This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I make a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Disclosure here.
I never thought I would make much money selling my clutter. Then I looked at my Vinted account, and I saw this: over £1,500 just from selling random items, and clothes—just a lot of my clutter.
But it took a bit of time for me to realise what works and what doesn’t when it comes to selling on Vinted.
When I first started selling, I wasn’t sure which platform to choose. To be completely honest, I chose Vinted randomly.
One of the things that attracted me to it is that the seller pays no fees or postage. The price that you put on your items is the price that you receive. It just makes it really easy from a seller’s perspective.
And once I started using the platform, I realised it’s actually so easy to use and so convenient. It doesn’t take as much time as I thought it would.
So, if you want to go from £0 to earning hundreds of pounds or more by selling the stuff you no longer use or need…
Here are my best tips on how to sell your clutter on Vinted.
10 Tips to Sell Your Clutter on Vinted
Keep reading below or watch the video:
1. Clear clean background
If you’re trying to sell your items on Vinted and want them to go a bit faster, take pictures with a clear, clean background. Of course, you don’t have to clean your entire house before you do this! Just finding a corner that’s not very cluttered is enough.
You don’t even necessarily need a white background, just a clear one. It could be a wall, a clean floor, a table, or any surface like that. An item that has no clutter around it really stands out in the pictures. And this makes it more likely to sell.
I’ve found this really helpful because when someone goes through your wardrobe on Vinted, they can see everything laid out beautifully. There’s a bit of sales psychology here.
Over the past few years of learning about marketing and business to grow my own online business, I’ve picked up a few tricks like this. Packaging and presentation are important, whether you sell on Vinted or own a shop in town. When people come into your shop, or when they look at your Vinted wardrobe, the presentation makes a big difference.
If they like what they see, and it’s presented beautifully, there’s a much higher chance of them buying from you rather than from the next seller.
2. Item flat, smooth
My second tip is to make sure the item itself is smoothed out and laid out nicely.
If I’m laying an item on the floor, I always try to smooth out the fabric and get most of the wrinkles out if needed.
You could also hang it on a hanger and pop it on a nail on your wall. Sometimes I even take a picture down from the wall just to hang a piece of clothing for Vinted pictures. Again, this really helps with the presentation of the product.
Need help to decide which items to declutter and sell? Read here the 15 things your wardrobe doesn’t need.
3. Good lighting
This doesn’t mean you need professional lighting at all. It’s actually pretty simple to have good lighting in your pictures—it’s all about finding natural light.
I’ve seen a few items listed on Vinted where the seller was holding the item against the window. When the item you photograph has the light behind it, it ends up being almost blacked out in the photo. All of the texture and colour disappear, and it’s hard to see the item properly.
There’s such a simple solution to this! Just turn the item so that it faces the other way, allowing the light to hit it. This will bring out all the texture and beautiful colours, making for a much nicer picture.
Just use your windows, and take your items as close to them as possible to get the best lighting. It makes a big difference in how your items appear.
So, if you’ve got good lighting and a clear background, you’re already making the item look really appealing to potential buyers.
4. No hands in the picture
One thing I found really interesting is to avoid having your hands in the pictures of your listing.
For example, instead of holding the hanger, try propping it on something. Instead of using your hand to show the label, smooth it out. Just make the label visible without your hand.
This seems to be a psychological thing that might put some people off. I’m not saying you won’t sell the item if your hands are in the picture. It might just give you a higher chance if they’re not.
That said, I do think it can sometimes help to take a picture of yourself wearing the item. You can always crop out your head if you don’t want that in the picture. But I do think it gives people a clear idea of what the item might look like on them.
5. Price realistically
This really depends on the item—the initial price, how much it’s been worn, and its current condition. All of these factor into the price.
As a general rule, I usually price my items at about half of what I initially spent on them, but again, it depends on several factors. If the item is brand new, it might be worth more.
I also recommend setting the price just a bit higher than what you’d like to get.
For example, if you paid £50 for an item and you’re hoping to get around £20-£25 back, price it at around £30—assuming it’s in good condition and hasn’t been worn much.
