Vestiaire Collective experiences?

[Annie J]

Just checked several of my “regular sellers” who all had the “recommended seller” status and a score of 98% and 100% -just like I had-: Everybody is now only an “individual seller” and no longer “recommended” and all percentages have disappeared...
I think it’s a rather worrying situation: I’d rather not buy from sellers who have sold a lot, but do not have the “trusted seller” status, because I sense something must be wrong...
Hopefully it’s only a computer glitch....

Hi @Romar, yes, I’ve sold over 150 items and have a 100% QC rate and my recommended flag/symbol has disappeared along with everyone else’s (one item out of all those was picked up as having an almost invisible minor internal non-load-bearing single stitch issue but the buyer still accepted it anyway because she could see it was nothing, therefore no reduction to my 100% compliance rate). That matters to me too. I agree, high sales number/no recommended status makes me wary of buying from a private seller (and therefore people wary of buying from me if they think I’m not recommended at the moment). I’m not so worried with a professional because you can return anyway.

They’ve made a lot of improvements to the system lately so I imagine it’s another part of that: lower commission/lowered prices, paying sellers quicker, ironed out some new listings display issues, better editorials, I also noticed they are sending reminders to ship via the app earlier and more frequently. I’m hoping that one’s a prelude to making the seller shipping window shorter; everybody hates that 30-day thing, even customer service have mentioned it to me, it clogs things up and they don’t like having to defend a slow seller to an annoyed buyer, when the seller’s obviously vanished or is stringing it out to see if a higher price can be got elsewhere before the late deadline.

I wouldn’t imagine they will remove the recommended status because it works for them as well as for buyers and attracts good sellers. I sell more than I buy, but it certainly makes a difference to my choice when I do buy. Maybe they’re going to make it more accurate or clear. I’m thinking about all the speculation in this thread about what the status means and how you get it! Part of the status depends on replying to messages quickly, and sometimes when I’ve been browsing I’ve noticed people who do reply, but reply really unhelpfully or even quite objectionably, which put me off buying from them, but not everyone will have looked hard enough to notice that, so I wondered if they might start monitoring what is in the messages a bit better, as that’s a bit of a loophole. I just hope they’re not going to make us all start from scratch with the status in order to weed out recently inactive sellers who had the status from years ago, or anyone else who somehow had it but shouldn’t have it any more! I’ve been holding back on listing a few high value items and I want my status and percentage there to help me sell them.

I hope they prove me right about it being a stage in a change. I might leave it a few days then I’ll check with them if it doesn’t come back or hasn’t been replaced with something new. If anyone here finds out maybe they could post it? My guess is it’s not a glitch; I couldn’t sign into the app or the website for an hour or two the other night and when that has happened before they have come back with some change, so it must have been to do with installing the new software, and the IT probably isn’t possible to change in one go. The status didn’t disappear in one go; it went first on the desktop site, then on the iPad app, then on the iPhone app, which makes me think it’s probably another staged change. The other ‘glitches’ recently did get sorted out.

I might wait till it’s clear before making new listings as I don’t want to miss out on the advantage of my status while new items are near the top. Though I’ve continued to make sales this weekend anyway so at least people are still buying.

 

[Gabs007]

I think at the moment the inmates have taken over the asylum, I keep getting some crazy person posting on a Burberry trenchcoat that she is willing to offer me 35 Euros, I first replied that I am not taking offers, which she can see because the offers function is switched off, because I am listing it already cheap, but she is persistent. I told her about 3 times "no thank you" but she continues. Why do they think somebody does switch off offers?

 

[Gabs007]

Hi @Romar,

I might wait till it’s clear before making new listings as I don’t want to miss out on the advantage of my status while new items are near the top. Though I’ve continued to make sales this weekend anyway so at least people are still buying.

The trusted seller thing never bothered me at all when I bought, I pay with a CC, if they don't send I get the refund, if I get an item that slipped through, I can raise it with my credit card company... Maybe they got rid of it for good? Because it really doesn't serve much purpose anyway

 

[Romar]

The trusted seller thing never bothered me at all when I bought, I pay with a CC, if they don't send I get the refund, if I get an item that slipped through, I can raise it with my credit card company... Maybe they got rid of it for good? Because it really doesn't serve much purpose anyway

 

[Romar]

@Gabs007: I don’t entirely agree with you. To me it matters if a seller has a trusted status.
And yes: I received a few -super-fakes from VC: all bought from non-trusted sellers. In all but one case VC reimbursed my money; however: all items I sent back for a second inspection and which were declared as “pas confirmé” at the second QC were put on sale again as “ready to ship”.
That made me decide only to buy from a “recommended seller” with high percentage score.
And indeed: I always receive answers quickly and have not been sold a non-authentic item ever since.
I always do my homework very carefully before I buy and if the seller does not respond within appr. 12 hours, I back off.
Having said so: The notifications of comments to my e-mail now only appear almost one day after they have been posted by the seller. Suppose that that is another glitch?
Also: I read in an earlier thread that VC only confirms receipt of an item 3 till 4 days after it has indeed been received.
I usually ask the seller for the track&tracenumber and I could see that it had been received, but no confirmation from VC till appr. 4 days later..... Happened 3 times in the last month or so.
So: All in all, in my opinon things are not improving with the new system.
Fingers crossed that it will only be temporarily.

