My partner recently suggested I checked out Vinted (big in the UK) for some bargain goodies.

The home page was recommending random bits and bobs. Many listings show quite a lot skin. For example, lots of sellers advertise their bikinis with selfies. Another listing was selling “extremely worn socks for 2 days”. Perhaps this speaks to the times we are living in.

Then it got worse. One listing showed what is clearly a school-age girl pulling a funny face. I thought it was a weird prank some teenagers pulled on their friend, so I reported the listing and moved on. But then there were more of them. A concerning amount. Different photos, different expressions, different accounts, different descriptions, various amounts of detail. Some of them even had an “in demand” tag.

The most disturbing one advertised an 11-year-old girl. The description read “moody”.

This was at the top of the page on the “Kids” tab.

It seems that children are voluntarily uploading themselves on there. Is it becoming a new social network? A dating site?

It is clear that Vinted does not have an effective policy in place to prevent children from advertising themselves and their peers. Or Vinted turns a blind eye and benefits from the business under-18s are bringing to their platform. Perhaps some favourable negligence?

Either way they potentially inadvertedly created a new child mail-order bride service or tinder for kids with all the obvious problems that come with it.