Exposing Vestiaire Collective's Hidden cost: currency conversion fees
, by Jiaxin He, 2 min reading time
Update on 11 June 2024
Starting 1 May 2024, Vestiaire Collective has come up with a very confusing way of charging buyers: the Buyer Service fee. They replaced the previous "currency conversion fees" with additional "Buyer Service fees".
| Buyer Location |
Buyer Service Fees Same Currency |
Buyer Service Fees Foreign Currency |
| UK | 15% | 20% |
| Rest of the World | 10% | 20% |
A minimum of £5 Buyer Service fee will be applied
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Do you know you are paying 12.5% extra if you buy on Vestiaire Collective from a seller in another country on, without Vestiaire even telling you?
Deeply hidden under the FAQ on Vestiaire Collective's site is a puzzling policy stating:
"Where the price of the item is viewed in a currency that is different from the seller's listing currency, the displayed price will be inclusive of a currency conversion charge payable by the buyer." Fair enough because all payment companies charge a currency conversion fees between 1-5%, but I kid you not Vestiaire charges an exorbitant cost of 12.5%!
What that means is for example if I'm in the US, and I see a bag that I really love on sale from a seller in France that's asking for 2600 Euros. If I'm using USD, I will be seeing a price of $3164 USD, that's equivalent of 2950 Euros, 13.5% higher than the asking price.
The seller doesn't even get the extra money, but who does? well you guessed it, Vestiaire Collective itself.
If you want to avoid paying the extra, it is always wise to change your site currency to the same currency as the seller's. You can find the country where the seller is from in the "details" section under a product listing. If you are unsure what currency the seller uses, just ask her in the chat. Whenever the price is not a whole number, like $3164.85 in the previous case, that should sound the alarm that you are being over charged.
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Comments
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You are absolutely right Wendy! I’m a professional seller on Vestiaire, they have indeed lowered our commissions, but passed on the fees to buyers. It just makes buyers realise how much additional fees they are paying and that puts some people off. Buying on directly from sellers like myself without paying such exorbitant fees makes more sense now.
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I have been buying on Vestiaire for many years and just realised this is going on when I purchased a pair of boots from a seller in Switzerland. They actually permanently blocked me on the private messaging system because the seller and I were common there. They do not want people to know what they are doing. I asked Vestiaire to explain what is going on but surprise surprise they have not responded to my email. I have been offering on a bag in Japan and the seller and I have realised they are doing the same thing benefiting from huge hidden fees on their site. This is so so unfair to their buyers. What is the point of buying from this site if they are being so devious. There is no honesty from Vestiaire.
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