VINTED Guide for PRO SELLERS

You can now sell items on Vinted if you are a professional registered as a sole trader, a non-profit organization or company in the United Kingdom. We will call you a “Pro Seller” and you will be identified on Vinted by the “Pro” tag next to your name and Item you’re selling. Please keep reading to learn more about how this works and what your rights and obligations are as a Pro Seller on Vinted. 

This guide is intended to provide you with practical information. The full legal rules of Vinted Pro service are regulated by the Vinted’s Terms and Conditions, the Vinted Pro Terms and Conditions and the Catalogue Rules, and they shall prevail over anything we say in this guide.

1 ABOUT VINTED PRO

Is it mandatory to register as a Pro Seller?

If you are a professional, you must declare yourself as a "Pro Seller" on Vinted. 

Failing this, in accordance with the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, can result in sanctions. You can find more information about consumer rights and your obligations in the UK here. 

In addition, you are solely responsible for, if applicable, registering with the business registry, as well as for complying with your social and tax obligations. 

Please note that we can also ask you to create a Pro Seller account if we have knowledge of information showing that you meet the eligibility criteria. Please take this seriously, as we can block your access to Vinted if you do not register as a Pro Seller while you meet the criteria to be considered a professional.

2 USEFUL INFORMATION ON CONSUMER LAW

2.1 Selling items as a Pro Seller: your obligations

When listing and selling items on Vinted as a Pro Seller targeting consumers, you must comply with: 

• Vinted’s Terms and Conditions, Vinted Pro Terms and Conditions, our Catalogue Rules and your own Additional Policies (as explained below); and 
• All applicable laws and regulations, in particular consumer law. 

You can find additional information on Consumer Law on the following website: https://www.gov.uk/browse/business/sale-goods-services-data 

2.2 Adopting fair practices

You must always adopt fair practices in your relationships with buyers or potential buyers. 

An unfair commercial practice is a commercial practice which is contrary to the requirements of professional diligence and which distorts or is likely to substantially distort the behaviour of the consumer. Examples of such practices include misleading and aggressive practices. 

• Misleading commercial practices are those that contain false information or in any way deceive or are likely to deceive the consumer, even if the information is factually correct, and cause him to take a transactional decision that he/she would not have taken. The information can be related, but not limited, to the following elements:

- Main characteristics of the product,

- Your identity as a professional seller,

- Price, or

- The need for a service, part, replacement or repair.

• An aggressive commercial practice is characterised by the pressure applied on the consumer in order to make them give in or to strongly influence their choices. A commercial practice is considered aggressive if, as a result of repeated and insistent actions, undue influence or physical or moral constraints:

- it impairs or is likely to significantly impair a consumer's freedom of choice; 

- it affects a consumer's consent in such a way that it can no longer be considered valid; or

- it hinders the exercise of a consumer's contractual rights.

You can read more on unfair commercial practices in the following website.

2.3 Providing all mandatory information to (potential) buyers

When listing an item, you must provide (potential) buyers with all the mandatory information. This includes a description of the “essential characteristics” of the item (i. e. its main features, such as size, colour, material, brand, environmental qualities and characteristics, etc.), its price, information on your identity and contact details, methods of payment and delivery, right of withdrawal, legal warranties and how to deal with any issues. 

Where applicable, you should also inform (potential) buyers about any after sale services and commercial warranties that you offer. For items that you list on Vinted, this information will be included in:

• The item listing that you will create. You can list as many items as you want, for free. You must comply with the Catalogue Rules, the Terms and Conditions and the Vinted Pro Terms and Conditions. 

You need to upload a few photos of the item and describe it as accurately as possible, indicate if it is damaged or faulty in any way, and clearly state the price. Please check out the Help Centre for more information and tips on how to list items. 

• Vinted Pro Terms and Conditions. To help you get ready to sell faster, we have prepared standard terms of sale that will apply to all the sales you make through Vinted. They already include a lot of the information required by law and reflect your legal obligations and the buyers’ legal rights.
• Your Additional Policies, which you will create in your Pro Account settings. Because some of the mandatory information is very specific to your business and the items you sell, you will need to supplement the Vinted Pro Terms and Conditions with your own Additional Policies. Vinted provides you with a dedicated space to add this information in your Pro Account settings. 

