Vinted parcel lost or damaged? What sellers get back
By the SaleLinx team ·
A parcel goes quiet, the tracking stops moving, and the buyer starts asking questions. Most of what you need to know is in Vinted’s help centre, but it is spread over a dozen pages and most of them are written for buyers. This guide pulls the seller’s side together, with a link to Vinted’s own page for every rule.
If you sent the parcel with a Vinted-generated label and the carrier confirms it was lost or damaged, Vinted can compensate you, up to £500. Your payment is held while Vinted looks into it, which can take several weeks. Damage claims depend on the parcel having been properly packed, so take photos before you post. If you used your own postage, you claim from the carrier yourself.
What happens in each case
| What starts it | Your payment | Compensation for you | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lost on the way | Tracking says "Parcel seems to be lost", or 25 business days pass after shipping | Held until Vinted decides | Up to £500 with a Vinted label |
| Arrived damaged | The buyer reports it within 2 days, with photos | Held until Vinted decides | Up to £500 with a Vinted label, if properly packed |
| Delivered, but the buyer says it never came | The buyer reports it within 2 days | Held until Vinted decides | Not set out by Vinted |
| Buyer never collected it | The parcel is sent back to you | Order cancelled, buyer refunded | Up to £500 if the return never reaches you |
Before you post: three things that protect you
Nearly every claim comes down to what you can show. Do these on every order.
- Use the Vinted label. Compensation only applies to parcels sent with a prepaid Vinted-generated label (Vinted). If you use a different label or the wrong shipping option, Vinted says the order is cancelled automatically (Vinted).
- Pack it properly. Vinted “can only compensate you for a damaged parcel if it was properly packed”. Its packing rules are summed up in the checklist below.
- Keep proof. Vinted’s carrier pages say to keep your proof of shipping until the order is completed (a copy of the label, the drop-off receipt or an email confirmation) and to take a photo of how the parcel is packed (Vinted). Vinted also suggests photos of the item and the packed parcel, inside and out.
Vinted’s Royal Mail page asks you not to drop Vinted parcels in a postbox. A postbox gives no tracking events to prove you sent it, and Vinted says no compensation will be offered.
If the parcel is lost
Vinted gives a parcel time to turn up before it treats it as lost. Under its Refund Policy, the investigation can only start once:
- the tracking changes to “Parcel seems to be lost”, or
- more than 25 business days have passed since you shipped it.
From there:
- Vinted tells the buyer the parcel seems lost, and the buyer has 2 days to make a claim (Vinted).
- If they claim, the order is suspended and your payment is held until the issue is resolved.
- Vinted investigates with the carrier. This “may take several weeks”.
- If the loss is confirmed, the order is cancelled and the buyer gets a full refund. If you used a Vinted label, you can be compensated, up to £500 (Vinted).
If the buyer does not claim in time, or presses “Everything is OK”, the order completes and you are paid as normal.
Vinted does not publish exactly how your compensation is worked out. Its terms say the amount “may depend on which carrier was used”, and the £500 is the ceiling.
If the parcel turns up after you have been compensated, it is no longer yours: when you accept compensation for a lost parcel, ownership of it passes to Vinted Go, Vinted’s shipping arm.
If tracking says delivered but the buyer says it never came
The buyer can ask for a refund when an order was “reportedly delivered, but you never received it” (Vinted). They have 2 days from the status update to report it, and the order is then suspended while Vinted investigates.
Vinted’s terms say the information from the carrier “will be considered accurate” unless the other side provides evidence to the contrary before the order completes. So the tracking record and your proof of postage carry real weight. Vinted’s help pages do not say what the seller receives if the buyer is refunded in this situation.
If it arrives damaged
The buyer has to report the damage within the same 2-day window and send photos of the item and the problem, the outer and inner packaging, and any damage to the packaging (Vinted).
- If it was a single item, or every item in a bundle was damaged, the buyer is refunded without sending anything back.
- If only some items in a bundle were damaged, the buyer may be asked to return the whole bundle.
Your compensation depends on the parcel having been properly packed. Vinted says you “may not receive a refund or compensation” if you ignored its packing rules and the parcel was damaged (Vinted). This is where the photos you took before posting earn their keep.
If the buyer never collected it
Parcels sent to a locker, shop or depot are only held for a while. Vinted says carriers typically hold them for 2 to 15 calendar days, and the parcel should come back to you within 25 business days (Vinted).
When it arrives, mark it as received and cancel the order, and the buyer is refunded (Vinted). If it has not reached you within 15 business days, Vinted investigates. If it never reaches you, contact Vinted once 25 business days have passed since it was sent back, and you can be compensated in the same way as a lost parcel.
Two things catch sellers out:
- Collect returned parcels quickly. If a returned parcel is not collected by the deadline (plus any extra holding period), ownership can pass to Vinted Go.
- Wrong address? If the return shows as delivered somewhere other than your address, contact Vinted within 2 days of the “delivered” update, or it cannot investigate (Vinted).
If you used your own postage
Vinted’s terms are plain: if you send a parcel any other way than with Vinted’s prepaid shipping, you are responsible for lost or damaged parcels and for claiming from the carrier yourself. On top of that, an order with no tracking information is cancelled automatically 5 business days after purchase (Vinted). For almost every order, the Vinted label is the safer choice.
Packing checklist
From Vinted’s packing rules:
- Use sturdy outer packaging that fits the item snugly.
- Do not use bags without padding inside.
- Fill any empty space so the item cannot move around.
- Seal it with strong tape.
- Stick the label flat on the largest side, and remove any old labels.
- For anything fragile, always use a sturdy box, never a plastic bag.
For clothes, Vinted’s own example is a padded bag or a cardboard box.
Questions
How much compensation does Vinted pay sellers?
Up to £500, for parcels sent with a Vinted-generated label that the carrier confirms were lost or damaged. Vinted does not publish how the amount is worked out, and its terms say it may depend on the carrier.
How long does a lost parcel claim take?
Vinted says investigations “can take several weeks”, and a parcel is not treated as lost until its tracking says so or 25 business days have passed since shipping.
Do I still get paid if the buyer opens a claim?
Not straight away. Your payment is held while Vinted investigates. If the claim fails, or the buyer never makes one, the order completes and you are paid. If the buyer is refunded, whether you receive anything depends on the case, as set out above.
Can I claim from Evri or InPost directly?
If you used a Vinted label, go through Vinted. InPost’s own help says that for labels bought through a marketplace you need to contact the marketplace. If you used your own postage, the claim is between you and the carrier.