How to calculate your resale margin on Vinted: the complete guide
Buying for €18 and reselling for €45 does not make €27 of profit. Here is how to work out what you really keep, with a complete example, the costs people forget, and what to know about tax.
Your purchase price is not your cost
When you buy an item on Vinted, you pay much more than the listed price. Three lines almost always add up:
- The Vinted fee (formerly Buyer Protection), generally €0.70 + 5% of the item price.
- Shipping, paid by the buyer, priced by carrier and parcel size.
- Getting it ready: cleaning, small repairs, polishing, packaging for the resale.
The total cost is the sum of all of this. That, not the listed price, is what you compare with the resale price.
Margin or return: two different numbers
People often mix them up, yet they answer different questions.
- Margin answers “what share of the selling price do I keep?”. It is profit divided by the resale price.
- Return answers “how much does each euro I spend bring back?”. It is profit divided by the total cost.
A 50% margin means half the resale price is profit. A 100% return means you doubled your money. Both are useful: margin to set your prices, return to compare purchases with each other.
A complete example
Take a bomber jacket bought for €18 and resold for €45 to another Vinted buyer.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Item price | €18.00 |
| Vinted fee (€0.70 + 5% of €18) | €1.60 |
| Shipping paid as buyer | €3.89 |
| Total cost | €23.49 |
| Resale price | €45.00 |
| Selling fees (regular seller) | €0.00 |
| Profit | €21.51 |
| Margin (21.51 ÷ 45) | 47.8% |
| Return (21.51 ÷ 23.49) | 91.6% |
When you resell, your buyer pays the shipping and the Vinted fee, and a regular seller pays no commission: you receive the full €45. The real profit is €21.51, not €27.
The costs people forget
Some costs never appear on a receipt, yet they reduce your profit just the same:
- Getting items ready: cleaning products, dry cleaning, small repairs.
- Packaging: mailers, tissue paper, tape.
- Visibility: a Boost or another paid promotion to sell faster.
- Unsold items: an item that never sells has to be paid for by the others.
- Your time: photos, listings, replies, dropping parcels off.
The break-even price
The break-even price is the resale price at which profit is zero: the total cost plus any selling fees. In our example it is €23.49. Below it you lose money; above it, every euro is profit.
Knowing it before you buy avoids bad surprises, and tells you how far you can drop your price if the item is slow to sell.
Run the numbers
Change the amounts below with your own figures:
- Margin
- 47.8%
- Return
- 91.6%
- Total cost
- €23.49
- Break-even resale price
- €23.49
- Item price €18.00
- Vinted fee €1.60
- Shipping €3.89
- Other costs €0.00
- Selling fees €0.00
- Profit €21.51
Typical amounts for Vinted France. The amount Vinted shows at checkout always wins.
To work the other way, from the resale price to the purchase price, use the maximum purchase price calculator.
What about tax?
The margin worked out here is profit before tax and social contributions. In France, the tax authority separates two situations:
- Selling your own things that you no longer use: these sales are in principle not taxable, with exceptions (jewellery, art or collectibles, items over €5,000).
- Buying in order to resell: this is a commercial activity, and the income it brings is taxable, for example under the micro-BIC scheme or as a micro-enterprise.
Vinted also reports to the tax authorities, every year, the sellers who reach 30 sales or €2,000 in sales in a calendar year (the European DAC7 rules). Being reported does not mean you owe tax, but it is a good moment to check your situation.
Finally, Vinted’s terms reserve regular accounts for personal use: a professional reseller should use Vinted Pro, where listing is free and which requires accepting returns within 14 days.
