how sustainable is the king of second-hand fashion?

Approximately 3.6 billion km of driving. This is the carbon equivalent (estimated at 453 kilotons of CO2) of the emissions reportedly avoided through Vinted, according to a study carried out by the Lithuanian group to assess its environmental impact. A 164-page report filled with information, providing a better understanding of Vinted’s sustainability strategy and its limitations.

The study surveyed 350,000 Vinted users in spring and autumn 2022, analysing 200 million transactions. It was carried out in partnership with Vaayu, a company specialised in calculating retailers’ carbon emissions, and was based on the average emissions associated with specific product types (for example, 12.42 kg of CO2 for a hoodie, and 27.84 kg for a fitted coat) and delivery modes. About 50 pages of the report are devoted to the methodology used, Vinted seemingly keen to put the accent on transparency.

Among the study’s findings, the fact that for every 2.56 items bought on Vinted, the purchase of one new item is avoided. This is equivalent to 1.8 kg of CO2 emissions prevented (a 15 km car journey) according to Vinted, Europe’s fashion resale leader, which has now become one of the top online fashion retailers in Europe, with 80 million members across 18 markets.

These figures will provide useful inputs to Marianne Gybels, Vinted’s head of sustainability, and her staff. Gybels told FashionNetwork.com that the group doesn’t have a specific budget earmarked for sustainability, though the latter lies at the heart of Vinted’s business strategy. “My three-person team advises all of the group’s departments, so that, in the end, it counts for 1,500 people [Vinted’s total number of employees],” said Gybels.

Consumer behaviour

Among respondents, 20% said they buy on Vinted for social or environmental reasons. A figure that Gybels defined as “very encouraging.” It ranked only third among the reasons indicated by respondents, and the figure rose to 29% and 27% respectively for users in Germany and the Netherlands. Across all countries, 47% of respondents said they buy on Vinted because prices are lower, and 25% browse the site out of curiosity, looking for impulse purchases.

The study underlined how 20% of customers said they would still buy a second-hand item even if the corresponding new item costed the same. Conversely, 37% of respondents said they would prefer to buy a new item, and 32% would “probably” do so too. While 12% of respondents wouldn’t know which to choose between a new and a second-hand item at the same price.

“In the end, the reason why [consumers] decide to buy a second-hand item doesn’t really matter,” said Gybels, who kept coming back to the Vinted mantra: “Whatever choice you make on Vinted, it’s the best choice. This is the concept we want to establish.”

On the vendors’ side, only 9% of respondents said they use their earnings to buy new items. In nearly 30% of cases, the earnings are used to make a purchase on Vinted, in 21% of cases they are set aside, while 27% of respondents didn’t offer any indication.

If Vinted didn’t exist, over 65% of respondents said they wouldn’t try to resell their used clothes, which would instead go to a charity shop (19% of cases), or would be forgotten in their wardrobe (13% of cases). Only 24% of respondents said they would try another resale site.

One of the study’s key points concerned the ‘avoided purchase’ rate, in other words the amount of users who buy a second-hand product on Vinted in order to avoid purchasing a new one. The study found this is the case for 39% of purchases, as opposed to 25% in the case of impulse purchases.

A figure that supports a recurrent criticism levelled at Vinted, namely of contributing to a new kind of over-consumption. “We have sought out studies on replacement rates in newly bought products, but for the time being we don’t have a way of making a reliable comparison,” said Gybels. “In terms of impulse purchases, Vinted is comparable to any other site. With the difference that we recommend that people take care of their garments with a view to reselling them.”

Decarbonising logistics is a challenge

Transportation alone accounts for 96% of the carbon emissions of any purchase on Vinted, measured at 1.28 kg of CO2 per delivery, and 977 grams per product. A pick-up/drop-off (PUDO) shipment/delivery system is said to cut emissions by 62%, given that, for a quarter of respondents, the journey to a pick-up point lasts on average 13 minutes.

This is a key issue, since Vinted chiefly uses PUDO deliveries, and last year the group even set up its own logistics subsidiary, Vinted Go. France, where the method is being trialled, will have 2,000 automated delivery points by the end of the year, which Vinted intends to put at the disposal of other e-tailers. “Knowing the exact impact by route type and volume is key to help us improve in terms of transportation,” said Gybels.

The study also shed light on the distance that usually separates users from pick-up/drop-off points: the farthest was measured in France, at 2.3 km on average.

It also emerged that most users in France, Belgium, Italy and the UK drive to the pick-up/drop-off points, while users in Spain and Poland chiefly walk to them, and one third of Dutch customers use bicycles. On average, journeys to pick-up/drop-off points generate 183 grams of CO2.

Packaging-related emissions account for 3.12% of the carbon impact of each Vinted transaction. Each product sold was found to have an impact of 30.86 grams of CO2, and 62% of customers resort to pre-used packaging. According to the study, in 2021 Vinted avoided 17 kilotons of CO2 emissions that would have been generated by new packaging, equivalent to 140 million km of driving.

It wasn’t by chance then that cereal boxes, transformed by some vendors into packaging, had pride of place at the Vinted study’s presentation in Paris. The study even included detailed data on packing tape, which was found to account for 20% of an average shipment’s carbon impact, 40.9 grams of CO2.

Did Vinted pave the way for ultra-fast-fashion players?

Impact studies often reveal the blind spots in some companies’ sustainability strategies. Vinted has contributed to popularising a consumption mode relying on constant availability of new, very low-priced clothes. This has led some NGOs and industry specialists to think, albeit circumspectly, that Vinted may have inadvertently paved the way to players like Shein and Temu.

A charge that Gybels refuted: “Players like those would have existed even before, or without Vinted.” She emphasised that Vinted is positioned at the polar opposite of disposable fashion, since it encourages people to continue to use their clothes as much as possible. “We want people to buy second-hand [clothes] because it’s the best possible choice. What I’m hoping to see in future is that, since one day they may be reselling their clothes, consumers will opt for durable, better quality products,” she added.

There is a line that Vinted doesn’t want to cross: unlike Vestiaire Collective, the Lithuanian group thinks there is no point in banning less environmentally friendly brands. “Vinted simply reflects what people consume,” said Gybels. “Not featuring specific fast-fashion brands or groups won’t stop people buying their products. Only time will tell if we’ll be able to gradually steer the market towards a new way of thinking about fashion consumption,” she added.

Materials and recycling

With regards to Vinted’s assortment, the report, although thorough, gave no details about the most frequently used materials, because the ‘materials’ box has been introduced on Vinted’s product sheets only recently. Gybels thinks that, in future, product data will be able to guide consumers in making better choices, “since some materials are more environmentally friendly than others, and this will enable consumers to identify products that are potentially recyclable.”

Analysing the potential various materials have in this respect could be crucial, now that the EU is building a textile recycling industry, one in which Vinted could eventually play an important role. “We may head in that direction one day,” said Gybels, who mentioned the group is undoubtedly interested in the issue, although, for the time being, Vinted wants to focus on what “it does best,” in other words selling second-hand products.