How we make £20,000 a month from ‘live commerce’ on Whatnot
Livestream shopping is taking off in the UK, with experts predicting it will account for 10-20% of all e-commerce by 2026.
‘Live commerce’ is a trend that emerged in China in 2016, with video sites where online sellers present live videos proffering items for sale – like QVC meets Twitch.
It’s now taking off in the UK, and analyst McKinsey predicts that 10-20% of all e-commerce will be livestream shopping by 2026.
Some sellers in Britain are already earning upwards of £200,000 per year selling items ranging from Pokemon cards and football cards to fashion finds from charity shops, with live commerce site Whatnot launching in the UK this year.
TikTok already offers live shopping service, and has plans to open studios where creators can host livestreams to sell products. Apps such as Instagram have also built in live shopping functionality as the consumer shopping experience evolves away from 'traditional' ecommerce sites.
Amazon is increasing its investments in its own Amazon Live platform, offering bonuses of thousands of dollars to influencers to stream live on Amazon. There is now an Amazon Live channel on Prime.
Founded in 2019 by collectors Grant LaFontaine and Logan Head, Whatnot initially focused entirely on collectibles like Pokemon cards, but has broadened its products over time (although collectible cards are still a major focus). Sellers offer items via live-streamed auctions, but can also sell direct through their page.
How do sellers make money on the site?
The Luxury Pickers, aka Bethany Slack and Austin Aubrey from Somerset, describe themselves as ‘fashion treasure hunters’, unearthing fashion finds in second-hand shops and selling them for as little as £1 on their thrice-weekly live streams.
The couple recently made £10,000 in one week, and regularly make more than £20,000 per month.
Slack and Aubrey previously worked in the fashion industry, having met while working at high-end brand Mulberry, but turned that eye for fashion finds into a YouTube channel – and then began selling on Whatnot.
Slack says: "It was a very logical step when someone introduced us to the fact you could be in front of the camera and sell our items, as opposed to listing and photographing. We literally go thrifting, record our journey, come home and sell it."
Austin adds: "We did a YouTube channel so we’re already used to being in front of the camera: so Whatnot puts those two things together, the thrifting element and the talking to camera. So it was a no-brainer."
How do streams become successful?
The couple do three shows a week, at least two hours long, offering fashion such as Alexander McQueen in 10-second ‘sudden death’ auctions – what Austin describes as a "classic auction format".
"Even if the retail price starts at £2,000, we start at a pound. I find it's very important to give historical context and as much knowledge as we can where we can. So if it is an Alexander McQueen jacket, I want to tell people what runway it was on, or who's worn it in popular culture. So it's our whole life storytelling situation, we also give away between 12 and 20 items per show."
The shows always end on a big giveaway - with one show this week seeing a handbag worth £886 given away.
Typically, more than 2,000 people tune in during the shows, with 400 'sitting in’ for the whole duration. ‘
The couple say that they are on track to earn more than £35,000 this month.
Slack says that the key to success on Whatnot is authenticity - "Trying to be something you’re not doesn’t work, it gets old very quickly. We love fashion. We love what we do. We love what we sell."
Another seller is pharmacist Adam Whittaker, who started selling football cards on the site, and said that within a year he saw so much growth that he quit his job to start selling football cards full time.
Whittaker says: "My full time job began to feel like my part time job."
"I sold out a £10,000 box break of football trading cards in just under two hours, whilst dressed as scream for my yearly Halloween special! This resulted in a single card valued at £8-12k being pulled from the box last, providing the ultimate finale!"