When creating your Additional Policies, please keep in mind that they must be written in a clear and comprehensible manner. If they are unclear, they will be interpreted by Vinted, a mediator or a court in whichever way is most favourable to the consumer. 

They must also comply with the law and be consistent with the Vinted Pro Terms and Conditions and the Vinted’s Terms and Conditions, and cannot derogate from them (unless they include commitments on your part that are more favourable to buyers). 

To help you navigate all these obligations, the chart below summarises what mandatory information needs to be displayed and where:

Together, the Vinted Pro Terms and Conditions, Vinted Terms and Conditions and your Additional Policies form a binding contract between you and the buyer.

2.4 The buyers’ right of withdrawal

What is the right of withdrawal? 

A consumer who purchases an item online has a legal right of withdrawal for a period of 14 calendar days from the day following the delivery of the item. If this period expires on a Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday, it is extended to the next working day. 

We will compute the start day of the 14-day period based on the information provided by the carrier.

In order to exercise their right of withdrawal, the buyer can either:

• press the “I have an issue” button in their chat with you on the Vinted site or app, 
• send the template withdrawal form provided in the Vinted Pro Terms and Conditions to you, or
• make any other unambiguous statement expressing their wish to withdraw from the sale. The buyer does not have to give any reason or justification for their decision. 

You can also decide to allow them to submit the withdrawal form on your website, if you have one. In that case, you must acknowledge receipt of the withdrawal without delay and on a durable medium, for example by email. 

The buyer must send back or return the items to you without undue delay and at the latest within 14 days from the day on which they communicated their decision to withdraw, unless you offer to collect the items yourself from the buyer. 

The buyer bears the direct costs of returning the items, but you can also agree to bear those costs yourself in your Additional Policies.

If the buyer withdraws, they will be reimbursed for the full amount paid, including the delivery costs. They must be reimbursed without undue delay and at the latest within 14 days from the date on which you either received the item back from the consumer or received proof that it has been dispatched, whichever happens first. 

The buyer must be refunded using the same means of payment as the one used for the initial transaction, unless they have expressly agreed to use another means of payment and provided that the refund does not give rise to any costs for them. 

IMPORTANT NOTE: Do not reimburse the buyer yourself (unless the sale price has already been transferred to your bank account by the Integrated Payment System Provider): if the buyer is entitled to reimbursement and initiates his/her right of withdrawal through Vinted by using the "I have an issue” button, we will issue the funds via the Integrated Payment System Provider.

This right of withdrawal does not apply in certain exceptions provided by law, such as:

• items that are made to the buyer’s specifications or clearly personalised; or
• sealed items that are not suitable for return due to health protection or hygiene reasons and were unsealed after delivery. 

You can find more information about the right of withdrawal in the following website.

2.5 Legal warranties

Items that you sell on Vinted as a Pro Seller are automatically covered by consumer protection law (if the buyer is a consumer). In particular, this means that goods must be as described, fit for purpose and of satisfactory quality. 

During the expected lifespan of the item, the buyer is entitled to the following:

• Up to 30 days: if the goods are faulty, then the buyer is entitled to a refund.
• Up to six months: if the goods can't be repaired or replaced, then the buyer is entitled to a full refund in most cases.
• Up to six years: if the goods do not last a reasonable length of time, the buyer may be entitled to some money back.

These rights are subject to certain exceptions - for detailed information please see the Citizens Advice website: Return faulty goods - Citizens Advice.

Optional commercial warranties. If you wish to, you may also add your own commercial warranties: you can freely define their scope, duration and conditions. You can provide extended warranties for example, or cover risks that are not covered by legal warranties (loss, breakage, etc.). Your Additional Policies must describe these commercial warranties, if you offer any. 

You are exclusively liable to buyers for the sale of your items. As a mere intermediary, we are not a party to any of your sales with buyers and cannot be held liable. 

2.6 Resolving issues with buyers

If you have an issue with a consumer, please check the following website to see your options to solve the dispute. 

2.7 Resolving issues with Vinted

If you are a Pro Seller and Customer Support doesn’t get back to you within 1 month of submitting your complaint via our dispute form, or if you’re unhappy with the result, we can continue to try to resolve the issue between us or use a mediation service before bringing a claim to the courts. If we use mediation, we’ll use a registered mediator from one of the mediation centers mentioned in the Vinted Pro Terms and Conditions.

