The commonest vintage-selling mistake is pricing a piece at what you want to receive, then discovering the platform's cut was inside that number all along. On a 24% commission the fix is one division — and a couple of habits that stop the division being wishful.
Decide what the piece must net you — purchase price, materials, your restoration hours at a rate you'd accept from a stranger, plus profit. Then divide by 0.76 (for Vinterior's individual 24%): a £380 target means listing at £500, not £420-and-disappointment. Professional-tier sellers divide by 0.83 up to £2,500 (and the effective divisor improves above that — the calculator handles the tier). Round the result up to a price that looks like a decision: £495 reads better than £487.63 everywhere fine furniture is sold.
Restoration time is where vintage margins quietly die. Eight hours of stripping, sanding and waxing at even a modest rate is £100+ of cost — omit it and the "£150 profit" on your beautifully finished chest was you working the weekend free. Track it per piece honestly (a note on your phone will do, or a tracker if you flip regularly); after five pieces you'll know your real hourly, and it will change what you buy at auction.
A useful discipline: if a piece can't carry the grossed-up price with a straight face against comparable listings, it isn't a curated-marketplace piece — sell it where fees are zero and expectations local. The 24% isn't a tax on everything you own; it's the price of the room where designer names fetch designer money. Send each piece to the room its price can afford, and the commission stops feeling like a penalty and starts working like rent on good retail space.
General guidance, August 2026. Not financial advice. Not affiliated with Vinterior Ltd.