Vestiaire Collective experiences?

[Ylesiya]

Another issue with Vestiaire. It just doesn't go smoothly, does it?..
Sold an item (Chanel earrings). Just a few hours ago I received a message which basically means they think it's a counterfeit and so on, so the sale will be cancelled. For different items I would have a certain doubt, but in this case I'm 1000% sure the item is authentic. Both hallmarks are present and I even provided a copy of the reputable reseller receipt where the item was bought.
They also sent this email within a few hours since they received the item: this didn't look to me as a thorough check at all.
I'm so tired of this incompetence. They pass fakes but fail to authenticate genuine items.

Anyone had luck in reversing authentication decision?
I already wrote to them but wondering whether there's anything extra I can do which may help. This is just an extraordinary level of stupidity and absence of any real experience.

I'm attaching a pic of the hallmarks so that everyone can see what they *authenticate* as a fake.



Just an add on: I checked when the item was delivered to them and the timing when I received the email. Time difference about 15 minutes. HOW ON EARTH?!!!

 

[Foreverbags]

Another issue with Vestiaire. It just doesn't go smoothly, does it?..
Sold an item (Chanel earrings). Just a few hours ago I received a message which basically means they think it's a counterfeit and so on, so the sale will be cancelled. For different items I would have a certain doubt, but in this case I'm 1000% sure the item is authentic. Both hallmarks are present and I even provided a copy of the reputable reseller receipt where the item was bought.
They also sent this email within a few hours since they received the item: this didn't look to me as a thorough check at all.
I'm so tired of this incompetence. They pass fakes but fail to authenticate genuine items.

Anyone had luck in reversing authentication decision?
I already wrote to them but wondering whether there's anything extra I can do which may help. This is just an extraordinary level of stupidity and absence of any real experience.

I'm attaching a pic of the hallmarks so that everyone can see what they *authenticate* as a fake.

View attachment 5041096

Just an add on: I checked when the item was delivered to them and the timing when I received the email. Time difference about 15 minutes. HOW ON EARTH?!!!

Hi Ylesia,
The only experience I had with authenticity issue was not dissimilar to the French lady's experience from the YouTube video I/we watched.
I purchased a bag and used direct shipping last year at the beginning of the pandemic. Sold it back on Vestiaire a few months late because it has not been used, partly because I didn't go anywhere due to lock down. This time, I sent it to Vestiaire for authentication. I was then told they could not determine the authenticity of the bag and requested €12 to have the bag delivered back to me. I send several emails to explain that it was purchased from VC via direct shipping. They did eventually refund me the money.
Xxx

 

[Lala La]

Hi everyone!

I was wondering if anyone knows what's going on with sellers who offer multiple brand new versions of the same bag on Vestiaire? I bid on a new Celine Classic bag and just realized that the seller offers different colors of the Classic about every other week. My gut tells me no normal person would have an endless number of unused designer items lying around at home, so I'd guess this is a sign that fakes are being sold. However, I have noticed that there seems to be a pattern with sellers on Vestiaire that sell new bags of the same style that are passed as authentic by the platform, sometimes for months and years. I got two theories about this: 1.) they work for the labels and get discounts (or similar), so they buy the bags cheaper and sell them on for a small profit, or 2.) they sell super fakes that the Vestiaire "specialists" won't be able to identify. Does anyone know this pattern of sellers I'm talking about?
I bought three items on Vestiaire so far, one bag was a fake that was authenticated by them, so I tend to be a bit suspicious and try to get the stuff authenticated elsewhere as well, but still. If the seller was on eBay I probably wouldn't even bother. Can anyone help?

Thanks!

 

[Ylesiya]

Hi everyone!