 

[Annie J]

The trusted seller thing never bothered me at all when I bought, I pay with a CC, if they don't send I get the refund, if I get an item that slipped through, I can raise it with my credit card company... Maybe they got rid of it for good? Because it really doesn't serve much purpose anyway

I agree with you, @Romar , I like the recommended status. When I’m buying it’s another layer of reassurance on top of QC and any credit card or PayPal protection, and as the status includes that the seller is quick to ship it gives me some indication that I won’t be waiting for ages. That might matter to me or another buyer because I or they might want to make an alternative purchase if the original one never shows up, but will want to avoid the situation of ending up with two of the same and having to resell one. Recommended status can’t guarantee that the seller won’t depart from their norm next time and take longer to ship, but there’s a bit more chance of the buyer avoiding the annoyance. If they reduce the shipping window, though, this bit would become less relevant.

I also know I’ll get my money back one way or the other in the event that something not as described did slip through (though it’s never happened to me), as you say @Gabs007 , but nobody really wants the hassle of a credit card or PayPal dispute so I’d rather have had another chance to avoid that situation from the beginning.

When I’m selling it’s positive payback for being a fair and honest seller and makes people more likely to buy my items than those of a non-recommended seller. So I hope that they put it back, or something like it. We’re possibly all getting ahead of ourselves anyway, it’s only been a day or two so far and those IT changes take a little time to implement.

Maybe they will purge the bad or inactive sellers from there site completely. That would be useful but it still wouldn’t cover every base because it’s difficult to stop people setting up a new account with a different ID. A really dishonest seller wouldn’t easily be able to get recommended status doing that because they’d have to start over every time they got closed down for selling something dodgy or shipping slowly. So although it’s a bit rough on good sellers who just haven’t sold much yet (and is a reason I would never say never about buying from a non-recommended seller with a low sales count), it does give the recommended status some positive meaning. Probably tying each seller account to a verified bank account could help stop some of that, but that would be unwelcome to some like me, because I don’t really want my bank details handled by a non-financial institution, regardless of how easily that information is available from a cheque or similar. They also have additional information such as my postal address which a cheque wouldn’t give. It’s the jigsaw identification thing, and I’ve had identity theft happen more than once already despite how careful I am. I avoid direct debit forms whenever I can, too. The less information out there, the safer my money. Too many companies who stored my information have already had data breaches.

Yes, the delay between tracking showing delivery to Vestiaire Collective and the acknowledgement by them of receipt from sellers is a new thing and I presume it’s because they’ve had increased sale volume since the commission/price changes. I hope it’s temporary because it can make both seller and buyer worry. Items I’ve sent this week have been acknowledged and passed QC much quicker, though, almost back to normal, so maybe they’re starting to catch up.

 

[Gabs007]

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I agree with you, @Romar , I like the recommended status. When I’m buying it’s another layer of reassurance on top of QC and any credit card or PayPal protection, and as the status includes that the seller is quick to ship it gives me some indication that I won’t be waiting for ages. That might matter to me or another buyer because I or they might want to make an alternative purchase if the original one never shows up, but will want to avoid the situation of ending up with two of the same and having to resell one. Recommended status can’t guarantee that the seller won’t depart from their norm next time and take longer to ship, but there’s a bit more chance of the buyer avoiding the annoyance. If they reduce the shipping window, though, this bit would become less relevant.

I also know I’ll get my money back one way or the other in the event that something not as described did slip through (though it’s never happened to me), as you say @Gabs007 , but nobody really wants the hassle of a credit card or PayPal dispute so I’d rather have had another chance to avoid that situation from the beginning.

When I’m selling it’s positive payback for being a fair and honest seller and makes people more likely to buy my items than those of a non-recommended seller. So I hope that they put it back, or something like it. We’re possibly all getting ahead of ourselves anyway, it’s only been a day or two so far and those IT changes take a little time to implement.

