Random Thoughts - Episode 53

https://linktr.ee/KarriKennedy

please note during the course of this show I found out that on March 18 Whatnot changed. It’s giveaway policies so I will be doing a deep dive on that in the near future.

please give me a five star rating and a great review. Thanks so much. Have a great day.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:29

Hey there guys. I hope everybody is doing really well. This is Carrie Kennedy coming to you on a Sunday morning. And uh yeah, the dogs are asleep, and uh we're we're getting going real quick before I have to get up and get ready for church. I am going to try a new church today, so I'm pretty excited about that. Um okay, that being said, I've got a few announcements before I just talk about all kinds of random stuff. I don't even know what I could title this. Um, but it's a socials episode because we're talking about things that you're finding on social media outside of the whatnot app. So um, anyways, first thing is I I think I forgot to tell you, or if I've said it only maybe once or twice. There is a Facebook group titled Carrie Kennedy, K-A-R-R-I, and then Kennedy K-E-N-N-E-D-Y. And it does have the why not, what not picture instead of my own personal picture there. So you'll know you're in the right spot. And I've only posted like 13 things, and that was like when I got the uh, you know, logo or you know, when I created a PDF or whatever, which I still have not added to the shop. Add it to the list. Um, but anyways, if you guys want to go check it out, there's only 11 people over there, which makes me realize that I probably haven't said it and I'm not going over there often. But if you want to message me or you need anything or you just want to check it out, um, the only post I have on there that I think is really beneficial right now for you guys is this guy named Lonnie, L-O-N-N-I-E, middle initial M, and last name Honeycut, H-O-N-E-Y-C-U-T-T. And the reason I'm suggesting him back on February 13th was he is a boxing guru. He he could pretty much take any box and tell you how to pack it. He has packing hacks, and I posted him there. So I plan to post more stuff there. You guys can go follow me, and like I said, I just haven't advertised this, so I wanted to do that. Okay. Next thing here, I'm gonna give a shout out to these people because you guys, I mean, I all day, whenever I get on social media and I read the comments throughout the place, everywhere. Um, I I see that um a lot of people are complaining. I had a show and I only made so much money, or I didn't have enough people in there. Whew. And I'm not, I'm not trying to be mean to you guys. I know it's hard, I know it's difficult. But the thing is, it it can be hard and difficult, and you have to know that before you get on here. And I think people, especially newbies who don't know any better, because I sure as hell didn't know any better, they just get on and they think, we're gonna have a show. We've got all our stuff, we're gonna put it on, boom, it'll all work out. As long as we've got a good personality and good lighting and and uh, you know, we have good merchandise and and we've got enough inventory, et cetera, et cetera, that everything's gonna be fine. And, you know, thousands of people are gonna be knocking on our door and beating it down, and we're gonna sell out of everything, and it's gonna be awesome. Well, that's not the average, guys. That's not the way it works. And you actually have to have some tenacity and grit and get on the app. I suggest two to four weeks at least before you get going. That way you understand how the app works, you understand how you know the bin works and the you know, auctions work and everything. And I gotta pivot and tell you this story real quick. Okay, so I went to Sephora yesterday and uh I get my eyes eye uh what is it, eyeliner stuff there. Anyways, there was this beautiful young girl, and I was telling her about where I get I go to Macari guys for most of my makeup and beauty products. I might see it at Sephora, but I end up buying the expensive stuff at Makari. And sorry to any whatnot sellers who sell stuff, but when I've tried to buy beauty products on whatnot, it's much more difficult. I can't just type it in and find it. Um, they don't sell all the different brands, they sell specific ones. I I struggle on whatnot to find beauty, I'm just gonna say. Um, but you can go to Makari, M M-E-R-C-A-R-I, and um type in whatever it is, and boom, a ton will come up. And like yesterday I was there and there was a product that they were selling at Sephora for$75. I found it on Macari for$40. Now, of course, you have to pay shipping, but it's not that much for one tiny little bottle, you know, maybe five bucks. So I saved 30 bucks and she was like, Oh my gosh, that's amazing. That's amazing. I was like, girl, how you're young. How do you not know about this? And I then I looked at her, I said, Do you know about whatnot? She goes, Yeah, but she goes, I think it's just so hard to understand. And I was shocked because guys, I'm 54, and this girl was um maybe 22. I'm thinking, maybe 24 at most. Um, and I I thought, hey, all the young youngsters know this better than the old ones, but I had to pull out whatnot and I had to show her how it works because she said she was overwhelmed that there was too many buttons, it was it was just too overwhelming. So she had only got in on got on it once, but she was stressed out. She said it was very stressful, and so I took her through it step by step, and then I gave her my$15 code, which I haven't really done for two years, and now I'm like, I might as well. I I don't know why I haven't been doing this. So it's where you send your code and they get$15 free to shop. I have tried to get buyers on there and send it to buyers, and they never actually sign up. So I'm not doing that anymore. Um, but then she went and told her the other girl, and then they both signed up, and I was like, yay! So um do that too, guys. Side note, I I definitely think if you can get more people on the app and you can give them$15, even just to come and shop, why not? You're you're gonna get money, they're gonna get money. It's a great advertising tool, and I definitely think you should do it. Back to what I was saying. The reason I'm just told you the story about the girl at Sephora is because she's a young girl and she found what not confusing, and so she got off. I think that there's probably more than one girl in the world who thinks that. And I think that if you're a seller, you have to do your due diligence to learn the app and advertise and go out there and and do it, right? Um, this uh I just realized something. I just realized they I just got scammed. Oh my gosh. I was about to talk about these, this, these people. Oh my gosh. What a scam. I'm not gonna tell you who it is, but okay, so somebody, what I was gonna tell you to do is advertise places. Go to Facebook, get in groups, advertise your show, send, send it to friends, send it to people, tell people about it. Get your show hyped up before you have your first show. And I was just