Vinted says convenience, value for money and its own logistics network are pushing second-hand resale into the retail mainstream — a member survey shows 88% check the platform before buying new fashion items.

  • 88%: share of Vinted members surveyed who browse the platform before buying new fashion items; 41% consider resale value before buying new, and 56% say resaleability makes them take better care of their things.
  • 98%: of platform transactions are completed without customer service intervention, and professional sellers are limited to clearly labelled Vinted Pro accounts.
  • Category expansion: from clothing into electronics, home, books, sports and music, partly because sellers had already listed non-clothing items on the platform (such as listing a phone as a T-shirt).

Key points

  • Member survey: 88% check the platform before buying new clothes, 41% look at resale value before buying new, 56% take better care of items because they can be resold.
  • The platform launched in 1998? No, 2008, entered the UK in 2014, and is building a multi-point pickup network through Vinted Go to handle C2C logistics.
  • 98% of transactions need no customer service intervention, and professional sellers can only operate through Vinted Pro accounts.

From "buy new first" to "check the item first"

Vinted Vice President (Corporate Affairs) Jessie de la Merced set out this view as "Second-Hand September" drew to a close: second-hand is still a small share of overall retail, but there is considerable room to grow. She noted that the UK already has an active second-hand buying and selling culture, and what Vinted does is make the process smooth — where you used to spend a day at a car boot sale waiting for someone to buy, now you can upload an item and get on with your own life.

She believes consumer mindset is shifting from "buy, use, throw away" to circular thinking: not just looking at new items, but asking "does this suit me, will it last, what is the quality like, can I sell it on". This hybrid shopping behaviour is also pushing brands and retailers to work on product durability, repairability and resaleability.

Categories and infrastructure

Vinted's category expansion has largely been driven by member behaviour: before dedicated categories existed, sellers were already trying to list non-clothing items. De la Merced gave an example — someone listed a phone as a T-shirt, so the platform realised it needed a separate category. Setting the right listing fields for items such as phones and books (device specifications, book language and ISBN) makes items easier to describe and search; optional authentication is also offered for high-value fashion and electronics.

The logistics logic of resale differs from traditional retail — traditional retail is one warehouse to many customers, while second-hand connects large numbers of individual sellers with individual buyers. Vinted is building a pickup and delivery network through Vinted Go, with the goal of making buying second-hand no hassle.

Trust and rules

De la Merced stressed that policymakers generally support the circular economy because it contributes to sustainability, affordability and household resilience; the difficulty is that rules written for traditional retail may not fit a C2C platform with no unified product catalogue. Her position is: the marketplace must be kept safe, but individual sellers must also be able to use it. The platform remains primarily consumer-to-consumer, and professional sellers can only operate through clearly labelled Vinted Pro accounts and must comply with second-hand catalogue and safety rules.

Still a lot of room

Despite rapid growth, second-hand still accounts for a small share of total retail, and Vinted's opportunity lies both in taking a larger share of fashion spending and in making resale ordinary across more everyday categories. "A vase doesn't have to be new to be beautiful or useful." De la Merced said that as safety and ease of use continue to improve, more and more people will be willing to give it a try.

Source: Vinted: consumers’ circular mindset transforming second-hand into retail’s first choice - Retail Gazette · Originally published 2026-09-30