'I paid £400 for a Prada bag on Vinted - only to find it was fake'
A woman who paid £400 for a Prada handbag on Vinted later discovered it was a fake.
"I paid £400 for a Prada bag on Vinted - only to find it was fake"
Dani Bekyarova-Delev, from Stockport, Greater Manchester, purchased what she believed to be a genuine Prada handbag for £400 on the second-hand platform Vinted in 2024. She later discovered the item was counterfeit, despite having used Vinted's authentication service.
Bekyarova-Delev expressed her "anger and shock" after a visit to a Prada store confirmed the bag was fake. She initially had no doubts about its authenticity, especially after paying an additional £10 for Vinted's verification service. "I was absolutely 100% sure that it will be fine and because of buyers protection... it looks absolutely normal, nothing to worry [about]. I was completely sure that it's absolutely authentic," she told BBC North West Tonight.
Following Vinted's rules, she accepted the order, confirming everything was satisfactory and releasing the payment to the seller. However, her suspicions arose when she couldn't find a similar handbag at the Prada store in the Trafford Centre, and the sales assistant didn't recognize the style. Bekyarova-Delev then paid for an independent authentication, which confirmed the bag was fake.
Because she had already accepted the item, she was initially unable to secure a refund, despite Vinted having verified it as genuine. "It was shocking to realise it was fake, and it was too late to do anything about it. I wasn't aware that things like this happened," she stated.
Vinted has since refunded Bekyarova-Delev after the BBC contacted them. The platform stated that its optional verification service for selected designer items involves specialist teams assessing authenticity offline. They explained that "Decisions, including whether an item is potentially counterfeit, are made by trained specialists based on objective criteria and specific brand or product characteristics, such as stitching, logos and materials used in the design. Original documents may be reviewed, but they do not automatically guarantee successful verification."
Vinted added that all purchases, including those with item verification, are covered by its buyer protection policy. They also noted that "If the buyer still doubts the item's authenticity after our experts have checked it, they can raise an issue within two days of receiving the item." Customers buying from "pro-sellers" have 14 days to report an issue.
A similar style Prada bag to the one Bekyarova-Delev purchased retails for approximately £1,500 on the official Prada website.
Last year, the BBC reported warnings to bargain hunters about criminals potentially selling fake designer goods, including clothes, handbags, and shoes, at prices that suggest authenticity on various online shopping platforms. Depop, eBay, and Vinted have previously stated they would suspend or ban users found selling counterfeit items.
Christine Colbert, owner of Dress Cheshire and an expert in authenticating designer goods, has observed a "quite a big shift" in people buying bags on marketplaces and seeking independent authentication. She noted, "We see a fair percentage of bags coming here that were verified by Vinted and our verification service says it's not a genuine bag."
Figures from Citizens Advice in 2025 indicated a 30% increase in complaints about counterfeit goods sold online over the previous year.
In response, Vinted said: "We fully understand that members want to feel confident when making a purchase. Our optional item verification service provides an additional layer of confidence for members shopping for selected designer items on Vinted, and the vast majority have a positive experience."