Vinted accelerates on luxury starting with authenticity verification service

From the (optional, but increasingly widespread) verification to guarantee the authenticity of the luxury product, to a possible evolution of the service - packaging included - in a more sophisticated key. But still democratic.

Vinted, a second- hand c2c platform founded in 2008 in Lithuania, accelerates on luxury, a segment in which it officially landed in 2022 with the purchase of the company Rebelle, specialised in second-hand luxury, whose users (11 million in Italy alone) migrated to Vinted in February 2024. Cécile Wickmann, founder and former CEO of Rebelle, now holds the position of Senior Director Luxury at the Lithuanian company, which closed 2023 with €596.3 million in revenues (+61% on 2022), adjusted EBITDA at €76.6 million and a net profit of €17.8 million: "Our mission is to make second-hand a first choice and this applies to a €5 t-shirt as much as to a luxury handbag. The point is to have a proposition that is as inclusive as possible," comments Wickmann. "Luxury is bringing new consumers to Vinted, but it is also attracting consumers who were already buying non-luxury products on the platform. Price remains a key factor, for the buyer 'but also for the seller'.

Vinted's approach to the luxury segment started from the expansion of the offer (there is now a 'designer items' section) and services: "We started with product authentication," says Wickmann, "which to date is available in 10 countries for products of about 6,000 brands as long as they are priced above 100 euro, but we aim to expand it further to ensure an ever greater coverage of products and brands.It is the first step towards a shopping experience that is increasingly in line with the expectations of luxury shoppers and includes, for example, that controlled products are re-packaged by Vinted. We have also introduced express shipping in some countries'.

Returning to the checks, which cost an extra 10 euros for the buyer, Vinted relies on a team of 22 people divided between Hamburg and London. Experts who analyse the products (luxury handbags and shoes, but also trainers) and n and assess their authenticity: "Every day we come across non-authentic or partially authentic products because they may be accompanied by details such as dust bags or certificates that later turn out to be non-original," explains Bjorn Holzhauer, senior brand expert. "If the product is fake, we send it back to the sender, who we monitor: if he uploads another non-authentic product, he will be banned from the platform.

Vinted - which has recently expanded its sphere of influence beyond fashion to electronic devices - has increased its value from EUR 3.5 billion (as of 2021) to EUR 5 billion, thanks to a secondary investment by a consortium led by the asset manager Tpg. A landing on the stock exchange in the future is not excluded.