Tinny music performs in a dimly lit basement as we watch an adolescent pull soccer shirts off a close-by clothes rack and maintain them as much as the digicam. He describes every merchandise monotonously — the group, season, color, and situation — earlier than sticking on a numbered label and transferring them to a different rack. Every merchandise will get lower than a minute within the limelight.
Bid charges and costs are listed on the backside of the display with keen patrons swiping a yellow bar to bid, whereas exchanging questions, feedback, and emojis within the reside chat field. When a purchaser wins a bid, their username pops up with bursts of brightly colored confetti. After reside streaming for simply over an hour, the teenager has made €1,000 in gross sales.
Producing this type of money on Vinted, eBay, Depop, or some other static peer-to-peer market would have taken days, even weeks. As an alternative of writing detail-heavy descriptions, importing a number of photos, and fielding a laundry listing of questions from events, unbiased resellers and small retailers are turning the digicam on themselves to livestream video auctions on the buying app Whatnot.
The Californian startup has been quietly plugging away since 2019, when product administration whizz Grant LaFontaine and software program engineer Logan Head based it to resolve the ache factors skilled by sellers of the plastic Funko Pop collectible figurines, together with counterfeit sellers and scams.
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The success has been a gradual burn, with the main target nonetheless on area of interest hobbyist and fan communities. This yr, nonetheless, has been pivotal for the app. It kicked off by elevating $265mn (€233mn) in a Collection E funding spherical, which introduced its valuation to $4.97bn (€4.37bn). When TikTok went darkish within the US earlier this yr, Whatnot positioned advertisements in quite a lot of nationwide newspapers to succeed in sellers utilizing the platform’s Store function, whose livelihoods have been in danger from the federal ban. Since then, its development within the UK, Europe, and North America has been exceptional, with a 100% enhance in each new sellers and first-time patrons over the previous yr.
With sellers throughout 140 buying classes and 9 geographies, flogging all the pieces from hair merchandise and luxurious baggage to bullion and Plushies, it’s eBay meets Twitch, with a definite DIY, lo-fi really feel. Sellers aren’t broadcasting from pristine, influencer-grey properties, they’re experimenting from bedrooms in shared housing, squeezing reveals in between the varsity run, or beaming in from quiet moments in thrift shops. For a lot of, it’s shaping as much as be a full-time job, with some even using a group to handle their operations.
From informal purchaser to full-time reside vendor making £1mn every week
Livestreaming and “shoppable” video content material have been booming in China for years, the place platforms like Douyin (TikTok’s Chinese language equal) and Taobao host 1000’s of each day livestreams. Over 600 million Chinese language customers frequently watch buying reside streams, and the breadth of what they’ll purchase by this medium is staggering. A brand new life insurance coverage coverage, nonetheless wriggling crabs direct from a small village farmer, a reduced McDonald’s rooster sandwich, a secondhand automotive — the listing goes on. High reside sellers, usually referred to as “Key Opinion Leaders” reminiscent of Austin Li (aka The Lipstick King) have constructed mega followings and may simply generate $100mn (€88mn) in gross sales in a single session. In 2024, the Chinese language livestream commerce market reached 5.86 trillion yuan, equal to about €715bn. By 2026, it’s projected to succeed in 8.16 trillion yuan (€996bn).
Whereas China will perpetually stay streets forward, the medium is undeniably taking root in Europe. On Whatnot’s platform, there’s been a 600% year-on-year enhance in European sellers particularly, and so they host greater than 20,000 hours of reside reveals every week. Over half (59%) generate nearly all of their income from reside promoting, which rises to 70% for UK sellers, in response to the platform’s knowledge from early 2025. This real-time, interactive strategy to buying is enticing for small resale companies, however can be pulling in passionate buyers-turned-sellers, lots of whom have by no means been in entrance of an viewers earlier than.
It chimes with a development that Sam Shaw, technique director at cultural insights follow Canvas8, has been monitoring for over a decade — the need to be your personal boss, which is very prevalent amongst youthful generations. Practically two-thirds of individuals aged 18 to 35 say they’ve began a facet gig to complement their revenue, or plan to start out one, in response to a survey by Intuit. Practically half of these surveyed say their major motivation for beginning a facet hustle is to be their very own boss. “There’s a robust want for independence and to construct one thing private,” says Shaw. “Reside promoting lets individuals flip their pursuits or merchandise right into a enterprise.”
Andrew Tubman, for instance, hadn’t heard of reside promoting earlier than he attended the London Card Present along with his younger son in 2023. A punter with a penchant for Pokémon playing cards, it was right here that he first got here throughout Whatnot. He downloaded the app and used it to purchase extra buying and selling playing cards, and spent massive on a number of restricted version Disney collections. “I used to be watching how livestreamers have been doing it, what works and what doesn’t,” explains the 35-year-old from Cranleigh, Surrey. “Then I took the leap to do my first present as a vendor in February final yr — it was addictive.”
