Vestiaire Collective experiences?

[EmilyM111]

@Annie J Thank you. I’ve got this from them as well and also they said the statuses will be rolled out in the app by July (think end of). I’m an expert seller on the desktop.
Not sure how this will work out for me - have only one (but major, Hermes) bag to sell and at this price level people will look particularly at my status and if I understood correctly I’ll lose it soon without sales (sorry at the airport fidgeting for boarding so skimming the posts)

 

[EmilyM111]

I knew my postgraduate studies would get me somewhere one day ...

This is either going to make my husband cry with laughter for joy that I’ve sold a lot or cry with desperation that I might keep on buying new things I shouldn’t because, hey, I may be losing money on it all, but get me, I’m an expert seller ...

I have 3 masters degrees - that what they are used for then (deffo not for making m rich)

 

[Annie J]

@Annie J Thank you. I’ve got this from them as well and also they said the statuses will be rolled out in the app by July (think end of). I’m an expert seller on the desktop.
Not sure how this will work out for me - have only one (but major, Hermes) bag to sell and at this price level people will look particularly at my status and if I understood correctly I’ll lose it soon without sales (sorry at the airport fidgeting for boarding so skimming the posts)

Yes I was thinking about that sort of thing.

At the moment most of my sales are relatively inexpensive, with the odd sprinkling of up to £1000-ish items, and my very high value items like your bag are much fewer and further between because I tend to keep those. As long as buyers know how it’s worked out they can hopefully think in a balanced way about it. Perhaps someone buying a high value Hermès bag is going to look more closely at the criteria and realise that not having the tick or the star doesn’t mean a seller is no good. But I also wonder if going forward, VC might not remove the status too quickly. Or maybe there’s an element I haven’t caught onto yet.

Of course if they can improve their reputation for quality control and authentication, buyers will feel more confident about buying from anybody so it’s less of an issue. I’ve always been comfortable enough that the QC is quite good and I hope it’s getting better. And in the event of it going wrong somehow I would expect them to sort it out. My experience makes me fairly confident anyway and I hope they’re going to improve too.

But it won’t be to VC’s advantage if a seller like you has the one high value item but can’t sell easily because of not having trusted status. They want to have a reputation for offering a good major item like yours, and I would imagine someone selling such a thing isn’t necessarily in the market for volume of sales. So they will be wanting to keep sellers like you happy with the experience too.

 

[Annie J]

I have 3 masters degrees - that what they are used for then (deffo not for making m rich)

LOL! Same here!

 

[EmilyM111]

Yes I was thinking about that sort of thing.

Perhaps someone buying a high value Hermès bag is going to look more closely at the criteria and realise that not having the tick or the star doesn’t mean a seller is no good. But I also wonder if going forward, VC might not remove the status too quickly. Or maybe there’s an element I haven’t caught onto yet.
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Unfortunately I doubt it. Guess the bag is meant to stay with me as there is zero interest despite good pictures (the ugly ones attracted more people). I actually like that bag but there’s too many in life. The only caveat is that if Hermes offers me promised Kelly sellier I will need £ and other consignment in the UK made a very good joke with prices (one was ok but this is the one I bought from and they have 30 day returns so NOPE!!!)

 

[Annie J]

Unfortunately I doubt it. Guess the bag is meant to stay with me as there is zero interest despite good pictures (the ugly ones attracted more people). I actually like that bag but there’s too many in life. The only caveat is that if Hermes offers me promised Kelly sellier I will need £ and other consignment in the UK made a very good joke with prices (one was ok but this is the one I bought from and they have 30 day returns so NOPE!!!)

Frustrating. How long has it been on? Sometimes I have things on forever with no interest, and it just takes one buyer to come along and it’s suddenly sold. If things have been on for a very long time and so have sunk way down the listings, I take them off and resubmit them. This might be a good time to do that if you’ve got the new ‘expert’ showing. Then I’d think about taking it off again and resubmitting it when the new badges make it to the app, maybe, to make best use of a new load of buyers seeing it for the first time. The only difficulty might be that you can’t guarantee they will let you list it for the same price again, though if you email and explain why you’re resubmitting it now I would expect them to be fairly amenable to reason.

 

[Gabs007]

Ah, wow, yes, this is changing! I hadn’t noticed because I mainly use the app, and so far it’s only showing up on the website.

@Gabs007 @Romar @nikka007 @nicole0612 @Polaremil @bisousx and all the other ladies who were thinking about how you know about active sellers etc, unexplained waits and non-communicative sellers (apologies if I missed someone!) ... @Oikasecondhand and @fleurdeliv I expect you’d be interested too.
Maybe they’ve been reading everything here that we’d been discussing about what the recommended seller thing means and how you earn it. It’s all changed, as Gabs has just pointed out. And it also relates to a seller notifying of a sold product not actually being available any more, within 3 or 5 days of a sale, so maybe this is a prelude to reducing the shipping window as well. Screen shots from the new FAQ below.

