I know what you mean @Annie J its always a little bit of risk buying preowned, but I love some missed pieces from earlier years collections . I do study the sellers well. I have been buying for years from different sites and really never had a real problem. I do mostly buy in very good condition, practically new or NWT only. I am in South Florida. But VC shipped fast . This time was the seller who didn’t ship right away. In the past orders, from VC, the sellers were shipping right away, within a day or two. But all is good. I will continue to shop on VC, especially once I start spending more time in Europe
Vestiaire Collective experiences?
- Thread starter Kopisusu
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I am moving away as soon as possible hence GBP are no use to me anyway, plus I want a more stable currency, if I would sell in GBP I would only have to exchange the money at a later date, making even more of a loss as the Pound seems to drop with regularity.
The VC website does start to really annoy me, you drop the price of items and it doesn't register or show
Ah ok so those numbers you have are the rough equivalent in euros as the pounds I had.
I think the price changes show the next time the app/website refreshes, it can take a few minutes sometimes to appear properly. It’s like when you withdraw an item, doesn’t instantly look as if it’s been taken off, but if you try to take it off again, or change the price on it or similar, it says ‘item not found’ or something like that, so the change has been registered but doesn’t immediately appear.
My item arrived and I’m actually really pleased with it, it’s an absolute bargain! As I buy a lot less often than I sell, I still always worry, though it’s always been fine!
To update on my saga with Vestiaire...
Up until now, I have purchased 3 items from VC (Chanel handbag, Christian Louboutin boots and Valentino boots). Two of them arrived quickly and were as described, so I was happy.
My coveted Chanel handbag that I purchased from the Russian seller arrived to the Vestiaire HQ on the 29th day, so it went through inspection and was sent to me.
The purse was, while authentic, significantly not as described. The listing stated that aside from missing 4-5 "cc"s from the bag, the handbag was in otherwise perfect condition (seller's words). (I used to own this same handbag before and understood how the "cc" can fall off with gentle wear, so I was OK with 4-5 cc's missing).
In reality, it was missing 9 ccs, the stitching that connects the two flaps is completely missing from the back of the bag on both sides (there are two holes in the back of the bag!) and there were deep dents/marks in the calfskin. The bottom of the purse had a deep crease and was bottoming out.
I was a little stunned that the discrepancies between the listing and actual item passed quality control, and emailed them my photos. After some back and forth, Vestiaire informed me that my only recourse is to relist the bag on Vestiaire.
Sad news, but I expected this from all that I've read online.
I’m really sorry to hear that, @bisousx, that’s very disappointing. I imagine they are justifying it on the general condition of the bag according with the specific ‘condition’ the seller selected? I always hate to rely on that because it’s subjective, but if there are specifically more ‘CC’s missing than the seller specified, you should have your money back, and if I were you I would definitely pursue that point further with them, trying to get management involved. This is not fair if the bag definitely doesn’t match the description even if it matches the ‘condition’ criteria. Best of luck, it’s very annoying, and I hope you can get a good outcome. I would have thought there is also the possibility of getting a refund via your credit card or PayPal as well?
ETA when I had my one similar situation, they offered me alternatives of either a return/refund, within 10 days or 2 weeks, can’t remember which now, or a reduction and a site credit. I chose to go with the latter. Mine was obviously missing an integral part (lost in QC) so it was clear.
Fingers crossed for you, @bisousx. I think the difficulty can sometimes come when Vestiaire applies the stated criteria that they state for condition, if it fights with info the seller wrote in the description. I tend to ask for extra photos to pin it down, and it’s why I post so many photos when I’m selling, so nothing can be unexpected for the buyer even when the item meets the general condition criteria. But if she said 4-5 parts missing in the description, that ought to apply. If it overall does meet the criteria for the general condition declared (very good, good or fair), I expect they’ll stick to that basis for passing it, but I would definitely pursue for a reduction based on the extra missing pieces. I worry so much buying pre-owned, despite knowing how careful I am when I sell. I bought something quite expensive last week and was holding my breath that ‘very good’ met my perception of very good, and luckily it did, a few minor loose threads aside. I do hope it goes well and you get an outcome that works for you. I look forward to your update!
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I have a ton of anxiety I’m grappling with and would love some feedback from everyone...
In my naïveté, I pulled the trigger and ordered a Chloe Mini Marcie through Affirm. I heard generally good things about VC through Youtubers (lol) so I didn’t think there would be anything to worry about regarding authentication. However, after I did some research, I realized that I should have reached out to the seller and asked for more reference photos of the bag. I only reached out to them after my purchase. When I asked if the seller had an authentication card or could add pictures of the bag’s unique code, they said they “only had a dust bag” and the alarms went off in my head. I’ve since then sent more questions and they haven’t responded or are purposely ignoring me. To make matters worse, it’s been in transit for three days and I’m still in the “Awaiting Receipt” stage of my order. What does that even mean...?
