Whatnot Auction questions for the group...

[JustinD]

Watched an interesting video on Whatnot (which I have not honestly used yet) and while the presenter is a bit grating there is some good logic here.

I have seen this guy on several platforms and he does a good chunk of business. As a former eBay seller who left when negative buyer feedback was removed, I am always looking for the future of selling and the fixes for some of eBays continual domino of failures by the whatnot platform seems decent.

https://www.tiktok.com/@pawn.man/vid...70465653017899

Here is his longer dive on youtube -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_iJJkSdh9I
(Skip to 17 minutes to save time)

Has anyone tried or know of any Whatnot card sales?

Genuinely interested in checking this out and supporting people trying new options.

[packs]

Whatnot is mostly for breakers of modern boxes. There are some vintage sellers with a decent audience but I mostly only see low value cards up on their shows. I haven't seen someone selling Ruth's, Cobb's, etc. on Whatnot.

[Rich Klein]

Whatnot had a few months ago a valuation of nearly 4 Billion with a B. With that type of backing and the perceived slowdown in modern braking a smart company will evolve into at least providing some older cards for their users. They might also need to evolve some of their enthusiastic practices in selling cards (nothing illegal or immoral just LOUD) and focus more on an different type of enthusiastic process for selling older cards.

[packs]

You've got to remember that Whatnot is not just a sports card marketplace. They're similar to eBay and have channels and sellers who cater to just about anything.

[Jewish-collector]

It's just a small version of eBay with some extra bells & whistles. What someone needs to create is a platform for all auction houses and sellers of vintage sports cards/memorabilia to be part of. Then instead of the many, many different auction houses, you would have a single platform that would have all the vintage material. Like an eBay or a Whatnot for ONLY vintage sports cards & memorabilia.
beer chug.gif

[packs]

It’s not all that much like eBay outside of offering things at auction and by category. The major difference between eBay and Whatnot is that the auction occurs in real time, you can see every bid and who’s bidding and you don’t have to wait for the auction to run its course over a week. Everything is now.

[JustinD]

I understand the premise, I think maybe my question was not clear.

So early in the progression and with less views, I would be insane to think that there would be T206 Cobbs or Goudey Ruths. My assumption would be that it would be a fairly decent option for those selling 150 dollar or less cards that often take great losses with the piling on of fees or sitting for months in BIN limbo. If the base grows, someone could easily create a real time PWCC model that could be hobby changing.

What I was wondering was if anyone has attempted this and found any success? I feel that as a seller completely eliminating the aspect of nonpayer's would be comforting and a perception of better seller protection.

Also, the follow-up was if anyone knew someone or is currently using it, I would be tempted to watch the auction feed and support those attempting new options. As it is real-time it sounds a bit fun.

I fully believe that fees, tax changes, NPBs, and a general seeming disdain for their sellers is killing eBay like a cancer. I use only auction houses for selling for ease of paperwork and the slow shrink of available product is visible on eBay. The expectation in my mind is this will continue.

As of now eBay is becoming the Facebook of marketplaces, full of only older users like myself that are slow adopters of new tech. It is 5 years at the current pace of becoming Myspace.

[packs]

Whatnot charges fees and taxes as well. I pay tax on every buy. There are people on Whatnot selling vintage items now. There are a few pre-war shows but it’s mostly 50s to 80s singles and not really anything high value. I haven’t seen a Cobb or Ruth on there or even like a 53 Topps Mantle or cards of that stature.

It’s geared towards modern. It would take a heavy migrating audience to change that. I don’t think it would happen organically.

[obiwan1129]

I played with it for like 10 minutes and removed the app. For the type of buying I typically do, it isn't the right venue for me. It strikes me as all about many small transactions and wants constant user engagement. Not all that different than say Fan Duels, or other app driven platforms.

I can see the appeal, just not my bag.

Anyone here using Mercari? It doesn't seem like it has picked up as much traction as I thought it might.

[Exhibitman]

There's good AND bad at whatnot. I am writing a column on each side of the coin. I find there is very little of interest there for my PC