Vestiaire Collective experiences?

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#1,307
shyscarlet said:
Hi ladies,

I am thinking about trying out vestiaire collective to sell some luxury items but their commissions seems super high and wondering if its even worth it? Does items sell faster than tradesy?
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I have sold a few things on vestiaire. The process was very easy. But yes the commissions are high so I priced a bit higher than I would on other sites. Things either move very quickly on vestiaire or sit forever.
 
#1,311
If you are not sure about the brands, then try to search for the one you want to sell. You will be able to see how many items are up for sale, how many were sold and what did they go for. Sometimes if it is not very well known brand the item will be sitting there forever, even if you price it up correctly
 
#1,312
nicole0612 said:
Has anyone in the USA purchased from Vestaire recently? I was about to buy a Hermes bag that I came to an agreement for $5250, with the discount it would be $4758 including the $58 shipping fee. The surprise at checkout is the ~$800 customs duty fee that they recommend I pre-pay (~15% fee). There is an option to wait and pay the customs fee later when the bag arrives. Any experiences with this? Any ideas on how much the customs fee would be if I wait to pay the actual price versus the 15% estimate they are asking for? It is a leather bag. Thank you!
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Here is an update on my experience with Customs and DHL shipping fees. I chose the option to not pre-pay customs fees and to pay the actual charges when the bag arrived in the US. The bag took about two days to ship from France to the US, and when it arrived in the US, Customs gave me a call the next day to check some of the details like what leather the bag was made of and whether it was a shoulder bag or a handbag. Then it stood waiting somewhere for 3-4 days, not sure if it was a DHL delay or customs delay. Next, DHL contacted me by phone and email to pay customs fees, which were slightly higher than the ~9% listed by other posters in this forum. I found DHL to be very helpful at this point, they were extremely responsive and quick, and did all of the negotiating with customs to reduce my fee. They had me send them a copy of my receipt from VC, and within a day they had reduced my customs charge by $75, to a total of $460 for customs + any extra DHL charge, which works out to either a 9.8% customs charge, or a 9% charge with a very minimal DHL fee (~$25). Much cheaper than prepaying the customs fee requested by VC, which was ~$800! Thanks to all of the advice here for saving me $340. Now that I have paid the fee, the bag will be out for delivery tomorrow, so I still have to cross my fingers that the condition is good!
 
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#1,313
nicole0612 said:
Here is an update on my experience with Customs and DHL shipping fees. I chose the option to not pre-pay customs fees and to pay the actual charges when the bag arrived in the US. The bag took about two days to ship from France to the US, and when it arrived in the US, Customs gave me a call the next day to check some of the details like what leather the bag was made of and whether it was a shoulder bag or a handbag. Then it stood waiting somewhere for 3-4 days, not sure if it was a DHL delay or customs delay. Next, DHL contacted me by phone and email to pay customs fees, which were slightly higher than the ~9% listed by other posters in this forum. I found DHL to be very helpful at this point, they were extremely responsive and quick, and did all of the negotiating with customs to reduce my fee. They had me send them a copy of my receipt from VC, and within a day they had reduced my customs charge by $75, to a total of $460 for customs + any extra DHL charge, which works out to either a 9.8% customs charge, or a 9% charge with a very minimal DHL fee (~$25). Much cheaper than prepaying the customs fee requested by VC, which was ~$800! Thanks to all of the advice here for saving me $340. Now that I have paid the fee, the bag will be out for delivery tomorrow, so I still have to cross my fingers that the condition is good!
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Congratulations! Hope you love it. For everyone's knowledge the US government recently announced that they will not be charging customs duty on items less than $800. That helps with smaller purchases and I have noticed that my items are arriving more quickly lately from overseas sellers.
 
#1,314
Pocketbook Pup said:
Congratulations! Hope you love it. For everyone's knowledge the US government recently announced that they will not be charging customs duty on items less than $800. That helps with smaller purchases and I have noticed that my items are arriving more quickly lately from overseas sellers.
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Thank you! Your advice and quick response to initial my query helped me so much in this process! That is excellent information about the waived custom fees for items under $800. Thank you for posting this.
 
#1,315
nicole0612 said:
Thank you! Your advice and quick response to initial my query helped me so much in this process! That is excellent information about the waived custom fees for items under $800. Thank you for posting this.
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You are so welcome.

I just bought a Kelly bracelet. I want to again remind people to look at the category for the description and don't really go by the text description the seller writes. It was listed as good condition but she described it as like new. I knew to expect it to have signs of wear. It's a color that I really wanted and is not currently in production. I'm happy with it and I bargained the price down to what I thought was fair. If anyone thought they were getting a like new bracelet they would certainly be disappointed. So be careful. The lack of a decent feedback system allows sellers to be less than honest. This is a pretty typical vestiaire experience- aside from the nightmares described by others which are truly horrible- you can find hard to find items at a good price but it's certainly buyer beware.
 
#1,316
Pocketbook Pup said:
You are so welcome.

