Buy-Below Price: The One Number That Decides Your Profit
Buy-below price
A buy-below price is the most you can pay for an item and still leave room for a healthy margin after selling fees. For Vinted resale, Resale IQ models it as average asking price at departure × 0.95 × 0.70: the departure-price input reflects watched listings leaving the shelf, 0.95 models a 5% platform deduction, and 0.70 targets roughly a 30% margin. It is a sourcing ceiling, not a promised profit—adjust for condition, size, market and the strength of the available sample before you buy.
Ask a struggling reseller their sale price and they'll know it. Ask their buy-below price and they'll pause. That gap is where profit leaks. Here's the number that fixes it.
What buy-below price means
Your buy-below price is the maximum you can pay for an item and still make a healthy margin after selling fees. Pay under it and you're set up to profit; pay over it and you're speculating.
It reframes sourcing: you're not asking 'is this cheap?', you're asking 'is this under my number?'.
The formula
A widely used rule: buy-below = average sale price × 0.95 × 0.70. The average is what actually left the shelf this week, not the retail tag.
The 0.95 accounts for the 5% platform deduction we model for Vinted; the 0.70 targets roughly a 30% margin. Adjust both to your own fee structure and goals, but keep the discipline.
Why it changes everything
With a buy-below price for every target item, sourcing becomes a fast yes/no scan and your margins are protected before you ever list. Use it on brands clearing fastest right now. Resale IQ calculates it automatically for any item from 5,330,000+ Vinted listings across the 5 main EU markets (Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal).
Demand is the other half of buy-below
A buy-below number without demand still burns cash. Pair (1) max pay after fees with (2) whether that brand is leaving the shelf this week.
Week to 14 September 2026 (EU5): we watched 5,377 departures across 28 brands — Fred Perry 939 @ €18 · Stone Island 796 @ €70 · Gucci 221 @ €212. Weekly market data.
Frequently asked questions
What is a buy-below price?
A buy-below price is the most you can pay for an item and still leave room for a healthy margin after selling fees. For Vinted resale, Resale IQ models it as average asking price at departure × 0.95 × 0.70: the departure-price input reflects watched listings leaving the shelf, 0.95 models a 5% platform deduction, and 0.70 targets roughly a 30% margin. It is a sourcing ceiling, not a promised profit—adjust for condition, size, market and the strength of the available sample before you buy.
How do you calculate a buy-below price?
Buy-below price = average sale price × 0.95 × 0.70. The 0.95 covers the 5% platform deduction Resale IQ models for Vinted, and the 0.70 targets about a 30% margin. Fee structures differ by platform and by whether you sell privately or as a business, so substitute your own figure. Never pay more than the result when sourcing.
Why is buy-below price important?
It protects your margin before you list. Profit in reselling is mostly decided at the buy, not the sale — buying under your buy-below price is what makes an item profitable.
Resale IQ turns 5,330,000+ Vinted listings into one answer: BUY, WATCH, or SKIP — with buy-below price and best sizes.