Ohio Sellers Group

🌟🌟 QUESTION OF THE DAY 🌟🌟

❓Did you know that misusing USPS FREE shipping supplies can lead to fines, postage due, or even federal charges? 🚨

📦 Free USPS supplies are provided ONLY for shipping Priority Mail. Using them as filler inside other boxes, covering flat-rate boxes with poly mailers, turning them inside out, storing items in them, or using them as shelving is NOT allowed.

👮Under 18 U.S.C. § 1707, it is a federal offense to “purloin or embezzle any property used by the Postal Service, or appropriate such property to any use other than its proper use.”

⚖️ Many cases never go to court because they’re settled quietly. - Recently, a Whatnot seller was ordered to pay over $100,000 in an out-of-court settlement and was permanently banned from Whatnot for covering flat-rate boxes with polymailers and using USPS envelopes as padding - there are over 82 cases pending…

🌟🌟 QUESTION OF THE DAY 🌟🌟

❓ Did you know that Mystery Boxes are no longer allowed on Whatnot and have been replaced with a very strict format called Surprise Sets? 🎁🚫

Many sellers are still trying to sell “mystery boxes” or “surprise bundles,” but Whatnot now has clear rules to protect buyers and ensure transparency. Surprise Sets must:

✨ Be labeled as Surprise Sets as the Primary Selling Format

✨ Show every single item on screen the entire time. Items must be revealed before the auction.

✨ Provide a full detailed checklist in the listing (brand, condition, quantity, etc.)

🌟🌟 QUESTION OF THE DAY 🌟🌟

❓ Did you know that the method for requesting Booster Raids has changed? 🚀💛

Booster Raids are a free Vizzuals service where a fast 30–90 second show is created solely to raid into a seller who needs a boost. These raids introduce you to buyers you’d normally never reach — and there is never a charge.

Premium Members now have two ways to request a raid:

1️⃣ Text (SMS) your show link when you go live — this puts you at the TOP of the list instantly.

2️⃣ Tag in your show: @vizzuals Raid Please

🌟🌟 QUESTION OF THE DAY 🌟🌟

❓ Do you know the USPS Christmas shipping deadlines this year? 🎄📦

For holiday delivery, the Ground Advantage deadline is December 17, and the Priority Mail deadline is December 19.

If you plan to host live shows and ship the same day, these should be your final show dates to ensure buyers receive their packages before Christmas. ⏰✨

Remember: delays increase as the holiday gets closer, so earlier is always safer!

👑 Pro Tip: Most Post Offices have two truck pickups each day. Catching the morning pickup can move your packages through the system faster. Just ask a clerk what time the first truck arrives — then aim to drop off packages at least 30 minutes before that time. 💛

🌟🌟 QUESTION OF THE DAY 🌟🌟

❓ Did you know that having 11 or more scheduled shows can make you more visible on Whatnot? 👀✨

Whatnot tends to prioritize sellers who show consistency and commitment — and one way the system reads that is through how many upcoming shows you have scheduled. Sellers who plan ahead often get more visibility because Whatnot sees them as active, reliable, and invested. 📈🔥

So even if you don’t plan to stream every day, having multiple shows scheduled helps the algorithm take you more seriously — and can lead to more bookmarks and more buyers.

👑 Pro Tip: When creating a show, before adding your thumbnail, use the “Repeat Show” dropdown. Set it to repeat daily and it will create up to 10 shows at once. You can always go back later and edit the date and time — but the settings, structure, and…

🌟🌟 QUESTION OF THE DAY 🌟🌟

❓ Do you tip your mail carrier or local post office clerks? 📬🎄

With the holidays here, many sellers show appreciation — but there are rules. Mail carriers have a $50 value limit per year according to the newest USPS policy. USPS employees are not supposed to accept cash.

😜Personally, I am a USPS Supervisor and I still give my carrier $100+

For Post Office clerks, carriers, helpful management, giving food, treats, or gift baskets is usually the best option, since they cannot legally accept cash gifts. 🍪☕

🚨IMPORTANT: If you give a card or gift, make sure it has their name on it — not just “Mailman” or “Carrier.” Otherwise, any USPS employee (including a utility carrier covering the route) can legally take it.

