From Kleinanzeigen's 35 million listings to Vinted's fashion deals, Rebuy's instant buyback and eBay Germany's auction culture — we tested every major platform so you know exactly what you're dealing with before you list your sofa or buy a used camera.
Germany's online marketplace culture is older, more entrenched, and more locally specific than most outsiders expect. Kleinanzeigen alone has more active listings than most countries' entire secondhand markets. Here's where to start.
They all let you buy and sell secondhand goods. That's where the similarity ends. Platform culture, fees, payment methods, and scam risk vary enormously.
Germany's largest classifieds platform, rebranded from eBay Kleinanzeigen in 2023. Cash-only culture, local pick-up model, enormous inventory across every category. Understand how it actually works — especially the payment and messaging culture — and it's unbeatable.
Read the full revieweBay Germany has a different personality to eBay elsewhere. The auction culture is alive and well. The Käuferschutz (buyer protection) is real and enforceable. Higher fees than Kleinanzeigen but genuine protection for both sides of a transaction.
Read the full reviewThe fashion secondhand platform that quietly became enormous in Germany. Sellers list free; buyers pay a small protection fee. The shipping system is the most seamless of any platform reviewed here.
Read the full reviewWorks in Germany, but not as well as in some other markets. Useful as a backup when Kleinanzeigen doesn't have what you need locally. More ghosting, older listings, weaker scam protection than the dedicated platforms.
Read the full reviewNot a marketplace — a buyback and resale platform. You send electronics, games, or books; they pay you within 2–5 days. Lower prices than a direct sale, but zero hassle and zero risk of scams or no-shows.
Read the full reviewThe factors that actually matter when you're deciding where to list or where to buy.
| Platform | Best for | Listing fee | Buyer protection | Shipping built-in | Cash meetup | Scam risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kleinanzeigen | Everything, esp. furniture & local | Free | Minimal (private) | Optional | Yes — standard | Medium |
| eBay.de | Electronics, collectibles, auctions | ~10–13% on sale | Strong (Käuferschutz) | Yes | Not standard | Low–medium |
| Vinted | Fashion, clothing, accessories | Free for sellers | Vinted Käuferschutz | Yes — integrated | No | Low |
| Facebook Marketplace | Local deals, large items | Free | Minimal | No | Yes | Medium–high |
| Rebuy | Selling electronics/books fast | N/A (buyback) | Full guarantee | Free label | No | Very low |
The right answer changes depending on what you're selling, how much friction you can tolerate, and how quickly you need the money.
Kleinanzeigen is the only realistic answer for large items that can't be shipped. The cash-and-collection model is built for exactly this use case. Post with good photos, state "Selbstabholung" (self-pickup only), and expect enquiries within hours in most German cities. Price slightly above your minimum — lowball offers are standard.
Three options: Kleinanzeigen gives you the best price but requires meeting locally. eBay.de reaches a national audience but costs 10% commission. Rebuy pays less but gives you money within a week with zero negotiation. Pick based on how much the price difference matters to you.
Vinted. The buyer pays the protection fee, you get a free shipping label in the app, and you receive payment once the buyer confirms receipt. The process is smoother than any other platform here for clothing. eBay.de works for premium or rare fashion, but Vinted has more active buyers for everyday items.
Use Vinted or eBay.de for any transaction that needs shipping — both have genuine buyer protection. For local cash transactions on Kleinanzeigen, read the Safety Guide first. The scam patterns are predictable and mostly avoidable once you know what to look for.
For Vinted and Rebuy, no — the interfaces are fully available in English and sellers are often comfortable in English, especially in cities. For Kleinanzeigen, the platform is partially translated but communication is almost entirely in German. Basic German or a translation app gets you through most conversations. Sending messages in English isn't unusual in Berlin or Munich but reduces response rates in smaller cities.
In 2023, eBay sold its German classifieds business. The platform was rebranded as "Kleinanzeigen" (kleinanzeigen.de). The functionality, listings, user base, and app remained identical — only the name and branding changed. If you had an eBay Kleinanzeigen account, it migrated automatically. Many German users still call it "Ebay Kleinanzeigen" out of habit.
Yes — more so than in most European countries. Kleinanzeigen and Facebook Marketplace transactions are overwhelmingly conducted in cash at the point of pickup. This is scam protection on both sides: sellers see the money before releasing the item; buyers inspect before paying. Sellers asking for advance bank transfers are a red flag. Cash in hand is the standard and the safest option for local pickups.
