PRO: Sourcing your products

PROs Vinted
1

Exactly for flea markets.

For bots, VTOOL, which is a bot that allows, with filters, to buy as soon as an item is listed, the bot buys it. There are several subscription modes for VTOOL, including the Sniper mode, which means it’s bought within seconds of you posting it.

This has happened to me several times. I would list an item, it would be bought immediately, and the seller would cancel. And since many sellers use it, it happens 10 times in a row, I was forced to relist it. And it’s very annoying. It was so annoying that I stopped listing items for sale.
Not to mention the sellers who sell at low prices so that some people have access to nice items, like me.

This creates a bad customer and seller experience, which is different from Clemz, since Clemz is more of an advantage for Vinted, as it will increase our sales and thus their revenue.

With these buying bots, good deals for individuals are dead. In fact, it’s monopolized by a hundred people who have access to the fastest mode. They buy hundreds of items per month and resell them.
There are even ready-made filters, by brand and price, on Discord servers, where there is a large community of over 100,000 people.

Some take 80%, others 19%, and individuals, who used to get good deals, 1%.
Another consequence is that the prices of nice items have exploded.

On top of that, there’s dropshipping from AliExpress, Shein… Since the search engine is bad, the customer experience is deteriorating. Several people around me have said the same thing, and are therefore turning away from it.

Where before everything sold well and quickly, you have to be a professional to stand out. Customer loyalty, promotions, social media pages, communication, active follow-up, there are at least 15 to 20 points to implement now. Clemz helps to cover some of them, but it’s not enough.

It works, but you have to think, understand, listen to those who sell, and do the groundwork, which is tedious, unrewarding, and time-consuming, like building the foundation of a house.
Without a foundation, you can build one floor, you won’t go any higher, but you built quickly, and without a base, it’s fragile.

With a foundation, it takes much longer to build, it has to be well thought out because everything will rest on it, and you won’t be able to redo it once construction has started, but you will be able to add many floors.

I described the cycle of a site a few months ago, some thought we were still in the high growth and sales phase, all the testimonials show the opposite and that I was right about the site’s dynamics.

eBay also went through its AliExpress phase. Individual resellers who were like professionals, saturation, and everything described. It’s not unique to Vinted, it’s the economy that works like that, online or in real life.
And before eBay, it was others.

Have a good day

1 Like
Nouvelles CGU Vinted au 08/09/2025
2

As I always say, platforms are not eternal; Vinted will one day be surpassed by another. In 2010, no one would have bet on the collapse of Rakuten or eBay.
It might be a new platform that offers a new concept that Vinted won’t see coming, or perhaps an old one that regains its former glory (eBay, after all, has a solid foundation, and a few well-chosen decisions could help it regain its luster). Platforms often fall after bad decisions, which leads to the emergence of a new one. Vinted emerged when eBay and Rakuten hadn’t anticipated the advent of the smartphone and made decisions unfavorable to sellers (overly ambitious commissions, overly complicated interface for eBay, shipping management, too-expensive shipping costs, etc.). Nothing guarantees that Vinted won’t make them too.

It’s because it’s from personal experience; I used to go every Sunday before and I gave up.

3

100% agree, and same for flea markets, I’ve stopped too.

4

Where do you buy things then, if you don’t go to flea markets or car boot sales anymore?? :sweat_smile:

5

It’s like with mushrooms (and enthusiasts will complete the quote), you don’t reveal your good spots.

2 Likes
6

This does not mean that you should stop doing it, it remains a great way to supply yourself.

7

In my line of business and in my neck of the woods, it’s no longer worth getting up.

8

Wow, but I never asked for your « good spots » ^^ I was just expecting a vague answer like « on the net », nothing more. It’s crazy how everyone jealously guards their own patch these days :sweat_smile:

9

Yes, online :face_savoring_food: I have suppliers who do clearance sales, and in 10 minutes I can order several boxes weighing 15kg each, so it’s hard to motivate myself to get up on Sunday to sometimes find just 3 little things.

