If a buyer messages you after delivery saying the item "smells awful", "smells of smoke" or "smells musty", you are in the middle of one of Vinted's most common refund claims — and the wording matters, because smell is not on Vinted's own list of what counts as "significantly not as described" (help 1090). Sellers on r/vinted describe the same sequence again and again: the order is suspended, and the buyer wants a refund while keeping the item, or a discount to keep it. What you do in the first few hours decides whether you lose the item, the money, or neither. Here is the process, based only on what those threads describe and what Vinted's current help pages actually say.
The pattern repeats across r/vinted threads from the past year. The parcel arrives, the order completes or sits in the two-day inspection window, and then a message lands: the coat "smells awful", the trainers "smell of smoke", the bag "smells musty", the item is "rotting". In several threads the buyer had already tried to negotiate the price down, which sellers now read as the tell.
What buyers ask for varies, and the variation is the point. Some want a full refund and say they cannot possibly return the item — one seller described a buyer who claimed the skirt was "rotting" but would not post it back, then left a one-star review. Some want a partial refund or a "gesture of goodwill" to keep the item and drop the complaint. Others open a formal issue, which suspends the order and freezes your payout.
Sellers describe the frustration in almost identical language: the item was washed, it came from a smoke-free home, they have never smoked, and they have no way to prove a negative. One seller of a new pair of trainers put it plainly: the buyer said they smelled of smoke, "when they have never been worn and I have never smoked a day in my life". Another reported the same claim that same week, on a different pair of shoes.
This is the part most sellers get wrong. Vinted's help page "Significantly not as described items at Vinted" (help 1090) lists what counts as SNAD: wrong colour, incorrect size, missing parts, bundles with missing items, a damaged item (stained, ripped, broken or damaged in any other way) not detailed in the listing, different main materials, counterfeit, any other visible flaw not detailed, and functionality not as described. Smell and odour do not appear on that list — the catch-all wording is about a visible flaw.
That does not mean a smell complaint is automatically rejected. It means the claim has to be framed as damage, staining or an undisclosed flaw, and Vinted's suspended-order page (help 176) is explicit that when a buyer claims an item is damaged or not as described, "we'll ask them to provide proof before we validate the return". Proof of a smell is exactly what a buyer usually cannot produce beyond their own description.
The same page sets out your clock. You have 14 days from the moment the transaction is suspended to dispute the claim, and you can only dispute it if you have not already agreed to a refund or requested a return through the conversation screen — so decide your route before you tap anything. Crucially, for a SNAD item Vinted will "only issue a refund if the buyer sends the item back, or if the seller doesn't provide their return address", and the buyer pays return shipping unless you agree otherwise.
Help 463 covers the buyer's side: they have 2 days from the delivery notification to report a problem, and once you request a return they must send it back within 5 business days. If they do not, "your refund request will be closed and your payment will be released to the seller". That deadline is why so many smell claims quietly collapse.
Free item. The buyer wants a full refund and keeps the item, usually arguing that returning a smelly item is unreasonable or that postage costs more than the item. This is the outcome to refuse: under help 176 a SNAD refund is tied to the item coming back, and under help 463 an unreturned item means the refund request closes and you get paid. One seller whose buyer claimed a bag smelled of smoke simply asked for the return, the buyer never sent it, and the payment was released.
Partial refund. The buyer keeps the item and gets money back. Help 463 confirms partial refunds exist as a seller option for single-item purchases, and sellers describe this as the most common landing point — a small "goodwill" discount to make the complaint go away. You are not obliged to offer it, and if you do, do it once, in the order chat, with the amount stated.
Free return. The buyer wants to send it back at your expense. Under help 176 the buyer pays return postage for a SNAD item unless you agree otherwise, so covering it is a concession, not a rule. Some sellers offer it when the item is cheap and relistable.
Do not refund in the chat and do not cancel the order. Help 176 carries an explicit warning: if you cancel an order you will not receive your payment or any compensation, and you should only do it once the buyer has received the item, agreed to return it, and sent proof of return shipping such as a tracking code or receipt.
Reply once, calmly, in the order conversation. State only what you can evidence: the item was washed and stored in a smoke-free home, it was photographed and packed on a given date, and you have the shipping receipt. Do not argue about whether the buyer's nose is lying — everything you type becomes part of the case file, and insults make a human reviewer less sympathetic.