The fake "Sicher Bezahlen" (secure payment) scam. A "buyer" tells you they want to pay via Kleinanzeigen's official payment system, then sends a WhatsApp link to a convincing phishing page that harvests your banking credentials. The real Sicher Bezahlen is only accessible through your listing on the official Kleinanzeigen app — never through a link someone sends you. Any buyer who sends a payment link is a scammer.
For shipped goods: eBay's Käuferschutz is the most robust and legally backed — combined with German consumer law, it provides strong recourse. Vinted's buyer protection is excellent within its category (fashion). Rebuy's guarantee is total since you're buying from a company, not a private individual. For cash local transactions (Kleinanzeigen, Facebook Marketplace), there is no platform buyer protection — your protection is inspecting the item before paying.
Germany's biggest classifieds platform — and everything you need to know to use it well
Kleinanzeigen is not just large — it's culturally central to how Germany handles secondhand goods in a way with no real equivalent elsewhere. The platform has existed since 2009 (as eBay Kleinanzeigen) and has accumulated 35+ million live listings, an enormous active user base, and a deeply embedded cultural norm around how transactions work. Understanding those norms is more important than understanding the platform's features.
The fundamental model is classifieds: people post items with a price, photos, and location. Interested buyers contact sellers through the messaging system. The sale typically completes in person, with cash changing hands at pickup. No escrow, no payment protection, no formal dispute process for private sales. This keeps things simple and fast but requires basic vigilance.
The search is excellent. You can filter by location and radius, price range, category, and listing age. The saved search feature sends notifications when new items match your criteria — for sought-after items in competitive categories (good bikes, specific electronics), this is the difference between getting the item and not. Popular listings sell within hours.
When you find something: message through the app, agree on a pickup time, view the item in person, pay cash, take it home. For items that can be shipped, "Sicher Bezahlen" enables a safe remote transaction. For everything else, the pickup model is the norm and works well.
German classifieds culture involves negotiation. Sellers list slightly above their minimum. Offering 10–15% below asking on first contact is completely normal and not rude. The phrase: "Wäre ein Preis von [Betrag] € für Sie in Ordnung?" ("Would a price of [amount] € work for you?"). Listings marked "Festpreis" (fixed price) genuinely aren't negotiable.
Creating a listing is fast — photos from your phone, a title, a price, your postcode, and you're live. Basic listings are free for private sellers. Photo quality is the single biggest factor in how quickly your item sells. Listings with four or more clear, well-lit photos of the actual item get dramatically more enquiries than single blurry pictures.
For popular items (iPhones at fair prices, good bikes), expect 15–30 messages in the first hour. "Ghosting" — buyers who enquire then disappear — is frustratingly common. Respond to the first serious enquiry within a few hours and convert it rather than waiting to accumulate offers.
Search for your exact item before pricing. Kleinanzeigen's volume means there's almost always a market reference. Price at or slightly below the median of comparable completed sales, not the median of listed prices — listed prices include everything that hasn't sold. Your goal is to be the most attractive listing in your category, not the most optimistic.
The default and strongly recommended payment for local pickup is cash. No bank transfers to strangers before collection. No PayPal for local transactions. Cash eliminates an entire category of fraud risk on both sides.
For shipping-based transactions, Sicher Bezahlen (Secure Payment) is a genuine escrow built into the platform: the buyer pays through Kleinanzeigen, the seller ships, and funds are released once the buyer confirms receipt. It works — and it's the only safe way to conduct a remote transaction on Kleinanzeigen.
The most common Kleinanzeigen scam impersonates Sicher Bezahlen. A "buyer" sends you a link — via WhatsApp or the platform's chat — to a page that looks exactly like Kleinanzeigen. You enter your banking credentials. Your account is accessed. Never click payment links sent in messages. If a buyer legitimately wants Sicher Bezahlen, it's initiated through your listing in the official app — not via a link they send you. Any link sent by a buyer is a scam, 100% of the time.
Yes. In 2023, eBay sold its German classifieds business and the platform rebranded as "Kleinanzeigen" (kleinanzeigen.de). The app, user base, and database remained identical. Existing accounts migrated automatically. Many Germans still call it "Ebay Kleinanzeigen" out of habit.
"VB" stands for "Verhandlungsbasis" — literally "basis for negotiation." It signals the seller is open to offers below the listed price. Most German classifieds listings include VB. The opposite is "Festpreis" (fixed price), where the seller genuinely won't negotiate.
