Three people, three different reasons to doubt, and one fix for all of them.
THE BRAND
Vinted, the UK's second-hand fashion leader by customer base
THE BRIEF
A consumer analysis and an interactive marketing strategy built on consumer insight
MY ROLE
Sole author: personas, channel audit, strategy, tactics and KPIs
DATA SOURCES
Similarweb, Consumer Edge, Barclays, Retail Week, Trustpilot, social platforms
01 · THE SITUATION
Vinted has a two-part advantage: no commission for sellers, unlike eBay, Thrift+ and Vestiaire Collective, and more trust than unmoderated Facebook Marketplace.
But in its largest market it depends on third-party couriers. Without Vinted Go in the UK, that trust only goes so far, and retailers like Zara and COS running their own pre-owned schemes could exploit the same weakness.
the competitive set
Spending on clothing and footwear by over-65s grew 12.3% year-on-year in Q4 2025, while spending by 16–24-year-olds fell.
02 · THE PEOPLE
pick a persona ↓
DIGITAL TRUST
Almost no concerns
She uses Vinted out of habit, scrolling it like a social feed.
IDENTITY
Presentation of self (Goffman)
Reselling is part of how she presents herself on TikTok.
PEER INFLUENCE
Social identity (Tajfel & Turner)
A broad, weak-tie community on TikTok.
DIGITAL TRUST
Stakes-based
Selling in volume, she risks real money. For her it’s about reliability, not familiarity.
IDENTITY
Extended self (Belk)
Her resale business is an identity project, not just income.
PEER INFLUENCE
Social comparison (Festinger)
She benchmarks herself against other resellers.
DIGITAL TRUST
Competence-based
She doubts her own ability to manage the process.
IDENTITY
Functional, not symbolic
She’s clearing a house before a move, not expressing who she is. Neither identity theory fits her.
PEER INFLUENCE
Personal networks (Brown & Reingen)
Family and friends, and WhatsApp, rather than an online community.
The finding I pushed hardest on: identity isn't a universal driver of second-hand buying. It explains Priya and Chloe, but not Diane. One trust-building tactic can't fix three different barriers, which is why the strategy has to be one that serves all three.
03 · CHANNEL AUDIT
fig. 1 — followers by platform
The biggest audience sits on the channel Vinted abandoned, and that's also where older users like Diane spend their time.
TikTok: personality wins
Most posts get 1k–34k views. The best one, featuring a recurring on-camera personality, hit 1.5m. That format isn't used consistently.
No email incentive
Vestiaire Collective offers up to £250 off the first three orders and Thrift+ offers 20% off orders over £50. Vinted has no sign-up offer at all.
Delivery is the weak link
Even where Vinted Go exists, it scores 3.0/5 across 60,996 Trustpilot reviews. The top complaints are wrong-location deliveries and slow resolutions.
04 · THE STRATEGY
This is market development on Ansoff's matrix: the locker network is already proven in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain, so the risk is in execution, not invention. Owning delivery reduces perceived risk, and less risk means more repeat purchases (Pavlou).
fig. 2 — the rollout
Q1–Q2 2027
Reactivate Facebook with reassuring, trackable-delivery messages for Diane. Personality-led TikToks showing how the lockers work for Chloe. Build the UK locker network.
Q3 2027
Vinted Go goes live with three months of free locker delivery, plus a first-ever launch email to existing sellers like Priya.
Q4 2027
The free offer ends. An ongoing content series shares new locker locations and delivery performance, rather than one launch moment.
how success is measured
SERVE
post-purchase satisfaction, tracked monthly on Trustpilot
SELL
repeat purchases within six months, from app order data
SPEAK
Facebook posts, plus a rising TikTok engagement rate
PRICE
share of orders using the free-delivery offer
If a phase falls short of target, Vinted adjusts rather than sticking to the timetable: for example, adding lockers in existing areas before expanding, or extending the free-delivery window.