By Faith Ridler, news reporter
At the start of the year, I set myself what felt like an impossible challenge – to make enough cash to finally go on my dream holiday to Japan – all through side hustles.
After a few false starts – and a lot of cat sitting – I discovered Vinted, a second-hand selling app which had the very convenient side effect of helping me declutter my very tiny London flat.
I set up my account at the very end of January, listing a few items that were spilling out of my wardrobe – jackets, dresses and shoes I hadn’t worn once since purchasing them.
I also listed some craft supplies that had become a hobby graveyard on my cluttered desk during COVID lockdowns.
To my surprise, pretty much everything sold.
And to date, I’ve made the hefty sum of around £1,500.
This was more than enough for my flight to Japan, a new suitcase, and a hotel for my arrival in Tokyo this summer.
Here are the tips and tricks I’ve learned along the way…
Do your research
The biggest piece of advice I could give you if you’re thinking about selling on Vinted is to make sure you know the value of what you’re selling.
I was surprised to find through my own selling experience that some brands hold their value much better than others.
For example, a dress I bought for £40 from a brand called Louche sold (after some weeks) for only £4.
On the other hand, a Lucy & Yak T-shirt I bought for £30 sold used for £20.
You may ask, how do I know what something is worth?
The best way to investigate this is to check what other people are doing on the app. That way, you don’t list things too cheaply and end up losing out.
Other items I found hold their value are Nintendo Switch games, some of which I sold on for face value after completing a playthrough myself.
An important note – make sure you check which items you can sell through Vinted before listing. If you have listings deleted too often, you can get your account banned. You can find this information through the app itself.
No printer? InPost lockers are your friend
A key element of Vinted selling is physically posting the items, which can become a bit of a headache if you don’t know the ins and outs of the app.
I fell victim to the many shipping options at the start of my selling journey – until a kind friend mentioned you can actually switch off methods not available in your area in the Postage tab of Settings.
My advice would be to have a good look at what you can offer for delivery, and make sure those are the only options available for people buying items through your page.
If – like me – you don’t have a printer, you can turn off every option but InPost lockers.
These are postal lockers you simply need to scan a QR code to open and leave the parcel inside.
No label, no problem.
Learn how to haggle
This was something that shocked me about the app.
Although you set a price for your items, almost everybody will try to haggle the price down.
You can ask for people not to send offers in the description of the items, but I’ve had very limited success with that method.
What I find works best is to list the item for slightly more than you would accept, and just let people haggle down. You’re still earning the best price, and the buyer goes away with a “deal”.
Everybody wins.
Taxes and Vinted
When it comes to earning money through any method, you always have to consider the tax ramifications.
However, as Vinted explains clearly on its website, if the money you make on the app over a year is less than what you paid for the items initially, you pay no tax.
It adds: “The only time that an individual item might be taxable is when you sell it for more than £6,000 and there is a profit from the sale.
“Even then, you can use your capital gain tax-free allowance (which is £3,000) to reduce this profit.”
Essentially, if, like me, you’re simply decluttering your way to Japan, you’re very unlikely to find yourself crossing paths with HMRC.