🌟 🌟 QUESTION OF THE DAY 🌟🌟

❓ Did you know that your show title can DOUBLE your traffic when done right? 👀🔥

Your title is one of the first things buyers see — and it matters. A keyword-rich title helps buyers find you when searching for something specific, like “Vintage Tees,” “Squishmallows,” or “Mystery LEGO Pulls.” 🧩🛍

But keywords aren’t the only strategy… sometimes a compelling, funny, bold, or even slightly chaotic title grabs attention and increases click-throughs when your notification pops up. 😂💥

The BEST method? Combine both.

Example:

🌟🌟 QUESTION OF THE DAY 🌟🌟

❓ Did you know how important it is to scan your packages when shipping? 📦📬

Whatnot now has an in-app scanner that lets you scan your label by taking a picture before you drop it off. This helps notify the buyer that their item is on the way and adds a layer of tracking visibility… BUT this is not official proof of shipment.

The ONLY true proof that you mailed a package is a physical USPS scan and receipt. Once a postal employee scans your label, it shows the package entered the mail system — and protects you if a buyer claims an item wasn’t shipped. 🛡

Yes, you can just drop items in a bin — but having a scan + receipt is always the safest choice.

👑 Pro Tip: Scanning at a self-service kiosk does not count as official acceptance. For full…

🌟🌟 QUESTION OF THE DAY 🌟🌟

❓ Did you know that Thanksgiving Day sales can sometimes be MORE profitable than Black Friday? 🦃💰

While everyone gears up for Black Friday chaos, many larger sellers take Thanksgiving off — which means less competition and more visibility for YOUR show. Traffic is calmer, buyers browse longer, and impulse purchases tend to increase because people are relaxed, full, and scrolling. 📱✨

So if you normally skip the holiday — consider running a show. Even a short pop-up could pull extra buyers who won’t see as many options on the homepage.

👑 Pro Tip: If you go live, schedule early and use eye-catching titles. Add “Thankful Thursday Deals” or cute emoji combos to stand out. Buyers WILL click when curiosity kicks in. 💛

QUESTION OF THE DAY 🌟🌟

❓ Is this your first Black Friday on Whatnot? 👀🛍

Black Friday is one of the busiest days of the year on the app — which means tons of buyers, tons of sellers, and LOTS of competition. Expect higher traffic, faster-paced shows, and possibly a few glitches because so many people are live at once. 📈⚠️

To make the most of it:

✨ Schedule multiple shows throughout the day

✨ Try pop-ups during non-peak hours when competition drops

🌟🌟 QUESTION OF THE DAY 🌟🌟

❓ Did you know you can run multiple Flash Sales at once in your BIN? ⚡🛍 Flash Sales let you discount items for a specific amount of time — from 10 seconds up to 2 hours. That means you can keep certain items on sale for almost your entire show to drive urgency and extra sales. 📈🔥

You can choose either a $ amount off or a % amount off, depending on your strategy.

👑 Pro Tip: Be very careful with high percentages. Example: If you run 90% off a $1 sticker to push toward 1,000 sales, the buyer only pays $0.10 — but you still pay Whatnot + processing fees. That can leave you with a negative balance on that item. 💸

⏰🚨 Final reminder: TOMORROW is the last day to submit your Black Friday coupon for FREE promotion. Deadline: 12 PM EST.

🌟🌟 QUESTION OF THE DAY 🌟🌟

❓ Did you know what to do if a buyer purchases so many items that they won’t all fit in one box? 📦📦

If you need to split a shipment, you cannot put the same label on two boxes. Each package must have its own unique label. Using the same label twice is not only illegal, but you risk being charged full commercial rate for the second package — and that adds up fast. 🚫💸

Luckily, Whatnot makes it easy to unbundle an order. Just check the items you need to remove from the shipment, click Unbundle, and Whatnot will create a second label for the second box. Easy, legal, and accurate. ✔️

Small detail — big protection.

⏰🚨 Reminder: Only 2 days left to submit your Black Friday coupon for FREE promotion.

