What to sell on Vinted in the fall: an October and November guide

Fall is the season when people buy clothes because they have to. In September a light jacket still does the job. By October a lot of the country needs a sweater, shoes that can handle a wet sidewalk, and before long a real coat. On Vinted that produces a particular kind of buyer: someone who wants a specific piece in their size and checks out fast when it turns up.

October and November are two different months, though. October is about layering, pumpkin-patch weekends and Halloween. November brings the first lasting cold in many states, Thanksgiving, and a lot of people already planning December. This guide goes through what sells on Vinted in the US across both months, when demand shows up for each category, and when to relist what you already have online.

What fall changes for a Vinted seller

First, the weather makes the call. Most people do not buy a coat until they need one: they buy it the week they freeze at the bus stop or on the sidelines of a soccer game. So demand moves in jolts: the first chilly morning, then the first cold rain, then the first frost or the first snow. The seller whose listing is already up that day gets the sale. The one who digs the coat out of the closet that evening ends up at the back of the line.

Second, fall does not reach the whole country at once. A buyer in Minnesota or Maine may be shopping for a parka while someone in Texas or Southern California is still in a T-shirt. There is no single start date for the season, so do not try to guess one for your whole closet: have the warm pieces online, and write each listing for the buyer who is cold today.

Third, the light goes. Once the clocks fall back, it is dark by the time you get home from work, and a navy coat photographed under a single ceiling light shows neither its color nor its fabric. That no longer has to hold a listing up: Pikmatic’s photo enhancement (three photos free, then sold in packs) gives the cover photo an even, studio-style light and a clean background. More on that below.

October: layers, flannels and the first warm pieces

The start of the month still belongs to in-between pieces. Their demand is the shortest of the season, so make sure they are online first.

Jackets, flannels and shackets

The denim jacket, the leather or faux-leather jacket, the suede bomber, the trench, the quilted vest, the heavy flannel shirt and the shacket. Anything you can throw over a T-shirt or a hoodie while it is crisp rather than freezing. Put the fabric and the cut in the title (“cropped leather moto jacket”, “oversized plaid flannel shacket”): someone looking for a fall layer already has a shape in mind.

Sweaters, from cardigans to chunky knits

Cardigans, lightweight sweaters and thin turtlenecks sell on the first cool days because they fit under a jacket. Chunky cable knits, heavy wool sweaters, fleece pullovers and long cardigans take over as the temperatures drop. Crewneck sweatshirts and hoodies sell the whole season. For knitwear, the fiber matters as much as the brand.

• Photograph the care label: wool, merino, cashmere, alpaca and cotton are all searched for by name
• Show the knit up close, elbows and underarms included, and mention any pilling
• Say whether the sweater has shrunk or stretched in the wash, with the length measured flat

Boots and closed-toe shoes

Leather ankle boots, Chelsea boots, lace-up work boots, duck boots, loafers and high-top sneakers replace sandals and canvas shoes after the first rainy week. Condition is everything in this category: clean the leather, condition it, and photograph the soles and heels, because that is where a buyer looks for wear. The US size goes in the title, with a note if the style runs small or large.

Coats: online before the cold, not during it

A coat is often the most valuable thing in a closet, and it is worth some prep: a trip to the dry cleaner or at least a good brushing, buttons sewn back on, the zipper tested, the pockets emptied.

Not every coat is searched for at the same time. Wool coats, peacoats, barn jackets and lighter puffers find buyers first. Heavy down parkas, insulated jackets and lined winter boots are mostly wanted once the real cold sets in, which comes much earlier in the northern states than in the South. Either way, list them as soon as they are ready: the listing will be in place on the first cold morning, and all you have to do that day is relist it.

Buyers ask three things about a coat before anything else: what it is made of, how long it is, and how wide it is across the shoulders. Answer them in the listing with the fabric label, the back length and the shoulder width measured flat. It saves a lot of messages, and a lot of disappointment when the package is opened.

Kids: the next size up, before the first snow

A couple of months into the school year, parents know what is missing. Last winter’s coat stops halfway down the forearm, the jeans bought for back to school show the ankles, and the sneakers are already a size behind. Fall is when they finally deal with it.

For you, this is the moment to clear out the closet of a child who has grown. What sells best: winter coats and puffers, rain jackets, snow pants and snowsuits, rain boots and snow boots, fleece, sweaters, warm pajamas, hats and mittens. Put the size in the title (“kids size 6”, “toddler 3T”), since parents sort by size first, and group small pieces into bundles of the same size.