Yes, but you need a verified business account (Gewerblich), which involves fees. Listing as a private seller when you're a commercial operation violates the terms and German consumer protection law — commercial sellers must disclose their status, as buyers have different legal rights (including warranty rights) when purchasing from businesses.
File a report with the German police immediately — most states have an online portal (search "[your state] Polizei Online-Wache"). If you made a bank transfer, call your bank right away; a rapid recall request can sometimes reverse it before funds are withdrawn. Report the user on Kleinanzeigen and document everything: screenshots, the listing URL, any phone numbers used.
Auctions, strong buyer protection, and a fee structure that rewards knowing the rules
eBay.de behaves differently from eBay in the US or UK in one important way: the auction format is genuinely alive. German buyers bid on items rather than defaulting to Buy It Now, and auction-ending timing matters. Sunday evening auctions (19:00–21:00) attract the most bidders; Thursday morning auctions the fewest. If you're selling and want to maximise price, time your listing. If you're buying and want less competition, watch for auctions ending at off-peak times.
The eBay Käuferschutz is the platform's standout feature and the main reason to prefer it over Kleinanzeigen for higher-value purchases. If an item doesn't arrive, doesn't match the description, or is damaged in shipping, eBay mediates and typically sides with the buyer. This is enforced, and German consumer law backs it up for commercial sellers.
Up to 300 listings per month are free to create. When an item sells, eBay takes a commission (Verkaufsprovision) on the total transaction including shipping:
Plus a fixed processing fee of ~€0.35 per transaction. For a €200 sale, eBay's cut is €20–28 depending on category. Higher than Kleinanzeigen's zero, but the buyer protection justifies it for anything above €50 where a dispute would be painful.
Auctions ending Sunday between 19:00 and 21:00 consistently achieve higher final prices than any other time slot. That's when the most potential bidders are at home and online. For Buy It Now listings, timing matters less. For auctions, the end time is a deliberate strategic choice.
If something's wrong: open a case through "Mein eBay → Käufe → Problem melden." eBay gives the seller 3 days to resolve it. If unsatisfied, eBay steps in — for "item not received" or "not as described" cases, buyers typically get a full refund within 5–10 days. German consumer law adds a statutory 14-day right of return (Widerrufsrecht) for commercial sellers — eBay enforces this regardless of what the listing says.
No. eBay Germany migrated away from PayPal as the exclusive payment method in 2021. It now operates its own managed payments system accepting Visa, Mastercard, and Klarna — no PayPal required. Sellers receive direct bank account payouts.
"Sofort-Kaufen" is Buy It Now — a fixed price, no bidding. Most eBay.de listings offer one or both. Auctions work well for collectibles and electronics where demand is uncertain. Sofort-Kaufen is better for common items with an established market price. Many sellers offer both: a Buy It Now price slightly above their auction reserve, so impatient buyers can skip the bidding.
Check feedback history: 50+ transactions and 98%+ positive rating is the baseline. New accounts (0–10 feedback) selling high-value items deserve extra scrutiny. Prices 30%+ below market are almost always fraudulent. Read negative feedback carefully — patterns of "item not received" are warning signs even if overall rating looks acceptable.
Germany's go-to for secondhand fashion — and the smoothest selling experience on this list
Vinted is designed by people who actually use it. The seller flow — photograph in the app, write a description, set a price, list — takes under three minutes. When someone buys, a prepaid shipping label appears in the app. Print it, attach it, drop it at any DHL or Hermes point, done. No post office trips to buy postage, no negotiating shipping costs.
The platform's key insight: put transaction fees on buyers rather than sellers. Sellers list and receive payment with no deductions. Buyers pay a small Käuferschutzgebühr (buyer protection fee) visible before purchase. German buyers, accustomed to fees on eBay, accept this without complaint — and it funds the buyer protection system.
The sweet spot for fast sales: recognisable brands (Zara, H&M, Adidas, Nike, Levi's) in good condition at 30–60% below retail. Children's clothing is extremely active — kids grow fast, items are barely used, and parents are motivated buyers. If you have kids' clothes to sell, Vinted is the right choice over any other platform.
Vinted supports bundle offers — buyers can add multiple items from one seller and request a discount. Enabling this on your listings increases the chance of a single buyer taking multiple items, reducing your shipping work. A common convention is 10–15% off bundles of 3+ items.
Vinted holds the seller's payment until the buyer confirms receipt (or the 2-day dispute window closes). If the item doesn't arrive or doesn't match the description, you report through the app with photos. Vinted reviews within 24–48 hours. Clear "not as described" cases resolve in favour of the buyer; condition disputes are more nuanced.