🌟🌟 QUESTION OF THE DAY 🌟🌟

❓ Did you know that Whatnot added a new feature that makes sharing coupons even easier during your live shows? 🎉🔥

Buyers can still redeem coupons in their Wallet and the discount will auto-apply to their first qualifying purchase… BUT now sellers can create a claim button right in the chat!

All you have to do is type:

👉 /coupon YOURCODE

Example: /coupon VIZZ50

🌟🌟 QUESTION OF THE DAY 🌟🌟

❓ Did you know that pinning an item during your live show sends a notification to anyone who bookmarked it, letting them know it’s about to run? 🔔👀

Pinning isn’t just for organization — it’s a built-in strategy to bring buyers back at the perfect moment. More eyes = more bids, more sales, and more momentum. 📈🔥

👑 Pro Tip: Keep the pinned item visible for a few seconds before running it so notified buyers have time to join.

⏰🚨 Reminder: You only have until TUESDAY to submit your Black Friday coupon for FREE promotion to over 160K Whatnot members.

Step 1: Create your coupon here:

🌟🌟 QUESTION OF THE DAY 🌟🌟

❓ Did you know that most sellers schedule their shows right ON the hour or half hour — which means Whatnot sends out a flood of notifications at the same time. 🔔📱

⏰ If you schedule at an odd time like 7:17 PM, 8:08 PM, or 6:43 AM, your notification is less likely to compete with others, making it more visible to your followers. 👀✨

This small tweak can help increase show attendance, bookmarks, and sales — just because your alert stands out.

🎩 Other Tips:

• Keep a consistent schedule so viewers form a habit.

🌟🌟 QUESTION OF THE DAY 🌟🌟

❓ Did you know that there are several ways to utilize flash sales? ⏳🔥

You can run Flash Sales for single items or multiples, and the timer can be very fast or as long as 2 hours. You can even run several during a show — they can run for the length of your whole show, including while auctions are happening — to help boost momentum, increase conversions, and keep buyers engaged. ⚡

Flash Sales create urgency, encourage faster decisions, and give buyers a reason to stay active in your show.

✨ Pro Tip: Use Flash Sales as an entry method for a Buyer Appreciation Giveaway. If you have multiples, discount them so buyers can purchase to enter. No multiples? Use stickers and drop them to $0.60 — fast, fun, and effective! 💛

🌟🌟 QUESTION OF THE DAY 🌟🌟

❓ Did you know that “Captions” is now available for all users, including Android?

“Captions” (or “captioning”) 🗣️lets viewers watch shows with their phone’s sound off while still reading everything the host is saying right on the screen.

As a seller, you 🚫cannot🚫control whether captions are on or off for buyers — the feature is available automatically on every show. Buyers can turn captions on by tapping the three dots on the show screen.

🤫This is a great tool for people who want to keep their volume low, and it’s very accurate. Just remember: if you whisper during your show, captions will still pick it up and display exactly what you said!🤭 Try it!

❓ Do you have any serious pet peeves when it comes to purchasing from other sellers?

It’s time to put on your “buyers hat“ for this one… As a buyer, what is something that you hate to see sellers do in their show? What are some things that caused you to leave the show?

It’s true that we cannot ‘please’ everyone… Some people may say that they love loud, happy music and others might say that they hate hearing music at all… But… By answering these questions, you can help other sellers know what to avoid.

❓ Did you know that Whatnot tracks your show frequency and uses it to help boost your visibility in search results and recommendations! 📈

The more consistently you go live, the more the algorithm recognizes you as an active seller, meaning your shows are more likely to appear on the “For You” and “Shows with Momentum areas. 👀

⏰ Tip: Create a schedule you can stick to — even one or two regular shows each week makes a big difference over time. Try using similar time slots so returning buyers know when to find you.

Consistency builds trust, helps the algorithm learn your rhythm, and keeps your audience coming back! 🔁

⭐ Stay visible. Stay active. Stay consistent. ⭐

❓ Did you know that Whatnot has added new sub categories?

New Sub Categories to Grow Your Community

Whatnot has added new categories to help you reach more focused buyer communities and list your inventory more accurately.

