Not all Vinted buyers are the same: they live in different places too

Of the 250 most recent orders I reviewed, my buyers came from eight countries. That’s not nothing for a second-hand account operating out of Ghent. And when you lay that geographic spread next to the behavioural numbers that go with it, you see something most beginning resellers miss: the country your buyer lives in doesn’t just shape what they order, it also shapes how they communicate, when they decide, and whether they file a complaint afterwards.

That’s the insight I’ve run into across more than 2,500 transactions, not as a hypothesis but as a recurring pattern. The numbers I discuss here come from my own sales export and review analysis. They’re not guarantees, but they’re not coincidence either.

What stands out when you line up the data: average payout per order rises the further away the buyer lives. Belgian buyers pay an average of €47.41 per transaction. Dutch buyers sit at €50.20. French buyers at €57.21. German buyers at €63.20. Italian buyers at €56.14. There are only 4 Spanish orders in the dataset, but the average there sits at €81.75.

That pattern isn’t a coincidence. Shipping cost acts as a filter. Anyone willing to pay more for shipping has chosen the item deliberately. That has consequences for how you position your most expensive and specialised pieces.

Belgian buyers: most active, lowest order value

38.8 percent of my recent transactions come from Belgium. Combine that with the broader data across my full sales history and the picture is consistent: Belgian buyers are my most active group. They buy €18 T-shirts, €28 cable knits, €35 shirts. They decide fast, usually within a day or two of an item going live.

The average payout on a Belgian order is €47.41. That’s the lowest of all countries. What that doesn’t mean: that Belgians are cheap. What it does mean: the barrier to buying is low. They follow a Vinted profile on social media, see an item appear, and complete the purchase without much deliberation. The items they buy are also structurally lower priced: basics, classic pieces, seasonal inventory.

The flip side of that low barrier shows up in the review data. Of the Dutch-language reviews in my dataset, 9.73 percent are negative, with complaints consistently containing the words slow or damaged. That’s the highest negative percentage of any language group. Deciding fast and complaining fast apparently go hand in hand. The fix isn’t complicated: always state shipping times explicitly in the description, package well, and photograph visible wear honestly. Do that and you prevent most of those complaints structurally.

Belgian buyers also follow the most actively through social channels. They see an item on TikTok or Instagram and click through to your profile. That drives impulse purchases but also an audience that hesitates less. Good photos and a clear profile page pay off more here than a perfect description.

Dutch buyers: transactional, precise and comparison-driven

26.4 percent of my orders, with an average payout of €50.20. Dutch buyers are somewhat more selective than Belgian ones. In what they buy you see more rugby shirts, premium denim, Oxford shirts, larger men’s pieces. They’re not impulsive, but they’re not unreachable either.

The most notable behavioural difference is in pre-purchase communication. A Belgian buyer accepts that a sweater fits nicely oversized. A Dutch buyer asks exactly how many centimetres oversized the chest measurement is. They compare, calculate, and only then buy. That transactional profile also shows up in their reviews: functional language, short sentences, focused on facts. No emotional descriptions, just direct observations about packaging, condition and speed.

On complaint rates, Dutch buyers fall into the same Dutch-language segment as Belgian buyers. That 9.73 percent negative figure covers the whole group. The fix is the same for both: measurements in centimetres in the description, explicit shipping-time information, and an honest representation of condition. Apply that structurally and the complaint rate drops.

Dutch buyers also respond strongly to bundles. They’re willing to buy multiple items at once if the combined price logically matches the individual value. If you have a lot of the same item type sitting around, bundle pricing is an effective way to boost turnover with Dutch buyers.

French buyers: demanding before purchase, almost never dissatisfied after

15.6 percent of the orders in my most recent dataset, with an average payout of €57.21. That’s twelve euros more per transaction than Belgian buyers. What they buy: cashmere sweaters, vintage knitwear, rare sub-labels, Fair Isle pieces. They consistently go for the pricier, rarer item in the range.

Pre-purchase communication is more intense than with other groups. French buyers ask up to 30 percent more questions than average. They want certainty about authenticity, condition, and close-up shots of labels, seams and specific features. That feels like more work. The numbers say something different. Of the 978 French reviews in my data, the negative percentage sits at just 2.35 percent, against 9.73 percent in the Dutch-language segment. They check everything beforehand and, once everything checks out, buy loyally and leave an average score of 4.86.

The underlying logic is simple: a French buyer filters her risk before the purchase. She asks the questions a Belgian buyer only asks after receiving the package. That makes pre-sale communication more intensive but post-sale communication practically nonexistent. Anyone who understands that sees the time invested per French order in a different light.

There’s also a plain opportunity in the French market that most resellers are actively leaving on the table. A lot of Vinted sellers write their titles in Dutch only. An item like a pink cable knit sweater barely shows up for French buyers in search results if there’s no “pull tricot” or “rose” anywhere in the title. Adding multilingual search terms to the top of your listings boosts visibility with a group that demonstrably pays more per order and rarely complains afterwards. That’s not a translation exercise, it’s a business decision.

