SHOPPING second hand is good for your wallet and the planet, so it’s no wonder that so many of us are buying items off apps like Vinted.
One woman got a little more than she bargained for though, after buying a pair of trainers off the app that arrived covered in dog poo.
While it’s not good to air your dirty laundry in public, the furious shopper decided to share what had happened on social media.
According to the unhappy customer, one of the shoes had arrived with the sole caked in chunks of mud or possible faeces.
They even shared the shocking exchange between them and the Vinted seller, who didn’t deny the claims and tried to brush off the bizarre incident.
“They are covered in dog poo???? This is absolutely f***ing gross,” they pointedly complained in the message.
To make matters even worse, their family had been affected by the grotty trainers.
The buyer added: “My house now stinks and my elderly mum who is very vulnerable hasn’t stopped wretching because of the horrific smell.
“You stated they were very good condition.”
If that wasn’t bad enough, the seller then replied: “Sorry about that completely 4got to wash b4 sending.”
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While you’d think they’d offer the buyer a refund or some kind of compensation, they offered them some rather unwanted advice.
They wrote: “Leave out in sun to dry then chip it off with knife should be fine x again sorry about that.”
Understandably, the fuming customer pointedly replied: “No I won’t be going anywhere near them.
“I want a full refund, I’ll be posting them to your address tomorrow.”
However, the seller then explained they were in Benidorm for the fortnight for a friend's “divorce party”, adding: “Holiday mode on now.”
With the buyer unable to get a response, they took to social media to vent with their post getting over 13,000 likes.
Others called the incident ‘foul’ and insane’, with one person commenting: “That’s absolutely disgusting. How do you forget to clean something like that!?”
Some couldn’t get over the fact that the item had been packaged like that, with another adding: “The seller would have been completely aware of this as well whilst taking the pictures of them to sell.”
A third then joked: “I just can’t imagine f*ing packaging sh*t covered shoes.”
Most were just horrified by the bizarre incident, with some social media users even refusing to believe it really happened.
“This has to be a lie this can’t be true surely,” commented one shocked user, with a fifth writing: “I refuse to believe these are real.”
While the incident might have gone viral online, it’s thankfully a very rare experience with most Vinted users loving the app.
In fact, some have even claimed that the app is one of the best side hustles you can have – with one woman making £6,700 on the app.
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Millie Beaton has been using the wardrobe spotlight feature to make a small fortune off her side hustle, with her listing over 2,000 items at any time.
We are just glad that most sellers are like Millie.
New Vinted rules to be aware of
IF you fancy clearing out your wardrobe and getting rid of your old stuff on Vinted, you’ll need to consider the new rules that recently came into play.
If people are selling personal items for less than they paid new (which is generally the case for second-hand sales), there is no impact on tax.
However, since January 1, digital platforms, including eBay, Airbnb, Etsy, Amazon and Vinted, must share seller information with HMRC as part of a crackdown.
You're unlikely to be affected if you only sell a handful of second-hand items online each year - generally, only business sellers trading for profit might need to pay tax.
A tax-free allowance of £1,000 has been in place since 2017 for business sellers trading for profit - the only time that an individual personal item might be taxable is if it sells for more than £6,000 and there is a profit from the sale.
However, firms now have to pass on your data to HMRC if you sell 30 or more items a year or earn over £1,700.
It is part of a wider tax crackdown to help ensure that those who boost their income via side hustles pay up what they owe.
While your data won't be shared with HMRC if you earn between £1,000 and £1,700, you'll still need to pay tax as normal.