Some charity retailers have had their business accounts with Vinted and other online marketplaces frozen amid what the Charity Retail Association (CRA) has described as “flawed onboarding and verification processes”.
The membership body told Civil Society that helping some of its members resolve such issues had been “much more complicated than it needs to be due to poor customer support and a lack of communication on what documents are required”.
“With charity retailers experiencing significant online sales growth, it’s hugely frustrating when flawed onboarding and verification processes bring sales to a halt,” a CRA spokesperson said.
“We recognise that online platforms must operate under strict financial regulations but their verification systems are clunky, heavily automated, and poorly designed, with no effective safety net when things go wrong.”
They said customer support “frequently fails to offer meaningful assistance”, while some charity accounts have been suspended over a single typo in a name or address.
Meanwhile, documents are “routinely rejected without explanation or clear guidance on requirements”, they added.
Account frozen for at least six months
The Hospice of St Francis, a CRA member that has 10 charity shops, said its Vinted Pro account had been frozen for at least six months.
Sam Lees, the charity’s director of trading, told Civil Society: “We’re on Vinted, but we’re finding it challenging because they froze our account because setting up as a charity has been complicated.
“Their internal business infrastructure doesn’t really understand how charities operate. They expect you to have directors and be very simple. They don’t understand the whole trustee organisation.”
Lees is aware of other retailers that have also had their Vinted accounts suspended, saying “we’ve got money sitting there that we can’t get at, and it’s very complicated to deal with them”.
She said that while Vinted has been looking into the issue, her charity has been repeatedly asked to provide lots of information.
“I had a similar experience when we set up Amex in the shops because they don’t understand the structure of charities,” she said.
“They don’t understand that you have trustees who aren’t paid but have financial responsibility; then you have a CEO and directors. They don’t understand the business model.
“They haven’t adapted their business practice to understand how charities work.”
Accounts may be banned if rules are ‘breached’
In response, a Vinted spokesperson told Civil Society: “Vinted is primarily a peer-to-peer second-hand marketplace.
“We only allow certain commercial activity provided that these members are registered as pro sellers.
“Vinted Pro is a free service for businesses, including sole traders and non-profit organisations, to sell pre-owned items on Vinted while meeting the legal obligations, such as tax reporting, that apply to them.”
They said pro sellers’ activity must be centred on second-hand goods and comply with Vinted’s catalogue rules.
“Accounts may be temporarily or permanently banned if these rules are breached,” they added.
“Where members believe a decision has been made in error, they can appeal and each case will be reviewed individually by our member support team.”
