Vinted gives sellers 48 hours to prove items are genuine under new terms

Vinted's new terms double the proof window for counterfeit flags and hold flagged items for six weeks

Vinted's updated terms and conditions double the time a seller has to prove that a flagged item is genuine, from 24 hours to 48 hours, and hold a verified counterfeit for six weeks. Liz Morton of Value Added Resource reported the changes on 5 September 2026, and the European version takes effect on 5 October 2026⁵. Vinted's UK terms page gives 8 October 2026 as the date its updated T&Cs take effect². The 48-hour window and six-week hold come from secondary reporting. The Vinted UK page we retrieved does not show the counterfeit clause text, so check these figures against Vinted's live wording before relying on them.

Terms and conditions (T&Cs) are the legal agreement between Vinted and its users. A “counterfeit” in this context is an item Vinted or a buyer considers a fake of a branded product.

Which sellers are affected, and from which date

Value Added Resource reported that Vinted has already posted new terms for France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Ireland, with a 5 October 2026 effective date⁵. Separate updated terms for the US, UK and Australia were scheduled for 8 October 2026^5,6.

The dates are market-specific. Vinted's Ireland page gives 5 October 2026³, and its UK page gives 8 October 2026². Forbes Solicitors, in a guest comment published by InternetRetailing on 21 October 2026, says the updated terms took effect from 8 October 2026¹. That comment does not name a market. Sellers should check the live terms page for their own country.

Value Added Resource says the UK gets the same counterfeit rule previously found in Europe: Vinted may dispose of a counterfeit-verified item without further notice⁶. It says that provision does not appear in the new US or Australian agreements, which may reflect that Vinted does not offer Item Verification in those markets⁶.

What a counterfeit flag could cost a seller in time and stock

Under the reported terms, a seller told there is strong evidence an item is counterfeit has 48 hours to provide proof of authenticity. The current terms give 24 hours⁵. Value Added Resource reports that the same 48-hour period applies in the US, UK and Australia⁶.

If Vinted verifies that an item is counterfeit, the item is held for six weeks after the seller is notified, giving the seller time to challenge the decision⁵. The seller waives the right to the item if they do not provide satisfactory proof of authenticity or make a formal objection in that period. The new terms then authorise Vinted to “dispose of, recycle, or destroy it without further notice or compensation”⁵.

The flow of a counterfeit review under the reported terms is shown below.

1. Item flagged as suspected counterfeit after buyer concern or Vinted verification^1,5
2. Seller given 48 hours to provide proof of authenticity (reported)^5,6
3. Item held for six weeks after notification, with a right to challenge (reported)^5,6
4. Seller loses the item if proof or objection is not provided; Vinted may destroy it^1,5

The sources disagree on what starts a review. Forbes Solicitors says buyers can raise authenticity concerns, which Vinted investigates, and that questionable products are retained for six weeks¹. Value Added Resource says the trigger is an item Vinted itself verifies as counterfeit⁵. Vinted’s Help Centre, which describes the existing process, says a buyer who still has doubts after Vinted’s experts have checked an item may trigger a second verification at Vinted’s hub. An item that fails it has its order cancelled and is sent back to the seller⁴. The Help Centre also states a “zero-tolerance policy regarding non-genuine items” and says it may block accounts that repeatedly list them⁴.

Does the “Vinted fee” change what buyers pay?

The October agreements rename the mandatory buyer charge from “Buyer Protection fee” to a mandatory “Vinted fee”, which “contributes to our costs of operating the Site”⁵. Vinted’s current UK terms describe the Buyer Protection fee as “applied for a fee in every Transaction”².

The new terms say the Vinted fee is included in the price breakdown shown while browsing and added to the final order price at checkout⁵. Value Added Resource says the terms do not indicate a change to how the fee is calculated, but do change how Vinted describes what the mandatory fee is for^5,6.

The sources give no fee amount or percentage, so the reporting does not show whether a buyer pays more or less than before. The refund rights that were part of Buyer Protection are now set out separately in a Refund Policy covering items that are lost, damaged, significantly not as described or counterfeit^5,6.

The parcels in the image below are illustrative only. They do not show any specific order.

What sellers should do now

• Check your market’s live terms page and note its effective date. The Ireland and UK pages give different dates^2,3.
• Keep proof of purchase and authenticity documents for branded or luxury items, such as receipts, authenticity cards or serial-number records, filed with the listing record so they can be sent within the 48-hour window^5,6.
• Record notification dates. The six-week hold and any formal objection run from the date the seller is notified⁵.
• Review listing photos and descriptions for branded items, given Vinted’s stated zero-tolerance policy⁴.
• Read the price breakdown in any listing you publish, because the mandatory charge is now shown as the “Vinted fee”⁵.

The image below shows a luxury handbag being inspected. It is for illustration only.

What is not yet known

• Whether the 48-hour window and six-week hold match Vinted’s official wording in every market. The counterfeit clause text was not in the Vinted UK page we retrieved².
• How Vinted decides which items to verify as counterfeit, and how often buyer concerns lead to a hold. The sources do not say.
• The fee amount, percentage or calculation method for the Vinted fee. None appears in the sources we retrieved.
• Whether Vinted will publicly comment on the renamed fee or the destruction provision beyond the reported terms.