Both platforms are free to download, both are full of secondhand clothes, and both have millions of active buyers. So which one should you actually use?

The honest answer: it depends on what you're selling and who you're selling to. Here's a straightforward comparison so you can stop guessing and start listing.

The Core Difference in One Sentence

Depop skews younger, trendier, and more aesthetic-driven. Vinted is bigger in Europe, fee-free for sellers, and built around everyday wardrobe staples. Those two sentences explain most of what follows.

Fees: Vinted Has a Real Advantage

This is the most practically important difference for sellers.

Vinted charges sellers nothing. No listing fees, no commission. The buyer pays a small protection fee (around 5% plus a fixed amount, depending on the transaction value). From a seller's perspective, what you price is what you receive.

Depop charges sellers 10% of the total sale price. That's been the standard for years, and it meaningfully changes your math. If you're pricing a jacket at £40, Depop takes £4. List the same jacket on Vinted, and you keep the full £40.

For casual sellers clearing out a wardrobe, Vinted's fee structure is a clear win. For sellers pricing items at £8–12 (common on Depop), a 10% commission shaves off money you probably weren't accounting for.

The one caveat: Depop allows PayPal as a payment method, which some buyers and sellers prefer. Vinted handles payments in-platform with no PayPal option.

Audience: Who's Actually Buying

This is where the platforms genuinely diverge.

Depop's buyer base is concentrated in the 18–28 age range, with heavy skew toward fashion-conscious shoppers looking for specific aesthetics — Y2K, vintage, streetwear, indie, alt. If your item has a story, a brand, or a distinct visual identity, Depop buyers will find it and want it. The platform functions partially like Instagram: sellers build followings, and buyers browse profiles as much as search results.

Vinted's buyer base is broader in age and intent. Buyers come looking for practical things — a work blouse in their size, kids' clothes they'll grow out of in six months, a coat that won't break the bank. It's more transactional. Less browsing by aesthetic, more searching by category and size.

What this means practically:

A vintage 90s windbreaker from a niche brand = Depop
A barely-worn Next blazer in a standard size = Vinted
Designer pieces: both platforms have buyers, but Depop attracts buyers who know what they're looking at

What Actually Sells on Each Platform

From sellers who use both, a rough pattern emerges:

Depop sells well:

Vintage (pre-2000s) anything
Branded streetwear (Nike, Carhartt, Champion, Stüssy)
Y2K, 90s, and 00s fashion
Hand-customised or reworked clothing
Unique one-off pieces that photograph well
Premium denim (Levi's, Wrangler)

Vinted sells well:

High-street brands (Zara, H&M, Topshop, Next, M&S)
Workwear basics
Kids' and baby clothing
Outdoor and activewear from mainstream brands
Everyday jeans, hoodies, jackets in common sizes

If you have both vintage Levi's and a bag of H&M basics from last year, the smart play is splitting — Depop for the Levi's, Vinted for the rest.

The Listing Experience

Neither platform makes listing hard, but they feel different.

On Depop, presentation matters more. Buyers are visually literate and expect styled shots or at least intentional photos. A great main photo drives likes and follows that convert to sales later. The aesthetic of your profile — consistent backgrounds, similar lighting — affects how buyers perceive your shop overall. It's more effort, but a well-presented Depop account can build genuine repeat customers.

On Vinted, photos matter but less so for style. Clear, well-lit shots of the item are enough — buyers are looking for accurate condition representation, not editorial photography. Vinted also has a stronger search infrastructure for standard attributes (brand, size, condition, category), so filling in those fields carefully is what drives discoverability rather than photo artistry.

Both platforms have messaging systems where buyers and sellers negotiate. Depop tends to see more "make an offer" behaviour. Vinted has a built-in offer system too, but the culture around it is slightly less aggressive.

Shipping: Who Handles the Hassle

Vinted has integrated shipping labels in most markets (UK, France, Germany, and others). You sell, print a label, drop it off. No negotiating shipping costs — Vinted displays the shipping cost to buyers upfront, and buyers pay it. Clean and simple.

Depop allows seller-arranged shipping, which means you quote the price, buy postage separately, and ship it. It's more flexible (you can use whatever courier you prefer) but also more effort, and buyers sometimes push back on shipping costs that feel arbitrary. Depop does have integrated shipping in some markets, but it's less universal than Vinted's.

For sellers who find shipping negotiations stressful, Vinted's model is simpler.

Which One Should You Use?

Use Depop if:

You're selling vintage, branded streetwear, or anything with visual/aesthetic appeal
You want to build a following and turn selling into a side business
Your items would look great in a styled photo

Use Vinted if:

You're clearing out everyday wardrobe staples
Keeping 100% of the sale price matters to you
You're in the UK or continental Europe (where Vinted's buyer base is largest)
You'd rather the platform handle shipping logistics

Use both if you're listing regularly. The platforms aren't mutually exclusive, and the overhead of cross-listing is low once you have a photo and description ready. Tools like Parlo can generate your title and description from a photo in seconds — which makes cross-listing less painful when you're doing it for a whole wardrobe clear-out.

The Short Version

Vinted wins on fees (zero seller commission) and simplicity. Depop wins on buyer quality for niche, vintage, and trendy items and can turn into a real income stream if you put in the presentation effort.

Neither platform is universally better. But for most people doing an occasional wardrobe clear-out, Vinted gets more money in your pocket with less friction. For anyone building a secondhand shop around curated, interesting pieces, Depop's audience is worth the commission.

Try both. See where your specific items get traction. The answer will be obvious pretty quickly.