Prices can be cheap because she wants to move the items quickly, or because VC wouldn’t let her price higher. I frequently have to set my prices lower than I want to because VC insists on it, and I take it because it’s more convenient for me than bothering with finding a bricks & mortar place to take my unneeded items. A low price isn’t suspicious in itself unless it’s a crazy low price for something that always goes for much more yet looks in womderful condition, like a Birkin - maybe that would make me think it could be a fake. But that would be unlikely to make it past quality control. You are best to look at the website not the app to check out sellers. I’m an ‘expert’ seller at the moment, but if I don’t have much to sell over the next 3 months, I could lose that badge. A seller who isn’t trusted or expert could very well still be good, but they just haven’t sold enough to qualify.
A further point is that if you buy from professional sellers you can return for refund within a stated timeframe. But most sellers are like me, not professional, selling unused things from our own wardrobes, and returns aren’t possible (as long as the item was as described), though VC lets you re-list the item deducting a modest processing fee but doesn’t take any commission on the resale.
I am a seller on VC and I also buy, and I buy with as much confidence as it is ever possible to have buying preowned, after checking out my seller as far as possible, though to some extent that is not all-important as VC will protect you against a really bad seller should you get one. Please do read back through this thread to get good tips for checking out your seller; not just me but other people have posted a lot. When you read through, do note that the VC system for rating sellers has changed literally in the last couple of weeks (and isn’t yet visible on the app), so there is updated info on that in more recent posts, and also bear in mind quite a few people’s dissatisfactions can be based on misconceptions, though some are undoubtedly fair and VC was rather slow to put things right in those cases.
VC authenticates and quality controls every item so getting a good seller is really more about how quickly you’ll get your item (some take longer to ship than others - check out the new info about sellers). Lots of us buy happily pretty frequently (see my previous posts and others, I’ve bought a lot of good bags including Fendi which you mentioned) but sometimes QC being human slips up; most often it seems to be on condition rather than authenticity so you need to familiarise yourself with VC’s criteria (very good, good and fair, and what they apply to that), make sure it accords with the description and photos, ask for more photos if there aren’t enough, so there’s no grey area. Normally if the item doesn’t meet the description or the declared condition they will offer you a reduction or chance to refuse the item and get a refund. All my purchases have been very good; there have been posts where people were less satisfied with quality control. People generally seem to get resolution in the end if there’s any true failure to supply goods as described and if you buy with a credit card you have protection on top of that. Largely it’s about appreciating what you can expect pre-owned, what the ‘condition’ criteria applied are. VC have been tightening up their quality control a lot recently (sometimes going a bit over the top to the detriment of good sellers!) but no doubt the odd problem will still occur in this potentially subjective area. A lady just had problems with a Chanel bag in poorer condition than she was anticipating. There are posts above and on previous pages. VC sorted it out in the end but they did make her work for it, rather.
You can never say never, but I personally think it’s pretty unlikely that any fake other than a really convincing superfake could make it past QC & authentication post-purchase, but if it did you would be able to get it verified as non-authentic elsewhere and insist on a refund, or your credit card company would cover you. My items purchased are definitely all authentic. If you’re spending really high amounts on single items, try to get an authentication before buying as you would buying pre-owned anywhere. Various people on this forum can advise; not me, unfortunately!
You won’t save anything on shipping by ordering it all in one go, unfortunately. It’s all individual because it reflects the journey from the seller to VC for quality control, then the shipping out to you. Mostly the items are with the sellers, though some ready to ship items are at VC. But they only send out items individually even if they are at one of their hubs, I think.
If you look really carefully at the pictures, check the description and the declared condition really line up and make sense together, you ought to be ok, but do always remember buying preowned for a low price is not the same as buying new. VC doesn’t have a ‘brand new’ category, given that everything is preowned, but lots of sellers are selling stuff that is actually new (me, for one, all those things I fell in love with, bought, then never wore!) and hope their buyers get a happy surprise when it’s even better than expected!
VC has always been fine in my experience, and that of lots of others, though you will find those who disagree, but they are also making improvements to customer service and quality control recently. My gripes with VC are as a seller right now; I submitted something I wanted to put online before the weekend and they still haven’t processed it!
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