And is there anything I can do to get a refund if the bag ends up being a fake? Low key having a panic attack.
In my naïveté, I pulled the trigger and ordered a Chloe Mini Marcie through Affirm. I heard generally good things about VC through Youtubers (lol) so I didn’t think there would be anything to worry about regarding authentication. However, after I did some research, I realized that I should have reached out to the seller and asked for more reference photos of the bag. I only reached out to them after my purchase. When I asked if the seller had an authentication card or could add pictures of the bag’s unique code, they said they “only had a dust bag” and the alarms went off in my head. I’ve since then sent more questions and they haven’t responded or are purposely ignoring me. To make matters worse, it’s been in transit for three days and I’m still in the “Awaiting Receipt” stage of my order. What does that even mean...?
And is there anything I can do to get a refund if the bag ends up being a fake? Low key having a panic attack.
I wouldn’t worry yet. Vestiaire has a known issue where comments are not always sent to sellers, so she may not know that you have sent her messages since the first one. It actually happens to me all the time, and I just have to make a schedule to check my listings every couple of days to see if there any new questions. Also, the seller is not able to add more photos after a listing as sold, so that’s why she can’t add photos of the code. If she has misplaced the card that doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily fake, but if she stated in the listing that it included the card you will be able to get a refund because it will not pass quality control. I would suggest that you get it authenticated via photos to ease your mind, but if there is no photo of that serial number I doubt that any service will be able to authenticate it from the current listing. The way you describe for shipping is also not a concern, sometimes it takes quite a while to make it to their quality control office. The only point to stress is before the seller actually ships the bag, but your bag has already been shipped so it will get there sooner rather than later. Good luck!
Hi,
We’re terribly sorry to hear about your experience! It is not fair how they told you to relist the bag instead of getting a refund. It can take months to get rid of an item or you’ll have to sell for really low...
We buy and also sell on VC for many years now. To be honest the standards of their curation team and compliance team have been gravely questioned by us in recent years.
On the curation team: The photos the sellers uploaded, while being extremely low in quality, sometimes somehow get passed by the curation team. It’s also frustrating to ask the seller for clear photos because the person either doesn’t know how, or the new photos aren’t approved for unknown reasons. Therefore, we always need to make triple sure not to bother, no matter how good deal it can be. If you insist to buy such items, you don’t have clear photos to inspect. Asking sellers questions usually don’t get you anywhere. It’s not worth the risk.
On the compliance team: There were many times we receive an item and realized the is not as described. We make sure to include screenshots of photos and descriptions when complaining to the customer service. We have long and frequent experiences dealing with them that 99% of the times we would get our refunds, and that 1% we had to relist the boots we bought. It may sound easy to say, but may we suggest you be really firm, very matter of fact, extremely persistent in pursuing a refund. They want to drag out the negotiations so you will settle for a relist in order to not be bothered anymore with the time spent. Don’t give up, be determined, it is not your fault it’s theirs. It’s not about the money it’s about principles. Don’t take **** from other ppl’s mistakes.
Our other feedbacks: The app and the website have frequent glitches that in a few occasions cost us thousands euros of sales. When we complained, they said they would pass the issues to higher management to deal with. They have this policy of relying within 3 days but we still haven’t heard much from the “higher management” for weeks. We’re also very unsatisfied with its algorithm system under “New In” section. The “we love” items will forever stay on the top no matter many days have passed since the items have first been listed. Many times the same items they love will stay on top of all “new in“, “ready to ship”, and “We love” sections it is frustrating to have to scroll through the same things three times in order to see what really is new. It’s also very unfair to those who listed new items that aren’t “loved” by the curation team but loved by many potential buyers.
With all being said, it seems services of such corporations (VC, REBELLE) all eventually would go downhill, just to see who dies down faster. So if we still need their service perhaps, especially sellers, we will have to pick the one with lower commissions, and more reliable shipping, literally the one making less mistakes. VC definitely wins on those, hence they still have business from us.
As stated before, she might not have seen the comments, as for putting pictures of the authentication code online, a lot of sites actually do not want that because somebody selling a fake bag might just copy that, as for still being in transit after 3 days, totally normal.
How did you pay? If it was by credit card or PayPal, you can simply raise it with them if the item is fake or not as described. Though with PP if you claim fake, you will have to show evidence that it is (ie you will have to have it authenticated)
Seriously, bought quite a few things from there and had one issue that was resolved with a call to my bank and an email with pictures. Why don't you simply contact VC and say you worry about authenticity, then somebody there will mark it for double checking.