It seems there are now two grades of recommended seller, “Trusted” and “Expert” and they spell out exactly what each one means. I’ve just looked at the website since you posted, @Gabs007, and discovered that I am now an “Expert Seller”. Currently at least. I suppose it’ll make it through to the app soon. I would always still meet the compliance requirement I hope, but if sales volume dips any time then it looks like the status could drop back to “Trusted” just because of recent lack of volume. “Trusted” sounds ok anyway though. And at least it’s transparent now, and has a bit more meaning. (Proviso with all this is that it’s very useful but still rests on quality control being very reliable. But I generally always thought myself from my experience it was ok most of the time, that mistakes happen sometimes, were usually corrected, sometimes not but I hope/think they’re improving on that).

I think I quite like this, by and large, but I suppose I might be a bit fed up if I sold a lot for a year and was “Expert” then took a six month break and had to start from scratch. I wonder how they’ll manage that. I guess it will make who is totally inactive clearer, and maybe helps make sure that people aren’t resting on their laurels and getting complacent, but there’s nothing untrustworthy about having a break when you have nothing listed. I suppose you’d get it back quite quickly though when resuming selling, given that time span they’ve introduced.

I think I’d feel this set up was reasonable if I were so far not a trusted or ‘expert’ seller because it can be earned fairly quickly as long as buyers are wise to the fact you can buy safely from sellers without a tick or a star. If I were a buyer, knowing what I know, I’d still happily buy from a seller without a badge but probably only if they responded well to me in the chat before purchase.

I think the only change I can see about information shown about a seller’s previous sales is that it now says the total number of sales and the number of those which is recent. And they seem to be specifying three categories of qualifying conditions: conformity, shipping and volume, and they are specifying that there’s a short time limit on letting a buyer know if something they’ve bought is no longer available, with 3 days for “Expert” and 5 days for “Trusted”. Have I missed something else?

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Apparently I am expert seller too, how odd, yet somebody from who I bought before has lost her badge and the items were always fabulous, I guess that was one of the "Got to find a flaw" checkers

 

[Annie J]

Apparently I am expert seller too, how odd, yet somebody from who I bought before has lost her badge and the items were always fabulous, I guess that was one of the "Got to find a flaw" checkers

Well that’s good you got your badge, it might help your sales speed up and at least the rather unfair nude/pink shoes difference of opinion didn’t count enough to stop you getting your well-earned status!

Maybe the person you saw lost theirs hadn’t sold much recently, had delayed shipping or sold one or two things that genuinely didn’t meet QC, despite the things you bought from him/her being good.

I’d probably rather they were over than under cautious with QC, as seller and as buyer.

I guess it’s difficult to fully cover all bases accurately but this new method at least gives buyers something they can assess with clear parameters.

Like I said, it wouldn’t stop me buying from a non-badges seller as long as they responded to me in the chat and bearing in mind QC on top of that. I suppose from VC’s point of view it encourages seller loyalty, and they will increasingly have to compete for sellers if more companies enter the market.

 

[Gabs007]

Well that’s good you got your badge, it might help your sales speed up and at least the rather unfair nude/pink shoes difference of opinion didn’t count enough to stop you getting your well-earned status!

Maybe the person you saw lost theirs hadn’t sold much recently, had delayed shipping or sold one or two things that genuinely didn’t meet QC, despite the things you bought from him/her being good.

I’d probably rather they were over than under cautious with QC, as seller and as buyer.

I guess it’s difficult to fully cover all bases accurately but this new method at least gives buyers something they can assess with clear parameters.

Like I said, it wouldn’t stop me buying from a non-badges seller as long as they responded to me in the chat and bearing in mind QC on top of that. I suppose from VC’s point of view it encourages seller loyalty, and they will increasingly have to compete for sellers if more companies enter the market.

Tbh I think you must have a special mojo with them, I found them frustrating to the point of being idiotic, people agree with you say you are right, however nothing changes because it is another department.

As for the person I bought from, caught up with her on another forum and managed to get the thing I was after, VC did the same thing as they did with my shoes with her several times and tried to get her to agree to a massively reduced sales price.

VC certainly did not a lot to earn my loyality and I do hope more companies enter, I know it is a bit of an act of getting their house in order, but since they charge for that and possibly earn quite well (or else why would they do it) it shold actually be a given

 

[EmilyM111]

Frustrating. How long has it been on? Sometimes I have things on forever with no interest, and it just takes one buyer to come along and it’s suddenly sold. If things have been on for a very long time and so have sunk way down the listings, I take them off and resubmit them. This might be a good time to do that if you’ve got the new ‘expert’ showing. Then I’d think about taking it off again and resubmitting it when the new badges make it to the app, maybe, to make best use of a new load of buyers seeing it for the first time. The only difficulty might be that you can’t guarantee they will let you list it for the same price again, though if you email and explain why you’re resubmitting it now I would expect them to be fairly amenable to reason.

