Vinted need better AI

When “Too Good” Looks Fake: A Vinted Tale from the Studio

It started, as many good stories do, with a mild sense of irritation… alright, outright frustration.

One of those “computer says no” situations that makes you question whether common sense has quietly left the building.

But, as with many things in photography—and life—a bit of distance can completely change your perspective.

The Backstory: A Familiar Parenting Scenario

I’m old enough to have an 18-year-old son. If you’ve got kids around that age, you’ll already know where this is going.

Online shopping? Frequent.
Returns? Rare.
Attention to detail? Let’s just say… selective.

Case in point: a pair of Air Jordan trainers. Ordered in a size 9.5. Delivered. Tried on. Not quite right. And, crucially, not returned within the window.

So now we’ve got a nearly brand-new pair of trainers, unworn, boxed, and completely useless to him.

Or… an opportunity, if you happen to run a photography business.

Enter the Studio

After a bit of gentle persuasion (and by “gentle” I mean repeated reminders over a couple of weeks), he finally brought the trainers into the studio.

Now, if you’re going to sell something online, you may as well do it properly.

Out came the full setup:

• Professional lighting
• Continuous backdrop
• Triggers
• And my trusty Nikon Z7

We shot the trainers at around f/11—nice and sharp, edge to edge. Clean, crisp, commercial-quality images. The kind you’d expect to see on a retail website.

Every detail visible. Every texture clear. Exactly how product photography should be done.

Listing the Trainers

Once the images were edited (nothing dramatic—just a clean, accurate representation), I resized them to suit Vinted’s upload requirements.

He wrote a simple, honest description:

• Nearly brand new
• Never worn
• Boxed
• Clear photos

Job done. Or so we thought.

The Twist

A few days later… the listing was flagged.

Then messages started coming through (which I wasn’t copied into at the time).
Then the listing was removed.
Then—eventually—the account was suspended.

The reason?

The images “appeared fake.”

Let that sink in for a moment.

The trainers were sitting in our house. I’d taken them out of the box myself. Photographed them. Edited them. Uploaded them.

And yet, because the images were too good, they triggered the system.

From Frustration to… A Strange Compliment

Now, I’ll be honest—my first reaction wasn’t calm reflection.

It was frustration.

Time wasted. Effort wasted. And my son’s account—complete with history—gone.

All because the photos didn’t look like the usual slightly blurry, poorly lit mobile phone images that fill most online marketplaces.

But after stepping back for a moment, I started to see it differently.

If your work is being flagged as “fake” because it looks too polished, too sharp, too professional…

That’s actually saying something.

What This Says About Online Selling

To be fair, platforms like Vinted are right to tackle fake listings and scam accounts. That protects everyone.

But there’s an interesting unintended consequence here.

When high-quality, accurate photography is treated as suspicious, what’s being encouraged instead?

• Dark, unclear images
• Inconsistent lighting
• Poor representation of products

From a buyer’s perspective, that only creates more uncertainty—not less.

Surely the goal should be:

Clear, honest, well-lit images that show exactly what’s being sold.

That’s what builds trust.

A Photographer’s Takeaway

So where have I landed on this?

Somewhere between amusement and quiet satisfaction.

Because ultimately, the images did exactly what they were supposed to do:

• Show the product accurately
• Highlight condition
• Remove ambiguity

If that level of quality stands out so much that it’s mistaken for something artificial… well, that says more about the platform than the photography.

Final Thoughts

So, well done Vinted—you’ve proven you can spot something unusual.

Unfortunately, in this case, “unusual” just meant good photography.

As for me? I’ll take it as a win.

After all, if your product photography is good enough to be mistaken for fake…

You’re probably doing something right.

And some days, you just have to laugh.

Below are the Lo-Res images, take a look for yourself and see what the problem was and feel free to drop me a line if you agree with Vinted.com, and if you fancy a pair of Air Jordan, we still have them. 😛