Since launching in the UK in 2014 Vinted has reshaped the online second-hand marketplace – but users are now reporting an increasing number of sexually charged messages on the platform.
Sellers across London have described receiving requests from potential buyers for sexually explicit material and to model clothing provocatively before purchasing.
The Lithuanian online marketplace was founded in 2008 offering a way for users to buy, sell and swap new and second-hand clothing – it is now the most successful website of its kind in Europe and was crowned as the first tech unicorn (a privately held start-up company with a valuation of more than $1 billion) in 2019.
This article includes some content readers may find distressing.
Sellers argue the platform’s growth has created new avenues for harassment, particularly for younger women, of buyers asking for explicit images.
One such user, who wished to remain anonymous, described an encounter where she was asked to include a pair of used underwear inside the parcel.
Almost immediately after uploading the item she was hit with a message asking if he could ‘smell before buying’ – despite her lack of response he continued to barrage her with more messages before she eventually blocked him.
She said: “It’s one thing when creeps approach you or wolf whistle in public, but these people are behind their screens asking for sexual content which I haven’t consented to.
“There needs to be stronger safeguards and more proactive measures to prevent this from happening.”
Despite Vinted having a dedicated section where users can report any form of abuse or harassment, this realistically can only be done after an inappropriate message has been received, placing the burden on sellers to manage responses themselves.
Unlike other social platforms which send automated warnings and filters to flag potentially explicit messaging, Vinted only has a retrospective reporting system in place.
In an independent review undertaken by the South West Londoner there were no automated checks in place to detect sexually explicit or vulgar language on Vinted.
She added: “Because it’s a selling platform there’s more of an expectation to reply to buyers even if they are saying things which are provocative.
“They know there’s limited checks so they can just keep pushing for a response.”
Under Vinted guidance users are directed to report offenders through their internal system which they can then investigate and give an official decision on.
Possible sanctions include sending a warning or permanently banning the member from the site.
Under UK law, Vinted is likely to fall within the scope of the ‘user-to-user’ service meaning it may be legally obligated to protect users from harmful content.
The Online Safety Act 2023 sets out legal guidelines to protect children and adults online, placing new duties on social media companies and search services to hold them more accountable for their users’ safety on their platforms.
Under this legislation major platforms must be more transparent over potentially harmful material, giving people more control over the type of content they see.
While there are age checks in place to ensure under-18s can only use the app with parental supervision, this still leaves adult users wide open to abuse.
The Act gives Ofcom the power to take appropriate action against all companies that fall under the scope, even if they are not based in the UK
Companies are expected to proactively tackle any illegal content such as harassment, intimate image abuse and coercive behaviour.
In October 2024 Channel 4 investigated a site titled ‘Vinted Sluts’, which saw thousands of provocative images being uploaded onto an online database, without consent of the people pictured.
This followed on from a Telegram channel which was discovered in April of the same year, Girls of Vinted, which had taken more than 1,000 pictures from the Vinted website and posted it under a sexualised context – it had accumulated 2,000 mainly male subscribers before it was officially shut down.
Despite the government announcing plans to make the sharing of intimate images without consent a ‘priority offence’, some users believe not enough is being done by the platform to mitigate these instances.
Regular user, Natalia Perry, feels Vinted needs to introduce routine checks to prevent inappropriate communication.
Before she had her own run-in with a buyer on the app, it had never even crossed her mind that people would buy used clothes to be intentionally weird.
Perry said: “I genuinely did not even think people would stoop so low.
“It’s a selling platform not a dating website – I just wish more people would keep their perverted thoughts to themselves.”
On more than one occasion Perry has cancelled a potential order due to men asking for sexually explicit images – when a seller cancels an order this leaves a negative review on their account.
She added: “Why am I losing out on profit because of someone else’s twisted fantasies?”
After posting about her experience on Reddit, Perry was flooded with comments that suggested she was partially to blame for the lewd replies to her content.
Rebecca Hitchen, Head of Policy and Campaigns at the End Violence Against Women Coalition, said: “No one is responsible for their own abuse.
“Responses to abuse that tell women and girls to change their behaviour online or ‘come offline’ are unrealistic in an era in which our lives are largely lived online, and wrongly place the burden on women to limit their freedoms.”
In a report posted by Ofcom in November 2025, it was found that women are disproportionately affected by different forms of online abuse.
It found that 73% of Gen Z social media users have witnessed misogynistic content online, with a further 70% of boys aged 11-4 having been exposed to online content that promotes harmful views.
If you have been victim to sexual harassment or inappropriate messaging, you can contact the Vinted support team here.
Vinted were approached for comment.
Featured Image: Hugo Clément on Unsplash
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