Furious Vinted seller tracks down buyer's house after not being paid

A disgruntled Vinted seller turned up at a buyer's house after failing to receive payment for a £500 Stone Island jacket. TikTok account Depopdrama shared the interaction between an unidentified seller and buyer, where the latter claimed they hadn’t received the package.

The seller wrote: “Can you ask a housemate if it was delivered? Otherwise I can’t receive the money and I really need to be paid.” They then send multiple follow up messages, including, “Can you please let me know?” and then “Hello? Please can you confirm it’s been delivered so I can receive the money? I’m unemployed at the moment and would really appreciate it,” the following day.

The seller’s continuous messages go unanswered, with them claiming they gave the buyer a discount on the jacket and “really tried to go out of my way to accommodate your needs”. The buyer has been reading the messages but not responding.

After another day, the buyer replies: “I am not home at the moment so cannot check. Apologies for the delay but I will check at my earliest convenience.” They added: “I will check with my housemate to see, they haven’t been able to check on my behalf yet, I will ask them again.”

As more days go by, the seller explained they haven’t received an update. They finally write: “This is getting ridiculous now. I sent the parcel a month ago?! How are you not able to check it’s been sent.”

A case is then opened with Vinted, as the seller claimed they received notification the parcel was delivered. The seller writes: “You know I have your address. So I can come and check if the parcels have been delivered any time. I know your full name and where you live.”

Following this the transaction is then cancelled. The screen reads: “This order has been cancelled. The buyer will receive a refund.”

The seller then says, “Right I’ll be coming to your house to get my parcel so look out for me. See you tomorrow,” before sending a photo of the buyer’s front door. Having opened a case with Vinted, the marketplace’s support team replied: “I am sorry to hear that you’re not satisfied with our proposed solution.

“Please note that we are obliged to follow our established processes in such a situation and, as previously mentioned, we are not able to offer you any other alternative, a refund or compensation. Unfortunately, this has to be our final decision. If you have questions or concerns regarding a different matter, please open a new inquiry and we’ll help you out. Thank you for understanding.”

Depopdrama then explained: “So after the seller sent the photo of the buyer’s house, they were waiting outside the buyer’s house, apparently the buyer wasn’t in and was waiting there for ages. Unfortunately the seller never got their money back.”

Depopdrama’s video has been viewed over a massive one million times, racking up 7,960 likes and 836 comments, at the time of writing. A number of shared their thoughts on the matter, with several siding with the seller. Laura Wilson wrote: “I don’t get this vinted pays you within few days if person doesn’t confirm and postage says it’s received.”

User193847383 said, “Vinted should side with Seller if proof of postage says ‘delivered’,” while J commented, “Vnted need to improve there customer service! they always side with the wrong person.”

JustSam suggested: “Why didn't they send it through Special Delivery. It only costs £10 and if the item ‘Goes Missing’ then you're insured with the Post Office.” User1659140895399 said: “Vinted is a great concept.... However, it's terrible when things go wrong. Buyers have to pay a fee for protection, but in reality there is no protection for either side when things go wrong.”

Some people expressed they’ve even been put off selling their own items on Vinted because of the disputes. Clare Umney wrote: “Vinted need to change their policies. It’s not fair on sellers to wait for buyers to confirm delivery, especially is seller has proof of delivery. It’s why I won’t sell on vinted.”

Vinted explained that once an order has been completed, the seller will receive their money within two days. When an order’s status changes to “delivered”, there are a few more steps until it updates to “completed”, which is when the seller will get paid.

Once the order status changes to “delivered”, the buyer has a two-day order confirmation period to confirm they’ve received the order and check that it meets its description. A buyer will either confirm that ‘everything is okay’ or report an issue. The latter option will suspend the order and request a refund.

Vinted noted that if a buyer doesn’t press either option and the time limit expires, the order will be completed automatically. Once the order is completed, the payment will change from “Pending” to “Available balance” in the seller’s balance.

The online marketplace said that if the buyer suspends an order, Vinted will keep payment on hold until the issue is resolved. In cases when the order can’t be completed successfully, Vinted said it will help you to get the item back or ensure you receive compensation (except when a seller is liable for the issue).