BUYING clothes second-hand is brilliant as you can be eco-friendly and often save yourself a small fortune.
One woman might think twice about doing this though, after she bought bikini bottoms that allegedly had arrived stained.
While it’s often said that you shouldn’t air your dirty laundry in public, this angry Vinted user decided to do exactly that on Facebook.
Uploading photos to the Vinted Rants, Help & Advice group, the woman claimed that the underwear had arrived covered in ‘discharge stains’ in lengthy post.
After apologising for the stomach-churning pictures of the stain black undies, she wrote: “I have just bought some bikini bottoms on Vinted, I opened the packaging and saw straight away they had discharge stains inside.
“Absolutely disgusting and really shocked me someone would send them in this condition.”
Though most of us would have gone directly to Vinted and asked for help, the unhappy customer says she is now fighting with the original seller for a refund.
Having shared multiple photos of their conversations, she pointedly wrote: “She [the seller] is now denying that they were sent like this and that I did it myself so I didn’t have to pay for them! I really feel sick with this.”
With the two women caught in a war of words and both refusing to pay for the return, the buyer asked the group what she should do.
Many suggested going directly to Vinted for support and empathised with her over the bothersome bikini.
“I would escalate to Vinted…that’s gross,” advised one Facebook user, with another suggesting that the woman films when she opens packages so she has proof.
They complained: “It’s awful that it’s gotten to the point where it’s necessary to video opening every parcel just in case this happens.”
A third said they always check whether bikinis still had the protective plastic on them, as it was the easiest way to check that they’d never been worn.
Some members of the group weren’t so sympathetic though and argued that the buyer shouldn’t have purchased second-hand swimwear from a stranger.
“The fact you’d even want to buy a bikini on Vinted is something I wonder about!” joked a fourth, as the post began to go viral.
Another teased: “You can probably sell them back on Vinted like that for twice what you’ve paid. There are some strange men on there…”
Among the endless comments, one Facebook user did have a useful piece of advice and explained that the buyer could go directly to their bank.
“Identify the claim with the bank. Send this conversation. You’ll get your money back. I’ve had to do it three times,” they suggested.
Despite this disgruntled customer airing her dirty laundry like this, most Vinted users love to buy and sell their pre-loved fashion on the app.
In fact, multiple women on TikTok have claimed that they’ve made hundreds off the app – including Emma, who made nearly £750 in 2022.
Despite only making 285 sales, the so-called ‘Queen of Vinted’ says that she was easily able to turn a profit as she spent just £1.10 posting each item.
She isn’t the only one who has fallen in love with the app, as fellow second-hand expert Saffy Dixon says she made £400 in a month just using Vinted.
It sounds like we need to clear out our wardrobes too!
IF you fancy clearing out your wardrobe and getting rid of your old stuff on Vinted, you’ll need to consider the new rules that recently came into play.
If people are selling personal items for less than they paid new (which is generally the case for second-hand sales), there is no impact on tax.
However, since January 1, digital platforms, including eBay, Airbnb, Etsy, Amazon and Vinted, must share seller information with HMRC as part of a crackdown.
You’re unlikely to be affected if you only sell a handful of second-hand items online each year – generally, only business sellers trading for profit might need to pay tax.
A tax-free allowance of £1,000 has been in place since 2017 for business sellers trading for profit – the only time that an individual personal item might be taxable is if it sells for more than £6,000 and there is a profit from the sale.
However, firms now have to pass on your data to HMRC if you sell 30 or more items a year or earn over £1,700.
It is part of a wider tax crackdown to help ensure that those who boost their income via side hustles pay up what they owe.
While your data won’t be shared with HMRC if you earn between £1,000 and £1,700, you’ll still need to pay tax as normal.