about to tell you about this one, this one group that oh my gosh, I just I just got scammed, guys. Just sitting here on the phone with you. I saw them in a group and it says, help us get to our first 1000. And then I went and look, guys, what a scam. They've sold 3.2 three 3200 things, and uh, and they're still using the the tactic of hey help us to get to our 1000. So I went in and I followed them and they've sold they they've already got there. They are using the same ploy because people want to help newbies out. Wow, that's the first time I saw that. I was all I'm gonna tell you about this this group. Now I'm not because I feel like I was just scammed. I mean, you don't say we're trying to get to our first 1,000 and they have they've sold 3,200 things. I I got off it, but they've definitely I think they had like 3,000 followers or something. Oh my gosh. Guys, please, serious. Okay, but here's an example besides that. I mean, yes, I definitely think you should do that if you're being honorable and you're not lying. If you're trying to get to 1,000, say say it to everybody everywhere. Okay, I gotta tell you this. I'm this is what I'm talking about right here. You follow people who follow you all day, every day, right? But this is a person who's going above and beyond, and that's what you have to do to be on this app. You have to go above and beyond. So here's what it is it's A underscore tisket, T-I-S-K-E-T, underscore A underscore task it, T-A-S-K-E-T. Personally, I think that's way too many underscores, and I think it's a cute name, but good gracious. A tisket, a tasket, that's the name. It says, they sent this to me, okay? They didn't need to do this. They could have, you know, just went on their merry way and thought a follow was good enough. But this is the kind of tenacity and grit and work ethic you gotta have to get people into your room and and get it going, you know. Here it is. It says, Thank you for the follow. I followed you back. Our vibe is moody, vintage, and antiques, specializing in brass, glass, copper, ornate silver, metal filigree, wood, and moody floral. All of our old inventory is in the bin to make room for pieces that we curate of our own personal style. We are adding new items daily, so please bookmark all shows and check back. We look forward to meeting you, friend. And then she put little stars with a heart. Okay, so we're gonna just check her out real quick. Uh, I'm saying, yeah, there we go. Checking her out. This is what I'm talking about, guys. Man, she's got 1.3 followers. She's uh following 2,000, which you should always be following more people than are. She's got a hundred. Well, I just bookmarked it. She's got 128 bookmarks. Now, that doesn't mean that she's gonna have 128 people there, guys. We've talked about this before. The number of bookmarks does not equal the number of people in your room because you think of it as an open house. You know, somebody comes in, they look around the house, they decide if they like it or not, and they leave. They might leave for a ton of reasons. It might be because they don't like your voice or they don't like your prices, or they um aren't looking for anything that you're selling. I mean, you might be a wonderful person, but they're trying to save money. Who knows what their reasons are? But they don't have to stay and be there the whole time. She's got this is a good one, guys. This girl, she's got some stuff. I definitely think, I mean, some of her prices seem high and some of them seem low. I think she's personally doing that, you know, to have some highs and some lows. Um, most everything she has is at least, you know, five. Well, she's got some$3 things, um, no one dollars, but she's got some some nice stuff. If anybody wants to go check her out, a tisket, a tasket with a bunch of um underscores. Um, she's got 72 products listed, and her first one is a really cute one. It looks like with her and her husband, and that's really cute. Her picture, her vibe, all of it is really good. So we're talking about social media, but that came in my feed. Um, and then another one is um one of my consults, DT Miller5. D T Miller5, um, M-I-L-L-E-R-5. Um, and we've been talking for a while. She's uh trying to get um she oh I see I'm getting too late. Sh uh is it coming? Her show is today at 6 30, and uh she's going by Mama D, and uh she's got a good picture, she's gone in and fixed it. Vintage fine, saving history one piece at a time. And um, she's sold 68 items, she has two reviews, she's doing good. I guess I didn't get back in there. I always tell you guys put at least three to five upcoming shows because she's only got one show listed. And I know I told her this. She just won listening, but she only has one show listed. That means if somebody comes to your show and they like you and they like your merchandise, etc., and they want to come back again, they can't bookmark the next show and get a notification. You're likely to lose people if you guys don't do that. I just I think that's just such a crazy thing not to do because it's so, so easy to do. Okay. Um, anyways, I'm going back to uh because we're talking about socials, I'm out of um, I'm just looking on here right now. Um, Taco Cat Lady is live. She's got 37 people and Rusty Ten Roof, guys. I love both of them. I can't go into them right now because uh we're doing the other kind. I mean, I guess I can do whatever I want. It is my show. Um, but I think if I click into it and I don't have my tablet, we're gonna go out. That's the problem. That's why I have to have my have tablet here. But um, those are two of my favorites on Sunday mornings, Taco Cat Lady and Rusty Ten Roof. And I think I am going to be interviewing uh Taco Cat Lady here in the future too. Um, but there's all kinds of good stuff on on Sunday mornings, guys. All kinds of good stuff on Sunday mornings. Um, I I just can't make it happen for me. Not right now, but maybe in the future. Um, I'm doing a Christmas show this afternoon at oh gosh, what is it? When I'm see how terrible that is? I have to go look it up. Okay, let me look it up. Uh, it's called Christmas in March today at 345. And Sarah is coming over, and uh yeah, I'm I'm getting rid of a lot of my Christmas stuff, guys. I'm going through it. In fact, a lot yesterday I held up this tree and I was like, Aiden, I should keep this, right? And he just looked at me and rolled his eyes because I have I have six Christmas trees. I have so much stuff, and it's just yeah, it's a lot. Um, but yeah, personal issues. I might say it here one of these days, but I'm I'm not saying it today. So, okay, let me get back over to Facebook and Instagram and those type things. And we're gonna talk about a few things here. Um, it says, oh my gosh, House of Coop is with Flea Market Decor magazine. It says we were featured in a seven-page spread in Flea Market Decor Summer 26 magazine highlighting our favorite parts of our home. How freaking cute is that? That's amazing. Um, I follow them on Facebook, guys. If you don't know, I mean I'm I'm shocked if you don't. House of Coop is one of the biggest sellers and