Six cheap items and a corner of your bedroom are enough for your first 15 Vinted orders a week, with no printer.
Built forYou are clearing your own wardrobe, or a few charity shop finds, onto Vinted and maybe Depop, and you want to spend as little as possible before the first sale.
Kit total
£59 to £98
Running cost
£6 to £9 a month
Consumables at 8 orders a week
- Orders a week
- 0–15
- Space
- Corner of a room
- Budget
- £100
Why this setup
You are clearing your own wardrobe, or a few charity shop finds, onto Vinted and maybe Depop, and you want to spend as little as possible before the first sale.
For your first sales you need a bag, a scale and a phone that takes a clear photo. Many carriers take a QR code from Vinted at drop-off, so you can skip the printer.
The kit costs under £100 and packs into one shoebox. A gooseneck clamp holds your phone over the bed for flat lays, and a pocket LED lights your photos on dark winter evenings.
The kit
Every item, why it’s here and what it typically costs in the UK.
30 kg digital postal scale
Covers the parcels most home sellers ship, up to 30 kg. Choose it when the 40 kg scale is out of stock.
Typical price£12 to £20
See on Amazon
Gooseneck phone holder
Bends to any angle for an overhead or side shot. It wobbles more than a jointed arm when you bump the desk, so it suits short shows and listing photos.
Typical price£12 to £20
See on AmazonPocket LED video light
Clips to a phone mount or sits on the desk to lift the shadow side of a card or a piece of jewellery. It costs little as a first light and works as a fill once you add panels.
Typical price£15 to £25
See on AmazonGrey mailing bags, 10 x 14 in, 100 pack
Self-seal poly bags add almost no weight, so a single garment posts as a small parcel. You can't see through the opaque grey film, and a label lies flat on it.
Typical price£8 to £13
See on AmazonAcid-free tissue paper, 100 sheets
A sheet of tissue costs pennies and changes how a £15 vintage shirt feels on arrival. Buyers mention it in reviews.
Typical price£7 to £11
See on AmazonThank-you stickers, roll of 500
A sticker sealing the tissue makes the parcel look finished before the buyer opens it. Swap to custom stickers with your shop name once the brand settles.
Typical price£5 to £9
See on AmazonBuy this kit
Copy the full list to take shopping, or print it.
Postage per order
What most orders like these go by, at today’s published prices. Prices checked 6 October 2026.
Royal Mail Tracked 48 Small ParcelUsual£3.75
TrackedUp to 2 kgClothing and small boxed items up to 2 kg, with tracking for less than untracked 2nd Class.
InPost locker to locker, small£1.99
TrackedUp to 15 kgFlat parcels up to 8 cm deep, such as folded clothes, dropped at a locker and collected from one.
Evri small parcel, ParcelShop drop-off£3.04 to £3.52
TrackedUp to 2 kgLight parcels up to 2 kg dropped at a ParcelShop or locker for home delivery, tracked.
About £130 a month in postage at 8 orders a week On most marketplaces the buyer pays postage; this is the cost when you pay it.
How to lay it out
Where everything goes, so each order moves one way through the room.
- 1
One shoebox for all the kit
Keep the bags, tissue, stickers and scale in a single box under the bed. Pull it out to pack and push it back when you finish.
- 2
The bed is your photo surface
Smooth a plain sheet or duvet cover over the bed and clamp the gooseneck to the headboard. Lay each garment flat and shoot straight down so buyers see the shape.
- 3
Sold items on a hook
Hang anything that has sold on the back of the bedroom door until you pack it. That keeps sold clothes out of the drawers of unsold stock.
- 4
Packed parcels by your bag
Put packed bags next to your coat or work bag. You pass the locker or parcel shop on the way out, and show the QR code as you go.
The guide
Each step in the order you'll need it.
Your first ten listings
Start with clothes you know sell: branded denim, football shirts, a good coat. Wash and dry them, then shoot all ten in one sitting while the light and bed cover stay the same.