I just bought a Kelly bracelet. I want to again remind people to look at the category for the description and don't really go by the text description the seller writes. It was listed as good condition but she described it as like new. I knew to expect it to have signs of wear. It's a color that I really wanted and is not currently in production. I'm happy with it and I bargained the price down to what I thought was fair. If anyone thought they were getting a like new bracelet they would certainly be disappointed. So be careful. The lack of a decent feedback system allows sellers to be less than honest. This is a pretty typical vestiaire experience- aside from the nightmares described by others which are truly horrible- you can find hard to find items at a good price but it's certainly buyer beware.
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Good advice. Thanks for the reminder. I am looking for a way to spend my $114 credit and came across an item I liked that seemed priced low for the condition that the seller described...then I saw the "good condition" category. Buyer beware!
However, my JPG came yesterday and was downgraded to "very good condition" upon VC inspection (hence the $114 credit I have to spend in 3 months), and I think they graded it fairly harshly. I am grateful, but you just never know what you are going to get!
 
#1,317
nicole0612 said:
Good advice. Thanks for the reminder. I am looking for a way to spend my $114 credit and came across an item I liked that seemed priced low for the condition that the seller described...then I saw the "good condition" category. Buyer beware!
However, my JPG came yesterday and was downgraded to "very good condition" upon VC inspection (hence the $114 credit I have to spend in 3 months), and I think they graded it fairly harshly. I am grateful, but you just never know what you are going to get!
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So true. Sigh.... I wish it was all more reliable. But nice that you had a good surprise.
 
#1,318
Pocketbook Pup said:
You are so welcome.

I just bought a Kelly bracelet. I want to again remind people to look at the category for the description and don't really go by the text description the seller writes. It was listed as good condition but she described it as like new. I knew to expect it to have signs of wear. It's a color that I really wanted and is not currently in production. I'm happy with it and I bargained the price down to what I thought was fair. If anyone thought they were getting a like new bracelet they would certainly be disappointed. So be careful. The lack of a decent feedback system allows sellers to be less than honest. This is a pretty typical vestiaire experience- aside from the nightmares described by others which are truly horrible- you can find hard to find items at a good price but it's certainly buyer beware.
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I loathe sellers like that, make my blood boil. I am glad you knew not to trust her description, [emoji173]️[emoji818]️[emoji818]️[emoji818]️
 
#1,319
nicole0612 said:
Here is an update on my experience with Customs and DHL shipping fees. I chose the option to not pre-pay customs fees and to pay the actual charges when the bag arrived in the US. The bag took about two days to ship from France to the US, and when it arrived in the US, Customs gave me a call the next day to check some of the details like what leather the bag was made of and whether it was a shoulder bag or a handbag. Then it stood waiting somewhere for 3-4 days, not sure if it was a DHL delay or customs delay. Next, DHL contacted me by phone and email to pay customs fees, which were slightly higher than the ~9% listed by other posters in this forum. I found DHL to be very helpful at this point, they were extremely responsive and quick, and did all of the negotiating with customs to reduce my fee. They had me send them a copy of my receipt from VC, and within a day they had reduced my customs charge by $75, to a total of $460 for customs + any extra DHL charge, which works out to either a 9.8% customs charge, or a 9% charge with a very minimal DHL fee (~$25). Much cheaper than prepaying the customs fee requested by VC, which was ~$800! Thanks to all of the advice here for saving me $340. Now that I have paid the fee, the bag will be out for delivery tomorrow, so I still have to cross my fingers that the condition is good!
Click to expand...
US Customs do make mistakes from time to time on their assessments, but they're open for reconsideration so that's a plus. I generally allow for about 10% for duties which is less than the rate of 15% VC wants to charge. when you read the fine print, VC says they use an average rate for every international buyer regardless of location, it's easier for them system wise to do a flat rate.

there are duties calculator (google it) that can help you get to the specific rate. it's kinda intense but once you once you've done it, it does get easier. for example the menu has drop down categories from which you can select: i.e. woman's purse, material (plastic or leather), country of origin etc. it's about 7-8 steps with multiple choices. rule of thumb I use is 10% for bags, a little higher for shoes around 12% I think, can't remember what clothes was but probably less.

one time, the bill from DHL was 24% of my purchase price for a bag so I contested, and Customs came back next day with the correct amount. the reality is it's some clerical clerk sitting at JFK Customs crunching numbers all day long, mistakes do happen so an informed buyer makes for a better one.
 
#1,320
jmc3007 said:
US Customs do make mistakes from time to time on their assessments, but they're open for reconsideration so that's a plus. I generally allow for about 10% for duties which is less than the rate of 15% VC wants to charge. when you read the fine print, VC says they use an average rate for every international buyer regardless of location, it's easier for them system wise to do a flat rate.



there are duties calculator (google it) that can help you get to the specific rate. it's kinda intense but once you once you've done it, it does get easier. for example the menu has drop down categories from which you can select: i.e. woman's purse, material (plastic or leather), country of origin etc. it's about 7-8 steps with multiple choices. rule of thumb I use is 10% for bags, a little higher for shoes around 12% I think, can't remember what clothes was but probably less.



one time, the bill from DHL was 24% of my purchase price for a bag so I contested, and Customs came back next day with the correct amount. the reality is it's some clerical clerk sitting at JFK Customs crunching numbers all day long, mistakes do happen so an informed buyer makes for a better one.
Click to expand...


Thank you, this is a great guideline and I will definitely use the duties calculator next time. I was trying to estimate it using the huge customs manual available online, which is not user-friendly at all!
 
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