Attention shoppers: That bargain designer bag might be a literal steal.
The trendy resale platform Vinted is allegedly scrambling to scrub its designer goods section after an influx of suspicious listings — which are believed to be luxury loot from the recent French riots.
A Bloomberg report says the site has “seen an influx of listings suspected to contain looted items” from designer boutiques on the marauders’ map of targets, including luxury heavyweights like Celine, Hermes and Louis Vuitton.
Founded in 2008 as a humble clothes-swapping service, Vinted runs a peer-to-peer marketplace that makes resale far more seamless than designer resale platforms like The RealReal, which requires employee authentication for every high-end item.
The $9 billion startup now boasts its largest customer base in France — très bien for easy, speedy selling, but trickier for those who want 100% certainty that their new bag is haute glamour, not hot goods.
That became a real possibility this weekend, as earnest protests over the surging cost of living erupted into violent chaos.
Viral videos captured criminals hiding underneath bananas while smashing their way into luxury stores like Louis Vuitton and Celine. Beauty retailer Sephora also confirmed several of its storefronts were broken into during the rampage.
Meanwhile, on Vinted, listings for designer bags suddenly appeared, according to Bloomberg.
Digital Minister Anne Le Hénanff took to social media today to demand their return, writing on X:
“Stolen items from this weekend are being offered for sale on certain platforms. Such behavior will not go unpunished. We will not let this slide… We expect these platforms to remove the listings in question without delay. Furthermore, they will be required to cooperate closely with state services so that the resellers can be prosecuted.”
Vinted insists it’s ahead of the feds.
“We have taken immediate action to identify and remove listings linked to the looting and have stepped up monitoring of suspicious listings,” a Vinted spokesperson said in a statement to Bloomberg. “When our rules are breached, we act against the accounts involved, up to permanent bans.”
The company added that it was “actively collaborating with law enforcement and the French authorities.”
But luxury resale expert Graham Wetzbarger, who runs the online platform The Fashion Detective, is less confident that the items will be recovered.
“If you’ve already shopped a resale platform since the riots, you could have a stolen bag,” he told The Post plainly. “Even if they’re marked with blockchain technology, it won’t come out that they’re stolen unless they’re brought to a retail location to get cleaned or repaired — which will likely never happen.”
Wetzbarger says if you’re concerned that a Vinted Vuitton backpack online seems too good to be true, hold off on hitting “add to cart” until you’ve verified that it was listed online before Paris began burning.
“You found a Vuitton bag that’s only been up since Saturday? Located in France? New with tags? I don’t know,” he said. “I would say, to be safe, you have other options.”
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