What Is Relay on Vinted? The Lesser-Known Shipping Option Explained
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Relay is a courier Vinted offers in selected areas of the UK: you take the parcel to a Relay drop-off point with a QR code from the Vinted app, and staff print the label, so you don't need a printer. It's worth leaving switched on unless your nearest drop-off is less convenient than your usual Post Office or InPost locker.
Vinted's postage settings list several options, and most of them are self-explanatory: Evri, Royal Mail, InPost, DPD. Then there's Relay. It doesn't have the brand recognition of the others, and most sellers either leave it on by default without knowing what it is, or turn it off because they're not sure about it. This article explains both what it is and how to decide whether it belongs in your setup.
What Relay actually is
Relay isn't a Vinted service at all — it's Relay Technologies, an independent London delivery startup (launched 2022) that Vinted contracts with alongside other retailers like ASOS and TikTok Shop, in the same way it uses Evri or Royal Mail. It has no ownership link to Vinted, and it's a different company from both Vinted Go (Vinted's own in-house logistics arm, which currently operates in mainland Europe rather than the UK) and InPost, despite the similar-sounding name to InPost's French "Mondial Relay" service.
In the UK, Relay comes in two forms: Shop Pick-up, where the buyer collects from a participating shop near them, and Home Delivery, where the parcel goes straight to their address instead. Vinted describes Shop Pick-up as running from parcel shop to parcel shop, and Home Delivery as running from a parcel shop or locker to the buyer's address. As the seller, your side is much the same either way: you drop the parcel at a Relay drop-off point, and which version the buyer picks at checkout is down to them.
The seller experience is similar to other courier options. Once your item sells and the buyer selects Relay at checkout, you get a QR code in the app. You show it to the staff at a Relay drop-off point and they print the shipping label, and that's your job done. To see where you can drop off, press "Get shipping label": Vinted's map then shows every Relay location available to you.
You and the buyer can track the parcel in your conversation in the Vinted app. Vinted says to allow up to 48 hours after sending for tracking to appear.
Why buyers often choose it
The most practical reason Relay appears regularly is that it's often one of the cheapest options available at checkout. Vinted's buyers — particularly the more cost-conscious ones — tend to choose on price, and when Relay is available and cheap, it wins on that basis.
That's also the relevant frame for sellers thinking about whether to enable it. Relay being available can actually increase your chance of a sale for price-sensitive buyers — not because of anything specific to the service, but because it expands the range of affordable options at checkout. Buyers who might have abandoned a transaction because postage looked expensive have another route.
The coverage question
Here's the most important thing to know about Relay: it's not available everywhere in the UK.
Vinted's help centre says only that Relay is available in "selected regions, with more areas available soon" (Vinted help: Relay, checked 19 October 2026). Relay started in London and was live in London and Manchester in early 2025; its own coverage page now lists areas across much of England, from Greater London and Greater Manchester to Merseyside, the West Midlands, Yorkshire, Kent and Devon, and none in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland (Relay: where we operate, checked 10 October 2026). Vinted shows the option only if both the buyer and the seller are in range. It still does not reach the whole UK the way Royal Mail, Evri or InPost do. A buyer outside the covered areas won't see Relay as an option even if you've enabled it.
This means the effective consequence of leaving Relay on is asymmetric: sellers outside covered areas will never have a buyer choose it anyway (because those buyers can't select it), and sellers inside covered areas might have it chosen fairly regularly, particularly if it's the cheapest option.
Worth checking: if you've ever had Relay enabled and noticed buyers selecting it, that's a signal you're in or near a covered area. If you've had it enabled for months and never seen it used, you may simply be outside current coverage — or buyers in your area are consistently choosing other options for price or convenience reasons.
Should you enable it?
The honest answer is: probably yes, unless you have a specific reason not to.
The Relay drop-off experience is straightforward if there's a participating shop convenient to you. Labels are available as QR codes, so it's compatible with printer-free selling. The service works well when it's available. The buyer collects at their own convenience, which some buyers prefer over home delivery.
The one reason to turn it off: if your nearest Relay drop-off point is significantly less convenient than your usual Post Office or InPost locker, then enabling it means potentially shipping to that inconvenient location for certain orders. If that's the case — if a buyer choosing Relay would mean you're walking to somewhere you wouldn't normally go — the practical answer is to leave it off.
The approach many sellers land on is: enable it, use it when buyers choose it, and see whether the drop-off location works for you. If it doesn't in practice, turn it off. If it does, it's a free extra option that might be the thing that tips a borderline buyer into purchasing.
Check your own postage settings
Answer the first question to see which options to switch on or off.