Then choose your route deliberately. If you want the item back, request the return through View issue details, confirm your return address is current, and let the 5-business-day deadline run. If you believe the claim is baseless and want the payout released, dispute it within the 14-day window instead — but you cannot do both.
Ask one question before either: has the buyer aired the item outside for 24 hours or washed it? Commenters repeatedly describe smoke or musty smell lifting after a wash or a day on the line, and a buyer who refuses to try is telling you something.
When a return arrives, film yourself opening it. Sellers describe buyers sending back a different, damaged or incomplete item to salvage the refund, and your unboxing video plus the original packing photos are the only evidence that will matter. You then have 2 days to check the return before the refund releases.
Not every smell complaint is a scam, and assuming otherwise will cost you disputes you could have avoided. The most repeated explanation in these threads is the courier: commenters describe parcels arriving reeking of tobacco from a driver smoking in the van, even brand-new sealed items. If the smell is on the outside of the parcel, that is a transit issue, not your laundry.
Packaging does it too: cheap plastic mailers trap odour, so clothing sealed in one for days can smell stale even when it went in clean. Damp storage and a humid flat produce a musty smell the seller genuinely cannot detect — commenters in one thread pointed out that people go nose-blind to their own home. New PVC has a chemical smell of its own, and real leather smells of leather.
So the practical response is a test, not an accusation: ask the buyer to air the item outside for 24 hours, then wash it if the care label allows, and report back. If it clears, the dispute usually evaporates; if not, a return is fair and you relist with the flaw disclosed. Do not spray items with perfume first — sellers report buyers dislike that just as much, and it layers one smell on another.
Wash or air everything before it goes into the parcel, including items that look clean — buyers in these threads expect second-hand clothing to arrive clean and fresh. Disclose deliberately. "From a smoke-free and pet-free home" is now standard and costs nothing. For vintage leather or anything with a natural smell, say so in the description — "natural leather smell, has been aired" — because an undisclosed smell is the only version of this complaint with a chance of sticking. Add your return terms too: buyer pays return postage, no partial refunds. Sellers who added that line report it filters out discount-chasers.
Photograph the item and the packed parcel, keep the shipping receipt until the sale completes, and film the packing for anything valuable. Help 176 recommends exactly this: keep the receipt as proof of shipping and photograph the package in case damage is claimed. It will not prove the absence of a smell, but it proves the condition and packaging you sent, which is what these disputes actually turn on.
Smell and odour are not on Vinted's list of "significantly not as described" reasons in help 1090, which covers wrong colour, incorrect size, missing parts, visible damage, different materials, counterfeit, visible flaws and functionality. A buyer can still open a claim and frame it as damage or an undisclosed flaw, but help 176 says buyers are asked to provide proof before a return is validated — and a smell is hard to evidence.
Reply once in the order chat stating the item came from a smoke-free home and was washed before packing, then ask the buyer to air it outside for 24 hours or wash it. If they still want a refund, request the return rather than refunding — under help 176 a SNAD refund requires the item to come back, and the buyer normally pays return postage.
You can dispute the claim within 14 days of the suspension instead of requesting a return — but help 176 says you can only dispute if you have not already agreed to a refund or requested a return in the conversation. Pick one route and commit. If you request a return and the buyer does not post it within 5 business days, help 463 says the refund request closes and your payment is released.
You are not obliged to. Partial refunds are an option for single-item purchases, not a requirement, and sellers describe them as the usual goal of a discount-chasing claim. If you do agree, offer it once, in the order chat, with the exact amount — and remember that agreeing to a refund can remove your ability to dispute the claim afterwards.
Film yourself opening the return, compare it against your original packing photos, then raise it in the order chat before the 2-day return check window closes. Keep your shipping receipt and pre-packing photos — help 176 lists them as the evidence Vinted expects a seller to hold.
Wash and air everything before packing, state "smoke-free and pet-free home" in the listing, disclose natural smells on vintage leather or new coated fabrics, and add "buyer pays return postage, no partial refunds" to your descriptions. Photograph the packed parcel and keep the shipping receipt until the sale completes.