Whatnot: A Vibrant Selling Platform For Almost Anything

If you’re a collector or a reseller, who has a large inventory of almost anything that you’d like to sell, you ought to know about Whatnot.

What is Whatnot?

Whatnot is an international marketplace where people can buy and sell thousands of different items primarily through live shows and auctions.

How it works

To create an account, you can plug in your email and a password, or you can sign up using your email and password from either Google or Facebook.

You’ll then agree to a handful of terms, which specify that you can’t cancel final sales, won’t sell counterfeit items nor mislead buyers about an item’s condition.

Finally, you’ll check the category where you’ll do most of your selling, note where you’re selling now (if anywhere), and the kind of revenue you currently earn from the process.

After completing those steps and verifying your phone number, payment method, and identity, you can start selling immediately.

Whatnot review

Whether you’re a collector looking to tighten (or widen) your collection, a reseller, or just an average person who has a vast amount of stuff to get rid of, Whatnot is worth considering.

This international live-auction marketplace pulls in millions of buyers and sellers from around the world and is one of the most popular selling apps on the Apple App Store.

Smart design

Indeed, Fortune magazine profiled the company in 2025, calling it a “wildly-entertaining, FOMO-inducing” $5 billion (sales) site that you’ve “probably never heard of.”

Part of what makes Whatnot compelling is that many sellers game-ify the process by having contests, super-bargain starting prices and offer instant give-aways. That heightens buyer enthusiasm and makes the whole process more addictive.

Meanwhile, the set-up is streamlined to make buying, selling and shipping easy. The site requires anyone who registers here — buyers and sellers — to plug in a payment method and some personal details before they can engage in the auction process. Thus, there are fewer lookie-loos, who really don’t intent to bid.

Followers

Once you’re established, anyone who “follows” you on Whatnot will get a notification when you have scheduled a show. Potential buyers also can bookmark your shows to get a reminder right before you go live.

You can also sell through a Whatnot storefront. However, the key to this marketplace are the live auctions that generate the FOMO feeling that snags more impulse buys.

The site encourages sellers to get going immediately, even offering “sales bonuses” if you schedule an auction in your first week on the site.

Shipping

When someone buys one of your products, Whatnot automatically generates a shipping label. (The buyer pays the freight, unless you specifically choose to shoulder the cost of shipping as a seller.)

Sellers are expected to ship sold items within 48- 72 hours of the sale.

Payments and fees

Whatnot charges an 8% commission on all sales, which also are subject to a 2.9% + 30 cent payment processing fee through Stripe. Sellers are paid 48-72 hours after the product was delivered to the buyer.

Challenges

Hosting a hot live auction is kind of like creating viral web content. It can occasionally happen semi-accidentally. But that’s rare. If you want to sell effectively here, you’ll need a strategy and loyal followers, says Cayley Elaine, a reseller who has studied what it takes to succeed on Whatnot.

After all, the more people who attend your live shows, the better your chance of starting a buying frenzy that sells out your inventory at a reasonable price. And, while some people may stumble on your show, the key to getting a good audience is having followers, who are notified when you’ve scheduled an auction, and are committed enough to show up.

Consistency

And, while you may be able to convince people who follow you on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook or Poshmark to join you here, the best way to gather followers on Whatnot is to be a regular seller, says Elaine. That means you should have a regular auction schedule, develop your niche and stick with it.

It may take months to get enough followers to make selling here really lucrative, she adds.

Discounts & give-aways

Another technique that many sellers use to generate fast-paced sales is to start their auctions at bargain prices, encouraging buyers to snap up your products before they’re gone. However, that’s a double-edged sword. If buyer enthusiasm causes your prices to get bid up, you win. If people just buy at the starting price, you can sell a lot of merchandise but make almost no profit.

Another technique some sellers use to keep people engaged during an auction is to run a product give-away. These are fast-paced programs where customers have just 5 minutes to “enter” your contest to get the giveaway. But giveaways also are costly. Sellers not only shoulder the cost of the free item, they pay for the shipping too.

Remember that a successful auction isn’t just about moving a lot of product, it’s about taking home a reasonable profit too.

Timing

What if you hold an auction and no one shows up? It can happen. Smart sellers schedule their shows when their followers can attend. And, while that timing may vary based on your audience, if you’re catering to working people, you might need to schedule auctions in the evenings and on weekends.

This can make Whatnot a good side gig for people with day jobs. But it can also be exhausting.

Notably too, you want to get on your buyer’s calendar. So Elaine suggests scheduling sales on a predictable schedule, so that your regular customers can put you on their calendar.

Benefits

This site draws millions of buyers every month and is growing at a rapid pace. And buyers love the platform. Some 70% of the 9,100 buyers who reviewed the platform on Trust Pilot gave Whatnot 5 stars.

Additionally, like eBay and many other good sales sites, Whatnot offers a buyer guarantee. This gives buyers the ability to return products that were misrepresented. This boosts buyer confidence. But Whatnot also limits what can be returned and how, providing some protections to sellers too.

For instance, Whatnot requires buyers to physically return the product when they want a refund. Other sites do not, which leads to game-playing, with buyers using the complaint/return process to get products for free or for a post-sale discount.

Moreover, Whatnot returns must be completed within a narrow window that varies based on the product. Live plants, for example, must be returned within two days.

Volume at a bargain price

Whatnot is all about volume and persistence. Thus, only sell here if you are a collector or reseller that has a ton of inventory — and can continually refresh that inventory.

At Whatnot, you’re likely selling to other enthusiasts, who understand the value of your inventory and will come back for more if you’re offering quality products at a discounted price.

Recommendations

Naturally, when you realize that the best way to sell here is regularly, it’s clear that Whatnot is not a good place to sell one-off items. For instance, if you’re selling your car, do that on CraigsList. If you have a few household items, clothing or purses, you’re better off listing those at Poshmark or eBay.

But if you’re an active reseller or a collector who constantly refreshes your inventory, Whatnot can be a great choice. You can sign up with Whatnot here.

What their users say (from Reddit)

I still sell more items in one stream than I would in a long time on eBay. BUT the vast majority of items sell for my starting price. So my only caution to new sellers would be to start at a price you’re comfortable with. If you can start at $1 and get bids that’s amazing, but I know from experience I cannot do that. I think category, amount of shows you can do a week, consistency, etc., all impact sales. As well of course as having good products in good shape.

I recommend building your followers list so if you decide to sell, you’ll have more customers. I’ve gotten some great deals and have actually resold some of those items on eBay. If you’re a reseller, it’s always good to have more than one platform to sell on. This one has potential to make some money. You can sell by having a show- but you can also list inventory as “buy it now” without having an auction.