Second-hand

Fashion marketplace Vinted struggles to pay back customers. In recent weeks, Dutch customers of the much-used sales point for second-hand clothing did not receive a refund if a purchase fell through. According to the company itself, this is due to technical problems at the payment handler, Mangopay.

On Vinted, people can buy or sell second-hand clothes. The money does not go directly from the buyer to the seller, but first to Vinted. The originally Lithuanian company holds the money until the clothing has arrived, in order to prevent internet scams. If the package does not arrive or the purchase is cancelled, the buyer will receive a refund.

At least, that’s the intention. But in recent weeks things have been different.

“I’ve been waiting for my money for over two weeks,” says Mick to NOS Stories. On April 5, the student bought a branded coat on Vinted. “214 euros, I worked hard for that as a pizza delivery boy.” The purchase was cancelled. Normally Mick would get the money back within a week. But now things turned out differently. “I’m afraid I’ve lost my money.”

Mick isn’t the only one waiting for his money. It has been raining complaints about Vinted on the internet for the last few days. Some people say they have been waiting for a month and a half for refunds of sometimes several hundred euros. Vinted’s internet helpdesk does not give them much clarity, it sounds. Like Mick, many fear they will never see their money again.

Vinted swears everyone will eventually get the money back. The delays are said to have been caused by a technical problem at Mangopay, the company that handles Dutch payments.

“That has now been resolved,” says a spokesperson. Mangopay would now be busy clearing the backlog. “We apologize for any inconvenience.”

It is unclear whether other companies have also been affected by the problems at Mangopay. The French company did not answer questions from NOS. According to its own website, the company also works for concert ticket site Ticketmaster and watch marketplace Chrono24, among others.