Working a 48-hour week within the motor commerce business, Andrew — referred to as @TubmanBreaks on Whatnot — managed to slot in a few reveals weekly, promoting sports activities and leisure buying and selling playing cards. He started to see that it might be a viable sideline enterprise. Lower than two months after Andrew and his spouse Chantel registered as an organization, it was clear that demand was excessive, and reside promoting alongside the day job wasn’t sustainable.
“Not less than six nights every week, I used to be streaming all evening, then staying as much as pack the playing cards for postage — it was exhausting,” explains Andrew. “I’d been doing my full-time job for a decade, and though steady, I didn’t take pleasure in it — it was simply to pay the payments and put meals on the desk for my three children.” Since leaving his salaried position and placing all the pieces into the enterprise within the spring of 2024, Andrew hasn’t regarded again. Month-to-month turnover now simply exceeds £1mn (€1.2mn), with Andrew and his spouse every paying themselves an annual wage of £50,000 (€59,600). “It’s not been a get-rich-quick scheme although — we’ve put numerous hours in, and loads of income has gone straight again into the enterprise so we will develop,” he says.
“I’m placing on an excellent present that makes individuals really feel much less alone”
In a sea of social promoting platforms, why is Whatnot netting so many sellers? First off, the incomes potential is tough to disregard. Andrew’s steadiness sheet is way from an anomaly on Whatnot. Virtually two-thirds (65%) of European reside sellers are making greater than £10,000 (€11,900) a month, and one in 4 earn over £50,000 (€59,600) a month. They’ve an eye fixed on additional development too — 78% plan to broaden their efforts this yr.
Up towards different reside promoting platforms, Whatnot’s vendor charges are largely aligned. In Europe, it fees a normal fee price of 6.67% plus VAT on the ultimate value, in comparison with TikTok Store, which raised its UK vendor charges from 5% to 9% in 2024, and Instagram Reside, which fees a 5% promoting price per cargo. For shipments which might be £7.96 (€9.49) or much less, a flat price of 23p (€0.27) is charged as an alternative. Price comparisons with static promoting platforms like eBay and Poshmark are nearly pointless, although, as many are battling to maintain charges low or get rid of them totally. For instance, there are not any vendor charges on Vinted; as an alternative, the platform collects 5% and €0.70 per merchandise from the customer.
Jon-Luc Greenwood, 26, from Manchester, UK, has been within the resale enterprise throughout a number of platforms since he left faculty over 10 years in the past, and had been predominantly making a dwelling promoting garments on eBay till he found Whatnot. He met girlfriend Char Williams three years in the past after she requested him for enterprise recommendation, and never lengthy after, moved all the way down to reside along with her in Plymouth, Devon.
“I’ve a level in magnificence promotion, and labored throughout a number of cosmetics counters, however a interval of unwell well being meant I couldn’t work a standard nine-to-five job,” says 27-year-old Char, who stumbled upon promoting on apps whereas recovering. With Char’s data of make-up and skincare, and Jon-Luc’s resale experience, they arrange as @jonlucandchar on Whatnot in November 2023. Inside months, the pendulum of earnings swung from eBay to Whatnot.
Quickly, 90% of their revenue was generated by the livestream app and by This autumn of 2024, weekly gross sales reached £15,000 (€18,000) every week. For them, the draw is “instantaneous gratification” and the flexibility to shift a excessive quantity of merchandise, for instance, by flash gross sales, but additionally garner excessive bids for one-off editions. Cost for delivery is built-in throughout the platform, which saves hours when promoting 1000’s of products at a time.
When requested about the advantages of Whatnot over different platforms, elevated gross sales volumes got here out prime (43%) for European reside sellers too, adopted by bigger income (42%). Naturally, sellers get a kick out of seeing their earnings tick up in real-time as they stream, however Jon-Luc, Char, and Andrew all spotlight the increase they get from their audiences too. “Most of my pals suppose I’m mad for getting items of shiny cardboard, however by this, I’ve met so many new pals and other people I converse to every day through WhatsApp,” says Andrew.
Jon-Luc factors out that with skincare and sweetness being strongly rooted in neighborhood, their livestreams have turn out to be a social area too, with most of the similar ladies becoming a member of. Some watch each minute of each stream — roughly 20 hours every week, unfold throughout three evenings. They won’t store, however they similar to being there. “Everybody comes and talks about their day or their issues within the chat,” says Jon-Luc. “We even have a Fb neighborhood web page the place individuals put images of themselves utilizing our merchandise, ask questions, and make strategies of what they need subsequent — we will see individuals getting actually pleasant with each other.”