cutest couples. Um, I've mentioned them before. They're husband-wife couple, they do this full-time now, and they make a hell of a lot of money, and they are one of the huge success stories. Maybe someday I'll interview them. We will see. Um, now this is one of the ones I was gonna talk about. I am a pretty active person in the whatnot reseller community. I'm gonna click on it right now. I think Blazian Bunny is the one who created this, but I could be wrong. Nope. Uh, maybe I don't know. It doesn't say who created it. It was created 11 months ago. I can't see where it says who created it. I just went into yeah, I just went into that. Hmm, I don't know, guys, but it's called What What Not Reseller Community. And in there, there's a girl named Ashley. This is six hours ago, but she says, I'm just sick over a misunderstanding. I was watching a newer seller at the start of her show. I was trying to be interactive to help her chat keep going. She said, Follow me and I'll follow you back. So I told her that I followed her and to follow me back and my link. I mean, I guess she put in where she is. Just as I was gonna share her show, which would be a nice thing to do. You should it's really great to go into shows and share them. Um a hack is you don't even actually have to share it, I think. You can share and then hit copy. And I still think that gets the algorithm to work. I don't know for sure, guys. I can't guarantee it, but I've done it and it has worked for me when helping other people. But I share it to different people a lot. I have certain friends on here that I know like certain items. And like, for example, I was in a show the other day, it was somebody selling ducks, and my friend Malia loves ducks, and so I sent it to her. Next thing I know, I'm getting a phone call. Um, but oh my gosh, I missed it. They were going off right when I had sent it to her. I didn't know that, but I think it's always nice to share, share links. Anyways, this girl was gonna do that. She said, just as I was gonna show it, she told me I was rude, she put it in capital letters, for promoting. Someone else said, block me, B-L-O-C-K in capital letters. And so she did. And I'm just sick of it. I'm on the verge of tears. I don't understand. I didn't I do exactly what she said. Well, okay, so here's the here's the thing. And she tells, she even, I'm not gonna say the person's name because I don't want it's it's bad, it's bad who the person is, what they did, I think. And so I'm not going to ever promote somebody who's doing something bad, even with bad publicity. Like I'm not even gonna mention who it was. Um, she said, I've had wonderful experiences with everyone, lifting ever each other up and helping each other out. I wanted to do that for others, but now all of a sudden I'm seeing more posts complaining about promoting or complaining about people asking selling questions. Now I felt this firsthand, and it has me thinking, double thinking, going into shows and chatting. Now, I think this is just absolutely horrible. And Ashley, I feel terrible for you. I remember the first time this happened to me, and I'll I'll tell you who it was. Well, I don't want to tell you who it was because of what I just said, but he doesn't deserve it. But it's a big guy on here, and I followed him on a Facebook group that I don't follow anymore. Um, it's just those people constantly promoting themselves and not letting anybody else, and it's just it's a mess, anyways. He I went into his show, I was brand new to whatnot. I thought this is gonna be great. I was gonna support him and buy buy t-shirts for my husband and my two boys that are here. And I I was all excited and I went in and I didn't know what the Gibby was or givy goblins or whatever. And I just asked a simple question, brand new, like my very first time, and this happened to me. And I had was just getting through PTSD. Actually, this was three years ago. I had that for about eight to ten months, really, eight to ten months. It was really rough, anyways. It hit me like a ton of bricks, just like it did Ashley, that somebody could be so mean because you do something so insignificant. I asked what what a Gibby goblin was or what a gibby was. I didn't know. I truly wasn't, I wasn't trying to stir the pot. I wasn't, but it's this assumption that you're a bad person with bad intentions and you need to be blocked and you need to be thrown down. And I just think it's absolutely horrible. Um, personally now, I don't block anybody unless they've sold me really bad stuff and I don't want to go into their show again. And I just am like, no way. I mean, this girl sold me jewelry the and I blocked her. It was the cheapest, it was like cracker jack type jewelry, and I didn't know that it was plastic. It looked, I mean, like normal jewelry, and then I got it here and it was seriously like straight out of the quarter machine type stuff. I mean, not that bad because I but bought it, but um, yeah, I threw it all away. It was a waste of my money. I it was awful. So I did block her just so that I don't get her in my feed anymore. Um, and I didn't give her a bad review or anything like that. I gave her a good review and I did that. You guys, you could hate me for this, but I try to give everybody good reviews. Um, I think that when you do give bad reviews, you have the option for those people to retaliate. It's not like uh other places. Um, like, for example, the what's the food grub hub or something like that? I can't remember, where you can go to a restaurant, you can eat, you can give your feedback, boom, that's it. They're not coming out against you going, oh, these people are horrible. But if you're a seller on here and you give somebody a bad review, they could just come to your shop, they could buy your stuff, and then they can turn around and give you a bad review. And I know I've said this before, it seems crazy, it seems insane, but you don't know who you're selling to. And you don't know if you're dealing with the person like this who freaks out and says you're rude for that. Isn't rude. That is absurd. These people who get their panties in a wad just because somebody promotes, it absolutely just it irritates the hell out of me. I don't know who you people are. If anybody is listening to this, actually, I don't think those type of people educate themselves. I don't think that they have a clue. I don't think any of those type of people who are being that rude, that unkind, that inconsiderate, that pissy are listening to this podcast. I just don't think they are. I think that the people who are listening to this podcast are people who have time, consideration, care about learning, care about community. At least that's what I'm hoping and praying for. So my thought, obviously, is that you guys shouldn't do this. This is sad. This poor woman is like, you know, she she was just like, I didn't think it was a big deal. And so then she's got a ton of feedback. I'm just gonna tell you somebody says, Oh, you could promote in my show's keep Sake Cottage, whatnot has some of the best communities, and you just have to find the right