A YouTuber who specialises in charity shop treasure-hunting claims the emergence of the Vinted app has destroyed the prospect of discovering remarkable bargains on the high street.
How Vinted changed charity shopping
Charlotte, who runs the Pink Peach Finds channel, told Wales Online: "I was a regular charity shop shopper long before Covid. What's interesting is that I didn't notice an immediate change once the lockdowns ended. Looking back, I'd say the biggest shift has really been over the last three or four years."
She added: "I still visit charity shops most weeks but I definitely go with different expectations than I did even three or four years ago. Back then I'd expect to come across something really special most weeks. These days, that's much rarer."
Vinted's growth and impact
In a new video, Charlotte explains that the rise of one platform has reshaped secondhand fashion and charity shops, with the name Vinted appearing repeatedly in comments. She describes how the Covid pandemic and cost of living crisis transformed Vinted into a culture-altering phenomenon.
"In 2022, around 4.8 million people visited Vinted each month in the UK. By 2024, that number had jumped to 11.4 million. Almost 1 in four adults online on Vinted every single month," she said. "And across Europe, Vinted became a giant. By 2026, the company was valued around 8 billion. And although Vinted doesn't publish the number of active listings, analysts estimate the platform hosts well over 200 million items at any given time."
"In fact, in 2025 alone, people bought and sold £9.4bn worth of second-hand goods on the platform, more than £25m every day, over £1m every hour, and nearly £18,000 every single minute."
Shift in donations and quality
Charlotte noted that the ease of selling on Vinted means unwanted possessions that would have gone to charity shops are now sold online. "Suddenly, that bag of clothing in the spare room wasn't clutter anymore. It was money. And money you could very easily unlock from your sofa in just a few minutes," she said. "That changed something much deeper for people. How people value their belongings. People began to mentally price their stuff. They know what it's worth – because Vinted shows them."
After visiting hundreds of charity shops, Charlotte observed a substantial shift: "Somewhere along the way, something has started to feel very different. The shops aren't empty. Far from it. Most are packed with items and stuff, but the quality of those products seems to be changing. Increasingly, rails are dominated by ultra-fast fashion and plastic tat. Meanwhile, the brands that you dream of finding about in a charity shop, Ralph Lauren, Barbour, quality vintage pieces, are much harder to find."
She attributed Vinted's growth to the pandemic and cost of living crisis: "I was a regular charity shop shopper long before Covid. What's interesting is that I didn't notice an immediate change once the lockdowns ended. Looking back, I'd say the biggest shift has really been over the last three or four years. For me, that's because Vinted really came into its own at around the same time the cost of living crisis started to bite. I think the combination of those two things has had the biggest impact."
