VINTED Guide for PRO SELLERS

VINTED Guide for PRO SELLERS

You can now sell items on Vinted if you are a professional registered as a sole trader, a non-profit organization or company in one of the markets where Vinted Pro is available. We will call you a “Pro Seller” and you will be identified on Vinted by the “Pro” tag next to your name and Item you’re selling. Please keep reading to learn more about how this works and what your rights and obligations are as a Pro Seller on Vinted. 

This guide is intended to provide you with practical information. The full legal rules of Vinted Pro service are regulated by the Vinted’s Terms and Conditions, the Vinted Pro Terms and Conditions and the Catalogue Rules, and they shall prevail over anything we say in this guide.

• ABOUT VINTED PRO

Where is Vinted Pro available?

Vinted Pro is available for professional sellers registered in the following countries:

• France
• The Netherlands
• Belgium
• Luxembourg
• Italy
• Spain
• Portugal

We may add more countries in the future. You may see Pro Sellers in other countries as part of a Beta Test.

Is it mandatory to register as a Pro Seller?

If you are a professional, you must declare yourself as a "Pro Seller" on Vinted. 

Failing this, in accordance with the EU Consumer Rights Directive and the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, can result in sanctions, which may vary depending on your country of registration. You can find more information about consumer rights in the EU here. 

In addition, you are solely responsible for, if applicable, registering with the business registry of your country, as well as for complying with your social and tax obligations. 

Please note that we can also ask you to create a Pro User account if we have knowledge of information showing that you meet the eligibility criteria. Please take this seriously, as we can block your access to Vinted if you do not register as a Pro User while you meet the criteria to be considered a professional.

• USEFUL INFORMATION ON EU CONSUMER LAW

• Selling items as a Pro Seller: your obligations

When listing and selling items on Vinted as a Pro Seller targeting consumers, you must comply with: 

• Vinted’s Terms and Conditions, Vinted Pro Terms and Conditions, our Catalogue Rules and your own Additional Policies (as explained below); and 
• All applicable laws and regulations, in particular consumer law. 

You can find additional information and educational material on Consumer Law on the following websites from the European Union:

• For information on consumer rights and other obligations when doing business in Europe: https://europa.eu/youreurope/business/index_en.htm
• For educational material on Consumer Law: https://www.consumerlawready.eu/ 

• Adopting fair practices

You must always adopt fair practices in your relationships with buyers or potential buyers. 

An unfair commercial practice is a commercial practice which is contrary to the requirements of professional diligence and which distorts or is likely to substantially distort the behaviour of the consumer. Examples of such practices include misleading and aggressive practices. 

• Misleading commercial practices are those that contain false information or in any way deceive or are likely to deceive the consumer, even if the information is factually correct, and cause him to take a transactional decision that he/she would not have taken. The information can be related, but not limited, to the following elements:

- Main characteristics of the product,

- Your identity as a professional seller,

- Price, or

- The need for a service, part, replacement or repair.

• An aggressive commercial practice is characterised by the pressure applied on the consumer in order to make them give in or to strongly influence their choices. A commercial practice is considered aggressive if, as a result of repeated and insistent actions, undue influence or physical or moral constraints:

- it impairs or is likely to significantly impair a consumer's freedom of choice; 

- it affects a consumer's consent in such a way that it can no longer be considered valid; or

- it hinders the exercise of a consumer's contractual rights.

You can read more on unfair commercial practices in the following EU website.

• Providing all mandatory information to (potential) buyers

When listing an item, you must provide (potential) buyers with all the mandatory information. This includes a description of the “essential characteristics” of the item (i. e. its main features, such as size, colour, material, brand, environmental qualities and characteristics, etc.), its price, information on your identity and contact details, methods of payment and delivery, right of withdrawal, legal warranties and how to deal with any issues. 

Where applicable, you should also inform (potential) buyers about any after sale services and commercial warranties that you offer. For items that you list on Vinted, this information will be included in:

• The item listing that you will create. You can list as many items as you want, for free. You must comply with the Catalogue Rules, the Terms and Conditions and the Vinted Pro Terms and Conditions. 

