Vinted users baffled by £2.19 beach rock listing with bizarre TV show connection

Daily Mirror

05-05-2025

A Vinted shopper was left baffled after coming across a plain rock picked up from a Welsh beach listed for £2.19 on the app - until she saw the bizarre TV link in the item's description
Vinted, the popular second-hand marketplace app, has become a go-to destination for people looking to buy and sell everything from pre-loved clothes and shoes to home décor, toys, and even vintage collectibles.
Launched in 2008, the platform has grown massively across Europe and the UK, with millions of users turning to it not only for sustainable shopping but also for scoring unique and sometimes unexpected finds.
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But sometimes, users stumble upon items so unusual, they stop scrolling in their tracks - and that's exactly what happened to one woman recently. A user named Li Li took to social media after discovering a rather surprising listing on the site: a plain beach rock being sold for £2.19.
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Yes, you read that right - a small, beige rock, plucked from the sand, was up for grabs at just over two pounds.
'Genuinely baffled here,' she captioned a screenshot of the listing, sharing her discovery with members of the Facebook group I found it on Vinted, which boasts over 58,000 members.
According to the listing, the rock was not just any old stone, but a "super rare beautiful dimension" rock from 'Welsh waters near Gavin and Stacey.'
The seller described it as a 'rare piece of art, absolutely extraordinary,' clearly hoping to appeal to superfans of the beloved British sitcom that was filmed in Barry Island, South Wales.
While the item had garnered 91 views at the time of posting, no one had yet snapped up the so-called collectable.
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The group's members were just as mystified as Li Li. Comments poured in, many mocking the bizarre attempt at turning beach debris into a collector's item.
'Why is it rare?' one commenter asked plainly.
Another added, 'I'm sure this is what people think of me when I tell them I collect crystals.'
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'Is it rare because someone stuck a price sticker on it?!' A third person joked.
And one sceptical user pointed out, 'If it's super rare, then why sell it for £2.19? I'd rather go to the beach and pick out my own one-of-a-kind pebble.'
While Vinted is often praised for giving unwanted items a second life and encouraging sustainable shopping habits, the platform is also known for its share of random listings and the notorious 'offer' button that sees people trying to grab the best bargains.
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But users can earn a decent income from the app, with one savvy seller recently revealing she's earned £10,000 in two years from selling second-hand goods.
Entrepreneurial-minded Kel, who also runs the Facebook group Kel Sells Preloved, claims her success has been through in-depth descriptions and keeping an "open mind" when listing items.
She said: "The be all and end all is - people call things different things. So, something you describe as mustard, someone might describe as ochre. What you call a smock dress, someone might call a tiered dress.
"What you call leopard print, someone might call animal or cheetah print. You've really got to open your mind up as to how other people would describe something, if that makes sense. It's almost like slang in different areas of the country."