I made £400 on Vinted using my secret ‘mirror method’ – folk raced to grab my ‘fat’ clothes & it was free therapy for me
DUMPING eight parcels onto the counter at a local courier drop-off point teacher Andrea Reid, 43, felt a sense of achievement.
“You’re obviously selling something people want,” says the cashier. “This is your third drop off this week. “Not to mention you look amazing. Have you lost weight?”
“I have shed some flab. I can’t believe it,” replies the mum-of-one, blushing at the compliment.
The weight loss comments are something teacher Andrea is hearing more and more of.
It’s praise which also means the more she loses the more she gains and it’s not just in admiring glances.
“I was so fat at more than 20st I was scared to look at myself in a mirror,” single Andrea, from Dunfermline, Scotland, says. “Now I have dropped six dress sizes from a size 28 to a size 14 in 13 months.
Why I hate Vinted, a real-life view
Fabulous Associate Editor Sarah Barns opens up on why she hates Vinted:
It’s the king of second-hand fashion but I hate Vinted.
There I said it. Yes, it stops items going into landfill. Yes, it helps create additional side-hustle income for many.
And yes, you can get things at bargain prices. But it is just not my (shopping) bag.
From personal experience, I’ve bought ‘cheap’ bundles of children’s clothes only for them to arrive dirty and misshapen.
Plus, with postage and buyer protection they didn’t feel like such a great deal. I much prefer going to my local charity shop or supermarket for kids’ stuff.
I’ve also bought more premium high-street items – a dress from Arket and a skirt from Cos – only to find they didn’t fit properly and the colours were faded.
I attempted a bout of selling stuff but gave up after my £110 Veja trainers got lost in the post and I spent two hours on the phone to Royal Mail.
A major gripe with it is that it still encourages you to spend, spend, spend. I’m not sure I needed the items I did purchase, I just didn’t want to miss out.
Also, the reselling of fast-fashion items – a £5 Shein top on Vinted for £17.50 – makes me feel a bit queasy.
Clothes shopping has become a daily hobby for a lot of people when really it should be something that’s done once or twice a year as a necessity.
But the 18 million Vinted app users clearly disagree with me.
“I conquered my mirror fear by using what I’ve dubbed the ‘mirror method’ to sell my ‘fat clothes’ on Vinted for £100s.
“But I realised quickly if you include a picture of yourself wearing the dresses as well as photos of the outfits on hangers and their labels the items sold faster.
“I confronted mirror phobia and took mirror selfies of me in each outfit. I had to do that If I wanted them to sell quickly and for a higher price.
“It was amazing therapy.
“Now I have more pounds than ever before. They’re not on my waist, they’re in my bank account.
“I’ve sold plus size sports bras, big girls swimsuits and dresses and the big sizes were snapped up.
“Demand is big for big girls’ clothes. They sell faster than when I offer a size 12 dress.
“I have made more than £400 in only four months selling my old plus size clothes online. The demand is huge. They sell faster than skinny girls’ clothes.”
Andrea says her Vinted customers are repeat buyers.
“I had no idea my size 7XL and 6XL outfits would be in such huge demand.”
Andrea was healthy growing up, although still plus-size.
I conquered my mirror fear by using what I’ve dubbed the ‘mirror method’ to sell my ‘fat clothes’ on Vinted for £100s.
Andrea
“I was always bigger than the other girls in my class,” she says. “However, I loved netball, hiking and swimming. I was always active.”
However, Andrea says when she broke up with a long-term partner in 2017, she began to lose her confidence.
“A single mum, I was selling the house and grieving the loss of a relationship,” she says. “I started comfort eating everything and anything.
“When my son went to bed, I’d break out the family size pack of crisps or a giant chocolate bar and eat them all. Chocolate, sweets and crisps were my temporary fix to feeling better.”
Do you need to pay tax on items sold on Vinted?
QUICK facts on tax from the team at Vinted...
- The only time that an item might be taxable is if it sells for more than £6,000 and there is profit (sells for more than you paid for it). Even then, you can use your capital gains tax-free allowance of £3,000 to offset it.