You need to upload a few photos of the item and describe it as accurately as possible, indicate if it is damaged or faulty in any way, and clearly state the price. Please check out the Help Centre for more information and tips on how to list items. 

• Vinted Pro Terms and Conditions. To help you get ready to sell faster, we have prepared standard terms of sale that will apply to all the sales you make through Vinted. They already include a lot of the information required by law and reflect your legal obligations and the buyers’ legal rights. 
• Your Additional Policies, which you will create in your Pro Account settings. Because some of the mandatory information is very specific to your business and the items you sell, you will need to supplement the Vinted Pro Terms and Conditions with your own Additional Policies. Vinted provides you with a dedicated space to add this information in your Pro Account settings. 

When creating your Additional Policies, please keep in mind that they must be written in a clear and comprehensible manner. If they are unclear, they will be interpreted by Vinted, a mediator or a court in whichever way is most favourable to the consumer. 

They must also comply with the law and be consistent with the Vinted Pro Terms and Conditions and the Vinted’s Terms and Conditions, and cannot derogate from them (unless they include commitments on your part that are more favourable to buyers). 

To help you navigate all these obligations, the chart below summarises what mandatory information needs to be displayed and where:

Together, the Vinted Pro Terms and Conditions, Vinted Terms and Conditions and your Additional Policies form a binding contract between you and the buyer.

• The buyers’ right of withdrawal

What is the right of withdrawal? 

A consumer who purchases an item online has a legal right of withdrawal for a period of 14 calendar days from the day following the delivery of the item. If this period expires on a Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday, it is extended to the next working day. 

We will compute the start day of the 14-day period based on the information provided by the carrier.

In order to exercise their right of withdrawal, the buyer can either:

• press the “I have an issue” button in their chat with you on the Vinted site or app, 
• send the template withdrawal form provided in the Vinted Pro Terms and Conditions to you, or
• make any other unambiguous statement expressing their wish to withdraw from the sale. The buyer does not have to give any reason or justification for their decision. 

You can also decide to allow them to submit the withdrawal form on your website, if you have one. In that case, you must acknowledge receipt of the withdrawal without delay and on a durable medium, for example by email. 

The buyer must send back or return the items to you without undue delay and at the latest within 14 days from the day on which they communicated their decision to withdraw, unless you offer to collect the items yourself from the buyer. 

The buyer bears the direct costs of returning the items, but you can also agree to bear those costs yourself in your Additional Policies.

If the buyer withdraws, they will be reimbursed for the full amount paid, including the delivery costs. They must be reimbursed without undue delay and at the latest within 14 days from the date on which you either received the item back from the consumer or received proof that it has been dispatched, whichever happens first. 

The buyer must be refunded using the same means of payment as the one used for the initial transaction, unless they have expressly agreed to use another means of payment and provided that the refund does not give rise to any costs for them. 

IMPORTANT NOTE: Do not reimburse the buyer yourself (unless the sale price has already been transferred to your bank account by the Integrated Payment System Provider): if the buyer is entitled to reimbursement and initiates his/her right of withdrawal through Vinted by using the "I have an issue button", we will issue the funds via the Integrated Payment System Provider.

This right of withdrawal does not apply in certain exceptions provided by law, such as:

• items that are made to the buyer’s specifications or clearly personalised; or
• sealed items that are not suitable for return due to health protection or hygiene reasons and were unsealed after delivery. 

You can find more information about the right of withdrawal in the following EU website.

• Legal warranties

Items that you sell on Vinted as a Pro Seller are automatically covered by the legal guarantee of conformity (if the buyer is a consumer) and the legal warranty against hidden defects. 

• Legal guarantee against non-conforming items: This guarantee applies if the item is unfit for the uses commonly expected from such an item, does not match the description you have given or does not possess the specific qualities you announced to the buyer or agreed on with them. In such cases, the buyer can ask you to:
• Repair or replace the item; or
• If this is not possible, either (a) cancel the order and reimburse it or (b) reduce the price while keeping the item.