Regarding exclusive deals, it’s indeed complicated to communicate. Firstly, I’m not always alone on my deals, so I have competition, making it a bit hard to help newcomers. And I have a few that fly under the radar, even if they are online, which allow me to differentiate myself, but if I give them away freely, I won’t be differentiating myself anymore. However, sometimes among certain professionals with whom things go well, we exchange this kind of information, but it’s more in private when we feel it’s a win-win situation. And then, when I see the behavior of some competitors, it doesn’t make me want to help them.

And then, well, there was also a time when I worked hard to find my deals, they weren’t given to me. For example, I also do sales because it allows me to differentiate myself from what can be found from suppliers, where I’m not alone. Some acquaintances tell me that what I find is amazing, that I’m lucky, etc… No, it’s not luck, I get up early on the first Wednesday of the sales, I take several days where I do nothing else, I probably drive 1000 km in 3/4 days, I do long routes from 8 am until closing time (sometimes 9:30 pm), I invest a « large » budget (let’s say we’re not talking about hundreds of euros), and for years I’ve been prospecting to find gems sometimes in completely lost corners. And especially, very importantly for me, I’ve learned to know which places to avoid the crazy crowds you see on TV. One, it’s useless because if you’re not among the first to cross the gate, it’s over. And two, I have too much dignity to go fight for shopping carts in the aisles during sales :sweat_smile:

But not everyone does that. Yes, I find great things during sales, sometimes I make very good profits, sometimes I just buy because it will allow me to diversify from others, or because I already have products in the same range (especially for figurines), so offering more choice unlocks bulk purchases, and sometimes I completely mess up by not buying the right things :joy: But I do put in the effort for it. Afterwards, it’s fine, I’m happy when I’m out and about.

1 Like
10

Sourcing is the lifeblood of the « war. »

If you’ve overcome the barrier for a product that is difficult to source AND at a good price AND of quality, you’ve done the hardest part.

You have access to this rare stock, but others don’t = competitive advantage

The difficulty of supply (limited quantity, necessary network, research time, etc.) prevents newcomers from easily copying your model.

Basically, the higher the barrier to entry, the fewer competitors there are.

So yes, it’s a protected hunting ground, except for flea markets, which are freely accessible on the net. After that, some are better than others, and over the years you learn to favor the good places over the bad ones. I remember going up to 250 km from my home, staying in hotels, for well-filled weekends. For example, in the PO (Points of Origin), there are some very good flea markets to explore.

11

You have the right mindset, the techniques, the years of experience, good analysis like differentiation, you dedicate time and money to it = it works.

12

But I totally understand not wanting to share your good deals with everyone, I’m in the same boat as you guys :grin: I just wanted to clarify that my initial question was not out of misplaced curiosity or an attempt to pry for information, I already have enough things stored at home haha

1 Like
13

We’re trying, at least.

I also have a project for a little later (I have a young child at home, so I’m waiting for him to grow a bit, and that allows me to budget) to invest in a utility vehicle to do bigger sales trips. Basically, leave for a few days without even returning home to optimize travel and broaden the search area. And at the same time, I’m also thinking about a physical sales project, to see in what types of places (flea markets, markets, fairs, geek conventions…). It’s still in the project stage, but it’s something I want to try. I have a few suppliers who could allow me to try something nice compared to what I’ve seen at flea markets.

1 Like
14

I’m thinking about it too.

For example, a space cut in two with a classic sales area, managed by one person, and another backroom area for online operations, etc. A point with 2 components.

It’s different from events, pop-ups, conventions, etc., but these also have the merit of raising awareness, like trade shows, and also getting out from behind a computer. You need to know your target audience well, the « viewer avatar » as they say!

The flea market… there are targeted ones too.

It’s also easy to get lost by diluting yourself.