one. I sell a vintage decor and jewelry and have an amazing community that supports everyone in the room for us. I'm gonna give her a you know thumbs up on that. And then um, other people are putting in here promote away. Here's my show, here's my show. That's the thing, guys. You're supposed this is a Community show. If you are a person, I'm just gonna say it. If you are a person who is freaking out every time somebody wants to promote or ask a question, you just get off the platform. Go sell somewhere else. Go sell on eBay. Go sell on Poshmart. Go sell on Macari or there's that new one, Palm Street. Go sell somewhere else. Just get off our platform. Get off the platform where people care about other people, where we're willing to let you have a little bit of, you know, space in the chat. I mean, I am, you know, it's it was one thing when it was the big, big promoters, because I would make excuses for them. I'd be like, oh, well, you know, because that one guy I told you about who did that to me, he had his buddy, you know, I messaged in their group. Oh, he was so mean. I'm just a new person. I can't believe, you know, I same kind of thing she did years ago. I did this. And her his buddy deleted my message and stood up for him. And we went back and forth talking, and he made justification after justification for his, you know, whatever. And it was all about he's a big seller and he doesn't have enough, you know, space in the chat for all these people coming in and asking questions and givy goblins and this and that. And I'm like, wait, there's a I mean, the other day I was talking to a pastor, actually, guys, and the pastor said, There's no time limit on forgiveness. There's like no time limit. You don't go after X amount of years, I don't forgive anymore. That's that's where I am. And he said, There's no time limit. And I'm wondering, is there a compassionate limit? You you get a certain amount of human beings in your chat, and now you have, you know, 200 people in your chat and you're no longer capable of being kind and considerate and gracious and hospitable and part of the community. That's bullshit. I'm just gonna say that is such bullshit that these big sellers use these excuses to either A, get money, oh, you can't put anything in the chat unless you bless the chat. Hey guys, it's not just blessing the chat. Let's just point that out. It's blessing them. They're getting money for it. You, you know, it'll be like, you know, give a$25 and we'll send them a$5 gift card. You know, they're keeping the other$20. If you guys aren't familiar with this, a lot of people are totally abusing the blessed chat. They're getting, you know, more than half of whatever. It's crazy. And you're not allowed to promote or do anything because they're their britches are so big that to promote in there with all those people. And my thought is just stop doing it, guys. Don't go to those big guys who can't be kind and considerate after they get a certain amount of people in the show. That that's it's just rude. There is no, you know, number that you get to that all of a sudden you have to be a blank hole, you know. I I just don't think they're I think it's ridiculous. And and I I definitely think that if that's the case, when whatnot should crack down on it. Once you get a certain amount of people and you're incapable, there should be a toggle, you know. Okay, no self- toggle for allows self-promotion or toggle doesn't allow self-promotion. That would be really, really easy. And let me just say, it might be more work for you guys not to go in and bless a chat and go to a room that has 20 people in it and promote, and then go to another room that has 20 people in it and promote, and then go to another room that has 20 people or 30 people, whatever, and promote. Yes, it might take more time, it might take more effort, but guys, you're gonna be with people who are actually seeing it. And let me just say too, in the category that you're doing this is where you need to be doing it. Some people think, oh, it doesn't matter. I'll just go into any category. And as long as there's a whole bunch of people, I'll follow the people with the, you know, the big, you know, golden, uh, you know, high-level sellers, right? The golden wings, and and you'll go in there and do it. But guys, they're in there for one type item. So unless you're selling that type item, I wouldn't promote there. Yes, people buy outside of their categories all the time. That's why I wish I could list multiple categories when I sell multiple categories, right? Like today I have vintage, I have estate sale, I have Christmas, I could do my freeze-dry candy, I could do it all. But whatnot doesn't let you do that. It wants you to stay in your own lane. So I most of what I'm selling today is Christmas. So I listed it as Christmas, I listed it as holiday. That's what I'm doing. But just think about it, guys. I I really think we just need to stop. I know I'm not my one little voice here, is not going to change, you know, the hundreds of thousands of people and their habits. And not everybody's hearing this podcast. So definitely share it out. But stop giving these big people more money when you could go in and support somebody else and you don't have to pay money. I I think that's just really it. And don't be blocking people. This is absurd. Don't block some, and that I'll say the other reason I block somebody, and it's very, very rare that I block somebody, but is if their content coming through my feed is either a and it's true, I've this has happened, guys. I think they might be cracking down on it or not. But I've seen people getting high, drunk, stoned on here. I've seen um people cussing up storms and selling Playboy and whatever. If that's your shtick and you like that, that's great. For me as a Christian woman and mom of six and homeschooler, that's not my that's not my gig. And so I like when I see Playboys, I block that because I just don't want it coming through my feed. So those are the only two times I block. I've even when somebody's come into my show, they, you know, most people say, Can I promote? But in my show notes, actually, let me go read it for you guys real quick. In my show notes, like even today, you can come in, um, show notes. It says, Um, please note that I'm going to start most of my items at a dollar, but not everything is a dollar. To keep it simple and quick, I'll get the right weight and I'll ask you to bid up. And if it's not already listed, that means you swipe up until you get to the requested price. I call it the bid up method, guys. It works. I've done it a lot. Some people have come in and said, Can everybody do this? And I'm like, No, I don't know. I think my people know and it works, and we make it happen. Um, anyways, it says, check out my podcast, it says all my information, and then it says um, follow and share out. I should say somewhere in here, request prayer, drop your shows. It has a list of all the things you can do. Follow and share out, bookmark my shows, ask questions, drop your shows, request prayer, and tip freely. It's I used to say, you