2.8 Effectiveness of internal complaint handling system for Pro users

In 2024 Vinted received 8 696 complaints from Pro Users. Average time needed to handle the complaints is 2.9 days.

Pro Users’ complaints:

VAT Guide for PRO SELLERS

Note: Please note, that the information below is for informational purposes only regarding Value Added Tax (hereinafter – VAT). This is not tax advice, therefore, please follow the official guidance of His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and seek their assistance and/or external professional advice, when needed.

Additionally, please be aware that this guide only addresses obligations for UK established businesses that sell goods located within the United Kingdom and does not include obligations when selling to other countries.

1. VAT REGISTRATION

1.1 What does VAT registration mean?

Once your total revenue during the last 12 months exceeds the VAT registration threshold, it means that you are obligated to register as a taxpayer for VAT purposes and all your subsequent sales are subject to VAT. The general overview of being a registered VAT payer is as follows:

• You charge VAT on your sold items, by including it in the listing price of your item.
• You deduct the VAT incurred on your purchased goods or services.
• You calculate, submit VAT returns and pay the VAT due to HMRC, if any.

1.2 When do I need to register for VAT?

VAT registration is mandatory when the value of sales exceeds a certain threshold. 

To understand if you have exceeded the threshold, you should consider your taxable turnover, which is the total value of everything you sell or supply in the UK that is not exempt from VAT. If your taxable turnover goes above the threshold in the last 12 months, your business is registerable for VAT. If you make sales outside of Vinted, those sales should also be included in your total taxable revenue.

You can also voluntarily register for VAT if your total taxable turnover is less than the VAT registration threshold.

For more information on VAT registration, please visit: https://www.gov.uk/register-for-vat

1.3 How do I register for VAT? What are my obligations as the VAT payer?

1. Submit a request for VAT registration to HMRC
2. Once registered, apply the corresponding VAT rate(s) for items sold in the United Kingdom
3. If needed, issue an invoice in accordance with HMRC requirements
4. Prepare a VAT return and submit it to HMRC
5. Pay corresponding taxes due to HMRC, if any

1.4 I sell items on Vinted. Does it automatically mean that I must register for VAT purposes?

No. As long as the total value of your sold items (on Vinted and elsewhere) does not exceed the VAT registration threshold, there is no need to register for VAT purposes. This means that sales made on the Vinted website are not subject to VAT. Just remember that in certain cases you may be responsible for issuing invoices for sold items (you can find more information in Section 2 “Sales VAT & Invoicing”).

2. SALES VAT & INVOICING

2.1  I’m a VAT registered Pro Seller. What VAT rate do I need to include in the online listing?

The listing price must include all related taxes, this includes the VAT amount as well. 

There are 3 rates of VAT (standard, reduced and zero-rated). You can add a standard or reduced VAT rate on top of your expected revenue, depending on which rate is applicable to the listed item.

VAT rates can change, therefore you must apply any changes to the rates immediately, from the date they change. Check the current VAT rates here: https://www.gov.uk/vat-rates

Also, please note that a special VAT margin scheme could be applied for second-hand items. More information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/vat-margin-schemes

2.2 Am I required to issue the invoice for the sold item?

Not always. There is no invoicing obligation for local B2C sales in the United Kingdom. Nevertheless, you can still opt to issue an invoice, which only needs to meet the invoicing requirements specified by HMRC.

However, you are obliged to issue invoices for supplies of goods to another business if you and your customer are registered for VAT purposes. 

2.3 What amount should be on the invoice?

The amount on the invoice should be equal to the price of the item, plus the price of the shipping label, and applicable VAT rate(s).

2.4 I have received an invoice from Vinted. What does it mean?

The invoice you have received is for services provided by Vinted, e.g., shipping labels, buyer protection fee, or additional visibility services provided to you.

Depending on your VAT registration status, you may use this invoice for purposes like tax reporting, record-keeping or any other needs according to your accounting principles.

3. RETURNS

3.1 The Buyer wants to return the purchased item. Do I need to issue any documents?

Not always. You are required to issue a credit note, only if an invoice was issued for that sold item. The amount of the credit note should correspond to the price of the item(s) returned plus the price of the shipping label and applicable VAT rate(s), if any.

3.2 What information should be included on the credit note?

Generally, the requirements for the credit note are the same as for the invoice, and it must contain the valid credit note details outlined by HMRC.

More information:

• VAT rules and procedures
• Record keeping requirements once registered for VAT