Vinted won’t let me have my £1,500 unless I have a valid passport

My oldest daughter recently passed away. We lived together and staying in our shared house has been difficult, so I have decided to move.

I’m doing a cleanup to make the move easier and raise some money since I’ve spent a lot on things like funeral expenses. I started selling clothes on Vinted and had some designer items so I managed to make around £1500.

However, I’m having trouble withdrawing my money from the app.

First there was a mix-up with my email address. My daughter helped me set up the account before she died and I’m not very tech savvy.

Now, Vinted says I need to prove my identity by sending a driver’s license or passport, which I don’t have.

I don’t drive and my passport expired a while ago. I don’t think I’ll be traveling abroad in the near future, especially since I used to go on vacation with my daughter and now I’m alone.

Ordering a new one is a hassle and an expense you could do without right now.

Is this really necessary to sell old clothes online? Can Vinted hold my money if I don’t provide identification? Then

Helen Crane, This is Money’s consumer advocate, responds: I was sorry about your daughter and when I spoke to you it was clear that you are going through a very difficult time.

You told me that you are taking each day as it comes, although some are better than others, and that you are doing the best you can under heartbreaking circumstances.

It makes your situation with Vinted even more unfortunate. The last thing you need right now is unnecessary life management and spending money on things you don’t really need.

Initially, he had a problem with his account. Her daughter had a Vinted account linked to her email address that they had both previously used, but after her death she set up a new one of hers using her email.

However, when you started selling the clothes, you accidentally used the old account, an easy mistake to make since you were using some of the same devices.

However, when it came time to withdraw the £1,500 you had earned through your clothing sales, it meant that you did not have access to the email account linked to your Vinted profile and therefore could not continue. the process to get your cash. or change the details to your own.

You contacted Vinted and they told you that your only option was to set up a completely new email address and register as a new Vinted user with it, at which point they would transfer the funds.

But you weren’t sure how to set up a new email because your daughter previously helped you with that kind of thing, and besides, you didn’t particularly want a second account.

You explained this to Vinted and asked if he would send the funds to your bank account or by check, but he told you he couldn’t and that changing your email was the only option unless you wanted to wait three months, the time in which a Email address can be reused for another account.

After that, you would have to set up a new Vinted account and arrange for Vinted to transfer the money to that.

That’s when you contacted me for help.

As a second-hand fashion app used primarily by younger people, I accept that many Vinted users would have no problem setting up a new email address.

However, brands can’t just forget about their older customers and I felt they could have done more to help him, especially given his difficult circumstances.

The app is promoted as fast and easy to use, but in their experience that was definitely not the case.

I spoke to Vinted and asked if there was any other way to get the cash.

You mentioned to me in passing that you were surprised that it had been so difficult to sort out the Vinted account, since you had managed to close your daughter’s bank accounts by providing her death certificate and explaining that you were her next of kin.

I felt that providing a death certificate to a trending app was an extreme measure, but you were happy for me to suggest it to Vinted if it would put an end to this saga, which I did.

He agreed that he would make an exception and close his daughter’s old account, allowing her to reuse her email address on a new one, if she sent the death certificate and a joint invoice to prove they were related.

After doing so, he untangled the accounts, meaning he could get his cash. But unfortunately that was not the end of the story.

Once you tried to withdraw the £1,500, you hit another obstacle. During the process, you were asked to upload an identification form to the Vinted app.

You uploaded a passport, but it had recently expired. She told me that she normally traveled with her daughter and that she now does not plan to travel abroad again in the foreseeable future.

For that reason, and for everything else you’re going through right now, you hadn’t renewed it. You don’t have a driving license either.

I checked with Vinted if there was anything else you could do.

Again, he said his expired passport or other documents, such as joint invoices, had been sufficient evidence to address other aspects of his daughter’s estate, and he was surprised that an online sales application would be so strict.

But Vinted stood firm and said the identification requirement was part of the “know your customer” checks carried out by the third-party company that handles its payments, Mango Pay. He said this was standard protocol for online sales websites.

Companies like Vinted have to protect themselves against money laundering, but since you were selling and not buying on the app, the risk of being involved in any criminal activity was low.

I then spoke to consumer lawyer and Money Mail columnist Dean Dunham to ask if there were any legal protections he could use to help him get his cash.

He said that unfortunately, as the requirement to provide valid ID was in Mango Pay’s terms and conditions, and you agreed to them by creating a virtual payment wallet on Vinted, it was unlikely that you would be able to challenge it.

However, he suggested that a more affordable option than renewing your passport would be to apply for a citizen card, also known as a UK ID card.

These cost £18 if you can wait 21 days for your application to be processed, compared to £88.50 for a new passport.

It seemed like a good idea, but before applying, I contacted Vinted to check if it would be acceptable.

Citizen Cards can be used as voter identification, to take a domestic flight or to purchase alcohol. However, I am sorry to tell you that they are still not good enough to withdraw the money you earned on Vinted.

Vinted declined to comment on the matter.

Identity checks are common on online sales sites now as they seek to protect against fraud. Ebay, for example, sometimes asks new sellers, or those who haven’t used the platform for some time, to provide photo ID, while Depop requires it to receive payment.

I contacted eBay and Depop to ask if there were any alternatives to providing a passport or driving license, such as a Citizen’s Card, but they did not respond.

While these websites need to be protected from fraud, I don’t see why they can’t accept alternative (and cheaper) forms of identification.

I also think Vinted could have shown you more compassion in your time of need.

He told me that he will reluctantly renew his passport to get his money back. I hope this is the end and you can finally move on.