know, uh feel free too. And I guess I I got rid of that in this one. But I always tell people, yes, go ahead, promote your show. Does it mean everybody's gonna come to your show that happens to be at mine? No, hell no. And especially if you're in the wrong category. I will say, I'm I I'm in vintage and estate sales and personal shopping and holiday right now. That's kind of where I'm at. But I have people come in all the time and drop shows like we've got baby clothes and we've got somebody dropped the other day that they have free people and whatever. Yes, you might get a few people who are like, Oh, I'll go to that. I like that too. But most people have we're creatures of habit and we stay in our lanes and we see the same type of things in the algorithm. I've talked about this before, but it's like when you go to Amazon. Um, Amazon's got a big sale coming up. I think it's like March 23rd or something. They have a week-long sale coming up and up popped all these things like that. I would buy, right? Um, I I cleaning supplies, makeup, whatever, my things. I'm not getting chainsaws and uh wrenches in my feed in my Amazon. And the same thing happens here. You're not gonna get stuff that you've never clicked on, you've never looked at, you don't go to. And that's why I tell you guys, there's so many categories. That's what I was telling that girl at Sephora. I was like, what do you like? And she's like, I buy clothes. And so we typed in, you know, she she had liked my necklace that was free people, and um, so we typed it in, and all these sellers came up, just tons and tons. I was like, look at this, or you could click on products. But I was telling her, anything you want, you can come shop for here. I mean, there's some things that you're not gonna find still. I don't think we sell skateboards, guys, but there is a lot here, and you should go into different categories. You know, go into the snack category, go into the baking category, go into plants. Um, if you go do golf or fishing or marbles or toys or games or if you like stuffed animals, there is so much here, so many categories. And honestly, promote in within yours, but you can also ask if the people are kind, then then do it there. Don't do it with people who are gonna be rude, but also just know that some people are always gonna be jerks, not everybody's gonna be a kind, uh, nice person. Okay, I'm gonna go through this a little bit more, and then I gotta get up and get ready to go to the new church I'm gonna go visit. Okay, it says, um, somebody said, Jackie said, question anyone play music at their back background? And is that allowed? Um, somebody said, yes, but I heard someone say you have to be careful since we're putting someone else's music out there while we're selling it. I literally have had music on all the time. I don't think I could function and even have a show without music. Um, but anyways, then somebody wrote, I hate music because it messes up the captions for people. That's the same person. It's the same person who said we're trying to get to 1000. So um, yeah, no, I'm not gonna say who you are, but um side note, my gripe about it for those that are thinking about using background music, turn it low. I don't want to think I'm at a concert. And number two, no matter how good the song is, do not sing along. Sheesh. And and I think that's potatoes, potatoes. You know, sometimes people sing and sometimes they don't. Sometimes their voice is good, sometimes it's not. But you know, buddy, if you don't like it, just move on. Just move on. It's it's like changing the channel. If you don't like it, you you could move on. Um, I am actually going through. Um, okay, here's another one. I'm on, I'm on Facebook, guys. This is where I'm at. This is um, oh, this is oh my gosh, whatnot resellers group. Um, some guy named Jake 15 hours ago. He said, I see a lot of streamers not running giveaways now because of the new whatnot policies. The Givy Goblins are gonna be pissed. I really don't know what he's talking about on these policies. Let's look into this. It says, Can the winners give you feedback on giveaways if they didn't buy anything else? And the answer is 100% yes, um, which totally sucks because there's, and I mentioned this just in my last episode. There's jerks in the world, guys. We've already mentioned it today. There's just horrible, mean, awful, terrible people in the world. And honestly, being a Christian, I I definitely believe that it's not the human flesh that we're fighting, it's princes and principalities, it's evil versus good, you know, the dark side, you know, go back to Star Wars. It's it's really you can pray for those people because as humans, we're all sinners. We're all we all have the capacity to do and be and say and act in evil, unjust, unfortunate ways, right? Every one of us is a sinner. Um, that being said, you can try to do your best. And some people are doing not their best for sure. Um, when somebody gets a giveaway and it's not what they want, to go in and give a one-star review is just that takes you to another level as a human being. It's just wrong. Point blank. You're getting something for free, and then you're basically turning around and giving the middle finger to the person who took the time and the energy to put whatever the item is. I don't care what it is. I don't care. I mean, they're not putting poop in there, guys. I don't care what it is. And they're putting it in an envelope and they're sending it to you. They're taking their time, their energy, and their money for you. And you turn around and do that, yeah. No, I that just really bothers me. Anyways, okay. Somebody said, I had a show tonight and I wanted to do a buyer's giveaway, and I mentioned it. Then I realized I had a lot of non-buyers in the room and I got a little nervous about that. Uh yeah, I totally agree. I'm starting to feel that way as well. But then I told a white lie and I said I ran one earlier, so I decided not to run another, and I said, I'm gonna get off and let's go raid somebody. The count dropped by almost 15 people. It was insane. I ran the buyer give me for about five seconds, and one of my very local customers won it. Well, actually, the way I have worked this out, and and I you can do this, guys. This is just because I got tired of people just coming in there and me running a buyer's giveaway and them not getting it. So, what I do, you don't have to wait a whole five minutes for it to time out. So I would say, whoever gets this gets the first giveaway. And they'd be like, Well, how are you gonna do that? Well, your first person who comes into your room, your first buyer, you can run the giveaway. They're the only person who's bought something. Does that make sense? So your first person comes in, you're gonna run the giveaway, and guess what? Nobody else is gonna be able to get it, get in it because it's a buyer's giveaway unless they filled out the paperwork. But you just run it real quick and then you stop it after like five seconds, you know, 10 seconds. It doesn't have to run the whole way. And then boom, I'd go to the next person. Now you've