The buyer has two years after the delivery of the item to invoke this guarantee. Second–hand goods are also covered by the minimum two year guarantee, however in some EU countries, you can agree with the buyer on a guarantee period of less than 2 years, but no shorter than 1 year. 

• Legal guarantee against hidden defects. For this warranty to apply:
• the defect must have existed at the time of purchase but be hidden; and 
• it must render the item unfit for its intended purpose or diminish its use to the point where the buyer would not have purchased it or would only have purchased it for a lower price had they known about the defect. 

The buyer can obtain a full or partial refund, as well as compensation if the item caused any damage. They must contact you within two years of the discovery of the defect. This warranty can be invoked for up to five years after the purchase. 

• Optional commercial warranties. If you wish to, you may also add your own commercial warranties: you can freely define their scope, duration and conditions. You can provide extended warranties for example, or cover risks that are not covered by legal warranties (loss, breakage, etc.). Your Additional Policies must describe these commercial warranties, if you offer any. 

You can find more information about legal warranties in the following EU website.

You are exclusively liable to buyers for the sale of your items, in particular with respect to the legal warranties. As a mere intermediary, we are not a party to any of your sales with buyers and cannot be held liable. 

• Resolving issues with buyers

If you have an issue with a consumer, please check the following EU website to see your options to solve the dispute. 

• Resolving issues with Vinted

If you are a Pro Seller and Customer Support doesn’t get back to you within 1 month of submitting your complaint via our dispute form, or if you’re unhappy with the result, we can continue to try to resolve the issue between us or use a mediation service before bringing a claim to the courts. If we use mediation, we’ll use a registered mediator from one of the mediation centers mentioned in the Vinted Pro Terms and Conditions.

• Effectiveness of internal complaint handling system for Pro users

In 2023 Vinted received 80.586 complaints from Pro Users. Average time needed to handle the complaints is 2 days.

Pro Users’ complaints:

Contact us

If you need to talk to us, please use the form available here.  

Note: Please note, that the information below is for informational purposes only regarding value added tax (hereinafter – VAT). This is not a tax advice, therefore, please follow the official guidance of the Tax Authorities from the country of establishment (place of residence) and seek their assistance, when needed.

1. VAT REGISTRATION

1.1 What does VAT registration mean?

Once your total revenue (during the last 12 months) exceeds the VAT threshold, it means that you are obligated to register as a taxpayer for VAT purposes and all of your subsequent sales are subject to VAT. The general overview of being the registered VAT payer is as follows:

• You charge sales VAT on your sold items by including it in the listing price of your item.
• You deduct the input VAT amount for your purchased goods or services
• You calculate, submit VAT return, and pay VAT due to your local Tax Authority
• If relevant, you declare your sales to other foreign countries

1.2 When do I need to register for VAT?

VAT registration is mandatory when the total annual amount of sales exceeds a certain threshold. The threshold depends on the country of establishment (your place of residence).

Please find more information on local VAT obligations:

• Austria
• Belgium
• France
• Germany
• Italy
• Luxembourg
• The Netherlands
• Portugal
• Spain

This condition applies to your total revenue received during the last 12 months. In other words, if you perform sales outside of Vinted, those sales should also be included in the total taxable revenue.

You can also voluntarily register for VAT, even if the total sales amount is less than specified above.

1.3 How do I register for VAT? What are my obligations as the VAT payer?

1. Submit a request for VAT registration in the corresponding country
2. Apply the corresponding VAT rate(s) for items sold in that country
3. If needed, issue an invoice in accordance with the respective country’s tax requirements
4. Prepare a VAT return and submit it to the Tax Authorities of the respective country
5. Pay corresponding taxes due to the country’s Tax Authorities

1.4 I sell items on Vinted. Does it automatically mean that I must register for VAT purposes?

No. As long as the total volume of sold items does not exceed the VAT registration limit set by the country you are based in, you are operating and are classified as a small business according to the Small Business Exemption Tax Scheme. This means that sales made within Vinted website are not subject to VAT. Just remember that in certain cases you may be responsible for issuing invoices for sold items (you can find more information in Section 3 “Invoicing & Reporting”)

You are still subject to certain VAT obligations for sales made outside of your country of establishment and for invoices received from Vinted (i.e., for shipping and additional visibility services).