It’s been a month. I’m not that worried, have seen K32 being sold at a good price after 6 months. Think that bag is a steal (as I’m willing to lower the price to a very decent price but waiting for offers cos low price will prompt preposterous offers). I like it but decided Kelly or Birkin might need to be of colour. If not sold soon then might resubmit later as you said
The price isn’t an issue - they are highly incompetent and can’t differentiate older Kelly from brand new with receipt with gazillions. However as mentioned somewhere before I had an incident with some person “authenticating” who equates a presence of receipt with authenticity and my bag was deemed not auth only to be let in (third time as I kept pulling it out) by another person after another submission

 

[Gigi1]

Thank you @Gigi1! I definitely don’t buy as much as I sell on VC ... but I’m still buying new retail more than I sell on VC, not good!! I’m trying at least to adopt a ‘2 in, 1 out’ and hope to achieve ‘1 in, 1 out’ with even the occasional ‘1 in, 2 out’!

I’m getting a bit better at it. I just must be strict about getting too casual about buying on the basis that ‘I can always resell it later’! It’s wasteful.



Sensible thinking and wise words! And when you’re buying Chanel you know you’re getting quality and most often a classic style that will be timeless.

I’m quite pleased with myself that my biggest major purchase this month has been not retail but pre-owned (Chanel!) on VC though, lovely condition, good price, very pleased! I’ve never been a Chanel buyer before, and must make sure I don’t start obsessing ...

You are lucky...Don’t get too close to Chanel, it is really contagious . My husband says that Chanel put a spell

 

[Gigi1]

That is if Chanel works for you, for me it is the a style that just does nothing for me, it looks fabulous on mom, but aprt from the odd pair of shoes, a skirt and a silk sweater, doesn't work for my body and I really don't like their bags. I love their stuff on others, but if you are a bit top heavy, Chanel does not hang right on you. Another brand that really doesn't work for me is Cavalli, much too busy

Consider yourself lucky Chanel it’s really contagious .
Wow you don’t like their bags , well I guess different things for different tastes. Probably so many could not believe that I absolutely don’t like Hermès, to the point i would not wear their bags, even if someone would gift me
Oh Cavali , I never care either . Ups I did had very soft amazing jeans some years ago, but nothing else since then . I don’t care for zebras, leopards or any other animal prints

 

[Gabs007]

Consider yourself lucky Chanel it’s really contagious .
Wow you don’t like their bags , well I guess different things for different tastes. Probably so many could not believe that I absolutely don’t like Hermès, to the point i would not wear their bags, even if someone would gift me
Oh Cavali , I never care either . Ups I did had very soft amazing jeans some years ago, but nothing else since then . I don’t care for zebras, leopards or any other animal prints

I don't really care much for Hermes bag myself, my dog ate a rare Birkin, apart from the fact that I wanted to sell it as I really never used it (bloody HATED it) and the money lost due to not being able to sell it, the bag itself I didn't mourn for...

I like their shoes, scarves, some belts but their bags mostly leave me a bit "mehhh" same with Chanel, I find them ostentatious, overpriced and overblinged, plus far too fragile to have real use. In between they do some really good clothes, but the general style leaves me cold. If I am splashing out on something, I want wear out of it

 

[Gabs007]

It’s been a month. I’m not that worried, have seen K32 being sold at a good price after 6 months. Think that bag is a steal (as I’m willing to lower the price to a very decent price but waiting for offers cos low price will prompt preposterous offers). I like it but decided Kelly or Birkin might need to be of colour. If not sold soon then might resubmit later as you said
The price isn’t an issue - they are highly incompetent and can’t differentiate older Kelly from brand new with receipt with gazillions. However as mentioned somewhere before I had an incident with some person “authenticating” who equates a presence of receipt with authenticity and my bag was deemed not auth only to be let in (third time as I kept pulling it out) by another person after another submission

I saw a few of the sellers I regularly buy from lose their status and one of them (actually found the rare Prada bag because she tweeted she sells it on VC) I am in touch with as she is really nice and we connected via Social Media, they are trying to push people into taking low ball offers or else losing the status, well, tbh their status isn't that great and that really rubs me the wrong way

 

[nicole0612]

Their quality control checkers have completely changed their policies it seems. The items I sell always pass inspection immediately, because I describe all wear and chose my wear category conservatively, but in the last 2 days two items have failed, and both with reasons that were listed in my description. The first was a jacket which was listed in good condition described as having wear to the buttons (with photos), and it was determined to not conform to good condition because of wear to the buttons! Next I sold a handbag, listed as very good condition with tiny scratches to the hardware, which has always passed quality control before, but it was again determined to not conform to the listing because of scratches to the hardware (on the feet of the bag)!
It seems like the item has to be brand new or it can’t pass quality control anymore! I wonder if I’ve just had bad luck these past two days?