Yes — the app is available in English and listings in English work fine, especially in major German cities. In smaller cities, German-language descriptions get more views. Writing in both languages takes an extra minute and covers both audiences.
When a buyer purchases your item, the app generates a prepaid shipping label (or QR code for label printing at the drop-off point). Pack the item, drop it at any participating DHL or Hermes location. You pay nothing — the buyer's purchase covers the label cost.
The platform primarily focuses on fashion, but some home goods and accessories are permitted. Electronics, furniture, and large items don't fit Vinted's model — the shipping labels are sized and priced for clothing parcels, not large or heavy items. Use Kleinanzeigen or eBay.de for anything outside the fashion category.
A useful backup — but not where Germany's secondhand internet lives
Facebook Marketplace exists in Germany and is free, but it occupies a distant third place behind Kleinanzeigen for local classifieds. The user base is smaller, listings are less dense outside major cities, and "sold" status often doesn't get updated — you spend more time contacting sellers about items that are already gone.
Its structural advantage over Kleinanzeigen: you can see the seller's Facebook profile before contacting them. For buyers who prioritise personal trust signals over platform protection — which is the norm for German cash transactions — seeing that a seller is a real person with a history provides some comfort. It's not a perfect signal, but Kleinanzeigen's anonymous listings don't offer it.
Facebook Purchase Protection theoretically applies for transactions via Facebook Pay — but this payment method is rarely used in Germany where cash pickups are standard. For the overwhelming majority of German Facebook Marketplace transactions, there is no platform-level protection. The same scams that exist on Kleinanzeigen exist here, with less infrastructure to report and address them. Never transfer money in advance to a Facebook Marketplace seller.
Instant buyback for electronics, books, and games — the no-hassle option
Rebuy is fundamentally different from every other platform here: it's not a marketplace where buyers and sellers meet. It's a company that buys secondhand goods from the public, grades them, and resells them. You sell to Rebuy; Rebuy sells to someone else. This changes everything — the speed, the certainty, and the price.
The process: scan the barcode or search by model, answer condition questions, receive an instant purchase offer. Accept, print a free prepaid label, ship. Once Rebuy receives and inspects the item, payment lands in your account within 2–5 business days.
Rebuy's prices are lower than selling directly on Kleinanzeigen or eBay.de — sometimes significantly so. For an iPhone 14 in good condition, the difference can be €50–80 versus a direct Kleinanzeigen sale. Whether that gap is worth it depends on how you value your time and how much you dislike selling to strangers.
The calculation shifts for lower-value items. For a book you could sell for €6 on Kleinanzeigen — if anyone wants it, after messaging back and forth, after a pickup — Rebuy's offer of €2.50 with a free label is often the more sensible choice. Below about €50–80, Rebuy increasingly wins on the time-value calculation.
Use Rebuy for: medium-value electronics (€30–200) where you don't want to deal with buyers; books, games, and media in bulk; anything you've been sitting on for months without getting around to listing. Use Kleinanzeigen or eBay.de for: high-value items (€200+) where the price gap justifies the effort of a direct sale.
The other side of Rebuy is its refurbished shop — a fixed-price catalogue of graded secondhand electronics and media. The grading system (like new / very good / good / acceptable) is transparent and accurate in our experience. Prices are competitive with eBay.de for equivalent grades, with the added benefit of a 36-month warranty on electronics and a 30-day return policy. For buyers who want a secondhand phone or tablet without the uncertainty of a private sale, Rebuy is genuinely attractive.
Rebuy's competitor Momox (momox.de) operates identically but focuses on books, CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, and video games. It's worth checking both platforms for media — the better quote varies by item. Momox tends to be stronger on older books and films; Rebuy tends to be better on electronics and games consoles.
If Rebuy grades your item lower than you declared, they send a revised offer. You can accept the new price or request the item back (for a small return shipping fee). They won't deduct from your payout without notifying you — you get to decide whether to take the new price or reclaim the item.
Items below approximately €1 in buyback value are typically declined — the shipping and handling cost isn't worth it for Rebuy. Many older books and basic accessories fall below this threshold. The instant quote tool tells you immediately if an item isn't accepted or doesn't meet the minimum.
The scams, the red flags, and the habits that keep your money safe
German online marketplaces are generally safe — but the scams that exist are specific, recurring, and predictable. Know the patterns and you'll almost never have a problem.
