IT’S been dubbed the “new Vinted”, with millions of people cashing in and turning it into a profitable side hustle.
But have YOU heard of Whatnot ?
I started on Whatnot as a buyer, but have now started selling on the live shopping appCredit: SUPPLIED
I have found that the early morning shows – before the school run – are most successful for meCredit: SUPPLIED
More and more people are swapping Vinted for Whatnot in their side hustle journeys
Whatnot, founded in the US in 2019 and launched in the UK in 2022, is one of the increasingly popular “live shopping” apps, where people bid against each other in an attempt to win a bargain.
Figures have shown that the number of first-time buyers on Whatnot grew by a staggering 374% year-on-year, while have made it their full-time business – up 20% year-on-year.
Sellers stream live from their homes, selling everything from food, toys, goods, and – arguably the biggest category – .
With those whoearning an average of around £30,000 a month.
“Live shopping is no longer experimental – it’s become a core part of how people buy, sell and build businesses,” Daniel Fisher, Whatnot UK General Manager, told
“It’s driving real growth for UK small and medium-sized enterprises, creating jobs, strengthening communities and reshaping retail as we know it.
“The combination of consistency, expertise and genuine community is turning live selling from a side hustle into a sustainable career path, and that is fundamentally reshaping modern retail.”
High-volume sellers are able to flog more than 100 items an hour on the app, and the average can sell between 40 and 100 items every hour.
The app also had a huge boost recently when popular YouTuber Mr Beast streamed on Whatnot, breaking records with nearly 600,000 concurrent live viewers (the previous record was 500,000).
Guests on the stream included Logan Paul and Gary Vee, and there were consistent giveaways totalling a whopping $1 million.
I first started on Whatnot as a buyer, and snapped up some incredible bargains including a 100% Diane Von Furstenberg skirt for a fiver and a Longchamp leather vintage bag for £11.
I also lost 6 stone on , and ended up developing something of a shopping addiction trying to find the best items to suit my .
Due to this, my garage started filling up with bags of my old clothes that no longer fit me, and the items I’d bought that didn’t suit me.
I listed everything on , and while I sold the odd item, it was far from regular.
So as I became an increasingly regular Whatnot buyer, I started to consider the prospect of becoming a seller myself.
However, the concept of streaming live was entirely alien to me – and absolutely terrifying.
Sarah's top 5 tips for selling on Whatnot
If you’re thinking of selling on Whatnot, there are some tips and tricks you can use to make it easier – and more profitable.
- Choose your Whatnot name carefully – it’s a good idea to choose a name that people will remember. My Whatnot name is Bullysbangers – based on my surname and the fact I’m selling high quality ‘bangers’. I’ve become known for this name on Whatnot, both as a seller and a buyer, and I really think it has boosted my success.
- Promote and share – join other people’s streams and promote your show (always ask permission from the seller first). Some of the bigger sellers also offer a ‘bless the chat’ option, where you can pay for a shoutout. On the most popular streams, this is often worth doing as it can boost your followers dramatically.
- Don’t be afraid to be yourself – it can feel completely alien and like you are talking to yourself when you start on Whatnot. But the best sellers I’ve found have no qualms about chatting away during their stream. And the more comfortable you feel as a seller, the more your buyers will trust you, meaning they’re more likely to purchase.
- Have background music on – one thing I’ve found that really helped me is to have some music on in the background. It takes the edge off of the ‘talking to yourself’ feeling, and makes the stream more enjoyable – especially if it’s on the quieter side. Just make sure you test out the music beforehand, otherwise you’ll end up like me having Baby Shark and Cotton Eyed Joe playing!
- Don’t pressure your buyers – as a buyer, I find it very uncomfortable when a seller tries to pressure buyers to spend more. If you’ve started something for £1, you have to be prepared that it might actually go for £1. If you aren’t willing to accept this, don’t sell it for £1. And remember that if you start to pressure buyers, by saying things like “come on guys, I need more for this”, it’s not going to help.
But thanks to the incredible community on Whatnot, I was encouraged to give it a go, and did my first show on January 8th.
Hitting the ‘start show’ button was genuinely one of the scariest things I’ve done in a long time, but as I got into the swing of things, the nerves started to fade.
Selling my first item gave me a huge buzz, and I stayed on for almost three hours – with adrenaline powering me for a lot of it.
Whatnot gives you a summary of how much you’ve earned once the show is finished, and I was staggered to discover I’d made £255 in two hours and 55 minutes.
Typically, first shows are likely to be one of the most successful you’ll do, until you build up a customer base.
And it’s also worth experimenting with the times you go live.
Evenings are mega busy, with lots of the bigger sellers on – usually with over 300 people in their stream.
And it’s easy to get disheartened if you don’t have many people in, or don’t sell very much.
So I decided to test out a VERY early slot, which also marked my milestone of reaching 1,000 followers on my account.
I scheduled a show for 6am, knowing that I could get an hour in before I started work at 7am and did the run with my two kids at 8.30am.
And things started to pick up, pretty quickly.
By the end of the stream, I had made a whopping £114 in sales, and I was beyond thrilled with the results.
Live shopping is no longer experimental – it’s become a core part of how people buy, sell and build businesses
Daniel Fisher, Whatnot UK general manager
I’ve started making the early morning slot a regular thing, and have moved the 6am start to 5.45 to enable me to get an extra 15 minutes in.
I’ve also found a nifty way to pack orders – sticking numbered labels on bags and writing down which number each seller is in a notebook.
This means packing my orders is fairly quick and easy, and in sharp contrast to my first show when it took me three hours to prep the parcels.
Another bonus to using Whatnot is that they provide video receipts for each item, meaning that you can check back if you want to make doubly sure you’re sending the correct item to the correct buyer.
While I wasn’t sure whether or not Whatnot would be for me, it’s overtaken Vinted in my estimation – so much so that I’m considering deleting ALL my items on the V to sell entirely on Whatnot.
So if you’re thinking about taking on a side hustle to bring in a bit more cash during these difficult times, What(not)’s stopping you?
Mr Beast, the world’s most popular Youtuber, took part in a Whatnot live stream with giveaway prizes totalling more than $1 millionCredit: Reuters
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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