Hi all,
I am from NY and I think I they may have a QC here?
Anyways, in a dilemma. I received quotes from Yoogis but got a higher offer from Vestiaire. I want to obviously sell it via VC but it seems like many of you had negative experiences? I tried to skim through the post but seems very mixed. Any suggestions on how to proceed forward?
I have no experience with Yoogis (am in UK) but a lot of experience now with VC, buying and selling. I don’t know if Yoogis buys the bag from you or if it works the same way as Vestiaire. Can you just list your bag on both, or would you have to give it to Yoogis before it is sold on? Other people will know more than me about that. An offer from Vestiaire is only the price they agree to put the item online, not a price you are guaranteed. I think somewhere in the T&Cs there’s something that says they reserve the right to buy your item from you themselves at the full price agreed but it’s never happened to me, and I don’t know if it’s something they do regularly, or only with certain brands and value items, or if they don’t do it at all any more. So you may or may not not sell to an individual member/buyer at the initial price agreed. You may decide to reduce the price later. Or you may decide to take offers from buyers (they have to offer a minimum of 70% of the price currently listed). You might get lucky and catch the right buyer right at the start.
It sounds as if you’re happy with the suggested price, but if you wanted to put your item online at a higher value than Vestiaire has suggested, new policy there is that the price is your decision within reason (they used to ultimately refuse if you and they couldn’t reach an agreement), but if your price is more attractive, then your item’s going to appear more visibly in the listings. I guess that just means nearer the top, or more likely to feature in an editorial selection. Not being so visible doesn’t mean it won’t sell, and being more visible doesn’t guarantee it will. I do find bags sell quicker than other categories, particularly the more upmarket labels, so possibly you’d be fine either way. They generally try to keep prices lowish to encourage quick sales, so if they’ve suggested a price that looks good to you (and don’t forget the commission they take) I would think it is quite likely to sell at that price or at least for 70% or more of that price, and should be helped along by a greater degree of visibility.
My overall opinion: I think Vestiaire is fine and has mainly removed old causes for complaint during the last year. It’s still a work in progress but it’s got tighter and more efficient and they are weeding out poorer or slower or no longer active sellers with the new badge system, which isn’t perfect but is not bad either. It’s better for buyers as they’ve shortened the time allowed for sellers to ship to one week before potential automatic cancellation of the sale. I think that’s better for sellers too, it keeps it all moving and makes slow sellers less competitive, and good sellers more visible, so hopefully that attracts more buyers to the site. I’ve tried selling a few things on Joli Closet now too, but things aren’t currently moving for me there. I don’t think they have the same exposure, at least so far, and I don’t know if they operate in New York anyway. Basically, I myself have had almost entirely good experience on Vestiaire over a few years with minor problems all resolved (over 200 items sold, and a fair number of purchases).
I like having the middleman, it protects both the seller and the buyer and generally everything goes smoothly.
My only worry as a seller these days is when I have to do direct shipping to the customer which is new, and sellers are not able to opt out from it, but it’s only for lower value items, in certain regions, perhaps not yet in New York. And only sellers with a good record built up on Vestiaire can do it anyway, so if you are new to Vestiaire, this won’t be something that need concern you at this point. (I still prefer my sold items to go via Vestiaire QC so I am protected against scam buyers but actually haven’t had any significant problems with direct shipping anyway, and minor issues have been sorted out by Vestiaire).
I have no doubt that some negative experiences are true but when you think of the sheer volume going through Vestiaire, so many people wouldn’t be continuing to use them so much if was really so poor. I suspect that most people’s experience is fine like mine, and I expect I’ll have the odd problem arise in the future, but it doesn’t worry me too much. Describe your bag accurately and honestly, and photograph it well, so that there is no room for doubt that it matches the description when it goes through QC. Check out what the criteria are for the different standards of condition and be realistic when you select the condition for your item: some things people list as ‘very good condition’ are never going to sell or make it through QC if they are really only in ‘good’ or ‘fair’ condition and it’s obvious to buyers or QC right away.
Hope you get on well with it!
) All the best to you! Keep us posted? 
