Work with Luxury Fashion: Offline Authentication Expert

Turning a love of luxury into a career: life as an Authentication Expert

Recently, we introduced a new service – Item Verification. It allows our members to have selected second-hand designer pieces on Vinted checked for authenticity by our team of experts. Following last year’s acquisition of the German pre-loved luxury platform Rebelle – our teams joined forces to bring Rebelle’s expertise in item verification to Vinted members.

Today, our trained teams have successfully verified many different designer pieces. And it’s all thanks to the knowledge of our experts, who bring together 5 decades of professional experience and accumulated knowledge about thousands of designer brands. That’s why today, we’d like to shed some light on the daily life of our Offline Authentication team.

We sat down with Julia Boldt, Manager of Offline Authentication at Vinted, to learn more about verifying designer items and the future of the team.
 

A typical day as an Offline Authentication Expert

Every day, new items arrive for our team to check. Once our Admissions team has processed the items, we unbox them and remove any dustcovers so we can start verifying them.

Then, we meet with our colleagues to discuss the potential authenticity features of these items, sharing our insights with each other. Sometimes, we also do research to enhance our knowledge of new brands or updated verification details. After this, we inspect the object, checking many aspects – from an item’s quality, stitching, and craftsmanship to even its texture, scent and other details. Once an item successfully passes our verification process, it's forwarded to the buyer.

Thanks to our experienced team of experts, we can verify items spanning many categories, including handbags, shoes, clothing, accessories and all the popular sneaker brands you'll find on Vinted. We try to learn something new every day so we can soak up everything we can about the subject.

The ideal candidate for this role

A perfect fit would be someone with years of experience verifying items from every decade – perhaps you’ve worked at a luxury second-hand store or have been self-employed as a reseller.
Or, if you haven’t worked in a similar role yet, maybe you’ve bought and sold a lot of second-hand items from home. For example, there are sneakerheads out there with a wealth of knowledge on this topic who’d be a great match for this position!

Another option is someone who’s very passionate about fashion and has gained knowledge organically over the years but has yet to work in the industry. A degree in fashion design or management is nice to have, but it’s not essential for this role. It also helps if you have an interest in luxury goods.

Either way, a verification expert should have a good eye for detail and a feel for quality and materials. They should be comfortable making decisions and be proactive when it comes to researching new features.

It’s essential that our new colleague is a team player as well.

Working autonomously and as a team

Our role includes both, which I think is the perfect mix. We independently verify items but consistently share knowledge and discuss challenging cases with the people we work with. Senior colleagues play a crucial role in training our junior team members, and we actively engage with the team during our double-checking processes.

We also collaborate with the Customer Support team and the Admission and Shipping teams (who prepare incoming items for us). Whenever there’s an opportunity to co-create, we try to take advantage of it.

With our teams in Hamburg and the UK currently experiencing growth, it's an exciting time to join us.

Highlights (and challenges) of the role

The most challenging part is, perhaps, that it's not a typical job – it isn't something you can study at a fashion school. It's about the experience and passion you have for this type of investigative work.

Plus, you’re required to make quick decisions and keep your eye on the details. So, staying up-to-date with the latest authentication trends and insights is crucial as brands constantly update their designs.

The best part of the job? We get to dive into fashion history and see stunning luxury pieces every day! What could be better?
Our dynamic training process

At the heart of our team’s approach is learning by doing – the more items we can handle, the better. We learn from our team members every day. And we’re developing new training programs to ensure we have the best onboarding processes so we’re ready when more juniors join our team in the future.

Navigating the selection process

First, there’s an introductory call with our Talent Acquisition Specialist. Then, candidates take part in an interview with myself and a senior staff member. After passing those steps, we'll invite the successful applicant to a trial day. For us, this is the most important part of the selection process, as it’s where we evaluate a candidate's knowledge and their potential starting level at Vinted.

Career opportunities in the Offline Authentication team

Our team has a lot of room for growth – there are junior, mid-level and senior Authentication positions. Beyond that, there is also a pathway to grow into a Team Lead, Manager or Director for the team. As you know, Vinted aims high, and so do we!

Find out more

We hope you enjoyed learning more about life in the Offline Authentication team. Would you thrive in a role like this? Apply to become an Authentication Expert at Vinted and join our team of luxury fashion specialists.