vinted does not charge any fees to sell and don’t take any commission on your sale. Therefore you get to keep the full amount of what you sell. Also the process to sell on Vinted there are no costs to the seller and not to forget, it’s so quick, simple and straightforward to list compared to eBay.
I’ve listed on both platforms, but since using Vinted since end of April, I’ve managed to sell a lot more of our unwanted stuff. Things seem to go a lot quicker too. To give you an idea I’m sharing some screenshot of my Vinted account so you can see how fast things went and how much things roughly go for.
Since I find decluttering much easier using Vinted, I’ll be listing all items my daughter outgrows and clothing I no longer want anymore. Once I’ve listed an item, I tend to put them in a large storage box in the airing cupboard so it’s out of sight and easy to find and get to post them.
Though using Vinted isn’t earning me as huge amount of money, every little helps and I’m happy seeing my wardrobe being less cluttered. As long as more things are going and more space is created, I’m a happy bunny.
To see what kind of things I’m selling or use me as a price guide for your own listing, follow me on Vinted : https://www.vinted.com/member/140043391-islandmama
Hope this was helpful and please do share your declutter journey with me 🙂