* 👗Women’s Fashion: Plus Size, Dresses, Boutiques

* 🍿Food & Drink: Baked Goods, Snacks & Candy, Other Food & Drink

* ⚾️Sports Gear: Baseball & Softball Gear

❓ Do you “pin” items strategically?

Even if you run random pulls, it’s smart to keep a few BIN or individually listed items in your auction tab. This gives buyers a preview of what you sell or what’s coming next! 👀

✅ Make sure those items are in your Marketplace so they’re easy to import — and buyers can bookmark them for alerts.

📌 When you pin an item, anyone who bookmarked it gets a notification and might jump into your show. Keep it pinned a few seconds before you run it so they have time to join!

💡 Pro Tip: Create a “notification listing” like this 👉 https://www.whatnot.com/s/Pmh3pOz4 🔖(please bookmark it for me)🔖

I use it to gather people for booster raids. Make your own version, tell buyers to bookmark it, and pin it at the start of your live (or mid-show) for an instant boost! ⚡

❓Are shipping profiles REALLY needed?

Have you ever started shipping your items and realized that Whatnot bundled 20+ items in one box causing you to create separate bundles and pay for additional shipping?

Whatnot has a few built-in shipping profiles for your items, but they are basic and do not take into account the actual size of your items. This could mean disaster during shipping.

This information is different from the shipping that you choose when creating a show. And sometimes sellers confused the show shipping settings with the shipping profile settings.

When you create a shipping profile, YOU are telling Whatnot, how much your item weighs, and how many you can fit in a box. Unless YOU tell Whatnot this information, it will be determined for you.

For those reasons, not only is shipping profiles necessary for most people, but they can save you a lot of money and…

❓ Do you know the most common shipping mistakes?

🚫Splitting up a bundle that is too large and then printing the same label for both boxes and shipping them both with the same tracking number. Not only is this wrong, but it can cause you to be investigated by Postal Inspectors, fined and even jailed.

🚫Using a Ground label on a Priority box.

🚫 Not using the correct packaging with a flat rate label.

🚫 Not changing your packaging dimensions when your package is over 12 x 12 x 12

🚫 Putting items that are not flat into a PWE (plain white envelope). Don’t put earrings or jewelry into these, they can get destroyed.

I am a new seller. I am having a really hard time selling. I am requesting help from a mod that can help me keep the chat engaged.

❓Did you know that you can watch past Whatnot Seller Talks?

@WhatnotSellers has a weekly livestream to update sellers about new features, best practices and more. You can watch many of the past streams by going to their YouTube channel here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-YKVTXh9MtNCw65nRh372HGb__xIhmnV&si=uUW_zYAR37NRoX-J

Quick Reminder:

You only have one day left to enter for a chance to win a free advertising spot in the next Vizzuals Newsletter to over 160k Whatnot users.

To enter, there is no purchase necessary. Go to vizzuals.com and find the “regional group“ link and join your local group(s). Then go into your Vizzuals profile and change your “display name“ to match your Whatnot username. The names must match in order to be entered.

❓Did you know that just communicating with a person, can change your whole Whatnot algorithm?

A lot of sellers talk about “algorithm“… But what really affects it?

I’ve done a lot of research and talked to several Whatnot staff members about this. I have learned that simply communicating with a person, will start to show their shows in my feed. Mostly private message interactions, or visiting their show at least once.

When people say that “Whatnot is saturated” it may only be THEIR feed that makes it look that way.

Test it out… Focus on a specific person or category to see how your algorithm changes.

❓Did you know that you can network with local stores and get free shipping supplies and other stuff?

All it takes is a quick conversation with the manager of your local TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Target…. Let them know that you are an online reseller and you are looking for boxes to use for shipping. And then ask for permission to go in the back or dumpster and collect empty boxes.

You may not want to go dumpster diving, but this conversation can achieve several different things. once you start networking, exchange, contact information, managers will start putting things aside for you that they would have thrown out. This can include a lot of “disposables“ that they do not return to a warehouse but would have destroyed.

Test it out, and tried to work with at least one manager in your area.