- Generally, only business sellers trading for profit (buying goods with the purpose of selling for more than they paid for them) might need to pay tax. Business sellers who trade for profit can use a tax-free allowance of £1,000, which has been in place since 2017.
- More information here: vinted.co.uk/no-changes-to-taxes
In April last year Andrea started looking through her old diaries.
“I realised that every April with spring in the air over the past five years I’d made a diary entry promising to get healthy and lose weight.
“Each year nothing happened. That was a huge wake up call to me.
“I had a son who needed me. I could not look in the mirror to face the fact I was a size 26 to 28. I knew I needed to get my act together.”
Andrea signed up to Slimming World because she liked being able to go to meetings and plan a dedicated eating program.
I thought I’d be waiting months to get a sale. I never expected the dresses, tops and trousers to fly off the ‘online shelves.
Andrea
“I needed emotional and group support. I also started moving again.”
In April 2023 Andrea started walking around a local park and then renewed her love of hiking on the weekends with her son.
“I bought a spin bike in January and started using it when I was watching television,” she says. “I was sitting in one spot but actively losing weight.”
Andrea also started training for a couch to 5K run.
“I always kept my old diaries nearby to remind me just how uncommitted and lazy I had been for almost half a decade.
In less than three months in July 2023 Andrea says she noticed her 7XL dresses were too big.
I priced most of my dresses between £5 and £10. The size 26 and size 28 dresses sold the fastest.
Andrea
“I’d lost two stone in three months and my bigger plus size dresses and trousers were swamping me,” she says.
“I was committed to making my weight stay off. I knew I had to get rid of my old clothes.
In October last year Andrea listed 58 items on Vinted after a friend suggested she try the online selling platform,
“I had dresses from Debenhams, Marks & Spencer, Shein, New Look and Dorothy Perkins from a size 7XL or 28 down to a 1XL or size 20.
“When I saw just how many dresses I had selected for the first upload in so many sizes I was shocked.
However, what shocked Andrea even more was the speed at which her plus-size outfits sold.
I thought I’d be waiting months to get a sale. I never expected the dresses, tops and trousers to fly off the ‘online shelves.
Andrea
“I thought I’d be waiting months to get a sale. I never expected the dresses, tops and trousers to fly off the ‘online shelves.
“It was a revelation that plus-size clothes were in huge demand. That big demand meant a big pound on my bank account and not on my waist.”
Andrea says she ensured her outfit description included how many times she had worn the outfit, the British dress size, and the XL size as well as a picture of her in the dress or top and photos of any minor defect like bobbling.
According to Andrea it is still hard to find quality plus size outfits so when items are offered on selling sites like VInted second hand they are snapped up.
“I priced most of my dresses between £5 and £10. The size 26 and size 28 dresses sold the fastest,” she says. “I was stunned at the number of repeat customers I had.
Andrea sold some dresses for £15 to £20. She recently sold a size £20 White Fox hoodie for £30 in a size 20.
Andrea's top tips
MIRROR SELLING METHOD TIPS
- Take mirror selfies – plus size clothes sell faster if you model them
- Mirror selfies help you learn to love your slimmer body
- Include the XL and UK size
- Communicate well – it gets return customers
- Promote your items as plus size
- Include how many times you wore them
- Plus size swimsuits and sports bras sell fast
- Put money into a special savings account and use it for a holiday or treat
“I always communicated with my sellers,” she says. I built up positive feedback for my plus size sell off and it got results.
“In four months, I banked £400 and that is being used to help fund a holiday for my son and me to Morocco.
“I am still selling a range of clothing sizes but it’s the bigger sizes which sell the fastest.
When I read This Morning presenter Alison Hammond was planning to sell off her plus size clothes following her recent weight loss, I knew she’d make a killing.
“Plus size is big business. For slimmers like me and Alison we lose pounds off our bodies but gain them in our bank balance.
“That’s the incentive I really needed. My son and I are going to holiday on my lost pounds. Now I can look in the mirror and know my pound loss and pound gain worked.”