I was wondering if anyone knows what's going on with sellers who offer multiple brand new versions of the same bag on Vestiaire? I bid on a new Celine Classic bag and just realized that the seller offers different colors of the Classic about every other week. My gut tells me no normal person would have an endless number of unused designer items lying around at home, so I'd guess this is a sign that fakes are being sold. However, I have noticed that there seems to be a pattern with sellers on Vestiaire that sell new bags of the same style that are passed as authentic by the platform, sometimes for months and years. I got two theories about this: 1.) they work for the labels and get discounts (or similar), so they buy the bags cheaper and sell them on for a small profit, or 2.) they sell super fakes that the Vestiaire "specialists" won't be able to identify. Does anyone know this pattern of sellers I'm talking about?
I bought three items on Vestiaire so far, one bag was a fake that was authenticated by them, so I tend to be a bit suspicious and try to get the stuff authenticated elsewhere as well, but still. If the seller was on eBay I probably wouldn't even bother. Can anyone help?

Thanks!

Can you share links examples?

Hi Ylesia,
The only experience I had with authenticity issue was not dissimilar to the French lady's experience from the YouTube video I/we watched.
I purchased a bag and used direct shipping last year at the beginning of the pandemic. Sold it back on Vestiaire a few months late because it has not been used, partly because I didn't go anywhere due to lock down. This time, I sent it to Vestiaire for authentication. I was then told they could not determine the authenticity of the bag and requested €12 to have the bag delivered back to me. I send several emails to explain that it was purchased from VC via direct shipping. They did eventually refund me the money.
Xxx

Thank you @Foreverbags, the development of this story is that after my emails with my explanations why the earrings are authentic (I wrote a very good email with screenshots etc) I received response from customer support very quickly that sorry, your product is actually authentic, yes.
Can you believe it?

I can even tell you what happened. The engraving on the earrings is very faint and lasered, so it is visible only under certain angles on this glossy polished surface of the hallmark. My guess is that some incompetent idiot took out the earrings, did not see the engraving straight away, declared the item fake and cancelled the sale.

They offered me to put item back online and I said no, thank you, I want you to fix this situation somehow as now you are requesting me to pay 12 euro for your mistake, the product is still listed as non compliant on my account, I don't have a sale, money or my item, my stats are badly affected because someone did not do authentication properly. They did not even offer me to pay for the sale. Only place item back online. But I will continue fighting with them until this is fixed. This just tells you something about the competence of the "experts". Outrageous.

 

[Foreverbags]

Can you share links examples?



Thank you @Foreverbags, the development of this story is that after my emails with my explanations why the earrings are authentic (I wrote a very good email with screenshots etc) I received response from customer support very quickly that sorry, your product is actually authentic, yes.
Can you believe it?

I can even tell you what happened. The engraving on the earrings is very faint and lasered, so it is visible only under certain angles on this glossy polished surface of the hallmark. My guess is that some incompetent idiot took out the earrings, did not see the engraving straight away, declared the item fake and cancelled the sale.

They offered me to put item back online and I said no, thank you, I want you to fix this situation somehow as now you are requesting me to pay 12 euro for your mistake, the product is still listed as non compliant on my account, I don't have a sale, money or my item, my stats are badly affected because someone did not do authentication properly. They did not even offer me to pay for the sale. Only place item back online. But I will continue fighting with them until this is fixed. This just tells you something about the competence of the "experts". Outrageous.

Hi Ylesia,
That was such stressful and unpleasant experience. If they put your item back online, may be you can message the previous buyer again ?
Good news from my end, I finally got through to them and shipped the bag back. My experience has made me stopped browsing Vestiaire and decided to buy new bags in the future. It will take me longer to save up but I just can't handle the stress
Xxx

 

[Lala La]

Can you share links examples?

Hi, yes I can.

I just took a quick look around and found three sellers I find suspicious (not making any assumptions though):

https://de.vestiairecollective.com/Mitgliedern/profil-9150624.shtml#sell

First, her. She sells Celines regularly, with one bag sold over a year ago there's even a discussion in the commentary section between her and her buyer that the bag looked suspicious to Vestiaire and she doesn't have proof of her buying history but she was still able to keep selling new Celines even until now. I contacted her about one bag and she refused to add additional pics, why would she if everything was alright with the bags?

https://de.vestiairecollective.com/Mitglieder/profil-7965743.shtml

Next, her. She only sells new Snapshots, even multiple of the same color, and she sold over 180 since January 2019. The Snapshot is a bag often replicated, so I'd always be suspicious there.

https://de.vestiairecollective.com/mitgliedern/profil-10365673.shtml

Last one is him. Less suspicious because not too many bags online but he's only a member since august. Also, all bags are again snapshots in a new condition. Plus, the bags he already sold (but then deleted so they don't show up on his profile) were also Snapshots which I know since I signed up for updates on any Snapshot uploaded.

