How to shop on the Whatnot app
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Summary
New to Whatnot? Here's your quick rundown: what it is, how to set up your account, and how to actually have fun (and win stuff) in a live show. Think Home Shopping Network + eBay, but the baby loves to yap.
- Download the Whatnot app, create an account, and set up your real address + a card on file BEFORE any show
- Search "Time to Waste Vintage," follow us (and any sellers you love) to get notified when we go live
- How a show works: swipe to bid = your commitment to buy, set a max bid, or use Buy It Now
- Shipping is often bundled after your first purchase; sellers pack and ship promptly, and Whatnot has your back if something goes wrong
Transcript
Hi. Hello. Some of you are going to be experiencing the Whatnot app for the first time in the near future, and I figured I'd go ahead and give you a quick rundown on what it is, how to get your account set up, and how to make sure you're having a good time while you're there. What the [ __ ] is Whatnot? Whatnot is essentially if the Home Shopping Network and eBay had a baby and that baby loved to yap. On Whatnot you can join a million different categories and shop for things you love. I'm talking about it because this week we're having a clearance sale and I've invited all of my friends and I know a lot of you are new to the app. Here's what to do. First, you're going to download the app. It's called Whatnot. After you download it, you're going to create an account. You're going to set up your address — double check and make sure it's your real address where you actually get your mail. And you're going to add a credit card or bank card or gift card or whatever kind of card on file. You need to have all of that set up before you ever go into a show.
Then once your account is all set up, you're going to go to that search bar and you're going to type in Time to Waste Vintage. You'll find me and my beautiful bride, my handsome husband Jr. You'll follow us and when you tap that button, you will get a notification every time we go live. You do this for any sellers that you enjoy watching and you'll get that notification. Here's how a live show works. A seller will go live and you'll have a chat where you can talk to your friends, make new friends, make requests of the seller. It's just a nice way to interact and have fun. If you click the bottom corner, it'll open up an auction. You'll see everything that's loaded in the auction. And there's another tab where you can see all the buy it now items. You're able to make offers on those or just buy them outright and you don't have to wait for an auction to start. So, if you really want something, that can be the best way to get it.
Sellers will then show you their items and they'll tell you a starting bid or a buy it now price. Most of the time you'll see auctions. When that happens, they'll say, "I'm going to start this shirt at $15. Find a swipe, chat." And that means it's time for you to lock in. If it's an item you want in the size you want and it fits within your budget, you're going to swipe. And when you swipe, that's your commitment to buy the item if it goes for that price. Other people in the chat will also be swiping, assuming they also want the item. You just do that every time. You can also set a max bid where, as soon as the item starts to run, you type in the total amount you're willing to pay. So, if you're like, "I'm not letting that shirt get away for $15," you can set a max bid of 50 and then it will automatically go up to that amount every time someone else swipes. It does not mean that you automatically pay that amount, just that you're willing to pay up to that amount. You can also buy items during a live show and outside of live shows with the buy it now option.
In most shows, when you buy more than one item, it will bundle your shipping. So, before you make your first purchase, you'll see at the bottom a shipping cost, and that'll tell you how much it costs to ship that item. A lot of times it'll be $9, but then after you buy that first thing, your next item or the one after that will be free or reduced. So you only pay a certain maximum. If you're ever curious, you can always just type, "Do you bundle shipping?" and they'll say, "Yeah, we do," or "No, we don't." After a show, sellers are responsible for packing your orders, getting the labels on, and bringing them to the post office in a timely manner. We ship same day if the show is before the post office closes, and next morning if it's after the post office closes. We don't want your [ __ ] in our house, so we are going to get it out as fast as we can. And if shipping takes too long or you never receive an item, Whatnot's got your back and you can file a complaint to get that item. Okay, so now you know what Whatnot is. You know to set up your account and to make sure your address and card on file are correct. You know to follow me. You know to swipe to bid. Let me know your other questions and I will answer them for you because I love you and I want nice things for you. I hope this was helpful. Have a great day.