Put these listings up now, then relist them before Thanksgiving week: families traveling to see relatives want the kids dressed for wherever they are going, and the ones in snowy states want the gear before the first storm, not after it.

Halloween: a three-week window

A kid’s costume is the ideal secondhand buy: worn for one evening of trick-or-treating and a class party, then outgrown by next year. Adults dress up too, for office contests and house parties. The demand is real, but it has an end date nothing can move. A package that arrives on November 2 is no use to anyone.

List without waiting. After the third week of October, the time you need to pack and the time the carrier needs to deliver leave too little margin, and a careful parent stops risking an online order. In the listing, say everything that is included, because a costume without its hat or its wand is a letdown when the package is opened.

A costume still unsold after the 31st can stay online. Relist it when themed parties, school spirit days or dress-up events come around, and again next October.

November: what to have online now for the holidays

By November the cold has settled in across much of the country, and coats keep selling. The job for the month is to have online, now, what buyers will be looking for in a few weeks.

Thanksgiving and holiday party outfits

Sweater dresses and nice knits for Thanksgiving dinner, then sequin dresses, velvet blazers, satin skirts, suits and heels worn once for the office holiday party and New Year’s Eve. Someone with a date on the calendar wants time to try the outfit on, so list these as soon as they are photographed: demand climbs in the second half of November, and that is when you relist them. Write the occasion in the title (“holiday party dress”, “New Year’s Eve outfit”), because those are the words buyers type.

What makes a good secondhand gift

Whatever came out of the kids’ rooms during the fall cleanout can go online right away: complete toys, board games whose pieces you have counted, books in very good condition. Gift shoppers start looking in mid-November, and so do people hunting for an ugly Christmas sweater for a December party: relist what is already up at that point. Someone buying a gift wants reassurance on two things, that the item is complete and that it is clean. Say so in the description.

Cold-weather accessories and ski wear

Beanies, scarves, gloves and mittens sell all month, alone or as a small matching set. Ski and snowboard gear is wanted from November by families planning a trip over winter break, and a kid’s ski jacket worn for one week last season is exactly what they want instead of buying new every year.

The demand calendar for October and November

September and back to school are covered in our guide to what sells on Vinted for back to school. Here is what comes next: for each part of the season, what buyers start looking for, and therefore what to relist among the listings you already have up.

All of it can be online today: the calendar tells you which week to relist what. For the day and the hour, our article on the best time to post on Vinted picks up where this one leaves off.

What sells less in the fall

Some categories are at the low point of their year. That is no reason to leave them in a bin: a live listing costs nothing, and a few buyers are always out there, the one in a warm state, the one flying somewhere sunny for the holidays, or the one planning ahead. List them as soon as they are ready, like everything else.

• Sandals, swimsuits, shorts and sundresses: lower demand until spring; relist them when warm weather returns
• Light jackets: demand drops as the cold sets in and comes back in spring
• Backpacks and back-to-school basics: demand has faded since September and picks up again in late summer
• Halloween costumes: after the 31st, the next occasions are themed parties and next October

There is no point slashing the price of these listings in November: it is the season holding them back, not the price. You will relist them when their moment comes around again.

List everything now, relist at the right moment

The method has two steps. First, put everything that is ready online, without sorting by season or watching the calendar: a live listing can sell, a draft cannot. Then relist each item the week demand for it rises, following the calendar above. A coat listed in early October and still there in November is not necessarily overpriced: it has more likely slid down the results as newer listings came in, and relisting brings it back in front of buyers just as the cold sends them searching. Pikmatic’s repost feature makes relisting easy, which removes any reason to hold your listings back.

Photos no longer depend on the time of day or the weather. Take them when you can, even on a November evening: Pikmatic’s photo enhancement reworks the cover photo, the one a buyer sees first, with a clean background, studio light and the item straight and centered. You compare the original and the enhanced photo before you publish, check that the labels and details still match the real item, and keep the original if you prefer. For the other photos in the listing, our guide to photographing clothes without any equipment still applies.

If you prep all your listings in one sitting, you can schedule them to publish automatically so they go out one after another without eating up your evening; scheduled publishing, at a time you choose, is part of the Pro and Business plans. And if your fall inventory runs to dozens of pieces, our guide to running a Vinted shop with a lot of items explains how to keep stock, listings and shipments in order.

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