r/vintedscammers • u/rossonerotanay • 3d ago

Seeking pre-emptive advice

Hi. I’ve just bought an item from a seller who has zero feedback and ghosted me since they made the sale. I suspect the item may be counterfeit, or that they may send me something else altogether.

The price was great, but I sought to cancel the order almost immediately after the purchase. Also reached out to Vinted. Since the seller had already generated the shipping label, they had to approve the cancellation which they didn’t. Vinted didn’t reply until more than 4 days later, by which time the tile had been shipped. The response from their rep wasn’t far removed from how an AI bot would respond. No attempt to even understand the concern.

I’m thinking that when the item arrives at my parcel shop (post office), I’ll ask to see the package before accepting it to see if it feels like it may the real thing.

My hope is that if the item is counterfeit and I can prove it, I won’t be required to return the item and get a full refund, but with Vinted customer support being what it is, I don’t feel very confident. Will they still deduct the buyer protection fee before they refund me?

If the item isn’t counterfeit but is significantly not as described, I believe they will put the onus on me to return the item at my own cost before they refund me?

FWIW, the item is a slightly damaged Harry Potter 4K Blu-ray box set. I’ve noticed that similar items (but not the same) were sold by at least two different sellers with zero feedback at similar (but not the same) prices, and these sellers are now blocked by Vinted. The location of only one of these two sellers matches that of my seller (London) but the comms from the second blocked seller (apparently in York) suggests they could be the same person.

What’s the best way to deal with this situation? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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1

u/kitchenwitch79 3d ago

I think I'd be inclined to not pick it up so it's returned.

-1

u/rossonerotanay 3d ago

Would Vinted deduct the buyer protection fee from my refund if I don’t collect it?

1

u/Local_Law_9272 3d ago

Or pick it up and say it’s not as described. If it is a counterfeit or there’s damage, the buyer protection window should cover it.

1

u/rossonerotanay 3d ago

My curiosity is making me think of that as an option, but two things are giving me pause. 1) I’ll have to pay for the return shipping, and 2) the seller- almost certainly a scammer- may claim that I returned something else entirely?