German buyers: the highest average order value among the major markets

27 orders, average payout €63.20. That’s the highest average among the countries with enough volume to draw conclusions from. The behaviour pattern is also the most distinct of all groups: they ask a couple of technical questions about material and production year, and once those answers check out, the purchase follows without further negotiation or price discussion.

What they buy is specific: bear sweaters, puffer jackets, cable knits in particular colours, Polo Sport. They’re not hunting for a bargain on a basic item. They know what they want and pay for it. The higher shipping cost to Germany acts as a built-in filter: anyone who orders anyway really wanted the item.

The difference with French buyers is in the type of questions they ask. French buyers want aesthetic certainty: detail photos, fabric condition, overall look. German buyers want technical certainty: is the label authentic, what year was it made, what’s the exact material percentage. Put that information proactively in your description and pre-sale communication with this group largely disappears.

Multilingual titles do their work here too. A “Strickpullover” or “Pullover” search term in the title pulls in a specific German audience that would otherwise simply never find your listing in the algorithm. Germany has a large and active second-hand market, but the average Belgian or Dutch reseller barely invests in visibility there. That’s a gap.

Italy: small volume, perfect reviews and a clear aesthetic profile

14 orders in the dataset, average payout €56.14. Only 6 reviews in my full review analysis, but those 6 score a perfect average: 5 out of 5. The Italian buyer has a pronounced aesthetic preference and little tolerance for visually cluttered listings. What they buy fits a clear profile: cable knits in pink or camel, bear knits, soft colours.

The opportunity in this market is concrete: there are barely any Dutch or Belgian resellers actively trying to reach Italian buyers. English and Italian search terms in the title are enough to show up in results for a group that, when they do buy, basically never complains. The combination of perfect reviews and a specific product profile makes Italian buyers a quiet but valuable group.

Italian buyers respond strongly to photo quality. Soft lighting, a neutral background, and photos that convey the texture of the material well are decisive for them. They focus less on the description text and more on visual proof.

What the review data says about satisfaction by language group

The 1,296 reviews in my dataset split unevenly across language groups. French-language reviews dominate with 978 ratings, 75.5 percent of the total. That makes sense: Vinted is big in France and French-speaking Belgium. Their average score is 4.86 out of 5. The typical vocabulary in those reviews: parfait, parfaite, très contente, merci. Short, positive, little room for nuance.

Dutch-language reviews count 185 ratings. Average score: 4.50 out of 5. That’s the lowest of all language groups. The complaint language is specific and consistent: slow and damaged are the two words that show up most often in negative reviews. What that teaches: Dutch-language buyers buy faster, but their expectations around packaging and delivery time are high. If reality doesn’t match that expectation, they say so in the review too.

English-language reviews make up 7.3 percent of the dataset with an average score of 4.98. Perfect and thank you dominate the vocabulary. This group is international and buys deliberately across borders. They’re satisfied if the item arrives as described and rarely leave negative feedback.

The 6 Italian reviews score 5 out of 5. Tutto perfetto is the standard phrase. Those numbers are statistically too small for hard conclusions but they confirm the broader pattern: buyers who live further away and pay higher shipping costs are more often satisfied because they made a more deliberate choice.

What this means for how you build your listings

There’s a pattern running through all the geographic numbers: the further away the buyer lives, the more they pay on average per item. That’s not coincidence. Shipping cost filters. A Belgian buyer orders a €30 item without much thought. Someone in Italy who also pays €8 in shipping on top of €55 for a sweater has deliberately chosen your piece. The result: average order value rises with distance.

What that means for how you position your range: your most expensive and specialised pieces aren’t primarily meant for your nearest market. A Polo Country vintage knit or a cashmere piece more often finds its buyer in Paris or Milan than in Ghent or Amsterdam. But only if your listing actually reaches that buyer.

For your top items, a multilingual title isn’t a luxury, it’s a logical choice. For a pink cable knit, add “rose”, “pull tricot” and “pink” to the title. For a bear sweater, add “ours”, “bear” and “ours tricoter”. For knitwear aimed at the German market, add “Strickpullover”. Those aren’t algorithm tricks, they’re actual search terms used by the groups most actively searching for that item.

Timing matters just as much for every group. Respond within the hour and your conversion chance rises by 40 percent. That figure holds consistently regardless of the buyer’s language. Geographic segmentation makes you smarter about what you communicate and how you build your listings. But how fast you respond is equally decisive across every market.

The last thing the data shows: the geographic spread of your buyers follows your range. You sell cable knits and bear knits, and that pulls in exactly the markets that value them. Germany, Italy and France aren’t randomly showing up in your data. They’re there because your product matches what those markets are looking for.

Anyone who deliberately reinforces that pattern in their listings builds a more international audience without extra sourcing effort.

All figures in this article come from my own sales data and review analysis (2,500+ transactions, 2022-2026). Percentages are indicative and may vary by period and range.