Royal Mail Large Letter (postboxable)
- Label
- Printed label only
- Drop-off
- Postbox, Shop, Locker
- Size
- Up to 35 × 25 × 2.5 cm, 500 g
Royal Mail Parcel
- Label
- QR code
- Drop-off
- Shop, Locker
- Size
- 45 × 35 × 16 cm up to 1 kg; 61 × 46 × 46 cm up to 5 kg. Never in a postbox.
InPost Home Delivery
- Label
- You choose: printed or QR
- Drop-off
- Locker, Shop
- Size
- 64 × 38 × 19 cm, 1 kg
- Note
- Vinted's help centre describes a printed-or-QR choice, but some sellers have had a print-only label: check the label screen
InPost 24/7 Locker / Shop Pick-up
- Label
- You choose: printed or QR
- Drop-off
- Locker, Shop
- Size
- 64 × 38 × 8 cm up to 500 g; 64 × 38 × 19 cm up to 1 kg
Evri ParcelShop
- Label
- You choose: printed or QR
- Drop-off
- Shop, Locker
- Size
- Shop: length + twice the width + twice the height up to 245 cm, longest side 120 cm. Locker: 62 × 57 × 39 cm
DPD Pickup
- Label
- QR code
- Drop-off
- Shop
- Size
- Shop: length + twice the width + twice the height up to 245 cm
- Note
- Not available in the Channel Islands, the Scottish Islands and Highlands, Northern Ireland or the Isle of Man
Relay Shop Pick-up
- Label
- QR code
- Drop-off
- Shop
- Size
- Not stated
- Note
- Selected regions only. Vinted hides it unless both buyer and seller are in range. Vinted says Shop Pick-up goes from a parcel shop; Relay Home Delivery can also go from a locker
Vinted's map shows the Relay drop-off points you can use after you press 'Get shipping label'.
Relay Home Delivery
- Label
- QR code
- Drop-off
- Shop, Locker
- Size
- Not stated
- Note
- Selected regions only. Vinted hides it unless both buyer and seller are in range. Vinted says Home Delivery goes from a parcel shop or a locker; Relay Shop Pick-up from a parcel shop only
Vinted's map shows the Relay drop-off points you can use after you press 'Get shipping label'.
Where to find these settings, and what Vinted won't let you switch off: the full postage helper.
The Royal Mail Large Letter comparison
The other option aimed at small items is Royal Mail Large Letter, the postbox-sized tier. According to Vinted's own label instructions it takes items up to 35 × 25 × 2.5 cm and 500 g — that 2.5 cm depth is the key constraint, roughly an inch — and it's the only Royal Mail tier you're allowed to drop in a postbox.
The catch, going by the same label instructions (last checked 25 September 2026), is that Royal Mail Large Letter always needs a printed label; there's no QR version. If you don't have a printer, you can't use it. And it's genuinely only for flat, thin items — folded lightweight t-shirts, thin accessories, small flat items. A hoodie doesn't fit. Jeans don't fit. Anything with much body to it doesn't fit.
So the two answer different problems: Large Letter needs a printer but can go in a postbox, and Relay needs no printer but does need a participating drop-off near you. There's more on which options need printing in how to sell on Vinted without a printer.
What is Relay on Vinted?
Relay is an independent London delivery company that Vinted uses as one of its UK couriers, alongside Evri, Royal Mail and InPost. You drop the parcel at a participating local shop and the buyer either collects from a shop near them or has it delivered to their door.
How does Relay work on Vinted?
When a buyer picks Relay at checkout you get a QR code in the Vinted app. You take the parcel to a participating Relay shop, staff scan the code and print the label for you, and you can track the parcel in your conversation with the buyer. Vinted says to allow up to 48 hours after sending for tracking to appear.
Does Relay home delivery require a printer?
No. Relay gives you a QR code in the Vinted app, so both Shop Pick-up and Home Delivery work without a printer. Staff at the drop-off point scan the code and print the shipping label for you when you hand the parcel over.
Finding a Relay drop-off point
Vinted shows every Relay location you can use on its map once you press 'Get shipping label' on a sale. For the steps, and what to do if Relay doesn't appear, see where is my nearest Relay drop-off point for Vinted?
The shipping options that suit different sellers
There isn't a universally correct set of postage settings for every Vinted seller. The right setup depends on which drop-off points are convenient to you, whether you have a printer, what sizes your items are, and how much you want to optimise for buyer choice versus personal convenience.
The general principle is: enable more options rather than fewer, provided you can actually use them. More choices at checkout means fewer barriers between an interested buyer and a completed sale. Just make sure every option you've enabled is one you can ship with — an enabled courier you can't easily use is more hassle than it's worth.
Worthmore helps with the pricing side of the equation. Once your postage settings are sorted, knowing what your items are worth is the other piece that makes selling consistently successful.