Maybe they will purge the bad or inactive sellers from there site completely. That would be useful but it still wouldn’t cover every base because it’s difficult to stop people setting up a new account with a different ID. A really dishonest seller wouldn’t easily be able to get recommended status doing that because they’d have to start over every time they got closed down for selling something dodgy or shipping slowly. So although it’s a bit rough on good sellers who just haven’t sold much yet (and is a reason I would never say never about buying from a non-recommended seller with a low sales count), it does give the recommended status some positive meaning. Probably tying each seller account to a verified bank account could help stop some of that, but that would be unwelcome to some like me, because I don’t really want my bank details handled by a non-financial institution, regardless of how easily that information is available from a cheque or similar. They also have additional information such as my postal address which a cheque wouldn’t give. It’s the jigsaw identification thing, and I’ve had identity theft happen more than once already despite how careful I am. I avoid direct debit forms whenever I can, too. The less information out there, the safer my money. Too many companies who stored my information have already had data breaches.

Yes, the delay between tracking showing delivery to Vestiaire Collective and the acknowledgement by them of receipt from sellers is a new thing and I presume it’s because they’ve had increased sale volume since the commission/price changes. I hope it’s temporary because it can make both seller and buyer worry. Items I’ve sent this week have been acknowledged and passed QC much quicker, though, almost back to normal, so maybe they’re starting to catch up.

Tbh the best experiences I made on there when buying where new sellers without the trusted seller status, they were the fastest to ship and the items were in really tip top condition, I often think that maybe the trusted sellers have become a bit too secure? As for slipping through, that makes little difference if it is from a trusted seller or a somebody who is not a trusted seller. Having said that, that is why I like buying on Joli a lot, if you send a fake item, they will report it, you have to give them documentation of who you are and a bank account, so it is not quite that easy to just start a new account. As a buyer that is added security for me, because I don't think anybody is risking a law suit from the manufacturer and a hefty ding from the French authorities (they are quite sharp when it comes to fakes), which then will find it's way on your record, because at the moment the UK is still part of the EU. Somebody complained (I think it was you) that they want too much information, as I said, I like that they do want that much information, it makes it much more unlikely that people even try to sell fakes.

As for the hassle, well, since I only use the disposable income for shopping fashion, it really isn't that big a deal to ring up my CC company and say "Look, I got sent a fake, I want this payment disputed" only had to do it once and it really was not much hassle, 6 weeks later I had the money back.

 

[Annie J]

Tbh the best experiences I made on there when buying where new sellers without the trusted seller status, they were the fastest to ship and the items were in really tip top condition, I often think that maybe the trusted sellers have become a bit too secure? As for slipping through, that makes little difference if it is from a trusted seller or a somebody who is not a trusted seller.

No it doesn’t make a difference to the odd thing slipping through, like I said, it’s just another layer of reassurance that my purchase is more likely to be hassle free. I wouldn’t generalise that trusted sellers “have become a bit too secure”, I have had only good experiences with trusted sellers, and we’ve seen in this forum that some people have lost their trusted status, which is rotten for them, but reassuring for the rest of us that the status stays up to date as long as the seller is still active. I have also had good experiences with non-recommended sellers, but my only few ‘bad’ (i.e. less than entirely smooth) experiences were with non-recommended ones (Vestiaire sorted out the issues). I like having the status so people can see what percentage of my quite high number of sales has been compliant and that I’m quick to ship: it probably increases and speeds up my sales.

The whole thing’s pretty academic anyway, I hope they bring it back or something like it, but we can debate it here till the cows come home and it won’t make any difference because we are not running Vestiaire Collective, lol!

. Somebody complained (I think it was you) that they want too much information, as I said, I like that they do want that much information, it makes it much more unlikely that people even try to sell fakes.

As for the hassle, well, since I only use the disposable income for shopping fashion, it really isn't that big a deal to ring up my CC company and say "Look, I got sent a fake, I want this payment disputed" only had to do it once and it really was not much hassle, 6 weeks later I had the money back.

No, I didn’t “complain” that Joli Closet wanted too much information, I was comparing the options since we were chatting about it, and I said I prefer to use a PayPal option, and Vestiaire Collective offers both but Joli Closet only currently offers the bank payment. I don’t consider the tie to a bank account gives the shopper much additional protection, bearing in mind PayPal has to be tied to a validated bank account anyway - I would just rather take my chances with PayPal having the info because they are a regulated financial services provider, than with a company like Joli Closet or Vestiaire Collective who may have less expertise. In order to hold this information they too will have to comply with financial services requirements, but there’s more scope for error by adding yet another name to the list of people who hold my information and them not being expert in that area. But this is a personal choice; it’s not a complaint. I simply offered the observation actually that tying seller accounts to bank accounts could be another protection against bad sellers setting up multiple accounts (though people can pretty easily set up multiple bank accounts in different names anyway, or at least it’s not unheard of, especially when it comes to fraudsters), but I also mentioned that such multiple seller accounts might be of limited use to them as long as the recommended seller status can’t be repeatedly earned after just one or two sales which didn’t even meet QC. (Here’s a thought: I wonder if any of these companies check IP addresses for multiple accounts? That would go some distance towards avoiding any fraudsters, I suppose!)