2. SALES VAT

2.1 I’m VAT registered Pro Seller. What VAT rate do I need to include in the online listing?

The listing price must include all related taxes, this includes the VAT amount as well. When listing, you don’t know where your Buyer will be based which will impact the rate of VAT taxation.

Therefore, if your main Buyers are based in the same country as you are, you can add a standard or reduced VAT rate on top of your expected revenue. If you are already registered for VAT in any other country or are very close to the VAT registration limit, we recommend evaluating the difference between the applicable VAT rates of the two countries and choosing the higher one.

For example: You are a Pro Seller based in France and sold handmade shoes for EUR 180 to a Buyer based in France. The net revenue and VAT amount are calculated as follows:

Item price = EUR 180, VAT rate in France = 20%

VAT amount = (item price / (100 + VAT rate)) x VAT rate = (180 / (100 + 20)) x 20 = EUR 30

Taxable base = item price - VAT amount = 180 - 30 = EUR 150

Gross amount = EUR 180

Net revenue= EUR 150

VAT amount = EUR 30

Also, please note that a special VAT margin scheme could be applied for second-hand items. More information can be found on your country of establishment Tax Authorities website (Section Links).

2.2 I sold an item to the Buyer in another country. Do I need to do something?

In this case, the item can be taxed with VAT of the country you operate or with the Buyer’s foreign country VAT. This depends on the volumes that you are selling to foreign countries:

1. The item will be taxed with your local VAT rate, if your annual revenue from all EU countries does not exceed EUR 10,000.
2. When the threshold of EUR 10,000 is exceeded, the item should be taxed in the Buyer’s country, which means that the Buyer’s country VAT rate must be applied.

We recommend keeping track of your total amount of sales in each specific country.

2.3 I have reached the distance sales threshold in a foreign country. What do I do next?

When you exceed the distance sales threshold of EUR 10,000, you have two possibilities to report VAT:

1. Register (or remain registered) in each of the foreign EU countries, where you have customers. In each foreign country, prepare and submit VAT returns, and pay VAT owed, or;
2. Register in the One-Stop-Shop (hereinafter – OSS) system through the local Tax Authority – your country of establishment (place of residence). Once the registration is complete, you can report and pay VAT owed on distance sales made within the EU through the local OSS portal.

For your convenience, all of your distance sales may be reported using the One-Stop-Shop system provided by the local Tax Authority, and one payment into this system will be distributed to foreign Tax Authorities accordingly.

Please note that OSS system is not mandatory, but it makes fulfilling your VAT obligations much easier if you are selling your goods to other EU countries.

2.4 I perform distance sales. How does this impact my local sales?

Your VAT registration in a foreign country or OSS reporting has no direct effect on your local sales.

However, please note that the VAT registration threshold in your country is calculated based on total annual revenue, including revenue received from the foreign Buyers.

2.5 When and how often I have to declare VAT in OSS system?

Businesses selling goods online can easily fulfil all their VAT obligations in the EU in a centralized manner via the online business portal OSS by submitting an OSS declaration. This declaration and payment of VAT should be made on a quarterly basis.

You shall declare VAT in the month following the calendar quarter for which you are submitting the return. The last day you can submit VAT form is the last day of following quarter month.

For example: the VAT return for the 2^nd calendar quarter is made in July. Last day to submit VAT return for 2^nd calendar quarter is July 31^st.

2.6 How to register for One-Stop-Shop (OSS) system?

You can register for One-Stop-Shop (OSS) system through your local Tax Authority.

