The French Consumers Association has sued Vinted for misleading people



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Through a lawsuit filed in the Paris court on May 18, the association seeks compensation for fees that the platform has improperly applied to its members since 2016, the association publishes on its website.

Vinted reported the UFC-Que Choisir lawsuit to the Registry Center on Wednesday in its 2020 activity report.

“On June 7, 2021, UFC-Que Choisir filed a lawsuit for damages for allegedly misleading consumers through the company’s website and app,” the annual report says.

Neither UFC-Que Choisir nor Vinted indicate the amount of the claim.

According to the association, in the application it mentions a commission that Vinted charges customers for each transaction on the platform.

The UFC-Que Choisir believes the fee is cleverly hidden because it is not called “commission” but “buyer protection,” which the association says misleads consumers.

According to the association, it is also misleading for Vinted to state that this commission is optional, but there is no box indicating that option is chosen. There is also no feature that allows consumers to waive or cancel a fee, so that fee is really mandatory.

Finally, in its action, UFC-Que Choisir criticizes Vinted for the lack of transparency in the amount of the commission, which appears only at the time of payment and, given the amount of information on the payment page, it is difficult to detect . Also, as soon as the final payment is made, the information about the commission amount on the gadget disappears.

The UFC-Que Choisir said in a press release that it had previously sent a formal notice to Vinted after receiving numerous consumer complaints, but this was not taken into account, so a class action was taken.

According to the association, millions of people are affected by this Vinted practice. In France alone, the platform is visited by 5 million people. unique users per day and more than 16 million. – per month. Among the most visited e. Vinted ranks fourth in the country for shopping sites and apps.

The association also notes that in Europe, Vinted has 37 million. Member States and 13 countries are active, so the amounts involved in the misapplication of this commission must be huge.

Vinted suffered 20.88 million dollars in 2020. net losses (16.3% more than in 2019), which were determined by investments in active development. The company’s revenue increased by 78.6 percent. up to 149.89 million euros. This year, the company intends to increase revenue and equipment.

Earlier this year, the company attracted another 250 million. Vinted was valued at € 3.5 billion during this investment round. euros.

In 2019, Vinted became the first Lithuanian “unicorn”, a very successful initiator, whose value exceeds one billion. euros.

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