The Chronicles of Vinted vs Depop in Ireland

Finally, Vinted has touched down in Ireland! On November 20, 2024, Vinted finally expanded into the Irish market, marking their 23rd global expansion, and sweetened the deal with 3 months of free shipping (now extended until February 28). The introduction of the popular pre-loved marketplace app has been much anticipated by the Irish thrifting community. There are consumer loss worries that come into effect with these small vintage or second-hand stores and or those crazy inflated Depop sellers around Ireland. Depop is full of delusional sellers, it is a place for money-makers without a true passion for garments (sorry if this is you, I too was this, many years ago).  

Besides that, for those of you who dream of expected charity shop prices as seen in every other country but Ireland, Vinted is the spot. It’s a dream come through to see fashion that is not overpriced and that is especially tacky, AND, we’re closing the gap between our hands and the Cop Copine-esque brands we’ve so longed for but found difficulty sourcing.

Sellers use Ireland's nature as a small and insular island (at least, compared to Europe at large) to their advantage. Thus, because of how over-inflated Ireland’s economy is, (which overconsumes everything and anything remotely successful in the fashion/retail world) there are crazy differences in the Irish fashion scene, in terms of how it’s viewed through the lens of a business owner, fashion buyers, and consumers. Vinted's own CEO, Thomas Plantenga, noted in conversation with the Irish Examiner that the Irish online secondhand market is "very immature at this point". Even notice how charity shops try to upsell their ‘vintage section’ like it’s an upscale brand of its own-Nine Crows Vintage, Dublin Vintage Factory (kilo store), Tola Vintage etc., or something, the popular stores that set the tone for vintage store pricing in Ireland. All of these stores are almost like sister stores that sell identical shell gear, hats, gloves, Levi’s, you name it, and girl, is it boring and overdone.

I do enjoy a shop on Vinted ( a lot), but the low price range somewhat takes away the feeling of collecting/purchasing quality investment ‘pieces’, (I know people hate when it’s described that way so I’ll say it this way- the items of clothing don’t give me the special beautiful uniqueness I feel usually, and give me my love of fashion fulfillment) and has buying feel more like overconsumption, fast fashion-y, Shein vibes. This and the combat against unsustainable fashion is what has me feeling this way, which I can’t help? I feel strongly about sustainable fashion and awful brands.

Vinted tries to swap the higher price and low volume with the large volume of brands for lower value; and at that, for the most part, clothing on Vinted is merely undiscoverable in Ireland, so you can see why the reseller site is making waves, and whilst we worship Vinted for its beautiful finds, we must remember it is because there is much access to the continental European market, which has an excess of clothing we don’t have in Ireland. Transporting items across the sea from brands based in Spain, Italy, France, and other fashionable hubs worldwide feels much more satisfying than ordering from England, let's be honest...

Saoirse O’Boyle, BEOUR’s first guest writer, gives her take:

Vinted has completely ruined both my wallet and my relationship with other preloved apps and sites— Depop mainly, but I’ve noticed I’ve stopped reaching for the Facebook marketplace, and I no longer entertain the eBay vintage bidding wars. Based on my ’recommended for you’ section, Vinted seems to be overflowing with middle-aged ladies unaware of the true value of their items, hidden amongst baby clothes and whatever the French equivalent of Dunnes Stores frumpy blouses are— I’ll see vintage Save the Queen!, which rarely retails for below €50, regularly dipping below €10 on Vinted, and filtering Miss Sixty below €10 will reveal piles of high-quality denim waiting for their new home.

Through our rose-tinted glasses, even France’s domestic everyday brands seem to be of higher quality than the stuff you’d see here— Camaïeu (defunct Oct. ’22) and K Woman, just two of the French retail clothing brands popular on Vinted, have unique and well-tailored pieces. I practically live in my K Woman brown wide-leg pants, bought for €3 with a high cotton percentage. The most money I’ve spent on one Vinted purchase was a pair of vintage Marithé & François Girbaud jeans for €17, and most of my buys have been €1-3. I’d feel bad about cheating these French ladies out of their hidden gems if I wasn’t having the time of my life!

If Vinted has an underselling problem, Depop has a major overselling problem. Irish Depop sellers are acutely aware of Ireland’s disconnect with the larger continental European secondhand fashion market, and use it to their advantage, racking up prices even for fast fashion brands such as Desigual. Hell, I’ve seen sellers try to upsell Shein. Apart from more esoteric sites for secondhand buying-and-selling like Facebook Marketplace, Depop was all we had for years, by far the most accessible choice, and it was far from ideal. Another slight against Depop’s record is its obsession with Covid-era hobbyist fashion and flash-in-the-pan trend cycles— crochet boleros galore, fur-lined penny lane coats, fake Vivienne Westwood chokers, bedazzled chunky plastic rings. You can keep them, thanks.

Ultimately, Vinted places more of an emphasis on high-quality fabric, well-made clothes, and a curation of personal style, and Vinted Ireland’s connection to Vinted France both ensures that we don’t get trapped in a trend cycle echo chamber and allows us access to cheaper continental European items. Shoutout to the older women on Vinted with extensive Mais il est où me soleil? collections, in three short months of free shipping you’ve made me a new woman!