Take four photos per item: front, back, the label and any flaw. Lay a tape measure across the chest in one shot so buyers can see the size without messaging you.
Packing a sale in five minutes
Fold the garment to roughly the size of the bag, wrap it in one sheet of tissue and close the tissue with a sticker. Slide it into a grey bag and press the seal along its whole length.
Weigh the bag once before your first few drop-offs to check it sits inside the parcel size you picked. After a dozen orders you will know by feel which items need the bigger size.
Drop-off without a label
Open the order in the app and follow the shipping instructions for the carrier the buyer picked. For QR drop-offs, have the code on screen before you reach the counter or locker, with your screen brightness turned up.
Keep the drop-off receipt or the confirmation screenshot until the buyer confirms the order. It is your proof if a parcel goes missing.
Keeping the corner tidy
Keep unlisted clothes in one bag, listed ones in a drawer and sold ones on the door hook.
Write a short code on a sticky note inside each listed item’s fold, such as D3 for drawer three, and add it to the end of the description. When an item sells, the code on the note tells you which drawer to open.
Topping up supplies
A 100 pack of grey bags lasts a part-time seller for months. Reorder when you reach the last 20, since a weekend of good sales can empty a half-full pack.
A pack of tissue and stickers lasts longer than the bags. If you run low, skip tissue and stickers on bulky items like coats and save them for cheaper pieces, where presentation helps more.
Signs you have outgrown the corner
Once listed stock no longer fits in your drawers, or you shoot on a hanger more than flat, buy a rail and a tripod. Both fit inside a £100 top-up.
Buy a printer when you start selling on eBay, or when queuing at the parcel shop takes longer than packing.
Common mistakes
Each one costs you money or reviews, and each has a fix.
- Choosing the smallest parcel size to make the listing cheaper, then having the carrier refuse a bag that is over weight.
- Photographing clothes on a patterned duvet, which hides the garment’s shape and makes colours hard to judge.
- Posting a sold item without checking the pockets, then losing a house key or a receipt to a stranger.
- Leaving an item live on Depop after it sold on Vinted, then cancelling the second order and taking a hit on your new account.
- Throwing away the drop-off receipt before the buyer confirms, leaving you nothing to show if the parcel goes missing.
When to upgrade
Around 10 sales a week, a double clothes rail gets stock out of your wardrobe. At 12, a tripod frees both hands for hanger shots. Past 20, or once you sell on eBay too, buy a small thermal printer and stop making trips to a shop that prints labels.
- 10+ Heavy-duty double clothes rail
- 12+ 150 cm phone tripod with remote
- 20+ Phomemo thermal label printer
Questions
Can I sell on Vinted without a printer?
Yes, for many orders. Some Vinted carriers give you a QR code that the locker or shop scans at drop-off, with no printed label. Check the options shown on each sale, since the code depends on the carrier your buyer chose.
Do I need a scale if Vinted sets the postage?
Vinted asks you to pick a parcel size when you list. A cheap scale tells you which size a chunky jumper or a pair of jeans falls into, so the buyer pays the right postage and the carrier does not reject the parcel.
Can I reuse old boxes and supermarket bags?
You can reuse clean boxes and bags as long as old labels and barcodes are covered or removed. Grey mailing bags look tidier, cost pennies each and fold flat under the bed.
Which courier should I choose on Vinted?
The buyer chooses at checkout from the options Vinted shows, such as Royal Mail, InPost, DPD or Evri. Note which drop-off points sit on your daily route, so you can post a parcel without a special trip.
Is tissue paper worth it on a £5 T-shirt?
A sheet of tissue costs very little and stops a white top picking up grey from the bag. Buyers sometimes mention tissue in reviews, and a new account with no feedback needs them.
Should I list on Depop as well?
Once you have 20 or so items listed, putting the stronger vintage pieces on Depop too reaches a younger buyer. Delete the other listing as soon as one sells, so you don’t sell the same jacket twice.
Guides
Step-by-step help for the jobs that come next.
More setups
Updated 6 October 2026