The whole thing with cards etc, a lot of people really don't keep them, for example, I tend to toss them into a drawer, from time to time, I clear it out because I think it is just needless rubbish, which now comes back to bite me in the bum because I am getting rid of a ton of stuff due to a move. The things with card, they tend to go for more, which I noticed with a pair of Chanel glasses I bought while traveling, at home decided they didn't suit me, so sold them with the original packing, card, receipt, etc., they were snapped up literally in no time.
The odd item might slip through with VC, but they seem to have massively tightened up security and if something is not real, you can always demand that you get your money back. I seriously doubt somebody would try and sell a fake through a website where the items are manually checked and where they get fined for a fake... That would be the height of all stupidity.
When you buy 2nd hand, it is always a good idea to use a credit card or paypal, so you can raise a claim, I currently have an issue with eBay, bought a new DvF dress that was described as "new with tags" so paid accordingly (cheaper than in the shop but still significantly higher than a used item, 150 or so) and the dress is not new, the hems are ripped, on the pictures the dress is new, the one I got has the tag tied on by hand, marks and significant signs of wear, so I opened a dispute since the seller told me she doesn't do returns and I should get it dry cleaned and fixed
No, you’re not naive at all to shop on Vestiaire Collective. Welcome to the VC community! Good thing about buying on VC is their authentication process is very secure, so an item’s authenticity is never an issue. You can freely and safely shop from them. It’s also a very good cause to buy pre-loved and vintage.
The only issue with them is usually the condition of an item. It’s not a frequent occurrence but it happened to 20% of our purchases the past year. In such a case in the future (we hope you’ll never have to encounter, but knowledge is key!), make sure you’ve seen enough photos before you make a purchase. Ask as many questions as you have before you click buy. Once you’ve purchased and received the bag, inspect if the condition is exactly as described in photos and words. There are always tiny differences an extra scratch, or a small crease, so those are actually acceptable. But if you find fabric snugs on multiple locations, hairballs, running seams, visible stains, huge differences in colors, and deeper scratches, that aren’t seen on photos nor are mentioned, that means the condition isn’t as it is listed, immediately email or call them. We usually take screenshots of the descriptions and photos, collage them side by side with photos of reality, and circle out the differences. Be firm and persistent and very matter of fact. They will suggest you to “relist” but don’t settle for their mistakes. Pursue a refund always.
VC isn’t perfect at all, mistakes do occur and customer service quality do vary, but rest assured quality and authenticity are guaranteed. It’s the safest place to buy preloved luxury brands.
Agree with @Oikasecondhand, you’re not naive to buy there, most of us have very decent experiences on the whole, and there are protections too. That site does a massive amount of business and would have collapsed long ago if every poor review you read was representative of the bulk of transactions! I have had plenty of good purchases and a lot of good sales.
In agreement with just about everything said here by @nicole0612 , @Oikasecondhand and @Gabs007. I also think that some of the annoyances about VC in the past have been addressed by them recently and they’re still tightening things up, with some things in flux, so I do actually hope/expect it’ll continue to improve. @Oikasecondhand’s comments were addressed to a different poster but they’re worth a read in your case too. I’ll put my thoughts down in case it helps but will be repeating a lot already said.
You don’t mention whether you bought from a private or professional seller. If by chance it’s a professional seller you can return for any reason anyway, but if it’s not you should still be ok if the item is a fake.
As others have said, don’t worry too much about the card missing, that’s not particularly a sign of a fake. While I religiously keep authenticity cards of my new bags in the bags forever, many people lose or throw them away. Some brands don’t even have these cards anyway, as I understand it. Céline maybe?? Someone else may know. And it’s true people don’t like to post serial numbers because they can be stolen. My very best purchases with Vestiaire Collective have been bags - from Balenciaga, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi & Prada, and not a single one had the authenticity card. In fact, on one of them, VC contacted me to offer me the chance to refuse the bag because it didn’t have the card at QC, but the seller had not even offered it and I already knew that. Every one of the bags has been genuine, perfect and a good price. If I ever resell them it will have to be without cards, but they are a great deal. I sell much more than I buy, am a careful seller, and haven’t re-sold anything I’ve bought so far because it’s all been good. As you know the advice on this forum is always to authenticate before buying, but like you I’ve got excited and bought immediately so as not to lose the deal, then felt sick with fear that I’ve been foolish afterwards, but happily there was no need to.
Everyone who says a seller can’t upload photos after a sale is right, I’ve tried, and you can’t.
It’s true the seller may not see your messages, partly because there are occasional glitches, but also she may (rudely) have stopped bothering. This is annoying but not in itself a sign anything is wrong. Once I had a seller who was full of helpful chat before I purchased, didn’t answer anything after, eventually didn’t ship at all (guess she sold it for more elsewhere in the meantime), I automatically got my refund at the stated time. Another time, with my loveliest bag from VC, the seller took maximum time to ship, stopped replying to my messages, and I was resigned to the eventual refund, but the bag came in before the deadline in the end and I have it happily in my wardrobe now.
