At a glance
Buyer Protection Complaint Rate is a fulfilment metric tracked from Vinted data. It measures the share of orders where a buyer opened a buyer-protection complaint. Vinted’s buyer-protection flow is shaped by EU consumer law, and the platform tends to refund at its discretion when complaints hold up, so a rising rate is both a trust signal and a direct cost. A spike most often means description does not match what arrives.
| What it counts | Buyer-protection complaints as a percentage of orders over the selected period, compared against the prior period. |
| Sample type | Backend API data from Vinted, refreshed on the standard data refresh. |
| Why it matters | Complaints can lead to discretionary refunds, lower ratings, and weaker shop standing. The rate is one of the clearest early indicators of description-versus-reality drift in your listings. |
| Reading the value | Lower is better. A reading above the safe band, or a sharp rise versus the prior period, points to listings whose condition grading or photos overstate what buyers receive. |
| Currency | percent |
| Time window | 30D vs prior period |
| Alert trigger | Fires when the complaint rate rises above the configured safe band. |
| Sentiment key | vin_buyer_protection_complaint_rate |
| Roles | owner, operations, finance |
Calculation
Calculated automatically from your Vinted data. Vortex IQ divides the count of orders with a buyer-protection complaint by total orders over the selected period and compares the result against the prior period. See the At a glance summary above for what the metric tracks and the worked example below for a typical reading.Worked example
A representative reading of Buyer Protection Complaint Rate for a typical Pro seller on Vinted. The rate holds near 1.5% for months, then over a 30-day window climbs to 4%. Reviewing the complaints, most relate to a batch of denim graded “very good” that buyers report as showing fading and a small stain. The grading was optimistic and the photos did not show the wear. The action is to regrade and re-photograph the remaining stock honestly, refund or partial-refund the affected buyers quickly to limit rating damage, and tighten the condition rubric. The rate should ease back toward baseline over the following period. For deeper investigation, use Vortex Mind to trace which listings or categories drove the spike; for natural-language exploration, ask Ask Viq.Sibling cards merchants should reference together
| Card | Why merchants reach for it |
|---|---|
vin_alert_account_health_drop | Alert sibling: the health trip-wire this rate can trigger. |
vin_dispute_rate | Reputation sibling: disputes that escalate from complaints. |
vin_return_rate | Reputation sibling: returns often tied to the same description drift. |
vin_feedback_rating | Reputation sibling: the rating complaints pull down. |
vin_revenue_at_risk | Executive sibling: revenue exposed to discretionary refunds. |
Reconciling against Vinted
Where to look in Vinted’s own dashboard: Vinted shows individual buyer-protection cases inside the affected orders and in your message and notification history. There is no native rate, so reconcile by counting recent complaint cases against your order total for the same window. Why the Vortex IQ value may legitimately differ:| Reason | Direction | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Period boundary. Vortex IQ uses 30-day rolling by default; a manual tally may use calendar months. | Variable | Match the period range. |
| Complaint definition. Vortex IQ counts opened buyer-protection cases; you may be counting only those that resulted in a refund. | Variable | Decide whether to count all opened cases or only refunded ones. |
| Resolution timing. A case opened near the period edge may resolve in the next window. | Marginal | Allow for cases straddling the boundary. |