Buy, sell, swap – the most popular online fashion swap platforms

In September 2020 we showed you where to turn your wardrobe into cash: Kleiderkreisel, Mädchen Flohmarkt, Zadaa. Five years on, none of those three platforms still exists under the names we recommended back then. Kleiderkreisel is now Vinted and, with 19 million users in Germany, the market leader. Mädchen Flohmarkt has filed for insolvency. Zadaa has been acquired. Here’s where you should really sell, swap and buy today, and what you need to watch out for.

What became of Kleiderkreisel: Vinted

Kleiderkreisel was the go-to platform in 2020, and that’s precisely the problem with fashion recommendations: they date quickly. By November 2020-just weeks after our original article-the parent company announced that the German brands Kleiderkreisel and Mamikreisel would be absorbed into the international name Vinted. The Kleiderkreisel brand had launched in Germany in 2009, while the same community operated as Vinted everywhere else from the start. Existing users’ profiles, ratings, followers, and shipping settings were carried over, with the migration rolled out gradually.

The core mechanism we described in 2020 remains intact: you create a profile, list your items with photos, descriptions, and desired price, and negotiate if needed. What has changed is the scale. Vinted now boasts around 80 million members across 18 markets, with Germany-home to roughly 19 million users-ranking as the second-largest market after France. For you, that primarily means one thing: reach. A well-photographed item here finds a buyer faster than almost anywhere else.

The biggest difference compared to marketplaces like eBay: private sellers pay no listing or selling fees on Vinted. You keep what you earn. Payment is handled on the buyer’s side. Buyers pay a small service fee plus a buyer-protection charge of about five percent of the item price. It was this buyer-protection fee that recently sparked legal trouble: the Berlin Regional Court barred Vinted from pre-selecting the paid buyer-protection option during checkout. Since March 2025, Germany has also offered seller protection with automatic shipping coverage up to €100 in case of loss via DHL, Hermes, or GLS.

From the classic of 2020 to today’s market leader-just under a different name. Anyone looking for Kleiderkreisel lands on Vinted.

Girls’ flea market: once a designer hotspot, now proceed with caution

In 2020, Mädchen Flohmarkt was the refined address for designer pieces and vintage treasures. The approach was more curated than most: upload with good photos and descriptions, plus a ten-percent commission on the sale price. Those who preferred not to self-list could opt for the Concierge Service, which handled everything for 40 percent of the sale price. The promise: hand-picked second-hand fashion instead of rummaging through bargain bins.

That promise has since frayed. In summer 2023, after more than 15 years in business, Mädchen Flohmarkt filed for insolvency; the Stuttgart district court opened proceedings on 1 August 2023. Over 37,000 creditors-many of them private sellers awaiting their money-were listed. The MFG Recommerce GmbH took over operations as part of the restructuring, and co-founder Maria Spilka left the company after 13 years. The platform lives on, yet the Consumer Advice Centre continues to log complaints even after the takeover and advises caution when selling there. If you’re looking to offload a valuable designer piece, check how payouts are currently handled before you list.

Zadaa: from newcomer to acquisition target

In 2020, Zadaa was the fresh breeze blowing in from Scandinavia. The app connected fashion lovers by size and style, and selling was as simple as uploading a photo and setting a desired price. Around 500,000 users in Finland, Denmark, and Germany came together. Yet as it grew, Zadaa struggled against the big players. In early 2025, Finnish start-up Bought acquired the company and folded the Zadaa ecosystem into its own app. Existing profiles and listings can be transferred in just a few clicks. As the standalone brand we featured in 2020, Zadaa is now history.

Five years later: what we’ve learned

The real lesson isn’t about the carousel of platforms; it’s about expectations. If you treat second-hand selling as a reliable income stream, disappointment is likely. The market is fiercely competitive, achievable prices are often lower than hoped, and the effort involved in photographing, describing, and shipping is real. A better reason to join is this: a great piece deserves a second life instead of ending up in the trash. Fashion is attitude, not disposable goods.

In practice, that means: pick a platform with strong reach and solid buyer protection, photograph items honestly and in daylight, and disclose flaws upfront. Check your counterpart’s ratings-they reveal more about a smooth transaction than any profile picture. Factor in the fee structure before you set your price. Then decluttering becomes joy, not extra work.