Please find more information on local OSS obligations:

• Austria
• Belgium
• France
• Germany
• Italy
• Luxembourg
• The Netherlands
• Portugal
• Spain

3. INVOICING & REPORTING

3.1 Am I required to issue the invoice for the sold item?

Not always. There is no invoicing obligation for local sales as well as distance sales within the EU, provided that you are using the OSS system. Nevertheless, you can still opt to issue an invoice, which only needs to meet the invoicing requirements of your country of establishment. If you do not use the OSS system, issuing an invoice remains mandatory and subject to the rules in the Member State of destination.

3.2 What amount should be on the invoice?

The amount on the invoice should be equal to the price of the item, plus the price of the shipping label, and applicable VAT rate(s).

3.3 What information should be on the invoice for the sale to the Buyer based in the same country?

The invoice shall be subject to the rules applying in your country of establishment in which the supply of goods is deemed to be made, in accordance with the provisions to the Article 226 of the EU Directive on Value Added Tax.

Information about the relevant local invoicing requirements:

• Austria
• Belgium
• France
• Germany
• Italy
• Luxembourg
• The Netherlands
• Portugal
• Spain

3.4 What information should be on the invoice for the distance sale?

When you sell your items to the foreign Buyers, but you have not exceeded the distance sales threshold, the invoice should include the same information that would be included for the local sale to the Buyer established in the same country as you (Section 3.3).

If you use the OSS system, all your invoices should be issued according to the local requirements and include your VAT number from the local Tax Authority.

If you have the VAT registration in the specific EU country, the invoice must include your foreign VAT number and other information required by that country. That information by country can be found in Section 3.3.

3.5 I have received the invoice from Vinted. What does it mean?

The invoice you have received is for services provided by Vinted, e.g., shipping labels, buyer protection fee, or additional visibility services provided to you.

Since you perform the economic activity, the services provided to you by any foreign supplier are subject to reverse charge VAT. This means that the acquirer of the services — in this case, you — are required to report and pay VAT at the standard VAT rate.

3.6 I’m not a VAT payer. How do I report and pay VAT for Vinted services (i.e., shipping, buyer protection fee and additional visibility services)?

The process of reporting and paying reverse charge VAT for the purchase services depends on the rules of your country of establishment (place of residence). Therefore, we advise you to contact your Tax Authorities for further assistance.

3.7 How should I report distance sales?

Sales for Buyers established in other countries can be reported using One-Stop Shop (OSS) system. Please find more information in Section 2.5.

4. RETURNS

4.1 The Buyer wants to return the purchased item. Do I need to issue any documents?

Not always. You are required to issue a credit note, only if the invoice was issued for that sold item. Since invoices for distance sales are mandatory, credit notes will also be mandatory. The amount of the credit note should be the same as indicated in the initial invoice, i.e.. the price of the item plus the price of the shipping label and applicable VAT rate(s).

4.2 What information should be included on the credit note?

Generally, the requirements for the credit note are the same as for the invoice – it must contain the details outlined in Article 226 of the EU Directive on Value Added Tax, as well as relevant rules of your local Tax Authorities (please find more information in Section 3.3). Additionally, the following information should also be included in the credit note:

• An indication that it is the credit note
• A reference to the initial invoice number
• The amount of the credit note written as a negative sum (to indicate the amount being given back)
• The VAT amount indicated separately from the amount of the item
• The total amount (credited amount and the VAT amount)

LINKS:

Websites of the relevant Tax Authorities:

• Austria
• Belgium
• France
• Germany
• Italy
• Luxembourg
• The Netherlands
• Portugal
• Spain

Information about VAT payment to the relevant Tax Authorities:

• Austria
• Belgium
• France
• Germany
• Italy
• Luxembourg
• The Netherlands
• Portugal
• Spain

Other helpful information:

What is OSS? - All you need to know about the one-stop shop (OSS) - Publications Office of the EU (europa.eu)

Guide to all EU countries - VAT rules and rates: standard, special & reduced rates - Your Europe (europa.eu)