Last updated: 23 June 2026
The headline numbers
(535 of 979 respondents)
(279 — ~52% of bans escalate)
(420 respondents)
(639 respondents)
Supporting numbers
- Scammed: 242 (24.7%) — roughly 1 in 4.
- Got an irrelevant CS response: 526 (53.7%) — combined with "ignored," that means roughly 88% of users who reached CS got either silence or a useless reply.
- Stopped using Vinted entirely: 125 (12.8%) — and many more in free-text say they're moving to eBay, Bidzzy, Etsy or Depop.
- Rating distribution: 72% gave 1 star, 14% gave 2 stars — 86% are 1–2 stars.
- User type: 80% are both buyers and sellers, 16% sellers only, 4% buyers only — which kills the "it's only resellers complaining" narrative.
Money lost banding (of the 339 who quantified a loss)
- Under £10: 50
- £10–£50: 146
- £50–£100: 78
- £100–£500: 46
- £500+: 19
At least 143 respondents have lost £50 or more, and 65 have lost over £100. Using midpoints of the bands (and a conservative £750 for the £500+ tier), that's roughly £38,000–£43,000 in self-reported losses across this sample — and that's only counting people who put a number on it.
The patterns driving the damage
1. The Pro Account Trap (the most damaging pattern)
Users get a "commercial selling" restriction → Vinted tells them they must convert to Pro → they convert, complete HMRC/sole trader registration → then get banned again for commercial selling on their Pro account. Dozens of respondents describe this exact loop.
Several state Vinted later admitted "it was a mistake," reinstated them, and banned them again within hours. This is structurally incoherent — Pro accounts exist for commercial activity — and it's destroying small businesses (one respondent quotes ~£15,000 in lost income, another £1,200 from a single 7-day ban).
2. The Counterfeit Bot Catastrophe
The AI is flagging mainstream high-street items as counterfeit and issuing permanent bans, often within minutes of listing, with no human review. Items flagged include:
Primark, New Look, M&S (multiple), H&M, Tesco F&F, Matalan, Mango, Shein, Peacocks, Bonmarché, North Face, Superdry, Boden, Oh Polly, White Company, Pandora, Ralph Lauren, Carhartt, Fred Perry, Adidas, Nike, Uggs, Vibram, Gucci (genuine, with receipts), Canada Goose (with receipts), and one case of a Monet costume necklace flagged because the bot apparently confused it with Monet the painter.
Several users report the same item was previously bought through Vinted's own verification, then flagged when relisted.
3. The Customer Service Vacuum
"AI bots," "copy and paste," "automated responses," "no human" appears in hundreds of responses. Appeals quoted at 120 hours routinely take 2–6 weeks or never resolve. One respondent's appeal denial was signed off with paw print emojis.
Multiple users have submitted Subject Access Requests (Art. 15 GDPR) and Art. 22 challenges to automated decisioning — this is escalating into a regulatory exposure issue.
4. Asymmetric "Buyer Protection"
The protection fee is functionally a tax — almost no respondent who needed it actually received protection. The pattern:
- Buyer claims item fake/damaged/not received → Vinted refunds buyer and lets them keep the item → seller loses both stock and money.
- Buyer receives genuinely misdescribed item → must pay return postage themselves.
- Sellers report scam playbooks: AI-generated "damage" photos, claims of empty boxes (with photos of different packaging than was sent), wear-then-return on dresses for weddings.
Money lost reported: many cases £50–£500, several £500+, one £15k+ in lost trading income.
5. Courier / Locker Black Hole
Inpost, Evri, Relay and Yodel parcels going missing with no recourse for either side. Vinted ping-pongs users between themselves and the courier. 35-day investigation windows that frequently expire with no resolution.
Secondary signals worth noting
Algorithm collapse
Multiple respondents in the last week of data (mid-June 2026) report sales going from 60–70 a week to under 10 — "dead." Suggests a recent ranking change.
Sizing change rage
The new grouped sizing (M12-14, 20-22) is universally hated and driving buyer confusion and returns.
Reporting system inverted
Users report fakes or scammers → no action. Users get reported maliciously by a buyer they declined → instant ban.
Exodus signal
eBay, Depop, Etsy and Bidzzy are repeatedly named as destinations users are migrating to. This is the early shape of a platform leaving event.