Might I add that seller's pictures could be taken from somebody else's social media, Vestiaire doesn't require ID to register or sell. So there's really no way to know who you are buying from.
Again, I don't want to accuse anyone wrongly, but even with only a little research I found a lot of informations about the rep market and how sales associates are not able to tell them apart from the real thing, let alone Vestiaire. And with the pandemic going on I bet there are a lot of people who desperately need money right now.
I guess I answered the question myself, but call me naive because I'd like to give people the benefit of the doubt. If anyone knows anything about this "type" of sellers, please let me know!

 

[Ylesiya]

Hi, yes I can.

I just took a quick look around and found three sellers I find suspicious (not making any assumptions though):

https://de.vestiairecollective.com/Mitgliedern/profil-9150624.shtml#sell

First, her. She sells Celines regularly, with one bag sold over a year ago there's even a discussion in the commentary section between her and her buyer that the bag looked suspicious to Vestiaire and she doesn't have proof of her buying history but she was still able to keep selling new Celines even until now. I contacted her about one bag and she refused to add additional pics, why would she if everything was alright with the bags?

https://de.vestiairecollective.com/Mitglieder/profil-7965743.shtml

Next, her. She only sells new Snapshots, even multiple of the same color, and she sold over 180 since January 2019. The Snapshot is a bag often replicated, so I'd always be suspicious there.

https://de.vestiairecollective.com/mitgliedern/profil-10365673.shtml

Last one is him. Less suspicious because not too many bags online but he's only a member since august. Also, all bags are again snapshots in a new condition. Plus, the bags he already sold (but then deleted so they don't show up on his profile) were also Snapshots which I know since I signed up for updates on any Snapshot uploaded.

Might I add that seller's pictures could be taken from somebody else's social media, Vestiaire doesn't require ID to register or sell. So there's really no way to know who you are buying from.
Again, I don't want to accuse anyone wrongly, but even with only a little research I found a lot of informations about the rep market and how sales associates are not able to tell them apart from the real thing, let alone Vestiaire. And with the pandemic going on I bet there are a lot of people who desperately need money right now.
I guess I answered the question myself, but call me naive because I'd like to give people the benefit of the doubt. If anyone knows anything about this "type" of sellers, please let me know!

What you wrote is very interesting. The last link I can't open which means profile was deleted.
I'm not a specialist in Celine or Snapshots but here are my thoughts and comments:

- the photos themselves may be of real authentic bags, so they pass preliminary validation before placed online. Where these sellers get them from: maybe somewhere online, maybe even take pics in the boutique - who knows. This explains why she can't add more photos of the items when being asked. I understand the selling model may be the following: you post pics of authentic bags but once it's sold, you ship a replica hoping that "experts" will not notice the difference.

- second snapshot seller also looks strange as previews are clearly professional photos but the seller is not a professional one plus why so many new authentic bags? I guess they don't go on sale!

- I must comment on the following: after my Chanel earrings were wrongly found to be fake, I had a real trouble posting any Chanel items: they all got refused. Even those with the original Chanel receipts provided. I had to fight really badly for a second revision and approval for each item. So I really don't understand why these sellers keep posting these items without any issues.

- with regards to the last seller: you can't remove sold products from your profile. There's no such option. They are removed by vestiaire if they think they are fake after authentication. For example, my perfect authentic earrings are removed from my sale list and the original link is inactive. I'm still fighting with them over this issue.

In a nutshell: don't buy anything you can't authenticate yourself or with someone else's help. As a seller, I'm furious about the lack of expertise they demonstrate and also lack of ability to fix their own mistakes. I bought only a few items one of which was super hard to replicate so it kinda was obvious it's authentic and another one I brought to Tiffany's immediately although I was quite sure it's original.

