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Teddy becomes star of barista's Vinted profile

Aimee Dexter
BBC News, Cambridgeshire
PA Media Cara O'Brien is on the left of the image, holding the teddy bear next to her head. She has red hair, and is wearing black glasses smiling at the camera. On the right, next to her, is the brown bear that has black eyes and nose. PA Media
Cars O'Brien says her sales have gone up since using the teddy as her mannequin

A Vinted seller says she has made roughly £500 from selling unwanted clothes online using her teddy bear as a model.

Cara O'Brien, from Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire, has been using the Djungelskog soft toy from Ikea as a mannequin since 2023.

The 23-year-old has racked up 525 followers on Vinted and her posts have collected more than 200,000 views on other social media sites.

"I had the idea to use the bear for ages and he was just sat there on my bed and I thought, 'I think he'd fit in a skirt'."

She said she was inspired to improve her sales on Vinted - which is a second-hand sales website - after seeing someone using a cardboard cut-out of actor Danny DeVito.

The toy bear has posed in garments including crop tops, mini skirts and dresses

Ms O'Brien, who works as a barista, added: "I thought, 'I need to do something so that people actually look at my stuff', and I sell items that are not different to what everyone else sells on there."

PA Media The teddy is brown, and has a black nose and eyes. It is laying on a blue bed, and is wearing a dark blue top. PA Media
The Ikea teddy has been pictured wearing tops and skirts

"Before using Djungelskog, I made maybe one sale a month but now I make maybe one or two a week," she continued.

Many have expressed their adoration for bear online, to the point some have even asked if the soft toy is up for sale.

"A lot of people message me about buying the bear and saying they love the model and it's so cute," she said.

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