Is Vinted spotlight worth it?

A few months ago I wrote a post on how I made £600 on Vinted. Since then, I have made several hundred more but found some of my stock just wasn't shifting!

The things that tend to sell best are the bigger and more searchable brands like H&M, Zara, and PrettyLittleThing. I put up a beautiful mustard dungaree dress from John Lewis and it just wasn't being seen. I realised it's because no one is searching for clothes from John Lewis, so I decided to spotlight my wardrobe and guess what? It sold almost instantly!

What is Vinted?

But before we get into what spotlighting my wardrobe means, let's rewind slightly. What even is Vinted?

Vinted is an online marketplace, where users can buy and sell a whole range of items - predominantly clothes, but accessories, shoes, homeware, pet accessories and books can all be found on there too.

Items are often available cheaper than on eBay, and unlike eBay, there are no selling fees for sellers - making it a very popular platform to snap up a secondhand bargain.

What does 'Vinted Spotlight' mean?

Similarly to Instagram and Facebook, you can pay for Vinted to show your items in other people's feed - kind of how you see sponsored posts on social media. Once you Spotlight your wardrobe, the algorithm is supposed to then show your items to people they may appeal to - almost by way of an ad.

With some slow-selling items in my wardrobe, I thought I'd give it a try and see if it was worth it. Luckily, I had some money in my Vinted wallet already so it was taken out of my balance, and it didn't feel like real money was actually taken as I  hadn't withdrawn it yet.

How much does it cost to Spotlight your wardrobe?

It costs £6.95 to spotlight your wardrobe for 7 days, so just under £1 a day.

Initially, I was always put off as it seemed like quite a lot of money when most of my items were only a few pounds each! But I had so much stock to shift I decided to just go for it and pray it paid off... and it did! Vinted also give you a detailed rundown of how many people your Spotlight is reaching too.

And keep your eyes peeled for special promotions, as they do sometimes offer them - discounting the cost of a Spotlight for a week.

How much did I make in a week?

Drumroll please... I made £100 in one week! I am pretty chuffed with that result.

That is £93 profit which is around the same as you would earn working ten hours a week on minimum wage.

If you follow me on my socials, you'll know I am a big charity shop and boot fair fanatic. If I find a good deal I will pick it up and resell it on Vinted. The profit margins aren't huge but every little helps towards our holiday fund! My son had also gone up a size in his clothes, so I had lots of boys 12-18 to get rid of too.

So it is worth noting, I did have a large amount to upload, which I did throughout the week I had Spotlight on. To make £100 every week I would have to have lots of stock to resell.

How do you get paid on Vinted?

Once you're ready to cash out your earnings, it's super-easy to be paid by Vinted - but it's not as immediate as you might think.

Before your payment is added to your Vinted balance, the item must first be received by the buyer - who then has a two-day timeframe to open a dispute and request a refund.

If the two days pass with no refund requests, your payment will move into your balance - at which point you can either withdraw into your bank account, or keep in your Vinted balance to spend on the platform.

How do I know Vinted Spotlight will work for me?

There is no guarantee you will sell your items with Spotlight on, and I still have a few items which just won't shift.

However, you can take steps to maximise your chances of selling more products, which I'm diving into both below, and in my Top Tips for selling on Vinted post.

Top Tips for selling with Spotlight on:

• Do not upload everything at once - upload your items throughout the week
• You need a minimum of five items in your wardrobe to be able to switch Spotlight on
• If you sell enough items to take you below five, keep uploading to take you back up - Spotlight will show five of your items to each user it pairs you with on their algorithm so you want to make the most of it
• Only Spotlight if you have lots of items to sell - remember, we want to make a profit here!
• Consider sending offers to those who favourite your items
• Try to upload similar sizes and styles at the same time
• Make sure to have bundle discounts switched on to encourage bundle sales
• The Spotlight only features your newer items, so for those tough-to-shift bits that haven't sold over the last few months, consider deleting them and uploading them during your Spotlight

How do I spotlight my Vinted wardrobe?

Once you have five items listed, in order to Spotlight your wardrobe, head to your 'Profile' tab on the app. Click 'View my profile', followed by 'Spotlight your wardrobe', where you'll be able to complete your purchase.

Your Spotlight will then run for the next seven days, with your items being shown to those the algorithm deems to be a good fit.

Within the same section of your profile, you can then view your analytics, which show how many people your items have been shown to, and how many favourites/sales you've received.

The final verdict

I love Vinted as a way to declutter my home and make some extra cash - but do I think Spotlight is worth it?

Yes - with conditions.

The first condition is that you have a minimum of five items in your wardrobe at all times - and that you regularly list new items throughout the week. If not, the fee to Spotlight might actually be more than the profit you'll make on selling the items.

The second is that you're also active on the app throughout the week - and I don't mean only listing new items. I'm talking about sending offers out to those who favourite your items, and that you switch bundle discounts on, to encourage a higher number of purchases per person.

Finally, make sure your items are easy to find and in a good condition. You could make a good number of sales over the next seven days, so make it as easy as possible for yourself and have your items easy to hand.

I'll definitely use Spotlight again when I have a number of hard-to-shift items, and while I think £6.95 for the week is a relatively good price, I'll also be keeping my eyes peeled for any Spotlight promotions Vinted my be running.

You can check out my Vinted here.