I would find starting a CC dispute a hassle! I’m spending quite enough time already just posting on this forum and I really must stop now I’m over my convalescence and have a lot less dead time, lol!!

 

[aristomeow]

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[Gabs007]

I would find starting a CC dispute a hassle! I’m spending quite enough time already just posting on this forum and I really must stop now I’m over my convalescence and have a lot less dead time, lol!!

Well, if a call to your bank is too much hassle, I had to do it once and it was remarkably hassle free, called the bank, explained I got a fake, they asked me to send them an email explaining how I know and pictures, that was it.

 

[Gigi1]

Ok so update on my purchase. My Chanel brooch arrived.Besutiful! It took little bit longer than usual to receive, but not too long. Another happy purchase from VC.

 

[Annie J]

Well, if a call to your bank is too much hassle, I had to do it once and it was remarkably hassle free, called the bank, explained I got a fake, they asked me to send them an email explaining how I know and pictures, that was it.

It’s the endless being put on hold by bank/CC and being passed from one call handler to another ... definitely worth avoiding in my opinion! Maybe your bank doesn’t do that as much as the ones I use do! The more layers of reassurance in the buying process I can find to ensure things don’t reach the point of needing to bother with all that, the better. One reason I would never buy or sell without a QC middleman, and any extra bits of help like ‘recommended seller’, so much the better. The status hasn’t reappeared yet but some of the IT changes have taken a couple of weeks to get through the pipeline before, so I’m still hoping/expecting it to reappear in some form; I can’t see why they would abandon it.

Meantime I’m utterly fed up with the Post Office; I shipped some items to Vestiaire last Friday, had receipts, but it was days before the Parcel Force tracking updated to show Parcel Force even had them, and they’re still in transit, it’s nothing to do with Vestiaire, I can see it. I just so much prefer the DHL service, but these items were under the threshold for that. I get that it’s disproportionately expensive to offer DHL collection for lower cost items.

 

[Annie J]

Ok so update on my purchase. My Chanel brooch arrived.Besutiful! It took little bit longer than usual to receive, but not too long. Another happy purchase from VC.

Nice to know you’re pleased with your brooch! I do trust Vestiaire Collective but buying anything pre-owned still has me holding my breath regardless! I have an order arriving today and am crossing my fingers for a good purchase. I’ve really no reason to suppose it won’t be, though; the only problem I ever had was the loss of a detachable part of an item at QC, but they did sort it out.

Where are you located? I’m not surprised it took a bit longer than usual if they’ve got high volume, but more particularly because I shipped some sales at the Post Office in the UK last Friday and they took ages to get moving, according to the tracking. They still haven’t been delivered to Paris, according to the Parcel Force tracking.

 

[Gabs007]

It’s the endless being put on hold by bank/CC and being passed from one call handler to another ... definitely worth avoiding in my opinion! Maybe your bank doesn’t do that as much as the ones I use do! The more layers of reassurance in the buying process I can find to ensure things don’t reach the point of needing to bother with all that, the better. One reason I would never buy or sell without a QC middleman, and any extra bits of help like ‘recommended seller’, so much the better. The status hasn’t reappeared yet but some of the IT changes have taken a couple of weeks to get through the pipeline before, so I’m still hoping/expecting it to reappear in some form; I can’t see why they would abandon it.

Meantime I’m utterly fed up with the Post Office; I shipped some items to Vestiaire last Friday, had receipts, but it was days before the Parcel Force tracking updated to show Parcel Force even had them, and they’re still in transit, it’s nothing to do with Vestiaire, I can see it. I just so much prefer the DHL service, but these items were under the threshold for that. I get that it’s disproportionately expensive to offer DHL collection for lower cost items.

Nope, never got that with my bank, it took maybe 10 minutes to file the claim on the phone, that included security question, which transaction it was and the reason why I want to dispute it, then the eMail which took me another 10 minutes.

ParcelForce are a pain, I sometimes get the confirmation that the item has been received while it still looks as if it is still in transfer...

I'm currently dropping the prices of a lot of items, since up to 150 they charge the flat rate of 15 for selling, you get more if you sell for 150 than for 180...

 

[Annie J]

I'm currently dropping the prices of a lot of items, since up to 150 they charge the flat rate of 15 for selling, you get more if you sell for 150 than for 180...

I noticed that too.

I think you’re in UK like me but are you selling in euros? Because the fixed fee in UK is £13 up to £130 (big improvement as the old commission made lower cost items hardly worth selling). So the bracket in which it would be better to price at £130 is £131 - £156 (£98.25 - £117 earnings).

Above £156 the earnings start to increase again but it would seem worth pricing lower even above that for quicker sales with barely lower earnings. I guess it depends on your approach and whether you are selling in quantity. I don’t have much on right now, it mostly sold recently.

ETA: I assumed they’d done this to encourage lower pricing/higher sales in that bracket.