now both buyers, okay? Now you've got two people in the room. You run it again, boom, okay. We're running it for 10 seconds, whatever. They get in real quick. It it I've done that many times and it does work. But I'm I'm really happy with my tuckaways, guys. Um, last at my last show, I had these cute little milk, glass milk bottles, and I pay the difference in the shipping, but I said, whoever spends, you know, um, you know, whatever. I don't even know if I can do that. But I I would say, here you go, guys, everybody's getting this and everybody's getting this. And I do tuckaways and I put it in their um box, and I'm like, you got this, you got this, and I give it to the people, and it's it's a giveaway. It's a giveaway without having to have somebody else come in and take it. You know, and I'm calling it a tuck away. If whatnot wants to get on me for that, that's fine. But there's no no rules. I looked this up. There's no rules about you giving something away. Somebody was like, You can't do that. I'm like, Bull, I totally can. That's like putting an extra sticker or a thank you in your card. People do it all day, every day. I got I got a package the other day. I opened it up, there was extra stickers in there. I didn't buy them, they gave them to me as a free tuck away. It's the same thing I'm doing. So you you there's no rule about giving somebody something. The the problem is if you if you do it as a giveaway and you know, you give it to the wrong person or something like that. That's abuse, I guess, on there. Um, but uh you definitely do not have to let it run the whole five minutes. And I think that's a good thing. But yeah, I don't understand the whole givy thing in a nutshell. I think it'd be fine if we got rid of giveaways across the board. I truly think I think the app would still do well. I think it would be fine. I feel like a lot of people get on here and they feel like they have to do giveaways to get people in the room, and then they end up getting people in the room who aren't buyers. You're your number one. I have a whole episode called followers. You guys can go back and listen to it. And it's like back in February or something. But it's about where you should be putting your time and your energy, and that should always be your buyers, right? Your buyers and yourself, the you know, the giveaways, the random people that are just hanging out. Yes, if they're hangouters, I love them. People to come chit-chat and say hi, but your number one responsibility is to the buyers always go listen to that episode. I I think that I I don't listen to any of these episodes, quite honestly, guys. I don't even I don't even listen to it after I do it, and it's just it is what it is. It's raw. But anyways, um, okay, somebody said this in here. Um, wow, okay, interesting. It said, pretty sure whatnot just had to put the statement out because there are lawsuits right now involving legal casinos, Rico, and fraud allegations, and are primarily guarded geared towards card breaks, repackaged boxes, using a what the whatnot randomizer. Since Gibby's also use the randomizer, it's safe to assume that whatnot is just covering their asses. So, guys, I guess I'm gonna have to do a whole episode on this and see, do a deep dive into this because I really I didn't know any of this until I just heard about it. Um, and everybody assumes that every giveaway is a just stickers, but I gave away a fairy lamp, I don't know, like three weeks ago. I mean, I gave a fairy lamp away. It's it's actually one of my shows. And even though I did that, somebody won it. I don't even think I got a thank you from that person. So um somebody said, I don't do giveaways, it only brings in people that for that and not to buy. I have seen huge sellers doing gives with hundreds in their show, and when they're they stop, it drops off by half. I totally agree with this girl, Louise. Um, people aren't coming in to buy, they're coming in to win. I think having geys has always been a stupid thing. High five, Louise. She she says, if you can't afford to lose, uh you run it at what makes sense. I also sell saw a seller who is huge say he lost money selling last year, and I don't know why. He has hundreds in his shows, but he has one dollar starts and way too many Gvies. It's all it's good if it this stops altogether, but it's just my opinion, and I'm I'm giving her a thumbs up on that. It's just my opinion, and you know what they say. Opinions are like assholes, everyone's got one. Um, I agree, Louise, and she's got a bunch of other people that say 100%, 100%. Everybody's like sick of the giveaways. I, you know, I would be shocked if they ever do anything to change this. But oh, here's somebody who put posted it. It was updated March 18th, and here's what it says. Oh, thank you for put posting this. Well, you can just go to general rules and requirements under whatnot. It says giveaway rules and requirements. So I'll probably they changed it uh according to this person. Jacqueline Mahoney said um that that was updated March 18th. So I I obviously didn't see it. We're definitely gonna do a deep dive on that. I'm gonna screenshot that and I'll I'll do a definite. Oh, wouldn't that be interesting? I can't wait to find out. Wow, we'll have to listen to my next episode that I do that. Actually, the next episode is uh with a seller, so it's not gonna be one of those. But um, okay, I'm just looking here real quick. I love this girl. Her name is Iwa Vintage Style. I O W A Vintage Style. And she is uh, she has a Facebook group. No, yeah, am I on Facebook? Yeah, on Facebook. She has a Facebook and she wrote, if you're not on whatnot, sign up here and get$15 worth of whatnot credit. That's damn good. That's really smart. I should do that in my Facebook group that I told you about. Dang, I think I might just do that. For any of you guys who have not joined and and started selling or who are thinking about doing that, who just want the$15 to go check it out. Um, I think I will probably do that. Um, another thing, here we go. I'm just scrolling real quick. Somebody said, What's one thing that instantly improved your whatnot sales? I'm pretty sure I answered this and I said, uh, I think what did I say? I don't know. I was being kind of snarky and funny. Um, but here I'm gonna read what some of these are. What's one thing that's improved your whatnot sales? 