 

[Romar]

Hi, yes I can.

I just took a quick look around and found three sellers I find suspicious (not making any assumptions though):

https://de.vestiairecollective.com/Mitgliedern/profil-9150624.shtml#sell

First, her. She sells Celines regularly, with one bag sold over a year ago there's even a discussion in the commentary section between her and her buyer that the bag looked suspicious to Vestiaire and she doesn't have proof of her buying history but she was still able to keep selling new Celines even until now. I contacted her about one bag and she refused to add additional pics, why would she if everything was alright with the bags?

https://de.vestiairecollective.com/Mitglieder/profil-7965743.shtml

Next, her. She only sells new Snapshots, even multiple of the same color, and she sold over 180 since January 2019. The Snapshot is a bag often replicated, so I'd always be suspicious there.

https://de.vestiairecollective.com/mitgliedern/profil-10365673.shtml

Last one is him. Less suspicious because not too many bags online but he's only a member since august. Also, all bags are again snapshots in a new condition. Plus, the bags he already sold (but then deleted so they don't show up on his profile) were also Snapshots which I know since I signed up for updates on any Snapshot uploaded.

Might I add that seller's pictures could be taken from somebody else's social media, Vestiaire doesn't require ID to register or sell. So there's really no way to know who you are buying from.
Again, I don't want to accuse anyone wrongly, but even with only a little research I found a lot of informations about the rep market and how sales associates are not able to tell them apart from the real thing, let alone Vestiaire. And with the pandemic going on I bet there are a lot of people who desperately need money right now.
I guess I answered the question myself, but call me naive because I'd like to give people the benefit of the doubt. If anyone knows anything about this "type" of sellers, please let me know!

 

[Romar]

Interesting!
As to the first seller of mainly Celine bags: Noticed how she never replied to queries about provenance or invoice. Makes me wonder...

 

[cherriefairy]

Good afternoon,
I thought I would share another horrific experience with VC here.
According to their policy, if you buy from a business/professional seller, you can return your item within 14 days.
In reality, it is not true. I was given a return link that does not work. Sent 10 emails to customer service, either no reply or a standard email showing me how to get on to the link. I already knew how to get on to the link. It is the link itself that is not working. The customer service advisors do not read emails properly and I do not think I will get a reply until after 14 days after the eligible return period.
The reason I wanted to return the item is because the professional seller cleverly avoided one part of the bag flap where the glazing is cracked. To have it fixed would cost quite a lot of money. Plus I do not like dishonest sellers.
I even sent private message to the seller as I was willing to pay for return postage myself. Again no reply from them, it is obvious they knew the issue and trying to avoid me until 14 days later.
Anyone wish to buy anything from Vestiaire, should avoid it at all cost.

VC have such terrible customer service which enables ill-minded sellers and buyers to scam people on the app. I had the EXACT same issue with an LV item from VC, where the condition was not as described and there was actually a huge mark on the back. VC never responded to my emails, never picked up my phone calls even though I had purchased from a "professional / business" seller, so I did have 14 days to return but the link obvs didn't work. So after 5 days of bombarding them with emails I decided to post reviews on tust pilot and a few other sites and what do you know!? They suddenly started responding to me. Even still, I still opened up a dispute on PayPal just to be on the safe side, as they were insistent that the items was in the correct condition. I was finally able to return after they had to email me directly an attachment with the return label, as their links NEVER work.

