Vinted, the foremost fashion re-sale marketplace globally, has always been of peripheral interest to mass market fashion brands – whether they’re fast or a little slower.

That, of course, is primarily because of commerciality: to be frank, most brands can’t figure out how to make money from re-sale, so largely ignore it.

But things are starting to move too quickly to ignore.

Firstly, Vinted is now profitable – very profitable. Last year its profits grew 300% and its revenue surpassed €1 billion Euros for the first time.

These are numbers even your CFO can’t entirely dismiss.

But this isn’t just about the commercials. Vinted’s growth – and the emergence of many platforms like it – are demonstrating consumer shifts and motivations that the industry must reckon with.

Image credit – Jack Stratten/Insider Trends

A second-hand search engine

Vinted has moved into the mainstream because it’s tapping into a variety of customer needs and wants. And as a result, it’s becoming more than just a second-hand marketplace.

Yes, Vinted is tackling  anxieties about affordability – both by offering bargains, and the opportunity to make a little money. But I suspect what’s happening is much bigger and more nuanced.

Vinted is becoming an access point for premium brands otherwise out of reach for many shoppers. It is, in a sense, a place of accessible luxury.

But even on that point, the picture is more complex. Many younger shoppers, possessing more brand and product knowledge – and more opportunity to acquire it – than ever before, aren’t just looking for discounts. In actual fact they’re looking for longevity. 

Their instinct (and in most cases, they’re correct) is that a vintage Lacoste or Ralph Lauren item is better-made than newer equivalents. More to the point, nostalgia continues to play a defining role in modern tastes, and nothing beats an original reclaimed from the past.

In these cases, premium pieces almost become currency – treasured as much for their tradeability as their wearability. 

And as these patterns grow, customers are becoming hooked. The path from buyer to seller is inevitable. Meanwhile, something else changes too.

Vinted, in a sense, becomes a search engine. It becomes ground zero for every fashion need or want.

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