60 people have responded, and then after this, I got to get up and get going, guys. Um, first one, consistency. Second one, content is key. If you can sell stuff that no one wants, also, I have had customer mention to me that they appreciate our chill streams and they appreciate not being yelled at a whole bunch. I know I was in the show, I was gonna have one of these talk shows the other day. The guy was so ridiculous. It was one of the worst streams I've ever heard of. He was like, bid it up to this price. If you guys don't bid it up, just leave, you know. And he was just, he was not only being rude, he was being flat out mean and just saying, I can't believe you got that for$20. Y'all should have bid that up for a hundred dollars. And I'm like, you should go somewhere else, buddy. You just that's awful. Um, somebody said going live. I stopped buying so much and started selling instead. Um, somebody said that needs to be me. Somebody said networking. That's what I was gonna say in the very beginning. Just network, go to shows, try to represent yourself, talk to different people. Um, another girl said preloading all the items. Yes, I know I've been preloading for uh my upcoming Texas Oklahoma raid train show that's coming up. And um, yeah, I'm preloading, preloading. She's right, it it takes time. I have a light box and I'm taking, I try to do like 10 at a time and then walk away, come back, do 10 at a time. Otherwise, I just go nuts just sitting there run, you know, doing it all. But preloading, definitely, I tell everybody you need at least 30 to 50 items in there. And I don't care what category you are. I don't think you should ever sell just one item. Um, there was one guy one time in one show, he was selling just one item. It was a crude, uh little 3D printed thing with like a middle finger up or something like that. And I was like, seriously, this is what you're selling? He's like, Yep, this is it, this one item. And I was just like, no, I don't think so. I mean, even if you're selling, you know, Stanley cups or something, uh, they have different colors and designs, you know, you gotta have some a bit of difference so that people have options, not just one item. But you should definitely preload a few things. I don't care what category: marbles, clothing, purses, jewelry, I don't care. Everybody can load at least 30 items so that you have an idea what they're selling, what their prices are, whatever. I've said this many a time. Somebody said finding your uh items, uh, put amazing stuff on the table, then go live three times a day for five days and sell nothing. She's obviously being sarcastic. He is being sarcastic. Um run one dollar, five second, go, go, go. It works. People love the chase. I don't know. I don't know. Going live three times a day, five days, and selling nothing. Run one dollar, five second, go, go, go. Uh he's got replies because nobody sarcasm, sarcasm. Yeah. Everybody will tell you to do those crazy things because they want those deals. Um, max shipping 921. You know, I I think there's good and bad in that. I did I did a max shipping show the other day for 921, and I usually say it does good, but I ended up paying$130 in shipping. It was rough. I it was a lot. I sold a lot of stuff, but I realized at the end of the show I I would have liked to have had that$130. So you gotta, you know, it just wasn't as great of a show as others. Um, I mean, you know, sometimes I'm better at shows than other times. Nobody's a hundred percent the same. Um, I wrote competitive buyers. That's something that I love. I love it when buyers come in there and start bidding up. That's my I think that's one of everybody's favorite things, right? Um, somebody said, have a fun and exciting personality. I've been to some shows and it's just simply quiet and slow with nobody there. And I'm not saying get your show started and start yelling, let's go chat, or anything like that, LOL, but you want your audience, you want your audience to want to be there also. I agree with that. I mean, gosh, yeah, you know what I'm saying. Um, for this one girl, Susie, she said it was not giving up all caps. She said, we also pivot during the show, you know. She she sells baseball cards and then sports cars and then NASCAR cards and die cast cars. We switch it up and we piv pivot. Um, somebody said consistency, somebody said tunnel vision, um, getting new inventory, preloading, authenticity, you know, consistency, consistency, cons. You know, I think out of all of these, the number one thing that everybody is saying is consistency. It's it's just hammering it out, having the grit, going on and doing it. Um, I will say, um, I started doing this one lady said, I started doing differently priced bin sales for my beauty items. It helps me get a minimum and my customers get a great deal. So yeah, I I put my good stuff in the auction, and then I this is what I tell most people to do. You're really great stuff in the auction that takes the time and whatever, and then whatever else that you haven't sold or is lower price in the bin. I think lots of people can do it that way. Uh, lots of people do it that way. You don't have to, you can do it any way you want. But if you are a new seller and you're trying to get to 1K and you haven't let listened to the series, the um the 5K uh 6S series, that series talks about what you should do. And it definitely says put some$1 and$2 and$3 items in your bin. Because if I go in and I buy something, I might want to also add that just to help you. In fact, I was in a show the other day and I thought this was such a terrific idea. I'm glad I thought of this to tell you. Um, I bought this giant ceramic cat. I know I shouldn't have. You guys know I have an addiction, we have a problem. Um, but anyways, I'm probably, yeah, whole whole story there. But, anyways, um, I said, Hey, you guys don't have anything in there. I thought you listened to my podcast. Hey, and they said, We actually do. It's a recipe card that my wife did, and it's for something called chocolate gravy, which I don't know what chocolate gravy is, guys, but I bought the recipe to help them out get closer to their 1000 sales. And it came in a little envelope and it said, you know, thank you for supporting our business, blah, blah, blah. And it was a really cute recipe card. And I thought, well, heck, that is something practical, useful, and can fit in a givea package too. And I thought, man, I maybe should find some of my best recipes or things like that, and maybe do some recipe cards. But for you guys who were trying to get to your 1K, I thought that was a brilliant idea. Also, you know, I've got other things where there's another episode I recently did called PWE's stickers and giveaways that you could talk about with that. But um, yeah, okay, let me see what else there is, and then I'm gonna get off. Really, I promise. Um, oh yeah, here it is. I had my first form filler today. Do you guys do anything with this? Do you block the person from future shows or just let it be? I just feel like it's not fair for actual buyers. And um, I get that. And then this is one girl three hours ago that put this in the whatnot resellers group, which honestly, from all the groups I've found on here, I think this is my favorite whatnot group. I'm I'm on here a lot. Whatnot resellers group. And it says 296 people have responded to this. Dang, I could do a whole episode on just this. Everybody's saying I can't stand the Gibby Goblins, uh, shady sellers. Um, it's against the law in the United States to have a way for non-buyers to win buyers' giveaways. That's why whatnot, yeah, because it's considered gambling. That's true. This is that is the law. I have talked about that. Um, I personally state that if a form filler wins a buyer's giveaway, they will not be receiving that prize. I let everybody know if the