Setting the price a bit higher allows room for offers, and there’s a bit of marketing psychology here as well. If someone makes you an offer and you accept, they’re very likely to go through with the purchase because they feel like they’re getting a bargain.
This is just a little trick you can use—price it a bit higher and accept offers, and you can always…
6. Lower the price if needed
I find that if I listed an item and two weeks later it barely got any likes or offers, that’s my cue. Either not a lot of people are interested in the item (which is fair enough), or maybe I priced it too high. In that case, I’ll lower the price and see if that helps. It’s better to sell it, even at a lower price, than to keep it in my closet and never wear it.
I think this can be tricky because we often get hung up on the price we initially paid for the item—I used to do this too. But I realised that the money is already gone, and I’m not going to fully get it back by selling the item. Any money I get back is more like a cherry on top—I get a bit of money back while decluttering my closet.
This is why I tend to accept almost all offers. My goal is to declutter the item and make sure it ends up with someone who will appreciate it—that’s about it. I don’t get too hung up on the price. If it’s something high-priced, I might hold on a bit longer or stick to the price. But I find that if I do that for too long, I’ll just end up not selling the item. And then, in two months, I’ll donate it for free anyway.
7. Is it the right season?
Ask yourself this question. Because if I’m selling my kids’ Halloween costume in January, nobody’s going to buy it, because people usually only buy that kind of item around Halloween. The same goes for selling winter coats in July—there’s not much demand.
You can choose to donate these items. But if you want to sell them, keep them in a special box or bin until the right season comes around. Then, when the time is right, list them for sale. This way, you’ll have a much higher chance of finding a buyer.
I will say, though, I wouldn’t hold on to a whole lot of off-season items. That can become overwhelming, and it’ll just lead to more clutter in your home. So just try to find a good balance.
8. Have a time frame
I give myself a time frame—usually about two to three weeks. In that time, if something hasn’t sold, I might lower the price, as I mentioned before, to see if it helps. If it still doesn’t sell, I’ll probably donate it.
There’s no point in keeping clutter if I’ve already decided I don’t need it. Once I’ve made the decision to sell something, that’s it—for me, it’s clutter. I’m not wearing or using it, so there’s no reason to let it take up space in my home.
If you do have the storage space and want to hold on to items longer to sell, of course, you can do that. For me, if I don’t give myself a time frame, I end up holding onto things I don’t really need. So giving myself a time frame is a personal preference.
9. Make postage easy for yourself
As a seller, you can choose what type of postage you want to offer—whether it’s InPost, Yodel, EVRi, Royal Mail, or something else. It’s all about what’s convenient for you.
For me, I mainly use InPost, and I think I also have EVRi available because I can drop those off at InPost lockers as well. I only deliver at my InPost locker because it’s very close to me—super convenient. When I go out to the shop, I walk past it anyway, so I might as well deliver a parcel while I’m at it.
Plus, with so many InPost lockers in so many places now, I don’t have to go to a post office and wait in line to send my parcel. It’s just so easy to go to the locker and scan the label. Sometimes I don’t even have to print it; I can just use a digital label on my phone. This convenience makes a big difference for me.
I recommend checking out which shipping options are most convenient for you and closest to your area. If you can make this process easier, you’re much more likely to sell the items you no longer use or need. Listing and selling items won’t feel like a big inconvenience.
Also, if you can deliver your parcels as soon as possible, that’s always good. Most buyers always appreciate that and might leave a good review. People do leave reviews based on the kind of service you’ve provided. If you receive a lot of good reviews, people are more likely to buy from you.
10. Reuse old packaging
When it comes to sending my parcels, I don’t buy any special bags. I just use what I already have.
I usually have a few parcel bags or other packaging materials from previous orders saved in a basket in a cupboard. So when I sell something, I can just use those. I don’t have to go out and buy a postage bag; it’s just really convenient.
Again, the easier you can make this process, the better it will be for you.
Let me know if you have sold anything on Vinted and how you’re finding it. I’d love to hear about your experience and how you’re getting on with your decluttering in the comments below!