It’s true that the potentially long transit ‘awaiting receipt’ thing is normal. Currently a seller has 4 weeks to get things to VC. I am speculating they will shorten this window sometime soon along with other improvements/changes they’re making because it would help prevent sellers hanging on to see if they can sell for more elsewhere, which is just mean to the buyer (I never do that!!) and I doubt that it suits VC particularly either. But for now, it’s normal and chances are it will turn up soon. I sold a bundle of things over a week ago, shipped them same or next day, and they took over a week to reach Paris - during which time I received several reminders to ship from VC, even though I’d notified them I’d shipped.
If it is a fake, it should not pass QC, but if somehow it nevertheless passes QC because it’s a super convincing one, you will be able to get a refund if you can show why you think it is not genuine. Vestiaire Collective will most likely do this quite readily themselves once you state your case. In the unlikely event both that it is a fake and that they don’t act appropriately, you can get it authenticated and insist on the refund. Paying via CC or PayPal gives you extra protections; you say you paid with Affirm and I don’t know what protections they offer, or whether you do it via Affirm with a CC so might have alternative routes?
Hopefully it will all turn out ok anyway, but if a problem remains, I’ve always had VC sort out any of the minor problems I’ve had (mostly with selling issues about pricing and uploading, only once about a purchase, or twice if you count the seller who never sent my item, but my refund was automatic). My belief is that a refund for an actual fake if it were to make it past QC would be pretty easy to sort out. I doubt you’ll have a problem with that, one way or another, but if you do find yourself with a situation that needs addressing, the advice @Oikasecondhand gave, about being persistent and starting off with a well-argued email with clear pictures, and if need be a report from an accepted authenticator, is very good. I would always email first, then follow up with a phone call to draw their attention to the email just after sending, so they have something to look at with all points clear.
And then this is a general observation I’ve sometimes wanted to make ... I have no doubt from your post that you are a very polite person and this definitely isn’t directed at you ... Some people like to portray VC as scammers, and to say that VC have a non-refund policy in the case of fakes. They’re not, and that is not true. It’s probably all these posts that have made you worry. VC is not completely perfect, and may sometimes have aimed for the route of less hassle, in the past some (not all) CS people have been underpowered or under-empowered and consequently unengaged (they seem to be aiming to root this out now; I’ve spoken to some of them and they sound cheerful about it!), but at times I’ve wondered if there’s something else behind it in some cases. Bad reviews have probably worried you, but it’s probably not necessary. Sometimes I read posts here or on review sites from people who may (though sometimes not) have a fair grievance, but the manner in which they seem to have presented it to VC appears so belligerent, and often oddly inconsistent, that I can imagine it could make CS people feel suspicious and/or less committed to helping, and most of them are French, so if you speak in another language, I guess also that some nuances get lost in translation from time to time. This isn’t to say that they are not obliged to rectify a mistake on their part regardless of how a customer speaks to them, but sometimes I feel I can see why things might not go as smoothly as they always do for me! I suspect also (as @Oikasecondhand observes) that grievances that people perceive VC of handling unsatisfactorily tend to be disputes over the condition of an item, because although there are stated criteria for the condition an item is sold as, it’s inevitably going to be subjective to some degree with pre-owned, mainly used goods. Although items should conform to or exceed both condition class and description - make sure you read the criteria - when the declared condition and the seller’s description seem to clash, there could be a grey area, and I’d be very careful about items like that before purchase, asking for extra photos etc. Then, in such cases, where there’s room for interpretation, people are always going to get CS on board more easily with pleasant persistence than with raging at them. I go for email first, absolute clarity and courtesy, and it’s never failed me yet, though I haven’t had any real problems with my purchases, and so my experience with this is mainly to do with selling issues.
I agree with @Oikasecondhand about the ‘We Love’ items because it’s a bit arbitrarily given to items and I get frustrated that my newly listed items are readily visible for less time if they haven’t got ‘We Love’. But I’m just an individual seller selling from my own wardrobe and I suppose it doesn’t impact me as much, and actually I’ve often sold things without ‘We Love’ quicker than things with it, so I don’t worry too much. And at the moment I’m a little unhappy that ‘recommend seller’ status has disappeared from the site, because I’m a recommended seller with a top QC rate, and (with provisos I’ve posted often before) on the whole I would prefer buying from other recommended sellers, though it’s also perfectly possible to have good experiences with non-recommended sellers. Still hoping it’s to do with all the current changes and will come back.
Good luck with your purchase, @fleurdeliv. I hope it’s all good, and if by any chance it’s not, there are loads of people here ready to help with follow-up.
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