A "buyer" expresses interest, says they want to use Kleinanzeigen's Sicher Bezahlen system, and sends a link — via chat or WhatsApp — to a page that looks exactly like Kleinanzeigen. You enter your banking credentials. Your account is accessed. No payment arrives.
Rule: Never access any payment system through a link sent by another user. Sicher Bezahlen is initiated through your listing on the official app — not through a link anyone texts you.
A buyer sends a bank transfer for more than the agreed price, then asks you to refund the difference. The initial transfer is fraudulent and will be reversed. If you refund the "difference," you lose that money.
Rule: If a buyer sends more than the agreed amount, cancel the transaction entirely rather than sending any refund.
A seller demands bank transfer before you see or collect the item. You pay. They disappear. There is no item.
Rule: For Kleinanzeigen and Facebook Marketplace local transactions, never pay before physically having the item. Cash on collection is the standard because it eliminates this risk entirely.
A "buyer" provides a prepaid shipping label so you can send the item. The label looks official but isn't valid. You ship the item; no payment arrives.
Rule: Only use shipping labels generated through Kleinanzeigen's official Sicher Bezahlen system, eBay's managed shipping, or Vinted's built-in label system. Never use a label provided by a buyer outside these official channels.
Scammers move conversations off-platform quickly. Legitimate sellers do this too — but once off-platform, be more sceptical of unusual payment requests or links sent in chat.
An iPhone 15 at €150 when market price is €500 isn't a bargain you found. Heavily underpriced listings are designed to create urgency and bypass scepticism.
"Must sell today," "someone else is interested right now," "leaving Germany next week" — may be true, but also standard social engineering scripts. Legitimate sellers don't need you to skip due diligence.
A Munich seller listing a sofa who can only ship it — when local pickup is the obvious model for furniture — is a red flag. German classifieds assume seller and buyer are in proximity.
Product shots from Amazon or manufacturer websites in secondhand listings are a warning sign. Real sellers photograph the actual item in their home. Perfect white-background electronics photos are suspicious.
An account created two days ago listing a MacBook Pro at a suspiciously low price deserves extra scrutiny. Long-standing accounts aren't immune, but new accounts selling high-value items are a higher-risk profile.
In Germany's secondhand market, the safest payment method is also the simplest: cash.
Cash (Bargeld): Gold standard for local pickups. Seller sees money before releasing item; buyer inspects before paying. No reversal possible, no fraud vector, no dispute mechanism needed. Use it.
Sicher Bezahlen: Safe when accessed through the official Kleinanzeigen app. Holds payment in escrow until you confirm receipt. Use for shipping-based Kleinanzeigen transactions. Never via a link someone sends you.
PayPal Goods & Services: Provides buyer protection when both parties use it correctly. "Friends & Family" (Freunde und Familie) mode has zero buyer protection — any seller insisting on this mode is either uninformed or deliberately avoiding chargebacks.
Bank transfer (Überweisung): Appropriate only for large transactions where you already have the item. Never transfer money before receiving goods from an unknown private seller.
Gift cards, cryptocurrency, "personal" digital transfers (Revolut P2P, Venmo), or any payment method a seller invented — these have no buyer protection and no recourse. They're used exclusively by scammers because the payments can't be reversed. A legitimate German seller will accept cash or an established, protected payment method.
GermanMarkt is an independent guide to buying and selling on German online platforms. We exist because navigating Germany's secondhand marketplace landscape — especially from outside Germany, or without fluent German — is harder than it should be.
We test and review the platforms that make up Germany's secondhand internet through actual use. We conduct real transactions on each platform we review, document scam patterns, and write practical guides for both buyers and sellers. We focus on Germany specifically because it has characteristics — the cash-and-collection culture, the specific scam ecosystem, the Kleinanzeigen dominance — that differ enough from other markets to justify a dedicated resource.
We have no formal relationship with any platform we cover. Reviews are based on real-world use and public information. When something is bad — the Kleinanzeigen scam problem, eBay's confusing fee structure, Facebook Marketplace's weak protection — we say so. When something is good, we explain why with enough specificity to be useful rather than promotional.
This site earns small commissions from some platforms when visitors make purchases through our links. This doesn't change what we write. If you'd prefer to navigate directly, type the platform's name into Google and go straight to their site.
This site is written in English to serve the large community of expats, international students, and visitors in Germany who use these platforms but find German-language guides hard to navigate.
Write to us at [email protected]. Corrections, updates, and new scam pattern reports are particularly welcome — if you encounter a new scam on one of the platforms and we can verify it, we'll add it to the safety guide.