So I would suggest if you haven't already, putting up a review detailing your experience and either filing a claim with your Bank or CC or Paypal, because VC never take responsibility on their own accord. The site and its customer service is genuinely awful. I hope you get a refund and paid postage return xx

 

[Ylesiya]

Hi Ylesia,
That was such stressful and unpleasant experience. If they put your item back online, may be you can message the previous buyer again ?
Good news from my end, I finally got through to them and shipped the bag back. My experience has made me stopped browsing Vestiaire and decided to buy new bags in the future. It will take me longer to save up but I just can't handle the stress
Xxx

@Foreverbags I don't think it will help in my case as the problem is much worse. They give strikes on the seller's account if the item is found to be non compliant. This means that I will still be having a real trouble submitting any Chanel items because of their mistake. I am still waiting for the response from the expert team and still have this issue on my account.
I might post public reviews yet again as this is unbearable.
I am really happy you managed to return the bag - this is the way it should work. And even being an active seller on Vestiaire I advice everyone not to buy if you can't authenticate yourself upon receipt of the item.

 

[Lala La]

What you wrote is very interesting. The last link I can't open which means profile was deleted.
I'm not a specialist in Celine or Snapshots but here are my thoughts and comments:

- the photos themselves may be of real authentic bags, so they pass preliminary validation before placed online. Where these sellers get them from: maybe somewhere online, maybe even take pics in the boutique - who knows. This explains why she can't add more photos of the items when being asked. I understand the selling model may be the following: you post pics of authentic bags but once it's sold, you ship a replica hoping that "experts" will not notice the difference.

- second snapshot seller also looks strange as previews are clearly professional photos but the seller is not a professional one plus why so many new authentic bags? I guess they don't go on sale!

- I must comment on the following: after my Chanel earrings were wrongly found to be fake, I had a real trouble posting any Chanel items: they all got refused. Even those with the original Chanel receipts provided. I had to fight really badly for a second revision and approval for each item. So I really don't understand why these sellers keep posting these items without any issues.

- with regards to the last seller: you can't remove sold products from your profile. There's no such option. They are removed by vestiaire if they think they are fake after authentication. For example, my perfect authentic earrings are removed from my sale list and the original link is inactive. I'm still fighting with them over this issue.

In a nutshell: don't buy anything you can't authenticate yourself or with someone else's help. As a seller, I'm furious about the lack of expertise they demonstrate and also lack of ability to fix their own mistakes. I bought only a few items one of which was super hard to replicate so it kinda was obvious it's authentic and another one I brought to Tiffany's immediately although I was quite sure it's original.

Yes, I agree with everything you said!
I also spent some time on reddit, one lady buying reps said she even noticed some sellers on VC use the photos that the rep makers post online of their bags. So not even a huge effort there!
If the bags the last seller sold turned out to be fakes and weren't deleted like I thought, it would totally make sense why the profile isn't available anymore. I guess we did find a fraud there.
So let me sum up: as a buyer you are effed since there's no way to know if the items on VC are authentic, and as a seller you are as well because they might screw you over because of their "expertise", plus you have to pay for their services. I guess it would be better to use another platform for buying/selling, but the likes of eBay aren't really an option, and rightfully so. I'm already thinking about taking my items down honestly...
What I don't get is why VC or other platforms don't use online authenticating services? Basically what they do is compare high res pics provided by the brands to the item that needs authenticating, sounds like a foolproof way to me. They offer business solutions for professional pre loved sellers and for buyers as well. I always use two websites, and both found the fake Saint Laurent I bought off VC...

 

[Lala La]

Interesting!
As to the first seller of mainly Celine bags: Noticed how she never replied to queries about provenance or invoice. Makes me wonder...

Right, why isn't that a huge red flag to VC? I mean she must have had some form of communication with them about that, if a seller looks suspicious they could just take them down, couldn't they? Or at least not flag them a "trusted seller".

 

[Lala La]

@Foreverbags I don't think it will help in my case as the problem is much worse. They give strikes on the seller's account if the item is found to be non compliant. This means that I will still be having a real trouble submitting any Chanel items because of their mistake. I am still waiting for the response from the expert team and still have this issue on my account.
I might post public reviews yet again as this is unbearable.
I am really happy you managed to return the bag - this is the way it should work. And even being an active seller on Vestiaire I advice everyone not to buy if you can't authenticate yourself upon receipt of the item.

Did you ever consider using another platform? And if not, why? Your experience with them sounds absolutely horrific, I'b be so fed up!

