Online shopping has more than doubled its share of UK retail over the past 10 years, and unsurprisingly criminals have taken full advantage of this by selling counterfeit products digitally.
Between government, law enforcement, regulators and businesses, we need to work together to share evidence and best practices, address both supply and demand, and ensure the right provisions are in place to protect consumers from criminals.
Collaboration is key to fighting IP Crime and infringement. And our work alongside online platforms is central to this preventative approach. We have continued to develop our relationship with partners like Vinted, along with other e-commerce platforms, who we work with to share best practise on effective tools and processes to detect and prevent the online sale of counterfeit goods and thereby protecting consumers and UK businesses from harm.
This month, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has launched ‘Second Hand, Not Second Best’ a campaign highlighting the benefits of shopping second hand, and why choosing pre-loved goods offers an affordable and sustainable alternative to buying fakes. As shoppers look to save money, it’s even more important to highlight second-hand marketplaces as a practical solution, offering consumers access to genuine, high quality products at lower cost.
In recent years, the second-hand market has grown significantly, with clear benefits:
- It provides a cost-effective alternative to fast fashion and counterfeit goods
- It supports more sustainable consumption and reduces environmental impact
- It helps ensure value remains within the legitimate economy
Second-hand is no longer niche – platforms such as Vinted, Depop, Gumtree, Preloved reach tens of millions of UK consumers. However, consumer confidence depends on trust in the quality and authenticity of items, and in the protections offered by marketplaces.
That is why we are partnering with Vinted to help strengthen trust in second-hand shopping.
Our partnership with Vinted to support second-hand shopping
Vinted is one of Europe’s leading marketplaces, enabling people to buy and sell fashion and all kinds of household items, with millions of members across the UK. Our work together is an example of how government and e-commerce platforms can collaborate to tackle counterfeiting at scale.
As a community-driven marketplace, Vinted places trust at the centre of how people buy and sell. This is essential in enabling confident trading between its members. That’s why we work closely together - combining platform expertise with government insight – to help prevent counterfeit listings, improve the quality of product information, and make it easier for users to buy and sell legitimately.
This partnership has led to IPO and Vinted to creating clear, public- facing guidance for both buyers and sellers, alongside ongoing policy engagement to ensure anti-counterfeiting measures continue to evolve in line with emerging threats
We understand why, with budgets being stretched, consumers are looking for the best bargains. Second-hand shopping offers a cost-effective option for buying legitimate, rather than buying counterfeits. The quality is better; the money is passing through legitimate businesses who are paying taxes and the items are sustainable and hold their value.
This latest guidance sits alongside our ongoing policy work with Vinted to share insight on emerging risks, exchange best practice, and support the design of systems that make it harder for criminals to operate and easier for people to shop with confidence. This supports trust in what people see online and makes it easier to choose legitimate second-hand alternatives over counterfeit goods
Working together remains essential
Behind the scenes, our policy teams work closely with e-commerce platforms as well as IP rights holders to better understand the challenges around enforcement against IP rights infringements on online marketplaces, strengthen platform tools and processes to detect and prevent the sale of counterfeit goods, and identify and promote industry best practice in the UK and internationally. Through regular engagement, we aim to make it harder for criminals to operate, and easier for consumers to shop with confidence on online marketplaces.
Alongside our efforts, we aim for this new guidance to build trust in recommerce platforms like Vinted, which combat counterfeiting, and promote second-hand shopping as a top choice for budget-conscious consumers
We encourage e‑commerce platforms, rights holders and enforcement partners to continue engaging with the IPO to share insight, strengthen safeguards and build consistent, effective approaches to tackling counterfeiting online. By collaborating early and openly, we can make it harder for criminals to operate and easier for consumers to shop with confidence.
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