You can be right about the brand, right about the model, right about the condition and still be left holding stock for six months, because the size you bought is one almost nobody wears.
Buyer demand across sizes roughly follows the population, which means the middle of the run does most of the volume and the ends do very little. A garment in the most common two or three sizes has a large buyer pool. The same garment two sizes out has a fraction of it, and a fraction of a pool means a multiple of the waiting time.
The effect compounds with price. A cheap item in an edge size still sells eventually because someone will take a chance at €12. An expensive item in an edge size can sit indefinitely, because the small pool of people who wear that size and the small pool who will spend that much barely overlap.
Size sensitivity is not uniform. Outerwear and tailoring are the most punishing, because fit is the whole purchase and buyers will not compromise. Oversized styles, hoodies and tracksuit tops are far more forgiving, since a buyer who wants a relaxed fit will happily take a size up. Footwear is unforgiving in a different way: the size run is wide, demand concentrates hard in the middle, and a slow pair is slow for a long time.
Accessories, bags and caps escape the problem almost entirely, which is one reason they hold value as a portfolio stabiliser even when their headline margins are unexciting.
When you are unsure about an item, let the size break the tie. A middling item in a core size is a better buy than an excellent item in an edge size, because the first one converts into cash and the second converts into shelf space.
If you do buy edge sizes — and there are good reasons to, particularly with genuinely scarce pieces — price them for the wait from day one rather than discovering it over three months of cuts. The reseller who lists an edge-size item at the same price as a core-size one is running an expensive experiment they have already lost.
It varies by brand, category and market, which is why a single answer would be misleading. The pattern is consistent — demand concentrates in the middle of each size run — but where exactly the peak sits differs between, say, women's denim and men's outerwear. Resale IQ reports the fastest-selling sizes per model rather than a generic rule.
Yes, when the item is scarce enough that buyers will search it out specifically, or when the discount is deep enough to survive the wait. Price it for a long hold from the start and treat it as a small allocation, not a habit.
Resale IQ turns a Vinted listing into one answer: BUY, WATCH, or SKIP — with buy-below price and best sizes.
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