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Second-hand selling has become commonplace across Europe
On the way to work, I stop at my local corner shop, scan a QR code and hand over a parcel in obviously reused packaging. Inside is a jumper I haven’t worn in two years. Judging by the cupboard full of similar parcels behind the counter, I am one of many stopping by that day.
Indeed, a similar scene is becoming more common in corner shops, supermarkets and at parcel lockers. Founded in Lithuania in 2008, Vinted has become the go-to place to buy and sell second-hand fashion across Europe.
Many, like me, start by buying and selling kids’ clothes, then move on to selling the designer handbag that has been gathering dust at the back of the cupboard or a board game that nobody plays.
When the parcel reaches its new owner, they confirm that everything is in order and I get paid – money that I can move to my bank account.
Two-sided marketplace gains scale
It is this two-sided nature of its marketplace that makes Vinted such a successful business. Most users both buy and sell: around two-thirds of sellers are buyers, and more than half of buyers also sell on the platform.
Vinted wraps all this in a sleek, easy-to-use app. On your next commute, note how many people have the app open on their phones, scrolling through the feed of suggested items.
The company now operates in over 25 countries having recently expanded from Europe to the US, starting with a pilot in New York.
Vinted now has a well-rehearsed playbook for entering new markets. In the US, it started by linking its US users to listings in the UK, giving new users immediate access to a selection of items, and to ready buyers. In the case of the US, this link will be removed once the US marketplace reaches critical mass.
But in many European countries, Vinted has managed to reduce shipping cost to such an extent that users can transact across borders – creating more liquid markets. And that’s why my sister’s children in Prague run around in jackets from Poland and Slovakia as well.
Beyond fashion: expanding into new categories
Beyond geographical expansion, what is next for the company? It is growing strongly even in its largest markets like the UK, where close to a third of the adult population is on Vinted.
Having started in fashion, Vinted is having success in other categories. First came a move toward higher-value, designer fashion. Then came electronics, books, toys and homeware, anything from video games and musical instruments to a bundle of cables you found at the back of a drawer.
While fashion still dominates, the share of non-fashion categories is growing rapidly. If rival secondary marketplaces are a good comparison, there is significant scope for Vinted’s share of non-fashion transactions to grow.
The Vinted flywheel
One factor behind Vinted's success to date is that it can facilitate even smaller orders, a simple t-shirt or those long-forgotten cables, profitably. The company achieved this thanks to its focus on significant scale and taking greater control over shipping and, more recently, payments rather than relying entirely on third-party providers.
Shipping costs are a big focus. That’s because for small orders, they can be a large part of the total spend. If your budget is €10, shipping can eat up a third of it. Small changes in the shipping costs can therefore have a significant impact on total spend – and therefore on transaction volumes.
How does it achieve scale? It focuses on convenience for sellers. Vinted makes it straightforward to upload a new item and sell as quickly as possible and for free. The buyer pays for shipping and the platform-related fees.
During a recent meeting, Vinted’s chief financial officer (CFO), Maurizio D’Arrigo, told us that the data shows that the more items there are on Vinted, the more choice there is for buyers, helping newly listed items sell faster. A fast sale in turn motivates sellers to upload more items, making the marketplace more liquid.
On the other hand, a broader ‘inventory’ makes the marketplace more useful to buyers. They are likely to find what they want in the right size, encouraging them back to Vinted for future purchases.
And finally, growing the number of transactions is also driving the overall cost down - another example of a business model that gets better as it gets bigger.
All this underscores the company’s data-driven decision-making, testing ideas before rolling them out more widely. A line from chief executive Thomas Plantenga illustrates this, which Maurizio quoted during the meeting, “Don’t tell me what you think, tell me what the data says”. Vinted is disciplined about where it invests money, rigorously testing new markets, features and business ideas before committing fully.
Because it’s cheap, reliable and convenient
Interestingly, throughout the whole meeting, Maurizio never mentioned environmental, social and governance (ESG) or sustainability as the main reason behind the company’s success. In his own words, people use Vinted because it is cheap, reliable and convenient..
Their main motivation for using Vinted seems to be financial: users love making money through selling and saving money through buying.
And the company continues investing to make the platform even more affordable, reliable and convenient, in line with its mission to “make second-hand the first choice”.
Risk factors
The views expressed should not be considered as advice or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a particular investment. They reflect opinion and should not be taken as statements of fact nor should any reliance be placed on them when making investment decisions.
This communication was produced and approved in June 2026 and has not been updated subsequently. It represents views held at the time of writing and may not reflect current thinking.
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