Char compares livestreaming to “being on FaceTime with a buddy,” and infrequently tailors suggestions to particular person budgets and medical wants like rosacea or extreme pimples. “Finally, I’m placing on a present, so the banter and giveaways should be good, however it’s making individuals really feel much less alone too — they’re discovering a companionship they won’t get elsewhere,” explains Char. “I spend eight hours at a time speaking to those individuals so I get to know them.” With all of the adrenaline, she says the minutes fly by, and she or he’s greater than accustomed to speaking constantly on digicam, having constructed up “the reside presenting muscle”.
Usually, Char goes reside from the warehouse at 5pm, finishes at 1am, goes house to cook dinner dinner, and is asleep by 3am. The day after a present is spent packing items and respiratory a sigh of aid, she says. Whereas there’s a bodily, location-based aspect to this type of work — holding up objects and having area to retailer and pack them afterwards — there’s a freedom to it too. With the proper of organisation, moveable tech, and employees to pack and ship objects, reside sellers can broadcast from wherever. “We went reside for an hour after we have been on vacation in Dubai, and bought 1000’s of kilos price of stuff,” says Jon-Luc.
European-style reside promoting
Whereas video commerce — or v-commerce — could also be simply nudging at mainstream standing in Europe, the videoification of just about all the pieces else, from podcasts and information to training and medical care, is at fever pitch degree. Analysis by community insights agency Sandvine discovered that reside and on-demand video constituted an estimated 62.46% of EMEA web site visitors by quantity in 2022. And on the finish of final yr, Ericsson’s 2024 Mobility Report discovered that video site visitors was anticipated to account for 74% of all world cellular knowledge site visitors.
“If we’re already FaceTiming, Zooming, and doing Google Hangouts, why would we proceed to buy static?” says Maryam Ghahremani, CEO of Bambuser, a social commerce platform that works with manufacturers like Audi, Sonos, and Zara to provide livestream and shoppable content material. “Procuring and e-commerce will, over time, pivot into video, as a result of clients are already spending their time with that medium.” McKinsey predicts that by 2026, 20% of on-line gross sales will movement by reside buying platforms.
Within the model area, Ghahremani has seen reside promoting transfer from “nice-to-have to a regular e-commerce channel” in a brief area of time. Based in 2007 with a deal with cellular broadcasting and citizen journalism, the Swedish-born Bambuser now works on offering retailers with the expertise to provide reside promoting content material throughout any digital channel, saving them from hiring a manufacturing and internet improvement group.
Trying to the longer term, Ghahremani expects extra massive manufacturers to start coaching up their inside employees to be reside sellers. Whether or not it’s ground employees, store assistants, patrons, or administrators, they already know the merchandise inside-out, and so solely require coaching in being on digicam and utilizing the expertise. Electricals retailer Currys started by providing one-way video calls between clients and in-store employees members, which has grown into the UK retail business’s largest video commerce channel, with designated areas in bodily shops for employees to reside promote and advise.
Reliability and a human contact definitely play a job within the v-commerce inflow, partly, pushed by the continuing cost-of-living disaster, which sees individuals having to do extra thorough analysis into purchases. A report from 2025 discovered that 55% of European customers can’t afford to make the unsuitable alternative, with high quality and belief now trumping value. “Whereas reside promoting in China is transactional, I see the shift in EMEA and the US being extra about model storytelling, transparency, and training,” says Ghahremani. “Individuals aren’t going with simply the objective of buying — they wish to be entertained, and educated with model or product data.”
As main gamers like TikTok Store, Instagram Reside, Whatnot, and Amazon Reside work to create and develop full-stack ecosystems that transition from video to checkout seamlessly, extra persons are going to seek out themselves reside promoting on the facet — by likelihood and by design. “Europeans are selecting reside promoting over conventional jobs as a result of they’re disillusioned with standard profession paths and as common wages aren’t overlaying bills, they’re searching for different methods to earn cash,” says Shaw, of Canvas8. “Reside promoting appears to supply the possibility to set their very own hours and straight revenue from their efforts.”
Tapping elements of the gig economic system, influencer tradition and direct peer-to-peer gross sales, this mannequin could grant relative freedom, however successfully paves the way in which for a endless hustle. Jon-Luc and Char have already got one employees member who manages packing and postage, however wish to rent a full-time vendor who may stream in the course of the day, making it an nearly 24-hour operation. As Char factors out: “We all know different streamers who’re continuously reside, and simply transfer from one stream to a different all through the day and into the evening — in spite of everything, if you happen to’re not reside, you’re not earning profits.”
