A Vinted seller from South Yorkshire has shared her embarrassing tale of accidentally selling her car keys alongside a cheap jacket on the popular second-hand clothing platform.
The Costly Oversight
Ellie Cosgrove, a 27-year-old travel business owner from Barnsley, listed her black and white checked jacket on Vinted for a mere £3. After quickly finding a buyer, she packaged and posted the garment without realising she had left one of her two car keys in a pocket.
"We'd been looking for the car key for ages and I blamed my boyfriend for losing it," Ellie confessed to What's The Jam. "I'm very stubborn, so it took everything I had to tell him it was in fact my fault."
The Moment of Realisation
The truth only emerged when the jacket's recipient sent Ellie a message asking: "Thank you for the jacket but did you know your car key is in the pocket?"
Ellie admitted the key had probably been in the pocket for months, as she hadn't worn the jacket for some time. "When I got the message, I honestly just thought, 'That's about right' because I always do stupid stuff like this," she said. "It was a, 'This could only happen to me' moment."
Financial Worries and Fortunate Resolution
Having been leasing the car, Ellie faced potential replacement costs that could have run into hundreds of pounds. Fortunately, the buyer proved exceptionally kind, posting the keys back at her own expense and refusing Ellie's offer to cover postage costs.
"I asked her to send it back and said I would pay for postage but she refused to send me her bank details," Ellie explained. "So the £3 she paid for the jacket ended up turning into £6."
Social Media Reaction
After sharing her story on TikTok, Ellie discovered she wasn't alone in making such selling blunders. Responses included:
- "I bought a coat and the pockets were full to the brim of dog treats."
- "Found half a sausage in a coat once."
- "We had a return at work once with a set of keys in. I called the number on the return and they hadn't been able to move the car for days."
- "I sent my purse in the box as I had to go to the shop to get sellotape to seal the box and chucked my purse in the box to get out the way quickly."
To the latter comment about the purse, Ellie responded: "Omg no way! Hope there wasn't any money in it haha."
The Aftermath
Despite the initial panic and embarrassment, Ellie can now laugh about the incident, noting that everyone found it typical of her character. The story serves as a cautionary tale for online sellers everywhere to thoroughly check items before posting, while also highlighting the kindness of strangers in the second-hand marketplace.
