Reselling Charity Shop Finds on Vinted: The Right Way to Do It

Yes, you can buy in charity shops, reuse centres (such as Emmaüs in France) or consignment stores to resell on Vinted: it's legal, and these organisations live off their sales. The condition is to buy as a respectful customer, not to clear the rails, and to set a maximum buying price before you walk in. Here you'll find the sourcing round method, the profit calculation and the etiquette.

The idea isn't to turn a charity into your warehouse. It's to find a few underpriced pieces, regularly, without taking the place of people who come in to clothe themselves.

Is it allowed to resell what you buy in charity shops?

Yes. Once paid for, the item is yours and you can do what you like with it. No law bans reselling something bought second-hand.

Each shop does set its own sales rules, though. Some limit the number of items per person, keep the first hour for private customers or refuse known resellers. Those are house rules, and you respect them.

It's also worth remembering what you're funding. In France, Emmaüs communities and many reuse centres take on people in back-to-work schemes or in hardship, and their sales pay for that work. Many charity shops elsewhere have a similar mission. Buying from them isn't a problem. Turning up with three friends and bags to sweep everything up is.

Charity shop, reuse centre, consignment store: what's the difference for a reseller?

The three aren't worked the same way. Price, volume and potential margin vary a lot.

Key point: charity shops and reuse centres offer the best buying prices but need rummaging time. A consignment store saves you time with pieces already sorted, at the cost of a thinner margin.

There's also Label Emmaüs, a French online shop bringing together around 180 charity stores according to its website. Prices there are generally closer to the market, because pieces are photographed and described. It's handy for looking for a specific piece, less so for finding bargains.

How do you organise a sourcing round that pays?

The round that works is regular, short and prepared. Three 45-minute visits a week are better than a whole day once a month.

Step five is the one most beginners skip. Search Vinted for the brand name and type of piece, then look at items that have sold, not ones for sale. The asking price of a listing that isn't moving means nothing.

What maximum buying price should you set?

A good benchmark: don't pay more than a third of the realistic selling price on Vinted. Above that, the margin disappears as soon as one piece doesn't sell.

On Vinted, the protection fee is paid by the buyer. According to Vinted's help page on buyer protection, it's generally 5% of the price plus €0.70. You, the seller, receive the listed price. So your margin is calculated on that price, minus what you paid and what you spent around it (detergent, mailing bags, travel).

Example of a typical round:

• you buy 12 pieces for €42, or €3.50 on average;
• you sell 9 within 60 days, at €13 on average, or €117;
• 3 don't sell, and you give them away or donate them back;
• you count €8 of extra costs (petrol, mailing bags).

Your gross margin is 117 − 42 − 8 = €67. If you spent 4 hours in total (round, photos, listings, shipping), you're at around €17 an hour. That's decent for a side income, but you can immediately see what could drag it down: paying €6 instead of €3.50, or having 6 unsold pieces instead of 3.

How do you stay a welcome customer when you resell?

Volunteers and staff spot resellers quickly. How you're received depends on your behaviour, not your activity.

A few simple rules:

• Don't clear a rail. If you spot ten interesting pieces, take the best four. The others will be useful to someone.
• Don't haggle with a charity. A €2 discount changes nothing for your margin and a lot for how you come across.
• Respect the access rules: quotas, reserved hours, no reselling in certain places.
• Don't put aside pieces you don't intend to take.
• Give back too. Your unsold items can go back as donations to these same places. It's an honest loop.

Being open often helps. Saying "I resell a bit on Vinted, I'm mainly looking for this brand" sometimes builds a relationship where staff put aside pieces nobody buys in store.

What sells best after a sourcing round?

The pieces that go fast are the ones whose name gets searched for. A well-known brand, a clear size, clean condition.

The categories that often come up in resellers' quick sales: coats and jackets from recognisable brands, jeans from sought-after brands, wool or cashmere jumpers in good condition, sportswear from known brands, and well-photographed vintage. Unbranded basics sell poorly above a few euros, except in bundles.

The real trap is buying on impulse. A piece you love but nobody searches for will end up in the unsold bag. Your rule must remain the sold price you've seen on Vinted.

How do you know whether your round is really profitable?

While you're doing a few pieces a week, a notebook is enough. Beyond 30 to 40 pieces a month, you lose track of which round paid off, which piece took three months to sell, and what you really earned.

That's where resellers lose money without noticing. A round that seems good because you "sold a lot" can hide overpriced purchases and stock piling up. Without the purchase price recorded piece by piece, you can't tell whether shop A earns more than shop B.

Recording the purchase price of every piece and matching it to its sale is ten minutes a day by hand. Revendor syncs your Vinted sales and calculates the profit on each item from the purchase price you've entered.

Is it worth going to charity shops if you sell little?

If you sell fewer than ten pieces a month, yes, but without pressure. Make the most of your visits, buy what speaks to you, and don't try to optimise. A tool or a spreadsheet would be wasted time at that volume.

If you want a regular side income from it, the method above becomes useful from the first few weeks: maximum price, checking sold prices, listing quickly. To get your listings selling, work on the title too: our article on how to write a good Vinted title shows what to include.

The first step is small: pick one place this week, ask at the counter which day they restock, and set your maximum price before you go in.