Abstract The spinel series Fe2VO4-ZnV2O4 and Fe2VO4-ZnFe2O4 have been prepared and investigated. The lattice constants and Mössbauer spectra lead to a distribution of cations which proves that Fe2VO4 is a partially inverse spinel with Fe(II) and Fe(III) on the tetrahedral site. The Seebeck effect is interpreted with a model of both tetrahedral and octahedral conduction based on charge hopping.