 

[Ylesiya]

Yes, I agree with everything you said!
I also spent some time on reddit, one lady buying reps said she even noticed some sellers on VC use the photos that the rep makers post online of their bags. So not even a huge effort there!
If the bags the last seller sold turned out to be fakes and weren't deleted like I thought, it would totally make sense why the profile isn't available anymore. I guess we did find a fraud there.
So let me sum up: as a buyer you are effed since there's no way to know if the items on VC are authentic, and as a seller you are as well because they might screw you over because of their "expertise", plus you have to pay for their services. I guess it would be better to use another platform for buying/selling, but the likes of eBay aren't really an option, and rightfully so. I'm already thinking about taking my items down honestly...
What I don't get is why VC or other platforms don't use online authenticating services? Basically what they do is compare high res pics provided by the brands to the item that needs authenticating, sounds like a foolproof way to me. They offer business solutions for professional pre loved sellers and for buyers as well. I always use two websites, and both found the fake Saint Laurent I bought off VC...

I can answer your question about online platforms.
One thing is I think they do believe they have enough expertise, which they don't. The second thing is I also would not trust other online platforms as I've also seen them making very stupid mistakes. For example, poshmark could not authenticate my pair of earrings without stamps, so they sent it for third party authentication which found them to be fake. I posted about this case in a separate thread. Why? Because 1) no hallmarks - very suspicious. 2) colour of the pushbacks was not silver like the earrings but golden instead. So fake, ya.
To answer their concerns: hallmarks on Chanel earrings really do like to fall off with time. Few times it happened right in my hands. To answer second concern: extra set of pushbacks was picked up at NY flagship store to replace old ones for buyer's convenience. What I am trying to say: it is ZERO level of expertise and these people had earrings with them physically! So no one actually researched this model online, no one tried to look at Chanel standards and similar items and so on. And they made themselves total and absolute idiots issuing a report like this showing how they "authenticate".
The third thing: not always you can authenticate based on the photos alone plus you get really really dependent on the person who takes the pics. For example, some VCA replicas are pretty damn good. The differences you see only when you have the item on hand. So if I were to have a business like this, I would only physically authenticate but also I would have real experts all over the world whom I can consult shall the need arise in real complex cases but it takes time and money.

Did you ever consider using another platform? And if not, why? Your experience with them sounds absolutely horrific, I'b be so fed up!

I was thinking about it but I don't see any real alternative. eBay is scammers' platform, each time I sell something there I am terribly worried. I am selling part of the stock to Fashionphile when they give reasonable quotes and so far they were the best in terms of experience and consistency. I am thinking of starting my own platform LOL
I hate it when I am trying to source nice, cool and interesting things and get treated like this. I also hate it when I see how many people who are just merely browsing Vestiaire's website are more skilled than their "experts" are. It was quite okay for some time for me but not without issues which I can share but since recently it was a rapid decline

The point I was trying to make before is also that I am not a professional seller although I really do enjoy the experience of sourcing interesting items. But imagine if I saw let's say 30 Chanel earrings per day? One gains experience pretty quickly and I tell you: VCAs, Tiffany's and Cartiers I can spot a fake very quickly although sometimes there are complex cases because of blurred photos and not everything shown. But if I had a pool of actual items in my hands, I would be experienced even more and I would need even less time to actually authenticate. Which I don't see at Vestiaire Collective. Behaviour they show, questions they ask - I don't know what is exactly wrong but it IS wrong.

Ah. Just to add to my stories with VC. I sourced an AMAZING Chanel long necklace, brand new but with an oval tag (not an engraving on the clasp). It is a bit unusual but it happens and if you know Chanel - you know it. As was discussed, you have to look at the quality of the product, check small details and trust me: my pics are pretty damn good. The necklace was refused several times because they thought it's a fake. I started to doubt myself - maybe I am an idiot and it's really a fake? So I broke the necklace deliberately and sent it to Chanel for repair. I am collecting it tomorrow as it was fixed. And this is not some unpopular rare brand which has limited information available for authentication, no, this is Chanel - the most popular and worldwide known brand! Just WT F word???...