event that happens, if I think she's saying if in the event that it happens, I rerun using an online randomizer with everybody who made a purchase. That form filler gets a sticker at best. And I make it noted that that's not how you get big item buyers giveaways for me in my shows. I gotta command your shows how you want them. Yeah. And then somebody said, I know sellers run it for 15 seconds and let everybody know to stick around and get in. Give give the form fillers minimal chance to do that. Yeah, that's what I was saying. I just run it for five seconds, you get in it, boom, done. 10 seconds, boom. Um, because there is no rule that says you have to let it go for five minutes. Um, you just click on it and it stops. Um, whatnot says no stopping a giveaway. Once started, a giveaway can't be paused or canceled. Oh my gosh, you guys, what I just said back there, it looks like they changed this. I'm gonna have to do something. This is four minutes ago. Somebody posted this. Oh my gosh, a winner can be automatically drawn at the end of the five-minute time limit. So they've changed the time limit. So everything I just said earlier is null and void. Oh my gosh, that bites. I might not be doing giveaways anymore. I mean, honestly, I I said that that's you know, I mean, do not offer giveaways for redemption for a future stream. Of course, that's crazy. You shouldn't do it. Um, sellers must not circumvent whatnot, giveaway rules in any way, blah, blah, blah, an alternate method of entry or by listing excessive numbers of buyers, appreciation giveaways that are not run. Appreciation giveaways that are not run. So you're not allowed to give away something to your buyers. I don't think that's true. I looked that up before. Okay, I'm gonna obviously do a deep dive, but um, see, somebody else said no downgrading withholdings. This is in what not's language. This is actually clicked six minutes ago. No downgrading, withholding, or changing prize based on who wins. So there you go. The what the Givy, it's like the Gibby Whip people, you know, were like uh that Chaz place in Portland or whatever, you know, they built this, oh, we're getting our way. You know, um, sellers must not downgrade, withhold, or change the giveaway prize based on who wins, for example. So that one lady who I just read, she's not gonna get away with that anymore. It sounds like. Yeah, you may not deny a giveaway winner based on whether they follow you on social media. You may not downgrade the prize if the winner has not made a purchase. See? Mm-mm-mm. So, yeah, I'm I'm gonna go ahead right now and say I'm probably not gonna do giveaways like I have in the past because I've done a lot of giveaways. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Okay, guys. I'm not gonna read all this, but yeah, he said it's the same concept as sweepstakes companies at McDonald's, Target, etc. It says no purchase necessary, meaning somebody can go in and do it because it's a guy, it's a law. But I mean, I don't think that there's any reason you can't do a tuck away. A tuck away means you're putting something like stickers and a thank you card in the box. There's no reason you can't give somebody an extra appreciation like that with your buyers. You don't actually have to run the giveaway. But I will say, maybe this doesn't bring in as many people, but are were they buyers anyway, or were they just givy people? I don't know, guys. I don't know. And I think it definitely depends on what category you're in, too, because I think some categories are known for running that giveaway constantly. Um, I've I've mentioned this guy before, he's a cute guy. Um, he's a cowboy, he sells shoes and now he's selling uh sunglasses. But I think he's always done the giveaway and running a giveaway. So I think certain people do it like every five minutes or every 15 minutes, and it brings people in the room. And maybe seeing people in the room makes newbies and other people who don't know any better think, oh, well, they must be a really reputable person. They must be selling really good stuff because they have all these people in the room. Bump, bump, bump. We all know that's not necessarily true. Um, so I I guess I'm gonna do a deep dive on this, guys, and the new policies, and I'll I'll mark it as that. Oh my gosh, y'all are probably hearing my stomach growl. I gotta get up and uh get going for church and eat and get going. Um, but hopefully you've heard something in all of what I've been randomly talking about, and um, it's been an easy listen. I also just want to say I appreciate the feedback and uh you guys, when you message me and I get those comments in my emails, I'm saving them. Um I just I appreciate it so, so much. I got one from a a die cast guy the other day. Where is it? I'm seeing if I can find it for you real quick. I'm not gonna spend so much time. But it was a it was a I get men listening to me, which is shocking. I just thought most of you guys were women, but I am getting fan mail from men. And I I said he said that I talk like his brain works. So I'm he must be all over the place too. Um, I can't find it right now, guys. But I appreciate the fan mail. I appreciate you leaving uh your feedback, your thoughts. If you have any questions, you guys can always reach out to me. I will be on this is Sunday, what, the 22nd, maybe? I don't know what day it is. I think it is. It's sun, yeah, Sunday the 22nd. Um, it's Sunday the 22nd, and I will be on today at 3:45 Central Time with totes and totes and totes of Christmas ornaments and decor and everything. And I got some really good stuff too, I'm just gonna say like stuff that's still in the box, good stuff. Um, anyways, that's it. I am here for you guys if you need me. My phone number is in my profile. And like, yeah, if you guys have suggestions for things for me to talk about, if you've heard my episodes, if you have any other thoughts on that, I would love to hear what you think. And also, let me just once again say this last thing. Please give me a five-star rating and a review. I love the reviews, the reviews help me keep going. I had a bad review where the guy said I was long-winded, and I was like, uh, dude, that is this podcast. Yeah, I'm not gonna change that. I'm all over the place and I'm talking about lots of different subjects and things. And um, so that is what it's gonna be. It's never gonna change. That's who I am. He's basically talking against who I am as a human being. So that made me bad, mad and sad. And uh, he took me down from a 5.0 to a 4.8. It jumped back up to a 4.9. But, guys, if you could please high-five me and give me a good rating and review and get me back up to five-star status, that would really help me out because I am a type A personality and I do not like that 4.9. On whatnot, I've never had a 4.9, I've always had the 5.0. So I feel like I got to do the same in the podcast. Anyways, I hope you guys have a lovely and wonderful and terrific day today. And uh, thank you so much for listening. And uh yeah, message me your shows. Have fun buying and selling on whatnot, and we'll talk to you later. Bye bye.